THE number of people sleeping in rough in Barnsley has trebled, prompting calls from a Barnsley MP for government to tackle the problem by reserving more new homes for the homeless.
Rough sleeping or ‘street sleeping’ is where people are homeless and spending the night without accommodation, for example resorting to sleeping in shop or church doorways or on park benches.
Official government figures show the number of rough sleepers in the borough for 2015 - the latest data available - was nine, an increase on the three recorded in 2014. It puts the number of the rough sleepers in Barnsley at its highest since 2012, when there were five.
The data - intended to give a snapshot of those sleeping on the streets and not a definitive figure - is based on information submitted annually by local councils to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
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