§ Lord Pattenasked Her Majesty's Government:
What help they are giving to the rough sleepers who sleep on the pavements each night within the piazza in front of Westminster Cathedral; and [HL2627]
What is their target for the ending of rough sleeping nightly within the piazza in front of Westminster Cathedral. [HL2628]
§ The Minister of State, Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)The Government's Rough Sleepers' Unit funds contact and assessment teams in the Victoria area who, in conjunction with local statutory services, work with people who sleep rough on the piazza. The contact and assessment teams visit daily to offer help, including accommodation, to anyone who needs it.
127WAWestminster City Council has a responsibility for both addressing rough sleeping in its borough and the wider daytime street activity issues which the piazza suffers from, such as street drinking.
The Government had a national target to reduce the number of rough sleepers by two-thirds by 2002. The Prime Minister announced in December 2001 that they had met this target with a reduction of 71 per cent. The Government do not have targets for specific areas such as the piazza in front of Westminster Cathedral but we are aware of the problems in this area.