‘These are not just numbers, they are people’

Sir Keir brands rough sleeping moral emergency as figures rise sharply

KEIR Starmer has declared the rising homelessness crisis in England as a moral emergency.

This comes as analysis reveals the number of rough sleepers on a single night could hit almost 10,000 by 2024.

Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir, who is widely tipped to run for Labour leader, has urged the Party not to “oversteer” and completely abandon some of its more radical election plans.

He said: “Labour lost the

DEADLY Rough sleeping rises election, but we didn’t lose our values. We must continue the moral fight against injustice, poverty and homelessness. That means relentlessly holding the Tories to account on the promises they made people. We can’t let them off the hook.” According to official figures, the estimated number of PLEDGE Sir Keir Starmer

REPORTS of rough sleepers have rocketed in the last five years, a charity has revealed.

The public are now alerting authorities to people sleeping on the street at record rates, according to stats from app StreetLink which allows them to report and record the locations of the homeless they see via their mobile.

These reports are then followed up by rough sleepers has risen on average 13% year-on-year since 2010, from 1,768 to 4,677.

If this trend continues, Mr Starmer says that latest figures show that the number could hit 9,914 by 2024.

Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, John Healey, warned the government that

The year-on-year rise in the number of rough sleepers in England

The amount in pounds No10 says has been made available to aid homeless workers from outreach services who track the person down and try to get them into a hostel.

In England and Wales, excluding London, the number of such reports rose from 3,094 in 2014 to 25,091 last month. In London, sightings went up from 12,377 to 35,655.

These are not the numbers of homeless, however, as the same person might have been reported to the app more than once by extra cash pledged by Boris Johnson to help tackle homelessness and rough sleeping is “too little, too late” for thousands this Christmas. Downing Street said yesterday that £63million of new money has been made available under a grant scheme which seeks to help the homeless into accommodation. different users. Charity Homeless Link, who set up StreetLink with St Mungos, say the figures do not take into account the extra boost they see in December every year.

Rick Henderson, from Homeless Link, said: “These aren’t just numbers – these are people who have been let down by the wider system.

“Sleeping rough is extremely dangerous, people risk dying on our streets as a result.”