HC Deb 30 July 1984 vol 65 cc92-5W
Mr. Craigen

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will produce all eight tables of information relating to Scottish applicant households under the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 for 1981–82 and 1982–83 in the form as published in Scottish Housing Statistics Nos. 6, 10 and 15.

Mr. Ancram

All the information required to produce the eight tables in Scottish Housing Statistics Nos. 6, 10 and 15 is no longer collected centrally. Tables giving details of the operation of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 in 1981–82, based on the information now collected centrally, were published in Scottish Housing Statistics No. 19. Tables giving similar information for 1982–83 are as follows:

Reason for loss of accommodation Type of priority need Total
Household with dependent children Household Number Pregnant Household member vulnerable because of: Household homeless in emergency Household not in priority need Number Percentage
Old age Physical disability Mental illness Other special reasons
Other 1,134 188 207 89 63 352 53 548 2,634 17.2
Total: Number 8,739 1,424 681 301 137 1,074 513 2,451 15,320 100.0
Percentage 57.0 9.3 4.4 2.0 0.9 7.0 3.3 16.0 100.0
Table 3
Applicant household by circumstances as assessed by the authority and type of accommodation secured 1 April 1982 to 31 March 1983
Type of accommodation secure Total
Circumstances as assessed by the authority Both permanent and short-stay accommodation Permanent accommodation only Short-stay accommodation only None Transferred to another authority Accommodation to be provided but type not yet determined Number Percentage
Priority homeless, unintentional, local connection 1,878 3,175 626 36 3 36 5,754 40.2
Priority homeless, unintentional, no local connection, threat of violence 55 45 49 2 3 154 1.1
Priority homeless, unintentional, no local connection, threat of violence 12 17 33 24 57 1 144 1.0
Priority homeless, intentional 117 55 238 46 6 7 469 3.3
Non-priority homeless 18 32 341 727 2 1,120 7.8
Priority potentially homeless, unintentional 236 249 305 28 6 73 897 6.3
Priority potentially homeless, intentional 24 47 89 147 1 8 316 2.2
Non-priority, potentially homeless 10 47 93 446 2 10 608 4.2
Neither homeless, nor potentially homeless 64 91 319 937 5 10 1,426 10.0
Contact lost, etc. 5 29 5 3,386 1 3,426 23.9
Total number 2,419 3,787 2,098 5,779 81 150 14,314 100.0
Total percentage 16.9 26.5 14.7 40.4 0.6 1.0 100.0
Table 4
Homelessness in Scotland Summary of district returns 1 April 1982 to 31 March 1983
Applicants Applications assessed as in priority groups
Area Number Per 1,000 households Number Number intentionally homeless Number of applicants for whom permanent accommodation secured Number of applicants for whom only short stay accommodation secured Number of applicants in short stay accommodation on 31 March 1983
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h)
SCOTLAND 14,314 7.8 1734 785 6,206 2,098 696
Borders 57 1.5 55 1 32 22 8
Berwickshire 10 1.5 9 9 2
Ettrick and Lauderdale 23 1.8 22 1 21 1
Roxburgh 24 1.8 24 2 22 5
Tweeddale
Central 775 8.1 591 15 530 54 23
Clackmannan 288 17.1 228 2 230
Falkirk 152 3.0 149 5 103 44 8
Stirling 335 11.9 214 8 197 10 15
Dumfries and Galloway 277 5.4 233 22 208 21 17
Annandale and Eskdale 57 4.4 54 1 53 1 6
Nithedale 148 7.4 126 16 108 15 6
Stewartry 52 6.3 35 5 30 3 2
Wigtown 20 1.9 18 17 2 3
Fife 693 5.6 479 53 384 95 24
Dunfermline 292 6.5 254 10 246 12 13
Kirkcaldy 216 4.0 167 31 107 64 11
North East Fife 185 7.7 58 12 31 19
Grampian 929 5.4 383 96 167 148 14
City of Aberdeen 714 9.1 217 54 62 118 6
Banff and Buchan 12 0.4 12 11 1 3
Gordon 19 0.9 14 2 13 3 4
Kincardine and Deeside 16 1.1 14 13 1
Moray 168 5.8 126 40 68 25 1
Highland 134 2.0 93 10 41 51 27
Badenoch and Strathspey
Caithness 8 0.8 8 3 2 6 3

Applicants Applications assessed as in priority groups
Area Number Per 1,000 households Number Number intentionally homeless Number of applicants for whom permanent accommodation secured Number of applicants for whom only short stay accommodation secured Number of applicants in short stay accommodation on 31 March1983
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h)
Inverness 5 0.3 1 1 1 13
Lochaber 77 11.8 44 5 36 15
Nairn 44 12.6 40 2 2 29 5
Ross and Cromarty
Skye and Lochalsh 6
Sutherland
Lothian 1,591 5.9 706 220 365 379 36
East Lothian 272 9.5 207 11 88 91 4
City of Edinburgh 945 5.6 284 117 192 175 18
Midlothian 210 7.6 96 59 15 46 7
West Lothian 164 3.5 119 33 70 67 7
Strathclyde 9,051 10.8 4,631 312 4,001 1,289 498
Argyll and Bute 111 4.8 60 5 56 2
Bearsden and Milngavie
Clydebank 124 6.8 89 2 53 34 13
Clydesdale 23 1.2 23 22 1 11
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 261 13.0 156 11 136 7
Cumnock and Doon Valley 33 2.2 27 2 24 1 2
Cunninghame 181 3.8 155 1 120 32 3
Dumbarton 337 12.4 91 13 114 13
East Kilbride 257 9.3 191 19 33 171 32
Eastwood 8 0.4 8 8 1
City of Glasgow 4,509 16.2 1,974 40 1,928 79 323
Hamilton 362 9.8 255 63 111 220 9
Inverclyde 306 8.7 146 13 137 24 14
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 83 2.8 57 7 47 7 2
Kyle and Carrick 240 5.9 201 21 163 38 15
Monklands 468 12.9 91 24 6 336 8
Motherwell 930 18.3 499 48 453 279 36
Renfrew 595 8.2 433 35 441 23 27
Strathkelvin 223 8.0 175 8 157 14 2
Tayside 694 4.7 487 51 444 27 18
Angus 167 4.9 102 8 81 25 6
City of Dundee 189 2.7 174 31 171 2 10
Perth and Kinross 338 7.7 211 12 192 2
Islands Council 113 4.6 76 5 34 12 31
Orkney 5 0.7 4 2 1 2 1
Shetland 69 9.0 39 2 2 7 18
Western Isles 39 3.8 33 1 31 3 12

Mr. Craigen

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why his Department has stopped collecting part of the data about applicant households under the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977; and what consultations preceded this decision.

Mr. Ancram

In the review of the Government statistical services carried out in 1980–81, Sir Derek (now Lord) Rayner recommended that the information collected to monitor the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 should be reduced. The information now collected centrally in Scotland reflects the recommendations of a working group set up to give effect to the Rayner recommendation. The group included representatives nominated by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.