PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Veterans: Homelessness (8 January 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to calculate accurately the number of ex-service personnel nationally who are (a) homeless and (b) sleeping rough.

Asked by:
Taiwo Owatemi (Labour)

Our veterans have played a vital role in keeping our country safe and we owe them a duty to ensure they are provided with all the support they need.

In 2018, my Department introduced the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC), a new data collection tool to improve the information we collect from local authorities on homelessness

The figures for people that served in the armed forces identified as statutory homeless from 2018 onwards can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness

The Homelessness Reduction Act requires certain public authorities to refer members of the regular forces in England they consider to be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days to a local housing authority, with the individual’s consent. A person who is vulnerable as a result of having been a member of Her Majesty’s regular armed forces has a priority need for accommodation.

Answered by:
Kelly Tolhurst (Conservative)
15 January 2021