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

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the number of people sleeping rough.

We have made good progress towards our goal to end rough sleeping. Since the peak in 2017 we have seen a sustained decrease in rough sleeping numbers, with rough sleeping on a single night 49% lower in 2021 than in 2017, according to the official snapshot. However we are not complacent and recognise that times are tough for many people.

Our latest published management information, which provides more timely but unverified data on rough sleeping, shows that there were 2,900 people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in September 2022 - up 20% since the same period since last year. We know based on previous trends that rough sleeping figures increase during the summer months and decrease during the winter months, so some seasonal fluctuation is anticipated.