§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what was the estimated number of homeless living in(a) London and (b) cities outside London in each of the last 10 years. [25030]
§ Ms KeebleI have arranged for a table to be placed in the Libraries of the House. This present information on households accepted as homeless and in priority need in each financial year, and households resident in temporary accommodation at the 31 March of each year, as reported by English local authorities on their annual Housing Investment Programme returns.
§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many homeless people aged between 16 and 18 years were registered on local authority housing lists in each of the last 15 years. [24970]
§ Ms KeebleThe Department collects information on the number of households accepted by local authorities in England under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 and 1996 Housing Acts as being eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need. Available estimates of those cases where the authority considered the presence of a "vulnerable young person" to be the most crucial category in determining priority need are given in the table. This category was not separately identified in statistics collected prior to June 1991.
Information collected by the Department on local authorities' housing registers does not include an analysis by age of head of household.
Homeless households accepted by local authorities in England 1991–92 to 2000–01 Households with vulnerable young people As a percentage of total 1991–92 3,400 2.4 1992–93 4,650 3.4 1993–94 4,360 3.5 1994–95 3,850 3.3 1995–96 3,780 3.2 1996–97 3,520 3.2 1997–98 3,200 3.1 1998–99 3,560 3.4 1999–2000 3,590 3.4 2000–01 5,170 4.5 2001–021 2,870 4.8 1April-September Notes:
Vulnerable young persons are typically, but not exclusively, aged 18 or under. Households headed by 16 to 18-year-olds but accepted under another priority-need category (such as with dependent children or with a pregnant woman) cannot be separately identified and are not included in these figures.
Source:
DTLR P1(e) housing returns (quarterly)
981W
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many homeless households are in(a) temporary and (b) bed-and-breakfast accommodation in each region of the country; what steps are being taken to reduce these numbers; and if he will make a statement. [25737]
§ Ms KeebleAt 30 September 2001, the numbers of households in each region in temporary accommodation (which includes bed-and-breakfast) and in bed-and-breakfast (rounded to the nearest 10) were:
Total Of which bed-and-breakfast North East 1,540 60 Yorkshire and Humberside 2,080 270 East Midlands 2,050 70 Eastern 5,520 200 London 44,340 8,540 South East 12,860 1,410 South West 5,590 1,160 West Midlands 1,820 120 North West 2,150 150 England 77,940 12,290 The Homelessness Bill, when enacted, will require local authorities to conduct a review of the levels, and likely future levels, of all forms of homelessness in their area and to develop a strategy for preventing homelessness and ensuring that sufficient accommodation and support is available for those who are or may become homeless.
The Minister for Housing and Planning also announced on 3 December that a new Homelessness Directorate will be set up to bring together and invigorate existing work to help homeless people, as well as develop new work to help prevent homelessness, and investigate its underlying causes.
Additionally, we are determined to reduce local authority use of unsatisfactory accommodation to accommodate the homeless. Over the next two years the new bed-and-breakfast unit will work with partners to introduce measures to reduce the need to place families, especially those with children, in bed-and-breakfast. The unit will shortly be publishing targets.