§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for the provision of lodging accommodation for homeless people, to replace the reception centres for casuals which were closed under the National Health Act and, in particular, if they propose to provide in various parts of the country, hostels for the temporary accommodation for homeless ex-prisoners.]
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, the noble Lord is misinformed about the closure of reception centres. The National Assistance Board are required by Section 17 of the National Assistance Act, 1948, to maintain reception centres for the provision of temporary board and lodging for persons without a settled way of living. I understand that at the present time there are 25 such centres, with a total accommodation for 2,000 persons, and that in recent years the number of persons sleeping in reception centres each night has fluctuated between 1,100 and 1,500.
My right honourable friend the Home Secretary is expecting a report on the Organisation of After-Care from his Advisory Council on the Treatment of Offenders and will consider carefully any recommendations the Council may make about the provision of lodgings for discharged prisoners.
My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland is considering recommendations made in the Scottish Advisory Council's report on the organisation of after-care in Scotland, which was published on April 1. One of these recommendations was that voluntary organisations should be given financial assistance in providing hostel accommodation for discharged prisoners.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, is the noble Earl aware that I have in my hand 419 a new report by the Devon Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society, which says that in the West of England 16 centres have been closed, and that there are no casualty wards left and only two small lodging houses and one Salvation Army hostel in the whole of the six South-Western counties? Is he further aware that this year a number of ex-prisoners died from exposure because it was impossible for them to find lodgings? If I send him this report, will he undertake to go carefully into it? Because it seems to me that his information is at fault.
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, I have no reason to believe that my information is at fault, but, of course, I will look carefully into any matters which the noble Lord brings to my attention.