HC Deb 04 August 1976 vol 916 c863W
25. Mr. Adley

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is yet able to indicate the increase in homelessness in the last two years.

Mr. Freeson

There is evidence of increased provision of accommodation for the homeless, but this does not itself reflect an increase in homelessness. I shall shortly publish the first results from the new system of collecting statistics on homelessness. These figures relate to the first half of 1975 and do not directly compare with those in the old statistical system. Accurate trends can be deduced only when figures for subsequent periods are published later this year.

Mr. Ronald Atkins

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give up-to-date figures for those living in temporary accommodation for the homeless; how these figures compare with earlier years; and what action he proposes to take to alleviate the situation.

Mr. Freeson

As I told my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Mr. Douglas-Mann) on 29th July—[Vol. 916, c.362–3]—I shall shortly be publishing the first results from the new system of collecting statistics on homelessness. These figures show that at the end of June 1975, the latest date for which statistics are available, there were some 9,000 homeless households in temporary accommodation provided by local authorities. The figures from the new system, however, are not comparable with those produced from the earlier one.

The legislation we have announced will, by establishing clear statutory guidelines, assist local authorities to respond even more effectively to the problems of the homeless than, as the new statistics show, they are already doing.