THE rapid increase in deaths of homeless people is a “shameful sign of government failure,” Labour said today, after rough sleepers suffered their deadliest year on record.

The Office for National Statistics recorded an estimated 778 deaths of homeless people in England and Wales in 2019 — a 7 per cent increase on the 726 deaths of the year prior.

The fifth straight annual increase pushed the number of deaths to its highest since records began in 2013.

The most common cause of death was recorded as drug poisoning, accounting for 37.1 per cent of fatalities.

There was also a huge spike in the number of suicides, with an increase of 30.2 per cent on the previous year.

The mean age of death among homeless people was 45.9 years for men and 43.4 years for women.

In the general population of England and Wales, the mean age of death is 76.1 years for men and 80.9 for women.

Homelessness charity St Mungo’s said the figures were a “stark and tragic reminder of how dangerous homelessness can be.” 

Charities said that in order to prevent more avoidable deaths, the government must investigate every case in which a homeless person has died.

Crisis chief executive Jon Sparkes said: “Every one of these human beings will have had different lives, different characters and different stories. It is heart-breaking that what unites them is the systematic failure of successive governments.

“It is vital that the UK government urgently fulfils its previous commitment and expands the safeguarding system used to investigate the deaths of vulnerable adults to include anyone who has died while homeless.”

Rough sleeping has more than doubled in the 10 years since the Tories came to power and began a ruthless regime of welfare cuts and austerity.

Shadow housing secretary Thangham Debbonaire branded the figures a “shameful sign of government failure [which] should raise alarm at the top of government.

“Before the Covid crisis a record number of people were dying while homeless,” she said. “This winter will be even more dangerous.”

Labour warned that homelessness services will struggle to adequately provide shelter to rough sleepers this winter as social distancing regulations limit the number of available beds.

The party warned that thousands of rough sleepers risk being turned away unless the government ensures that everyone has a safe place to stay.

“This is a matter of life or death,” Ms Debbonaire said. 

Homeless Link chief executive Rick Henderson called on the government to treat homelessness as a health emergency.

“This year, the pandemic saw the government treat homelessness as a health issue, bringing people in to emergency accommodation. But the truth is that homelessness has always been a health emergency,” he said.

He urged the government to build on recent efforts, including by “improving access to health services and solving the structural causes of homelessness, including poverty and the inadequate welfare system, to end rough sleeping and homelessness for good.”

The government today pledged an extra £23 million to support rough sleepers and vulnerable people with drug and alcohol dependencies. The programme will receive a further £52m in 2021 to 2022. 

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “Every death of someone sleeping rough on our streets is one too many.

“That’s why we are investing over £700m to tackle rough sleeping and homelessness this year alone as part of our mission to end rough sleeping for good.”