Agenda item

Rough Sleeping Data Q2 2020/21

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services in respect of rough sleeper data for Quarter 2 2020/21 and the following points were made:

 

  • The total number of rough sleepers in the City of London was 140 in Quarter 1 2020/21 which had fallen to 105 in Quarter 2 2020/21, representing a significant reduction on Quarter 2 2019/20 when 181 individuals had been counted.  There had been a decrease in the number of accommodation outcomes in Quarter 2 which reflected the reducing number of people entering the City of London in need of accommodation, as well as a number of individuals with longer-term street attachments who had rejected offers.

 

  • A Member noted that the level of intermittent rough sleepers (Returners) had decreased from 71 to 48 between Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 2020/21 and queried why Westminster had seen an increase during the same period.  The Head of Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping suggested this could be linked to the connection between rough sleeping and footfall as the City of London remained very quiet.  Another Member drew attention to the increased visibility of rough sleeping in some parts of the City including Bishopsgate and Tower wards and the Chairman suggested it might be useful to map pockets of higher incidence of rough sleeping.

 

  • The Chairman was concerned to note the increase in female rough sleeping to 16 individuals which represented 15% of the total recorded as at Quarter 2 2020/21.    The Rough Sleeping Coordinator explained that a number of these individuals had come into the City of London from other areas after rejecting service offers and that the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Team would continue to work with all rough sleepers to support them into long term accommodation.

 

  • A Member noted that COVID-19 was likely to increase the number of evictions/house repossessions and queried whether support was in place.  The Head of Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping emphasised that prevention of homelessness was a key priority for the City of London.  People were advised to approach the Housing Service at their Local Authority where they were at risk of homelessness in the first instance, and there had been no increased incidence of City of London residents approaching the Housing Service as yet. 

 

RESOLVED, that the update be noted.

Supporting documents: