HL Deb 08 April 1986 vol 473 c189WA
Baroness Jeger

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made towards replacing the 300 bedspaces for homeless men lost as a result of the closure of the Camberwell Resettlement Unit.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Baroness Trumpington)

When the Camberwell Replacement Scheme is complete the bedspaces at Camberwell Resettlement Unit will have been replaced by 855 bedspaces in small hostels run by voluntary organisations and 108 direct access bedspaces in three 36-bed hostels run by London boroughs. The department has approved 809 bedspaces in the voluntary sector of which 309 are now open and by the end of 1986 706 are expected to be open. The 108 bedspaces in the London borough direct access hostels have now been approved and are due to be open by early 1988.

In addition, all the remaining seven DHSS-run London resettlement units now offer direct access beds.