Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
9
In our evidence session the Department was unable to define exactly what it meant by...
Conclusion
In our evidence session the Department was unable to define exactly what it meant by the commitment “to end” rough sleeping; nor was it able to state clearly whether it was on track to meet this target, or how it would measure and report on it.28 This is a failure on the Department’s part, for which it cannot blame the pandemic. While the new target date for ending rough sleeping may only have been established in December 2019, the overall target to end rough sleeping had been in place since the launch of the Rough Sleeping Strategy in summer 2018. Essential elements, such as how the target was to be defined and success measured, should all have been established then.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
2.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.2 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation, although it will be important to ensure sufficient time for the development of the new strategy and to align with the forthcoming 2021 Spending Review. 2.3 The government is fully committed to ending rough sleeping within this Parliament and has already made considerable progress in the last few years to reduce rough sleeping. Much of this work provided the capacity to deliver the Everyone In response both locally and nationally. The department’s annual statistics published on the 25 February 2021 show the number of people sleeping rough fell for the third year in a row, the largest decrease since these were first recorded in 2010 and a 43% decrease since 2017. 2.4 Nonetheless, the department is clear that to end rough sleeping there is a need for further cross government action to address the underlying causes of rough sleeping. The department will be working with partners across government and the sector to build on recent progress and consider what more needs to be done to end rough sleeping. The department will consider the role of health, policing, prisons, immigration, welfare, and employment, alongside housing and how the department will build on the already significant success of Everyone In. 2.5 As the Committee suggests, the department will consider a definition of what it means to end rough sleeping, including information about how this goal will be measured and evaluated.