Housing Needs Index

HC Deb 31 October 1994 vol 248 cc980-1W

Ms Estelle Morris

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to alter the weight given to homelessness in the housing needs index

Mr. Robert B. Jones

The weights given to homelessness in the 1995–96 housing needs index and the 1995–96 generalised needs index are being held at the same levels as in the 1994–95 indices

The Government believe, however, that the present mechanisms used to calculate the HNI and the GNI require substantial revision. The Department has recently completed a fundamental review of the indices which looked at all the elements of the current mechanisms and the principles underlying them. We wish to consider further and in detail the changes proposed during the review before making any major changes to the composition of the indices