Homelessness (Hansard, 22 January 1991)

§ Q4. Mr. Corbyn
To ask the Prime Minister what meetings he plans to have with representatives of the homeless in London.

§ The Prime Minister
I have no plans to do so at present. Ministers at the Department of the Environment regularly meet voluntary agencies that deal with the problem of homelessness. The most recent such meeting was on 17 January.

§ Mr. Corbyn
Is the Prime Minister aware that tonight more than 3,000 people will be sleeping on the streets of London, that 20,000 families are living in bed-and-breakfast accommodation in London and that last year there was an 11 per cent. increase in the number of people declared homeless in the capital city? In the midst of this homelessness crisis in London, will the Prime Minister make resources available for local authorities to build and to buy homes for rent, rather than creating bed-andbreakfast millionaires and paying money to companies for leasing properties? Does the Prime Minister agree that growing up in overcrowded bed-and-breakfast accommodation, or in shared housing, casts a blight over children's whole lives and that they should be allowed to grow up in the same decency that we would want for ourselves?

§ The Prime Minister
I wish to see people, and most especially children, properly housed. There is no dispute between the hon. Gentleman and me on that matter. Perhaps the first and the most helpful thing that can be done is for a large number of London authorities, including Islington, to bring into use the large number of empty properties that they own. As the hon. Gentleman knows, a few weeks ago my hon. Friend the Minister of State announced a substantial increase in resources to deal with the problem of homelessness in London.

§ Mr. Tracey
Further to what my right hon. Friend has just said, could he also look into the millions of pounds in uncollected rents which Labour councils in London are failing to collect? That money could also be channelled to help the homeless in a most constructive way.

§ The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend makes a perfectly fair point.