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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the number of homeless people dying.

The death of any homeless person is a tragedy. One person without a home is one too many and we are determined to tackle this issue, which is why this Government has committed to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027.

In order to achieve this target I will be publishing a Rough Sleeping Strategy this July. As part of this work my Department has established the Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel and a cross-Government Taskforce. By drawing upon the knowledge of the Panel and the support from across Whitehall, the strategy will not only end rough sleeping by 2027, but in the meantime ensure the right support is provided to prevent rough sleepers dying on our streets.

We have recently allocated £30 million that will be used to provide an additional 1,750 bed spaces for rough sleepers and an additional 531 dedicated homelessness workers ahead of next winter.

Furthermore, the Government recently implemented the most ambitious legislative reform in this area in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act, which will mean that more people will get the help they need sooner.