Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many rough sleepers died on the streets in (1) 1989, (2) 2000, (3) 2010, and (4) 2015.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Dear Lord Roberts,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question asking how many rough sleepers died on the streets in (1) 1989, (2) 2000, (3) 2010, and (4) 2015 (HL15299).

Last year, Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the first ‘Experimental Statistics of the number of deaths of homelessness people in England and Wales’[1]. The statistics include those who were sleeping rough or using emergency accommodation such as shelters for homeless people, at or around the time of death. It is not presently possible to separate ‘rough sleepers’ as a distinct category from other homeless people included in the data. These statistics only cover the period 2013 to 2017, so figures for 1989, 2000 and 2010 are not available.

Table 1 below provides the estimated number of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales for each year between 2013 and 2017. The figures are estimates which are based on deaths registered in the relevant years of individuals identified as homeless based on information provided on the death certificate, at the time of registration or in a coroner’s report to ONS, such as the words ‘no fixed abode’ or mention of a place known to be a shelter for homeless people, plus a statistical calculation of under-reporting.

Yours sincerely,

John Pullinger

Table 1: Estimated number of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales, registered between 2013 and 2017[2]^,[3]

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsofhomelesspeopleinenglandandwales/2013to2017

[2]Figures are for deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in each calendar year.

[3]Figures for England and Wales may include deaths of non-residents.