§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what new and additional finance is being made available to assist(a) local authorities and (b) voluntary agencies to tackle the problem of homelessness in (i) Strathclyde and (ii) Scotland as a whole.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonParticular attention is given to homelessness needs in distributing provisional housing capital allocations among local authorities. In 1991–92, in addition to the main allocation, totalling over £414 million on the housing revenue account—HRA—and over £105 million on the non-HRA, my right hon. Friend has made available an extra allocation of £2 million specifically to tackle homelessness in the four Scottish cities, including Glasgow. I shall be announcing the distribution of that total among the cities shortly. In addition to the grants already paid to voluntary organisations concerned with homelessness under section 39 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, we are currently considering making funds available to voluntary agencies under section 10(1) of the 1968 Act to enable them to provide support to young people at risk of becoming roofless and to make it easier for them to move into settled accommodation in their own area.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what new initiatives he is taking to tackle the problem of homelessness in(a) Strathclyde and (b) Scotland as a whole.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonProblems associated with homelessness play a large part in determining the Government's housing policies, in particular the distribution of capital allocations to local authorities. The statutory responsibility for advising and housing homeless applicants rests with local authorities. Other housing agencies, including Scottish Homes, also give high priority to homelessness.
Besides developing existing policies, the Government have taken a number of specific initiatives against homelessness which will benefit Strathclyde and the rest of Scotland. These include:
From April 1991 any deficit incurred by a local authority in operating a homelessness hostel will be met by housing support grant, whether or not the authority would otherwise receive grant.An additional capital allocation of £2 million is being made for specific projects to tackle homelessness and rooflessness in the four Scottish cities.We expect to issue soon a new version of the code of guidance for local authorities on the homelessness legislation, on which consultations took place late last year.Costs which local authorities incur in providing a homelessness service using resources other than council-owned housing will in future be charged to the general fund, rather than to the housing revenue account.Glasgow university's centre for housing research have been awarded a contract for a study of the role of social work in the management and prevention of homelessness.We are continuing to encourage local authorities to establish cash incentive schemes as an effective means of releasing council housing for the homeless. I am pleased that several local authorities are now pursuing this option.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list, for each of the last 10 years,(a) the number 626W of local authority dwellings built, (b) the number sold, (c) the number built by housing associations, (d) the number of homeless persons and (e) his estimate of the number sleeping on the streets.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe numbers of dwellings completed by local authorities and housing associations from 1979 onwards are published quarterly in table 5 of the Scottish Office statistical bulletins on housing trends in Scotland. Copies of these bulletins are sent to all Members representing Scottish constituencies and are available in the House Library. The numbers of dwellings sold by local authorities to sitting tenants are given in table 7 of these publications.
The information held centrally does not enable an estimate of the number of homeless persons and the number sleeping on the streets to be made. Information based on the number of applications received by local authorities under the homelessness legislation was given in a reply to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Maxton) on 1 November 1990, at columns 714–15.