The most recent Chain statistics counted a record number of people on London’s streets between July and September this year.
Frontline workers counted almost 5,000 people on the streets across the three-month period – an 18% increase compared to the previous year.
Lord Bird kicked off the evidence session by telling MPs that rough sleeping will continue to be a problem unless more people are prevented from falling into street homelessness.
“I think all the eggs in the governmental basket have always been put on emergency, responding, responding, responding and they have never put any money on prevention and they have put no money on cure,” said Lord Bird.
“So we are now in the situation where more and more people – and it’s vectoring out into people who would formerly not have anything to do with homelessness.
“My opinion is the government and the last government – and the next government – because they are all working, unfortunately, in the same methodology, will continue to produce the pre-conditions of homelessness. Until we get a government or a government department who says, ‘Let us prevent. Let’s turn the tap off’ and spend the money, I think we are always going to be treading water.’”
It was a point that Lord Bird returned to on several occasions during his half-hour stint on the panel.
He returned to the point of prevention after criticising how homelessness funding is being swallowed up by emergency funding.
The government announced an £233m funding for tackling homelessness and rough sleeping at last month’s autumn budget. Last week, ministers also pledged an extra £10m to support rough sleepers over the winter.
But frontline homelessness organisations have warned they are struggling to keep up with rising demand and other fiscal changes.
The panel came less than 24 hours after 110 homelessness organisations wrote to chancellor Rachel Reeves warning changes to National Insurance rates could see between £50m and £60m being taken out of the homelessness sector.
The charities called for government support, warning that the issue could affect their ability to prevent and tackle homelessness.
“Everyone in the homelessness sector has an inability because of funds and support to actually do that,” said Lord Bird. “Until we put money into the organisations who are frontline and the street providers, we are screwed.
“We are responding to that emergency. Why is it that none of you say: how the effing hell can we prevent this from happening?”
It was at this point Eshalomi intervened, telling Lord Bird: “We’ve got the message”. The Labour MP assured Lord Bird his concerns would be addressed with housing secretary Angela Rayner.
“We are providers to emergency but we need to be made unemployed and it’s your job to do it. Please move the argument,” responded Lord Bird, before storming out a minute later.
Lord Bird later told the Big Issue he was “exasperated by government after government not addressing prevention but looks forward to working with a government that can exact meaningful change”.
Writing for the Big Issue last week, homelessness minister Rushanara Ali admitted that the state of homelessness was a “national disgrace” but vowed to “leave no stone unturned” to fix the issue.
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