Why are so many people sleeping rough in Britain?
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2019
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
New figures show a slight decline in people sleeping rough in England. But since 2010 the trend has been upwards. Why? And what can be done about it?
David Aaronovitch talks to guests about the drivers that lead people to sleep rough, and how the UK is dealing with the problem now. GUESTS
Risha Lancaster - Co-Founder of Coffee4Craig in Manchester and a volunteer at a night shelter Michael Buchanan - BBC Social Affairs Correspondent Louise Casey - Head of the government's Rough Sleepers Unit from 1999 - 2003 Nicholas Pleace - Director of Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York Jon Sparks - CEO of homeless charity, Crisis
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.1 | Welcome to the briefing room with me, David O'Ronovich. |
| 0:12.3 | Step inside and get the knowledge you need to understand the issues that matter |
| 0:15.9 | from people who really know what they're talking about. |
| 0:19.2 | In this room, we value experts. And you can subscribe |
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| 0:28.4 | idea about how it could. Tell us what you think by writing a review or rating us on your |
| 0:33.2 | podcast provider. Our question today, why are so many people sleeping rough on Britain streets? |
| 0:43.2 | And if you enjoy this podcast, you might enjoy other editions of the briefing room, |
| 0:46.8 | which are all available on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:50.0 | Can I recommend to you to accompany this one, the one on Universal Credit? |
| 1:01.1 | Music Can I recommend to you to accompany this one, the one on Universal Credit? It was the coldest night of the winter last night. |
| 1:04.5 | To many Britain, seeing other people sleeping rough on the freezing streets, |
| 1:08.8 | feels like something to be ashamed of. |
| 1:11.6 | This morning, new figures for rough sleepers in England showed a minuscule reduction, |
| 1:16.6 | 74, on a number that has been growing steadily since 2010. |
| 1:20.6 | In many places, the numbers are up. |
| 1:23.6 | The total is calculated to be 4,677 as counted on a single night last autumn. |
| 1:31.3 | Step inside the briefing room to find out who's out there, why they're there and what can be done about it. |
| 1:41.3 | First, let's get an impression of what's going on from Risha Lancaster, who co-founded Coffee 4 Craig, an organisation which supports rough sleepers in Manchester during the day. |
| 1:52.3 | She also works in a night shelter. |
| 1:55.1 | What would it have been like last night in Manchester if you were rough sleeping? |
... |
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