MP seeks help to tackle high rough sleeping rate

The MP for Gloucester is seeking an urgent meeting with the government after it was found to have the highest rough sleeping rate of 44 cities in England.

Alex McIntyre has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, to determine what can be done to bring the rate down.

McIntyre said numbers "appear to be increasing" despite Gloucester City Council having been given £2.8m from the government to deal with homelessness last year.

Councillor Rebecca Trimnell said the council and its partners had made "significant efforts" to help keep people off the streets, focusing on outreach, prevention, accommodation and support services.

Emergency accommodation service Jigsaw Conferences analysed government data on rough sleeping in 44 cities, covering March 2025 to March 2026.

The service found that Gloucester had 46.9 rough sleepers per 100,000 people this year, an increase of 23%, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Anyone who has visited Gloucester city centre in recent years will know that the city is home to an unacceptably high number of people sleeping rough," McIntyre said.

He accused the council of failing to spend its homelessness budget last year and letting "money slip through their fingers" while vulnerable people were out on the street.

He added: "If I secure additional support from the government, I need the city council to actually use it to make a difference to people's lives in our city."

Tents are often spotted in Gloucester's shopping centre car parks, churchyards and green spaces.

In March this year, 65 rough sleepers were recorded in the city.

However, the council said many of those individuals were recorded for only a single night before securing accommodation or moving on from the area.

The city council believes a more meaningful measure is an official single-night snapshot taken at the end of each month.

On March 31 this year, 32 people were recorded as sleeping rough in Gloucester which would equate to 23.2 people per 100,000, according to the council.

Trimnell said: "We know rough sleeping remains a serious challenge and we are not complacent about the numbers.

"Every person sleeping rough represents an individual facing extremely difficult circumstances.

"That is why we continue to prioritise outreach, prevention, accommodation and support services to help people move into safe and sustainable housing.

"Our focus remains firmly on working with partners to reduce rough sleeping and provide the help people need."

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.