§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the figures for the number of children who came into local authority care between. 1 April 1979 and 31 March 1980, and in each succeeding 12-month period, because the family was homeless; and if he will give this information for England as a whole, Greater London, the metropolitan authorities, excluding London, the non-metropolitan authorities, and for each English local authority area.
§ Mr. John PattenThere may be a number of reasons for a child being taken into care of which homelessness, although a contributory factor, is not identified as the specific cause. Following are figures for the estimated numbers of children whose specific reason for coming into care during the year, was that their family had been made homeless, for each local authority, each metropolitan county, the Greater London council and England.
Figures have not been given for the 12 months between 1 April 1982 and 31 March 1983 because not all local authorities have let us have their report of numbers of children for the year ending 31 March 1983.
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1 April to 31 March 1979–80* 1980–81* 1981–82* ENGLAND 604 530 428 Greater London 96 52 54 Camden 6 4 (81)4 Greenwich 6 — — Hackney — — — Hammersmith 6 6 7 Islington (79) 2 (79) 2 (79) 2 Kensington 5 4 2 Lambeth — — — Lewisham 3 1 1 Southwark 4 1 2 Tower Hamlets 1 (80) 1 (80) 1 Wandsworth 14 (80) 14 (80) 14 Westminster 6 — 2 City of London — — — Barking 1 2 — Barnet — — — Bexley 2 — 1 Brent 6 — — Bromley 3 3 3 Croydon (79) 2 3 — Ealing 17 1 3 Enfield 2 1 2 Haringey 1 1 1 Harrow — — 1 Havering 2 — — Hillingdon — — — Hounslow 5 1 3 Kingston-upon-Thames — 2 — Merton — — — Newham — 2 — Redbridge (79) 2 3 2 Richmond-upon-Thames — — 2 Sutton — — 1 Waltham Forest — — — METROPOLITAN COUNTIES Tyne and Wear 9 18 10 Gateshead 1 3 4 Newcastle upon Tyne 4 (80) 4 4 North Tyneside 2 1 — South Tyneside (79) 2 (79) 2 2 Sunderland — 8 — South Yorkshire 25 17 17 Barnsley 5 1 5 Doncaster 10 4 — Rotherham — 2 4 Sheffield 10 10 8 West Yorkshire 54 24 44 Bradford 21 10 15 Calderdale 11 1 5 Kirklees 3 8 11 Leeds 13 5 9 Wakefield 6 — 4 Greater Manchester 46 51 28 Bolton 4 — 3 Bury 3 9 — Manchester 10 15 6 Oldham — — 2 Rochdale 2 4 3 Salford 3 9 4 Stockport 5 4 5 Tameside 12 1 1 Trafford 4 7 2 Wigan 3 2 2 Merseyside 56 48 32 Knowsley 10 7 4 Liverpool 32 24 24 Sefton 11 7 2 St. Helens 1 — 1 Wirral 2 10 1 West Midlands 28 30 20
1 April to 31 March 1979–80* 1980–81* 1981–82* Birmingham 12 17 10 Coventry 6 5 5 Dudley 1 1 1 Sandwell — 3 4 Solihull 1 — — Walsall 6 4 — Wolverhampton 2 — — NON METROPOLITAN COUNTIES Cleveland 3 7 5 Cumbria 10 — 8 Durham 20 11 12 Northumberland 6 3 3 Humberside 15 18 11 North Yorkshire 7 3 9 Cheshire 10 4 5 Lancashire 24 34 25 Hereford and Worcester 3 5 6 Salop 5 3 5 Staffordshire 29 22 1 Warwickshire 5 7 6 Derbyshire 6 7 11 Leicestershire 7 6 5 Lincolnshire 1 8 6 Northamptonshire 1 1 1 Nottinghamshire 13 8 13 Bedfordshire 12 2 7 Berkshire 17 11 3 Buckinghamshire 5 9 — Cambridgeshire 3 4 — Essex 4 16 9 Hertfordshire 8 2 — Norfolk 1 3 4 Oxfordshire 1 — 3 Suffolk 5 6 3 Dorset 9 3 3 Hampshire 7 22 16 Isle of Wight 1 — — Kent 19 13 (81) 13 Surrey 6 — 4 East Sussex 4 11 1 West Sussex — 5 2 Wiltshire 6 6 5 Avon 7 8 3 Cornwall — 2 2 Devon 4 9 4 Gloucestershire 5 11 9 Isles of Scilly — — — Somerset 1 — — * Unless otherwise indicated.
§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children are currently in care in the Staffordshire, Moorlands constituency; and, on average, for how long they have been in care.
§ Mr. John PattenThis information is not available centrally. I suggest that my hon. Friend approach the Staffordshire county council.