§ 39. Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement concerning the steps he has taken, is taking, and intends to take to reduce the number of families made homeless.
§ Sir K. JosephI am setting up a working party to consider any steps to be taken with regard to the problems of homelessness in London.
§ Mr. Juddasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of those local authority children's departments which, within the past 12 months, 301W have taken children into care because the local authorities in question have lacked adequate accommodation for emergency caring and rehabilitation of homeless families.
§ Sir K. JosephThe available information is that local authorities in England recorded reception of 2,532 children into care in the year ending 31st March, 1970 on the ground that their families were homeless. But homelessness may have been a factor in other cases; and the figures for particular local authorities do not indicate directly the adequacy of the temporary accommodation for homeless families available to them since the decision to take children into care may in particular cases have been influenced by factors such as the illness of a parent in temporary accommodation.