To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were sleeping rough in (a) England, (b) London, (c) Northamptonshire and (d) Wellingborough constituency in each of the last five years. (183966)

[holding answer 1 February 2008]: The following table shows the number of people found sleeping rough on local authority street counts in (a) England, (b) London, (c) Northamptonshire and (d) Wellingborough in each of the last five years. Data have been drawn from local authority Housing Strategy and Statistical Appendix (HSSA) returns.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate her Department has made of the level of rough sleeping unrecorded by annual street counts; and if she will make a statement. (184392)

Local authority rough sleeping counts are conducted in accordance with methodology agreed with and independently verified by the voluntary sector. We recognise that those counted on a single night do not represent all those who may have experienced sleeping rough over the course of a year, but street counts enable effective measurement of trends in rough sleeping over time and across regions. CHAIN (Combined Homelessness and Information Network) is another valuable source of rough sleeping information which is based on outreach team contact with rough sleepers in London.