The mayor of London yesterday announced funding for a new outreach team to help homeless people sleeping rough on the capital’s public transport.
The team, set up to support the rising number of homeless people who use Night Buses and Tubes as a place to sleep, will receive £300,000 funding for 18 months.
Transport for London data has revealed the number of homeless people sleeping on Night Buses in winter 2015/2016 was 121% greater than the same period in 2012/13.
However, there has been some progress in tackling rough sleeping. The latest statistics show the rise in rough sleeping has halted for the first time since 2009 — with 8,108 people seen on the streets last year, virtually unchanged from 8,096 the year before.
The outreach team will work alongside Sadiq Khan’s new million-pound Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund, which includes support for such projects as a new web-based tool to cross-check key details from the Missing People database with those on the Mayor’s CHAIN database of rough sleepers in London.
‘Over the last year, we’ve seen the rise in rough sleeping halted for the first time in nearly a decade – but even one person ending up in this position is too many, and I am determined to make sure homeless people get the support they need,’ said Mr Khan.
‘My new night-time transport team will work across our buses and Tubes to help people before they end up sleeping rough on the streets.
‘I’ll continue to work closely with councils, homeless organisations, and Government to make sure there is a way off the street for every rough sleeper in London.’