MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary
of State for Housing, has today written to the UK Statistics
Authority to ask them to investigate the accuracy of the
Government’s rough sleeping statistics, following new data
obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act, showing
that Ministers have been dramatically under-reporting the scale
of rough sleeping.
The new data reveal 28,000 people sleeping rough over 12
months, of which nearly 25,000 were in England – five times the
number recorded by the Government: 4,677 in 2018. While
regularly used by Ministers, these Government statistics have
been refused Official Statistics status, which is a mark of
“trustworthiness, quality and public value”.
Research by specialist homelessness charities also confirms
that the Government’s figures are misleading and that they
seriously undercount the scale of the country’s current rough
sleeping homelessness.
MP said:
“These figures expose the shameful scale of rough sleeping
on our country’s streets.
“They also confirm that the Government’s own published
statistics are seriously misleading and an unreliable undercount
of the number of people sleeping rough.
“The Conservatives can’t begin to fix the problem when they
won’t admit the scale of it. Ministers should replace these
discredited statistics and adopt Labour’s plan to end rough
sleeping for good.”
Ends
Notes to editors
Data from BBC Freedom of Information Act requests have
revealed that 28,000 people were recorded sleeping rough over 12
months, 25,000 of whom were in England. This is more than five
times the Government’s own estimate: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-51398425
has today written to the UK
Statistics Authority Chair, Sir David Norgrove to ask that the
UKSA investigate the Government’s rough sleeping statistics, in
light of this new information. Mr Healey’s letter is reproduced
below.
Labour’s plan for rough sleeping is available
here: https://labour.org.uk/housingmanifesto
The text of the letter is reproduced below:
Dear Sir David
New data obtained from local authorities under the Freedom
of Information Act have been published today by the BBC
suggesting 28,000 people were sleeping rough across the UK over
12 months, of which nearly 25,000 were in England.
The Government’s own figures, as published by the Ministry
of Housing, Communities and Local Government in the latest
publication ‘Rough Sleeping Statistics: Autumn 2018, England’,
declare that the total number of people counted or estimated to
be sleeping rough was just 4,677. You’ll be aware that this data
is gathered each year on a single night in the
autumn.
In light of the new figures published today, it is clear
that the use of the Government’s own figures as the sole official
measure of rough sleeping is seriously misleading as it
dramatically undercounts the number of people sleeping
rough.
You will know the long-standing concern about the
Government’s rough sleeping statistics, including from expert
organisations and charities. For example, in 2018 the charity
Crisis commissioned research which calculated that the number of
people sleeping rough in England is more than double what
Government statistics suggest.
The UKSA’s own work in this area confirmed in 2015 that
these rough sleeping statistics do not meet the standards
required of National Statistics - trustworthiness, quality and
value.
The Government’s rough sleeping statistics are the sole
statistics produced by Government on rough sleeping so they are
naturally and inevitably assumed by the public to be an accurate
portrayal of the scale of rough sleeping. This is clearly not the
case, as the statistics are an unreliable undercount and are an
unsound basis for public policy-making or debate. I would be
grateful if you would investigate the flaws in these figures and
how the Government’s statistics could be improved so they better
capture the level of rough sleeping in our country.
With good wishes.
Yours ever
John
MP
Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary
