§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent on dealing with problems of rough sleepers in each of the past five years; and what is his estimate of the total numbers sleeping rough for each of those years. [49205]
§ Mr. Win GriffithsGrant is paid under section 180 of the Housing Act 1996 (and previously under section 73 of the Housing Act 1985) to support specific projects run by voluntary organisations to prevent and alleviate506W homelessness and rooflessness, and also as core funding for the relevant voluntary organisations. Figures are given in the table.
£000 Year Projects Core funding 1993–94 184 361 1994–95 195 336 1995–96 181 378 1996–97 241 320 1997–98 312 306 From 1997–98, the section 180 programme for projects has been targeted exclusively at initiatives to alleviate the problems of rough sleepers.
Provision under section 180 in the current year totals £650,000, of which £336,000 has been allocated to schemes to help rough sleepers.
The number of rough sleepers can vary from one night to the next and may not be a reflection of the total incidence of rough sleeping. In 1996, a snapshot survey of the number of rough sleepers was conducted in 13 diverse areas of Wales. This found 86 people sleeping rough, but these results cannot be extrapolated to provide an estimate for the whole of Wales.