To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of rough sleepers in York in the (a) summer and (b) winter of (i) 1997 and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available. (322090)

Since 1998 an annual figure for rough sleeping has been published. There were 12 rough sleepers found on a street count in York in 1998 and good progress has been made with only two found in 2009.

The total number of rough sleepers has fallen to 464 in 2009 based on local authority street counts compared to the 1998 baseline of 1,850.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many open access beds for rough sleepers there are in York and how many such beds were provided in 1997. (322091)

This Department does not collect information on the number of open access beds for rough sleepers. Under our £90 million Hostels Capital Improvement Programme we have invested over £2 million on the new Arclight hostel for rough sleepers in York to replace the poor quality night shelter.