Homelessness: LGBT People

(asked on 25th June 2020) - View Source

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 reduce the level of homelessness among LGBTQ+ young people.


Answered by
Luke Hall Portrait
Luke Hall
Minister of State (Education)
This question was answered on 3rd July 2020

We recognise that many LGBT people who find themselves homeless may have a different experience of homelessness. However, data on this issue is limited. Sexual orientation is not a mandatory field collected through the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection. We therefore do not hold robust or consistent data across local authorities on LGBT homeless households.

In the Rough Sleeping Strategy, we announced a range of measures, including undertaking research with the Government Equalities Office into the nature of LGBT homelessness.

The Department is providing local authorities with training free of charge on Key Groups to help tackle issues facing vulnerable groups, including LGBT people. Delivered by Stonewall Housing, the training package develops an awareness as to why LGBT people may be at greater risk of homelessness, and the barriers LGBT people face when seeking homelessness support. Additionally, the training seeks to outline the statutory and non-statutory options available to support clients. The training programme is expected to cater for 600 members of the frontline homelessness workforce over the course of 2019/20.

We have also put in place bespoke support for local authorities through our Homelessness Advice and Support Team, which includes dedicated youth homelessness advisor roles that have a commitment to work with local authorities to proactively promote positive joint working across housing authorities and children’s services, offering training, advice and support to all local authorities.

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