HC Deb 12 June 1991 vol 192 cc900-1
11. Mr. Robert G. Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the progress of his initiative for dealing with people sleeping rough in London.

The Minister for Housing and Planning (Sir George Young)

The initiative has made an encouraging start. My Department has made £96 million available over three years for permanent housing, direct access hostels and support for rough sleepers. So far, some 1,000 places have been provided in a mix of houses, flats and hostels and these are already occupied by people who would otherwise be sleeping out. This number should double within the next six months and reach a total of over 3,000 by the end of next year.

The initiative has begun to have a significant effect on the numbers sleeping rough in central London and I hope that progress will continue as more accommodation becomes available.

I pay tribute to the voluntary groups, the housing associations and the London boroughs for the part that they have played in ensuring the successful start of the initiative in central London.

Mr. Hughes

Is my hon. Friend aware that people working in that sector recognise the enormous progress that has been made since he became the Minister responsible for housing? Is he further aware that, as he suggested, as a result of the initiatives, substantial inroads have been made into the number of people sleeping rough in London?

Does my hon. Friend share my view that the much smaller number of people now sleeping rough on the streets of London have multiple problems and are a hard core of people for whom accommodation will not necessarily provide the whole answer and who may therefore remain on the streets? Can he make progress in collaboration with other Departments to make available to such people the complicated care and help that they need?

Sir George Young

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his kind words. The resources were put in place by a far-sighted predecessor. My hon. Friend is right that the numbers are down. The people whom it has been easiest to help are those most ready to abandon rough sleeping. The more progress one makes the more one reaches a different client group, for which rough sleeping is more of a culture. That group needs more help and support if it is to be persuaded to abandon that culture.

In response to my hon. Friend's final question, 1 am happy to say that the Department of Health now plays a significant part in the initiative. It is providing hostels with high care, which can cope with some of the people who are mentally ill or have drink or drug problems. The first of those hostels was opened in April. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health announced a further £2.7 million of revenue funding over three years, to provide further psychiatric support for people who sleep rough.

Mr. Winnick

Is not it an appalling commentary on Government policies that, just a few yards from here, so many people are still sleeping out in alleyways and stations? It is almost impossible not to find such people on one's way home in the evening. Does not the Minister realise that, whatever provisions the Government are making, at long last, what is really required—and not in London alone—is that local authorities should once again be able to build accommodation? There are many people who may not necessarily be sleeping rough, but whom—this includes many of our constituents—are desperate for accommodation. Their problems will be resolved only when council house building begins again.

Sir George Young

The hon. Gentleman gives no credit to the many voluntary organisations that have worked hard over the past six months to make a real impact on the problem and reduce the numbers. The initiative relates not only to hostel spaces. For every hostel space there are two spaces in permanent move-on accommodation. This is not a short-term temporary solution but a long-term solution for people who have been sleeping rough for many years.