New Clause 1 — Rough sleepers

Part of Orders of the Day — Homelessness Bill – in the House of Commons at 5:00 pm on 22 October 2001.

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Photo of Mike Hancock Mike Hancock Liberal Democrat, Portsmouth South 5:00, 22 October 2001

Is the Minister satisfied that the RSU and her Department have accurate figures for the number of rough sleepers? A survey was done in my constituency—the city of Portsmouth has around 140,000 adults—and only one rough sleeper was found. When that result was questioned, it was suggested that the count was inaccurate because the likely places to find rough sleepers were too dangerous for the people carrying out the surveys to enter to ascertain the true figure. I know that on one evening at least a dozen people were sleeping in a derelict building but who had not formed part of the count.