Number of rough sleepers in Derbyshire soars by 317 per cent

According to the below data - released by the Government today - rough sleeping has increased in the county by 317 per cent between 2010 and last autumn.

Across England, 4,751 people were sleeping rough in autumn 2017, up 15 per cent from 4,134 in 2016. The number is up 169 per cent from 1,768 in 2010.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, the national charity for homeless people, said: "It is truly a catastrophe that in a country as prosperous as this, more and more people are finding themselves forced to sleep in dangerous and freezing conditions.

"Today's report makes it only too clear that unless we take action as a society, the problem is only going to keep getting worse with every year that passes.

"Rough sleeping ruins lives, leaving people vulnerable to violence and abuse, and taking a dreadful toll on mental and physical health.

"Our research has shown how rough sleepers are 17 times more likely to be victims of violence.

"This is no way for anyone to live."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "No one should ever have to sleep rough.

"That's why this Government is committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminating it altogether by 2027.

"To break the homelessness cycle once and for all, we are providing over £1billion of funding, supporting rough sleepers with the most complex needs through a new Housing First approach and bringing in the most ambitious legislation in decades that will mean people get the support they need earlier.

"In addition, a new cross-Government taskforce supported by a panel of experts will drive forward a new strategy that will make life on the streets a thing of the past."