Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions the rough sleeping advisory panel has met since its inception, (a) when and (b) where those meetings took place;and who attended each such meeting.

The Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel has met a total of eight times since its inception. The meetings were all held either at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF or in the House of Commons, SW1A 0AA. Full details of members can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-government-backed-advisory-panel-commits-to-help-eradicate-rough-sleeping.

The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. This year, Rough Sleeping Initiative investment totals £46 million and has been allocated to 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 750 additional staff and over 2,600 bed spaces.

The expert Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel formed of key representatives from across local government, homelessness and housing sectors, informed the development of a truly cross-Government strategy to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it altogether.