Islington has central London's lowest number of rough sleepers (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Islington has central London's lowest number of rough sleepers

April 5, 2004 12:00 AM

Liberal Democrat-run Islington Council has the lowest number of rough sleepers in central London according to government figures released this week. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has revealed that Islington had just one rough sleeper on 1st April when its homelessness directorate carried out its official count. This is down from 11 last year. The Council, along with its partners the health agencies, central government, police, voluntary agencies and an outreach team run by St.Mungo's, have helped 63 people move on from living on the streets. This is twice as many as last year. Up to 40% of rough sleepers helped are also accepting referrals for alcohol and drug treatment. Liberal Democrat councillor Jyoti Vaja, Islington Council's Executive Member for Housing and Community Safety, said: "This huge reduction in the number of rough sleepers in Islington is a credit to all the different agencies who are committed to working with the Council to reduce street homelessness. "The fact that Islington now has the lowest recorded levels of rough sleepers in central London is fantastic news and we are working hard to ensure this stays the case. "The Council is now also working hard to take similar action on begging which can often lead to rough sleeping." The facts The results of the rough sleeper counts carried out so far in central London on a borough by borough basis are: Camden 5 Southwark 6 Lambeth Count next week City of London 22 Kensington & Chelsea 10 Hammersmith & Fulham 3 Westminster 189 Haringey 4 Islington 1