A Northern Ireland Assembly member has called for a Belfast support programme to be extended to Derry, citing Street Needs Audit figures showing dozens of people engaged in street activity in the city.

The audit, covering a six-week period in 2023 across Derry, Belfast and Newry, recorded 288 individuals and 1,435 engagements with homelessness service providers. In Derry alone, 50 people accounted for more than 411 engagements, according to figures cited by Foyle MLA Ciara Ferguson.

Homeless Connect, the charity that contributed to the audit, confirmed that 33 of the engagements in Derry involved rough sleeping.

Ms Ferguson told the Assembly that the Belfast City Council's Complex Lives initiative should be offered in Derry. The programme supports people caught in cycles of rough sleeping, addiction, poor mental and physical health, and offending behaviour, working in partnership with voluntary, community and statutory organisations.

The Sinn Féin representative supported amendments to the Justice Bill that would remove criminal penalties for rough sleeping and begging. She described the Vagrancy Act 1824 and the Vagrancy (Ireland) Act 1847 as outdated, noting that they include terms such as “rogues” and “vagabonds”.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has stated that no arrests or prosecutions have been brought under section 4 of the 1824 Act. Officers have, however, indicated that responding to rough sleeping takes up significant resources and that other agencies should play a more prominent role.

Ms Ferguson also highlighted that the number of households in Northern Ireland with homeless status has risen by 122 per cent to more than 33,000, while homelessness charities remain constrained by short-term funding arrangements.