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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to take steps to improve Homelessness Case Level Information Collection data on sexual orientation.

It has been mandatory for local authorities to collate declared information on sexual orientation for Homelessness Case Level Information Collection since April 2023 and we will publish relevant data in due course. This will further improve the Government's ability to measure and understand the outcomes for LGBT individuals who are at a risk of homelessness or are homeless.

Our approach is locally led. We expect councils to commission services based on an assessment of the needs of their local community and to make sure that needs of all groups are considered, such as in programmes like the £500 million Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI).

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained to respond to the needs of all households experiencing homelessness. In May 2023, I chaired a round table raising awareness of the challenges faced by young LGBT people, and this was attended by colleagues from local authorities.