§ 49. Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what simple overnight accommodation was provided by local authorities in the Greater London area for casuals in the years 1960 and 1970, respectively; what policy changes in provision of this accommodation there have been in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir K. JosephIn 1960 homeless single men in London County Council Reception Centres at Camberwell and Woolwich averaged about 360 and a Centre in Southwark accommodated about 10 women a night. The Woolwich Centre closed in 1961. By 1970 Camberwell and Southwark, directly administered by the Supplementary Benefits Commission, housed on average about 530 men and 60 women a night. Both Centres increasingly emphasise the need to identify individual problems and handicaps and, where practicable, to help resolve them.