Written question asked by Lord Patten (Conservative) on Wednesday, 21 June 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 5 July 2017. It was answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative) on Monday, 3 July 2017 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Sleeping Rough

Question: Her Majesty's Government what, when they use it, is their definition of "sleeping rough".

Answer: For the purposes of the Department's annual rough sleeping estimates, the definition is as follows: People sleeping, about to bed down (sitting on/in or standing next to their bedding) or actually bedded down in the open air (such as on the streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments). People in buildings or other places not designed for habitation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations, or “bashes” which are makeshift shelters, often comprised of cardboard boxes).

Nobody should ever have to sleep rough. We have already allocated £30 million of funding specifically to support rough sleepers, including people at risk of sleeping rough, new rough sleepers and those with the most complex needs - our ambition is to halve rough sleeping by 2022, eliminating it by 2027.

Secondary information