§ 63. Mr. Tom Coxasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the long-term policy of his Department on the provision of overnight sheltered accommodation for homeless people in London; and if he will make a statement.
202W
Average daily number of available beds by specialty in National Health Service hospitals in England Specialty 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 General medicine 28,205 27,902 28,179 28,084 27,776 27,076 26,982 Paediatrics 6,775 6,709 6,574 6,638 6,420 6,251 6,148 Infectious Diseases 1,780 1,616 1,507 1,425 1,317 1,147 1,125 Thoracic medicine1 4,789 4,164 3,752 3,524 3,138 2,682 2,430 Dermatology 1,701 1,695 1,644 1,650 1,620 1,592 1,527 Neurology 2,011 1,935 1,937 1,974 1,953 1,927 1,856
§ Mr. LyellAccommodation for homeless people is primarily a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and for local housing authorities under part III of the Housing Act 1985.
However, this Department has certain responsibilities for people without a settled way of life. The Department provides temporary accommodation through its resettlement units of which there are seven in London. We plan to replace these units with smaller, more homely dwellings in the voluntary and local authority sector for which we will provide funding. Funds are already provided for voluntary organisations which currently offer a similar service.
In addition, funds were made available recently to cover the additional costs of voluntary organisations providing support and extra places of shelter for people sleeping rough during the spell of extremely severe weather.
Financial help with securing accommodation is available through the supplementary benefit scheme.