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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of street begging, aggressive behaviours and rough sleeping in tents in busy areas, especially around railway stations.

Data collected centrally shows overall levels of rough sleeping in England and we do not collect data for specific types of behaviour

While the annual rough sleeping snapshot in 2022 has risen compared to 2021, this follows sustained decreases since the peak in 2017. Overall rough sleeping levels are 35% lower in 2022 compared to the peak in 2017 and 28% lower than they were in 2019 before the pandemic

We remain steadfastly committed to our goal to end rough sleeping and we will continue to work with local authorities and partners, the voluntary and community sector and private sector to end it for good.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Plan published in March outlined plans to introduce new powers for local authorities and the police to respond to begging and rough sleeping, coupled with improved multi-agency working between local partners so that vulnerable individuals receive the support they need, and further details will be set out in due course.