Homelessness: Rough Sleepers

Debate between Baroness Hanham and Lord Peston

Wednesday 27th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, I am not sure about it going wrong. It is correct that more people are sleeping rough. There are a number of reasons for that, some of which are that at least half the rough sleepers in London are not UK nationals, so they have to be helped in the way in which I described. The Government already give the Mayor for London money to support No Second Night Out, which means that people are getting help immediately, so they are not sleeping out, particularly on these very cold nights.

[Lord Peston]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Hanham]

Yes, my noble friend raises an interesting point because a number of people who sleep rough have additional problems, such as mental health or alcohol problems. It is very important that when they are being helped to reconnect, those services are reconnected as well. There are organisations that do that, and if UK nationals are involved we ensure that they receive the services that they need.

[Lord Peston]

My Lords, I apologise to noble Lords for intervening twice in the same Question Time, which is not my wont, but I am very intrigued by the Question. Will the Minister say whether her department actually collects data on the nationality of rough sleepers? Secondly, are Poles disproportionately represented in that database? Thirdly, is she aware that if she were looking for a good Keynesian expansionary policy to get the economy going, collecting useless data is one of the best things I can think of?

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, useless data are useless; helpful data are helpful. Yes, we actually do collect figures about homelessness, which are important data. Otherwise, we would not know how many people there are or where they come from. We cannot start reconnecting people if we do not have the data to know where they should go or whether they need additional help. We do know the hotspots across the country for rough sleeping, and I am sure that the noble Lord would agree that that is a good use of information.

Retail: Business Rates

Debate between Baroness Hanham and Lord Peston

Tuesday 12th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, the Government are committed to doing all they can to support the high street and other businesses. As the noble Lord made clear, the employment opportunities there are dire at the moment and we want to boost them as much as we can. The high street is facing challenges such as the rise of internet shopping. That is why the Government are offering practical support such as the Portas-plus package, and, as I said, why they have doubled the small business rate relief. We have also given authorities powers to grant their own discounts, which can be used to support local businesses, including shops.

[Lord Peston]

My Lords, is not the reason why the high street is in such a mess the catastrophic failure of the Government’s economic policy? What is required for the high street to get going is what is required for the whole British economy to get going: first, that the Government stop blaming their predecessor—the economy was certainly in a better state then than it is now—and, secondly, that they engage in an expansionary rather than a contractionary fiscal policy.

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, the Government are dealing with the deficit left by the previous Government. I do not think the noble Lord would expect me not to get that crack in one way or another. Whoever and whatever, we have realised that the economic situation is not helping. The Question is about small businesses. We are doing all that we can to help small businesses and to encourage the development of shops and other businesses. We are also very well aware of the essential nature of boosting employment, and we are trying to do that by a number of means.