HC Deb 04 December 1986 vol 106 cc760-1W
Mr. Corbyn

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his Department's current estimates of homelessness per London borough and the comparable figures for 1983, 1984 and 1985.

Mr. Tracey

The following table gives for those authorities responding to our questionnaire the number of households which, after due inquiry, were found to be homeless and for which the authority either accepted a reponsibility for securing accommodation or provided advice and assistance.

by the Single Homelessness in London Working Party. These give, respectively, information for successive financial years on hostel places available for homeless families and single people in hostels for which individual authorities are responsible and information for 1981 and 1985 on direct access, specialist and non-specialist places available for homeless single people in a wider range of accommodation including hostels. Copies of the CIPFA publications ar in the Library; the main relevant table from the working party's report is as follows:

TABLE 5
Bedspaces available for single homeless people in London—Comparison of 1981 and 1985 figures
Direct Access Non-specialist Specialist TOTAL
Borough 1981 1985 1981 1985 1981 1985 1981 1985
Inner London
City of London 225 13 268
Camden 1,927 774 71 96 211 234 2,209 1,104
Hackney 28 5 98 204 33 302
Hammersmith & Fulham 160 31 159 9 42 200 201
Haringey 36 95 68 95 104
Islington 534 13 129 72 255 619 384
Kensington & Chelsea 592 218 36 57 83 370 711 645
Lambeth 718 570 19 119 228 283 965 972
Lewisham 700 590 21 44 12 249 733 883
Newham 56 39 42 39 98
Southwark 1,992 620 36 122 152 245 2,180 1,057
Tower Hamlets 1,623 818 179 310 87 1,933 1,084
Wandsworth 54 84 20 296 74 380
Westminster, City of 2,516 1,110 17 135 14 67 2,547 1,312
Outer London
Barking & Dagenham
Barnet 87 92 87 92
Bexley 24 16 20 71 44 87
Brent 236 170 45 52 225 288 440
Bromley 39 89 39 89
Croydon 15 15 11 66 136 81 162
Ealing 100 19 35 50 151 169 186
Enfield 19 71 19 71
Greenwich 36 4 39 27 35 67 74
Harrow 60 10 20 70 20
Havering 16 36 16 36
Hillingdon
Hounslow 18 41 52 41 70
Kingston-upon-Thames
Merton 10 10
Redbridge 7 7
Richmond-upon-Thames 7 12 84 12 91
Sutton 17 19 42 19 59
Waltham Forest 21 37 20 91 41 128
Total 11,546
Less commercial hotels + working people's hostels 1,795
Comparable totals 9,751 4,835 330 1,539 1,723 3,654 13,579 10,078

Mr. Corbyn

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice his Department gives to local housing authorities concerning the provision of an address for homeless people for the purposes of obtaining medical care and registration with a general practitioner.

Mr. Tracey

Arrangements for ensuring appropriate access to medical services are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services.

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