Rochdale borough has one of lowest homeless death rates in the north west

Six homeless people were recorded as having died between 2013 and 2017 in the Rochdale borough

The Rochdale borough has one of lowest death rates of homeless people in the north west, according to new figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the first ever experimental statistics of the number of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales at local authority level on Monday (25 February), for the years 2013 to 2017.

The meaning of homelessness follows the scope for identification of affected individuals in the death registration data. The records identified are mainly people sleeping rough, or using emergency accommodation such as homeless shelters and direct access hostels, at or around the time of death.

For that time period, six homeless people were recorded as having died in the Rochdale borough.

Across the north west, which recorded 330 deaths over the four years, the number of deaths recorded ranged between one (Lancaster, West Lancashire, Wyre and South Ribble) to highs of 51 and 53 respectively in Liverpool and Manchester.

Peter Maynard, head of housing at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Any death of a homeless person is a death too many and something that causes us great concern. We work hard to support people who are on the streets or at risk of becoming homeless and have a number of services available across the borough to support them.

“These include emergency accommodation provision, which is increased during the winter months, complex dependency accommodation, drug and alcohol support services, support to access jobs, training and benefits.

“We also support the Greater Manchester Mayor’s scheme, A Bed Every Night, and are backing a new initiative, Real Change Rochdale, which encourages people to donate money online, rather than giving directly to people on the streets.”

More information about Real Change Rochdale can be found at:

• www.realchangerochdale.co.uk

If you are concerned about someone on the streets or worried about somebody who is at risk of becoming homeless, please contact the borough’s homelessness service on 0300 303 8548.