§ Mr. MaxtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the official homelessness statistics for Scotland in each year since 1978.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information collected by the Scottish Development Department relates only to applications received by local authorities under the homelessness legislation. Not all applicants are assessed by local authorities as being in fact homeless or potentially homeless.
According to returns submitted by local authorities the number of applicant households in Scotland, the number of households assessed by local authorities as homeless, and the number assessed as being threatened with homelessness in each year since 1978–79 are as set out in the table. The figures for 1989–90 are provisional, since returns may still be received from some authorities. In most years, some authorities failed to submit complete returns; part of the increase in the provisional figures for 1989–90 is caused by more comprehensive returns being received from some authorities.
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Year of application Number of applicant households Households assessed as homeless Households assessed as being threatened with homelessness 1978–79 16,055 7,437 4,022 1979–80 15,466 7,421 2,758 1980–81 14,861 6,993 2,430 1981–82 15,950 8,272 1,982 1982–83 16,522 8,674 2,079 1983–84 15,542 8,124 2,309 1984–85 20,477 9,913 3,467 1985–86 23,735 11,027 4,615 1986–87 25,184 10,571 5,802 1987–88 24,651 9,588 5,741 1988–89 24,664 9,607 6,111 1989–901 27,083 10,425 6,309 1Provisional