On 25 February 2016, the Department for Communities and Local Government released the autumn 2015 figures for rough sleeping. These statistics provide a snapshot figure of the number of people every local authority estimates or counts to be sleeping rough on any one night. The following analysis provides a breakdown of increases when compared with previous years.
3,569 people were counted or estimated by local authorities to be sleeping rough on any one night in autumn 2015. This was up 30% from 2,744
| Table 1: Rough sleeping in England, 2010–15 | ||||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
| Number of rough sleepers | 1,768 | 2,181 | 2,309 | 2,414 | 2,744 | 3,569 |
| Numerical increase on previous year | N/A | 413 | 128 | 105 | 330 | 825 |
| % change on previous year | N/A | 23% | 6% | 5% | 14% | 30% |
| Source: DCLG | ||||||
The 3,569 figure shows that rough sleeping has more than doubled since the current methodology for measuring rough sleeping began in 2010 (Table 2)
| Table 2: Rough sleeping percentage changes, 2010–15 | |||||
| 2015 v 2010 | 2015 v 2011 | 2015 v 2012 | 2015 v 2013 | 2015 v 2014 | |
| % difference between 2015 and previous years | 102% | 64% | 55% | 48% | 30% |
| Source: DCLG | |||||
These figures are released by Department for Communities and Local Government as a report of those counted sleeping rough in the UK. These figures are compiled from local authority reported figures.
We believe that the figures are higher than those reported and only reflect those discovered easily sleeping on the streets. We have seen an increase in numbers using the Whitechapel Mission of 35% in 2015 and 130% increase since 2010. Only a year ago, we would see an average of 250 people a day, with a peak of 300 people on busy days.
300 people a day using the Mission’s services is normal this year.