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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department have made of the average life expectancy of rough sleepers in each of the last five years.

The government does not collect data on the average age of death of rough sleepers. The Office for National Statistics does collect data on average age of death of rough sleepers. This data, which covers 2013 to 2017, can be found at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsofhomelesspeopleinenglandandwales/2013to2017. These figures do not relate to life expectancy. We are aware that poor health is prevalent amongst individuals who sleep rough which is why we are working with the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that those who are homeless get the health care that they need.

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. It includes measures to improve the health outcomes of those who sleep rough.

This government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period to April 2020. In 2020/2021 we are providing a further £422 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. This marks a £54 million increase in funding from the previous year. This highlights the government’s continued focus on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, and we will announce how this additional funding has been allocated in due course.