More than a dozen homeless people have died in Chesterfield in past five years

More than a dozen homeless people have died in Chesterfield over the past five years, new figures show.They come as Shelter called the situation across England and Wales “utterly awful and unacceptable”.

Every year, the Office for National Statistics collates deaths of homeless people under the age of 75, their location, ages, and cause of death. The latest estimates from the ONS suggest there were 18 deaths in Chesterfield between 2017 and 2021. Of these, eight occurred last year. Across England and Wales, the ONS estimates 741 homeless people died in 2021, up 8% from 688 the year before, but down from a peak of 788 in 2019.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said they are looking at "one of the toughest winters yet" as rents rise while housing benefits stay frozen. “The Government promised to end rough sleeping, but things are getting worse not better. They must immediately unfreeze and increase housing benefit to protect people from the ravages of homelessness this winter, and to keep people off the streets for good it has to invest in building good quality, supported social homes.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said "good progress has been made" toward tackling rough sleeping, but that these figures were a reminder that there is still more to be done. They added that the Government is providing £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness.