§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are aware of Crisis's finding that "only two of five homeless people have daily intakes of fresh food, and many suffer health problems as a result", and whether, in costing their future housing policies, they will take the costs of such health problems into account.
Lord Lucas:Her Majesty's Government recognise that sleeping on the streets is not a healthy lifestyle. Our stated objective is to ensure that there is no necessity for people to sleep rough. The Government are spending £182 million over the six. years 1990–91 to 1995–96 through the Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) to help people sleeping rough in central London, where the problem is greatest. In recognition of the links between housing, health and other issues, five Government departments, including the Department of Health, are involved in the future development of the RSI. We have said that we will continue the RSI in central London beyond March 1996, when it was due to end, and will consider assisting the development of the RSI model in areas outside central London where rough sleeping can be demonstrated to be a major problem.