§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the current number of people sleeping on the streets in(a) London, (b) the south east of England and(c) other major cities in England. [70724]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe most reliable method of establishing the number of people sleeping rough is by undertaking a night time head count. In 1996 my Department published guidance to local authorities on how to conduct head counts of people sleeping rough using a standard methodology developed in partnership with experts from the voluntary sector and local authorities. DETR officials have worked in conjunction with the voluntary sector to encourage areas which consider they have a rough sleeping problem to conduct counts. Since 1996 local authorities have provided details of street counts which have been undertaken in their area within the Housing Investment Programme (HIP) returns.
(a) London—Street counts in central London are co-ordinated by Homeless Network, the umbrella group representing homeless organisations in London, and have been undertaken on a regular basis since 1992. The most recent count in June 1998 found 373 people sleeping rough. Several other London boroughs have also undertaken counts, finding a total of 132 rough sleepers.
(b) South east of England—The following table provides details of rough sleeper counts undertaken in local authorities in south east England.
Street count Local Authority District County Date Number Slough Berkshire December 1997 12 Reading Berkshire November 1998 13 Windsor and Maidenhead Berkshire November 1997 3 Wycombe Buckinghamshire November 1997 2 Brighton and Hove East Sussex June 1996 44 Portsmouth Hampshire October 1997 21 Southampton Hampshire June 1998 22 Basingstoke and Deane Hampshire February 1998 5 Fareham Hampshire February 1998 13 Shepway Kent July 1996 3 Canterbury Kent June 1996 11 Oxford Oxfordshire July 1996 39 Guildford Surrey November 1997 8 Woking Surrey October 1997 7 Reigate and Banstead Surrey September 1995 0 Worthing West Sussex October 1997 5 Source:
DETR 1998 HIP Operational Information Form Section IF
437W(c) Other areas in England—The table provides details of rough sleeper counts undertaken in other local authorities in England.
Local Authority District County Street count Date Number Derby Derbyshire October 1997 2 Leicester Leicestershire June 1996 20 Northampton Northamptonshire September 1997 13 Nottingham Nottinghamshire July 1996 14 Luton Bedfordshire December 1997 5 Mid Bedfordshire Bedfordshire December 1997 1 Cambridge Cambridgeshire July 1997 30 Peterborough Cambridgeshire June 1997 2 Southend-on-Sea Essex 1996 0 Colchester Essex December 1997 0 St. Albans Hertfordshire June 1998 3 East Hertfordshire Hertfordshire March 1998 6 Great Yarmouth Norfolk November 1997 13 Norwich Norfolk October 1997 19 Ipswich Suffolk December 1997 7 Liverpool Merseyside March 1998 17 South Tyneside Tyne and Wear June 1998 1 Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear March 1998 2 Sunderland Tyne and Wear February 1998 0 Manchester Greater Manchester July 1996 31 Oldham Greater Manchester July 1995 3 Tameside Greater Manchester February 1998 1 Bury Greater Manchester January 1998 12 Burnley Lancashire October 1997 0 Wyre Lancashire September 1997 6 Blackpool Lancashire July 1997 15 North Somerset Avon December 1997 1 Bath & North East Somerset Avon July 1996 12 Bristol Avon June 1998 42 Caradon Cornwall April 1998 3 Carrick Cornwall April 1998 3 Penwith Cornwall April 1998 17 Kerrier Cornwall March 1998 3 North Cornwall Cornwall March 1998 0 Restormel Cornwall March 1998 10 Mid Devon Devon October 1997 9 Plymouth Devon October 1997 13 Exeter Devon July 1997 27 Poole Dorset October 1997 4 Bournemouth Dorset August 1997 44 Weymouth and Portland Dorset May 1997 3 Cheltenham Gloucestershire December 1997 1 Gloucester Gloucestershire November 1997 16 Taunton Deane Somerset May 1997 1 Swindon Wiltshire December 1997 17 Worcester Hereford and Worcester 1995 20 Redditch Hereford and Worcester March 1998 0 Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire November 1997 0 Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire November 1997 20 Warwick Warwickshire September 1997 3 Birmingham West Midlands November 1997 56 Kingston upon Hull Humberside November 1997 0 Hambleton North Yorkshire June 1997 0 Harrogate North Yorkshire March 1998 1 York North Yorkshire March 1998 12 Doncaster South Yorkshire September 1998 8 Barnsley South Yorkshire May 1998 0 Sheffield South Yorkshire April 1997 15 Leeds West Yorkshire October 1997 8 Bradford West Yorkshire September 1997 2 Wakefield West Yorkshire February 1996 8 Source:
DETR 1998 HIP Operational Information Form Section 1F
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will438W estimate the current number of young persons aged (a) 16 to 18 years and (b) 18 to 25 years in hostel accommodation in London. [70725]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThis information is not held centrally. The London Hostels Directory produced by Resource Information Services (RIS) provides details of over 26,000 bed spaces in a wide variety of hostels, shared houses and flats and other accommodation schemes. Some of these hostel schemes have a maximum age limit of 30 or under. Many other hostels in London will accept single homeless people from 18 to 65 years of age.