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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the latest figures for the number of rough sleepers in England; and what progress has been made on implementing their rough sleeping strategy announced on 13 August and its ambition to halve the number of those sleeping rough by 2022 and to end it altogether by 2027.

The latest rough sleeping figures for the number of rough sleepers in England is the 2017 annual count, available (attached) online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2017 . Results of the 2018 annual count will be released in January 2019. Following the publication of the Rough Sleeping Strategy in August, significant work has been underway across departments to deliver the commitments made. I was pleased to recently publish (attached) a delivery plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rough-sleeping-strategy-delivery-plan ) setting out progress to date and key milestones in the coming months. In 2019 we will publish the first annual update to the strategy, building on our existing work and delivering new interventions where our evidence shows they are needed.

The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why this 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.