Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 9 June (HL8162), whether these figures for the incidence of rough sleepers can be divided into females and males.

In the 2022 Rough Sleeping Snapshot, there were 2,539 men (83% of the total) and 464 women (15% of the total) sleeping rough on a single night in autumn. Gender was ‘not known’ for 66 people (2% of the total). The gender breakdown of people sleeping rough was similar across all regions in England and was similar to previous years.

Women who sleep rough may make themselves less visible in order to stay safe, by moving at night or concealing themselves or their gender. They therefore may not be fully captured by the snapshot. This reinforces the need for tailored, specific interventions, for example in programmes like the Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI). £6.5 million of the Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25 is going towards funding women-specific services across 22 local authorities in England.