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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their compliance with the UK’s human rights obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to housing under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by the UK in 1976, in relation to (1) rough sleepers, (2) the hidden homeless, and (3) other homeless people.

The Department has not made any assessment of compliance nor has it received any representations concerning the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights or access to legal redress of rough sleepers, the hidden homeless and other homeless people.

However, we are clear that one person without a home is one too many. We are committed to do more to prevent more people becoming homeless in the first place.

That’s why we are implementing the most ambitious legislative reform in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act. It significantly reforms England’s homelessness legislation, ensuring that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.

This Government is committed to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027. We will now be working to create a cross-Government rough sleeping strategy to achieve our commitment.