SHOCKING figures reveal rough sleepers in the Royal Borough have increased by 264 per cent in the last year.

In the government’s rough sleeping snapshot in England: 2019 report, released February 27, it found that Windsor and Maidenhead were ranked second for having the largest increase in the number of people sleeping rough.

The recent data shows 11 people were sleeping rough in autumn 2018 – that number has skyrocketed to 40 people (264 per cent) in autumn 2019.

In the report, the council stated the increase of homeless is due to the ‘intelligience and knowledge’ of where people are sleeping rough in the borough since the rough sleeping initative, funding from government to help tackle homelessness, was implemented in January 2020.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council (RBWM) announced it secured £490,000 from this funding last month.

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In a statement made by the council, they said the previous data collection methodology used evidence-based estimates, which involves street counting visible rough sleepers, where RBWM has moved away from this to evidence-based estimate informed by spotlight count, which involves collecting the data in a particular location on a chosen night, usually a hotspot of homelessness.

The council also stated 32 out of the 40 people have accommodation through the borough’s rough sleeper pathway.

Councillor Ross McWilliams (Conservative: Cox Green), lead member for housing, said: “Our new approach to supporting homeless residents is underpinned by core values of compassion throughtness and cooperation. This means leaving no stones unturned when it comes to supporting vulnerable residents.

“Changing the way we measure the number of people sleeping rough means we have a much clearer and honest understanding of how many people we need to help.

“There is always more to do, but this compassionate, thorough and cooperative approach is helping long-term rough sleepers into homes and delivering on the council’s centrail aim to support our vulnerable people.”