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by Felicity Collier
TORY ministers were urged to end the “national scandal” of rough sleeping yesterday after official stats showed the number of people spending a night on the streets has more than doubled since 2010.
On a single night last autumn, there were 4,134 rough sleepers, a Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) report revealed — up from 3,569 the year before.
This is a 90 per cent increase on five years ago when the number of rough sleepers was 2,181 and more than double the 2010 figure estimated at 1,768.
Shadow housing secretary John Healey blamed government policies for the “national scandal.”
And research from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network — linked to the St Mungo’s charity — showed that 65 per cent of rough sleepers in 2015-16 were new.
Charity Crisis said an “ambitious new approach” to tackling homelessness is needed, with charities, local authorities and central government acting together.
“There is no time to waste,” Crisis chief executive Jon Sparkes said. “We need the government to take action on this issue.”
The number-one cause of homelessness in Britain is the ending of a private-sector short-hold tenancy, a government report last December showed.
Mr Sparkes said: “Behind these statistics are thousands of desperate people, sleeping in doorways, bin shelters, stations and parks — anywhere they can find to stay safe and escape the elements.”
The charity reminded local authorities that they have a duty to provide emergency interim accommodation for anyone who would otherwise be forced to sleep rough or face the threat of violence.
Shelter interim chief executive Graeme Brown said lack of affordable homes coupled with cuts to welfare “have led us to this tragic situation.”
He warned: “Until the government provides more homes that people on low incomes can actually afford to live in, the problem will only get worse.”
A DCLG spokesman said the government was currently funding projects in 225 local authorities to help rough sleepers and people who were at risk of becoming homeless, as well as investing £550 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
