§ Lord Brockwayasked Her Majesty's Government:
What their reply has been to the request by Anglican, Catholic and Nonconformist Church organisations concerned in social responsibility that urgent action should be taken to help single homeless people by amendment of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act and more investment in council housing programmes.
§ Lord BellwinThe Government are currently reviewing the operation of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 to see if any changes are necessary. They hope to announce their conclusions shortly. Single homelessness is one of the issues considered in the review.
The needs of the homeless were taken into account in distributing the £2.5 billion made available to English local authorities for their housing investment programme in 1982–83. This is 6 per cent. more in real 108WA terms than in 1981–82 and includes the largest ever share to inner city partnership and programme authorities. How much authorities spend on meeting the needs of the single homeless is for them to decide.
The single homeless will also benefit from the increased allocation of £18 million for hostels in the Housing Corporation's approved development programme for 1982–83.