§ Sir David SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made on the latest annual report by Shelter on homelessness in Scotland.
§ Mr. RifkindThe reported results of Shelter's recent survey on homelessness in Scotland have been given careful consideration within my Department. Shelter does not make it clear the basis on which the statistics it presents have been collected, and its figures do not accord with those provided by local authorities to the Scottish Office. Nevertheless, both Shelter's and our own figures show that the number of households applying to local 545W authorities under the homelessness provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, and the number of them assessed as being homeless or potentially homeless, has remained fairly stable over the last three years.
The figures quoted by Shelter represent its estimate of the number of applications made to local authorities over a full year. Most of those households are found accommodation by local authorities, and others arrange their own accommodation. The figures are not an indication of the number of households without a home at any one time.