Local councils have refused to share the personal data of rough sleepers with the Home Office because they say they do not wish to comply with the government’s hostile environment practices.

Campaigners have previously condemned a recently revealed Home Office policy to use homelessness charities to obtain sensitive personal data that could result in the deportation of non-UK rough sleepers.

A number of councils, including Haringey, Islington and Oxford, have now said they will not comply with the policy unless explicit consent has been given from the individuals.

Haringey council announced this on Tuesday, saying they held a position of “non-cooperation and non-complicity with the hostile environment”.

Cllr Emine Ibrahim, cabinet member for housing and estate renewal, said: “We know that working with [immigration enforcement teams] detrimentally affects our relationships with some of the most vulnerable people on our streets.

“Our homelessness services will never pass on people’s personal data to the Home Office without their explicit consent. We believe this is a contravention of their right to privacy and has little effect on their exit from street homelessness, which is the sole reason for our work with them.”

Ms Ibrahim added that while the council did help people experiencing homelessness return to their home countries, they would only do this with their explicit permission and when a package of support and transition have been developed with them.

David Lammy, the borough's local MP, said: "Proud that my constituency’s council is refusing to be complicit in the government’s hostile environment policy. Proof of a valiant community protecting its people from persecution. This is how you stand up to power."

Islington council housing chief Cllr Diarmaid Ward said the council would not be cooperating with the Home Office enforcement teams and that they had a been “unequivocal in our opposition to this practice”.

He added: “Rough sleeping is a complex issue, and the council's priority will always be getting people into safe, secure accommodation and giving them the support they need to move off the streets.

”The work we do is based on trust. Its success depends on our ability to gain, nurture and maintain the trust of the rough sleepers we work with, who are often extremely vulnerable, hesitant to seek help, and sometimes traumatised.”

Councillor Linda Smith, deputy leader and cabinet member for leisure and housing at Oxford City Council, said: “Our homelessness services will never pass on people’s personal data to the Home Office without their explicit consent.

"The day services we fund are open to everybody sleeping rough. This winter, we aim to provide winter-long emergency shelter to anyone experiencing homelessness – whatever their immigration status.”

A statement from a network of homelessness support groups, including the Outside Project and the Museum of Homelessness, welcomed the councils’ public confirmation that they would not cooperate with the Home Office.

“The hostile environment is killing the most vulnerable people. Cuts to services that our lives depend on and restrictions on who can access those services, through imaginary borders, has left people to die on the streets,” the statement read.

“These councils do not want organisations within their local authority areas to be complicit with the most disgraceful practice of targeting homeless people for deportation. They will not be part of this hostile environment.”

The Home Office established the programme, called the Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS), last year and it was exposed in the Observer earlier this month.

A previous plan to deport EU rough sleepers was deemed unlawful and discriminatory by the High Court 18 months ago.

The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Show all 10 1 /10 The Stats: Homelessness in the UK The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Sleeping rough up 165% from 2010 The total number of people counted or estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2018 was 4,677, up 2,909 people or 165% from the 2010 total of 1,768 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK London rough sleepers up 13% The number of people sleeping rough increased by 146 or 13% in London since 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK London accounted for 27% of people sleeping rough in England London accounted for 27% of the total number of people sleeping rough in England. This is up from 24% of the England total in 2017 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 64% of rough sleeps UK nationals 64% were UK nationals, compared to 71% in 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 14% of rough sleepers are women 14% of the people recorded sleeping rough were women, the same as in 2017 Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK 6% were aged 25 years or under, compared to 8% in 2017 AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Thousands of families staying in temporary housing Almost 79,000 families were staying in temporary housing in the last three months of 2017 because they didn't have a permanent home, compared with 48,010 in the same period eight years before Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Reduction in families living in temporary housing before Coalition government There had been a significant reduction in families living in such conditions before the Coalition government came into power, with the number having fallen by 52 per cent between 2004 and 2010 under the Labour government AFP/Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Families staying in temporary has risen since But the figure has crept up in each of the past seven years, from 69,140 in the last quarter of 2015, to 75,740 in the same period in 2016 and 78,930 at the end of last year Getty The Stats: Homelessness in the UK Nearly 58,000 families accepted as homeless (2018) Nearly 58,000 families have been accepted as homeless by their local council in the past year (as of March 2018), equating to an increase of 8 per cent over the last five years Getty

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are disappointed with the councils’ statements and have been clear that the RSSS is not using charities or local authorities to target rough sleepers.

“The RSSS was established last year to help non-UK nationals sleeping rough resolve their immigration cases and access the support that they need.