HC Deb 23 February 1989 vol 147 cc740-1W
Mr. French

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give in tabular form for(a) the London borough of Tower Hamlets, (b) the London borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, (c) the London borough of Sutton, (d) Calderdale Metropolitan district council and (e) Stockport Metropolitan district council (i) which councils are nuclear-free zones, (ii) which councils, acting as a local education authority, employ staff to teach peace studies as part of the curriculum, (iii) what is the estimated number of homeless people in the district for the most recent month for which figures are available, (iv) what is the number of empty council homes at the end of the most recent month for which figures are available and (vi) whether they have a declared policy of providing the funding for law centres.

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 13 February 1989]The information available on homelessness relates to the number of households for which authorities have accepted responsibility to secure accommodation under the homelessness provision of the 1985 Housing Act. This information is as follows:

Number of households accepted in quarter ending
Tower Hamlets 332 March 1988
Richmond 89 September 1988
Sutton 105 September 1988
Calderdale 56 September 1988
Stockport 120 September 1988

The numbers of empty council dwellings at the first of April 1988 are as follows:

Number of dwellings
Tower Hamlets 2,526
Richmond 154
Sutton 110
Calderdale 448
Stockport 452

Information is not held centrally on authorities which have declared themselves to be nuclear free zones, or which employ staff to teach peace studies as part of the curriculum, or which have a declared policy of providing funding for law centres.