To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on housing rough sleepers since May 1997; and what reductions in rough sleeping have resulted. (115549)

The Government recognised the need to increase investment significantly in order to tackle rough sleeping in a sustainable way. This helped achieve the Prime Minister’s target of a two-thirds reduction in rough sleeping from the 1998 baseline of 1,850 rough sleepers on the streets of England on any single night. The target was met ahead of time and to date is being sustained. In 2006 there were just over 500, a figure which represents a 73 per cent. reduction on the baseline level.

Historically, there has been capital expenditure by the Housing Corporation under several rough sleepers initiatives. The rough sleepers unit was set up in 1999 with a budget of almost £200 million over its three-year lifetime. Almost £80 million was administered by the Housing Corporation for permanent accommodation.

Since 2002-03 local authorities have been responsible for tackling rough sleeping as part of their homeless strategies. Homelessness grant is allocated to support local strategies to ensure the rough sleeping target is sustained. The £90 million Hostels Capital Improvement Programme for 2005-06 to 2007-08 is bringing further improvements by making hostels places of change.

Finally, the Supporting People grant programme allocated through 150 administering authorities enables the provision of housing-related support services to a wide range of vulnerable groups, including rough sleepers.

The following table sets out details of the funding for rough sleepers.