HC Deb 22 February 1991 vol 186 cc281-2W
Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will provide a borough-by-borough breakdown of his Department's estimate of about 2,000 to 3,000 people sleeping rough in central London, referred to by the Minister for Housing and Planning in an oral answer on 30 January 1991 at column 926;

(2) on what date the estimate of people sleeping rough in central London referred to in his oral answer of 30 January 1991 Official Report, column 926, was arrived at; and who was involved in making the estimate;

(3) what differences there are between the areas covered by the estimate for people sleeping rough given by the Minister for Housing and Planning in an oral answer on 30 January 1991, Official Report, column 926, and those covered by the oral answer by the Under-Secretary of State on 8 February 1991, Official Report, column 543.

Sir George Young

The estimate given in the oral answer on 30 January related to the whole of London and was based on discussions that my Department had during 1990 with voluntary organisations working in the field, in the light of the findings of the Salvation Army survey in April 1989 of rough sleepers in 17 London boroughs. This estimate was not broken down on a borough by borough basis. The figure quoted by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State on 8 February reflects an estimate made by voluntary organisations in seven locations in central London at the end of January 1991.

Mr. Soley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to ensure funding is available to continue the facilities made available recently to the homeless during the recent cold weather; and if he will make a statement.

Sir George Young

[holding answer, 21 February 1991]: Yes. We have offered funding to the voluntary bodies and local authorities who provided emergency shelters for rough sleepers in London during the very cold weather to enable them to remain open for longer; 470 places are available at present and we are pursuing the possibility of further short-term emergency shelters. These are additional to the 2,000 direct access hostel places permanently provided in London.