Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2021 to Question 131225, if she will include in the guidance to be published on the Immigration Rule which makes provision for the discretionary refusal or cancellation of permission to stay in the UK on the grounds of rough sleeping, content stating that that Rule should only be used sparingly, and as a last resort where a person sleeping rough refuses offers of support and engages in persistent anti-social behaviour.

Guidance on the application of the new Immigration Rule relating to rough sleeping will be issued in due course and will make clear to decision-makers the circumstances in which permission to enter or stay in the UK may be cancelled on the basis of rough sleeping.

The Home Office and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government are working together to encourage local authorities and approved charities to resolve the immigration status of eligible rough sleepers and unlock access to any benefits and entitlements that rough sleepers may be eligible for.