§ Ms PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of homeless people aged under 16, 16 to 18 and 18 years or more have had care orders at some time in the past; and what is the national average percentage of children who have care orders.
§ Mr. BowisThe Department does not collect information about the whereabouts of children once they have ceased to be looked after by a local authority. The number of children subject to care orders at 31 March 1992 in England, as a percentage of the estimated total number of children aged under 18 years, was 0.33 per cent.
§ Ms CorstonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were received into care because of homelessness in each of the 10 years preceding the implementation of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977.
§ Mr. BowisThe information available centrally relates to the number of children in England taken into care on a voluntary basis because their families were made homeless. Figures for the 10 years preceding 1977 are in the table.
Children admitted to care due to homelessness England 1968–77 England 1968 — 1969 — 1970 — 1971 2,829 1972 2,811 1973 2,619 1974 2,204 1975 1,503 1976 1,194 1977 946