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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent further (a) injuries and (b) deaths occurring as a result of rough sleepers and other people seeking shelter in refuse bins.

The Government has made clear that no one should be without a roof over their head, which is why we have committed to end rough sleeping within this Parliament and to fully enforce the Homelessness Reduction Act.?Every premature death of someone homeless is one too many and we take this matter extremely seriously.

It is why we are putting in place £489 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over 2020/2021. This marks an additional £121 million?on what?the?Government provided?in 2019/20?and will go towards funding important programmes such as the Rough Sleeping Initiative and the Flexible Homelessness Support Grant.

The Rough Sleeping Initiative team includes rough sleeping and homelessness experts, drawn from and funded by Government departments and agencies with specialist knowledge and work experience across a?wide-range?of areas, including the third sector and local authorities. The team works to advise outreach teams who will locate and support Rough Sleepers directly on the streets. Our advisers will work with local authorities and their partner agencies, where relevant, to consider the role that technology and other strategies might play in safeguarding those who use refuse bins as a form of shelter.