
Leeds has seen a reduction in the number of people found sleeping rough in the City.
The central government statistics, which come from late night sweeps of the city, shows that Leeds is bucking the national trend of increases in rough sleeping.
Leeds also has a rate of 0.04 rough sleeping per 1,000 households, which is low compared to other cities such as Bristol (0.51) and Manchester (0.33).
Councillor Debra Coupar, Executive Member for Communities said:
“Whilst I feel one person sleeping rough is too many, this news shows we are working hard to make sure everyone in Leeds is provided with support, advice and, where possible, assistance to make sure they do not become homeless.
“We want to help people before they are homeless, as we know that prevention is always better than cure. This means working to ensure everyone who is threatened with homelessness gets support right through the process. That way, we can try and ensure that everyone is given all of the help possible to keep them off the street. So this finding is very welcome.
“Leeds Housing Options are there to offer support and we also commission third sector partners to help people access suitable support quickly when they are threatened with homelessness.”