§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his estimates of the number of homeless persons in each of the past five years.
§ Mr. FreesonThe number of persons in temporary accommodation provided by social services authorities under section 21(1)(b) of the National Assistance Act 1948 on 31st March in the years 1970 to 1974 were as follows:
London Rest of England Bed and breakfast (London only) 1970 … … 11,904 9,897 N.A. 1971 … … 13,227 10,909 N.A. 1972 … … 12,888* 12,034* N.A. 1973 … … 7,532* 12,841* N.A. 1974 … … 13,502 15,364 3,474 *Distorted by a change in definition and so not comparable with other years. No figures are yet available for 1975; information on bed and breakfast accommodation was collected from June 1973 for London only.