Fears for city's homeless despite ll in fatalities

CHARITIES VOICE CONCERNS ABOUT ONCOMING WINTER

- CARL EVE

THE number of homeless people to die in Devon fell last year, as campaigners warn millions are facing ‘one of the toughest winters yet’.

According to new Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, an estimated 10 homeless people died in Devon in 2021. That compares to 14 in 2020, 17 in 2019, 21 in 2018, and two in 2017.

Across Devon that includes five in Plymouth, three in Torbay, and two in Exeter. In 2020 the estimated number of deaths was seven in Plymouth, one in Torbay and six in Exeter. But this compares to one of the worst years in the region – 2018 – when an estimated 12 homeless died in Plymouth, four in Torbay and three in Exeter, as well as one in North Devon and one in Mid Devon.

The number of estimated deaths in our region has risen 43% from seven since 2013, when records began the ONS calculates. The confirmed identified cases are lower. In Devon there were six ‘identified’ deaths of homeless people in 2021 – three in Plymouth, two in Torbay and one in Exeter.