§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make any additional funds available to local authorities to deal with the problem of homelessness during the current year.
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§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonIt is for local authorities to determine how best to deploy consent allocated to them for capital expenditure on housing. My right hon. and learned Friend took into account, however, local authorities' responsibilities for the homeless when making very substantially increased housing allocations in 1987–88. In addition, in October, Scottish housing authorities received £3.6 million supplementary allocations — not paralleled in England — for expenditure on their own housing stock.
In the expectation of underspends by English local authorities of allocations issued for financial year 1987–88, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced this week a redistribution of resources which will allow English authorities to devote an additional £25 million to projects specifically designed to alleviate the problems of homelessness. No corresponding underspends are expected in Scotland.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications have been made for accommodation in Scotland under the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act during 1987; and what is the average size of families making such applications.
§ Mr. RifkindStatistics on applications under the homeless persons legislation are returned to the Scottish Development Department by local authorities on a financial year basis. Although a small number of authorities have not yet completed the processing of figures for 1986–87, the returns submitted to date show just over 21,700 applications. No information is collected on the size of applicant households.