§ Mr. DowdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the current number of homeless families in each London borough; and what is the current number of homeless people in bed and breakfast accommodation in each London borough;
(2) what is the current total number of homeless people in London; and if he will list the figures by borough.
§ Mr. BaldryInformation on the number of households for which local authorities in England accept responsibility to secure permanent accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985 is reported in part E of the quarterly P1 return.
Details of the numbers of homeless households are published quarterly in a DOE Information Bulletin—"Households found accommodation under the homeless-ness provisions of the 1985 Housing Act 1985: England". Tables 1(a) and 4(a) of the latest bulletin, which gives statistics for the fourth quarter 1992, contain figures on total homeless households and households temporarily accommodated in bed-and-breakfast hotels in London. Details of figures reported by individual local authorities in London can be found in the suplementary table to the bulletin. Copies of both are in the Library.
§ Mr. DowdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his Department's current estimate of the number of people sleeping rough within the Greater London area.
§ Mr. BaldryMy Department does not make estimates of the numbers of persons sleeping rough. The 1991 census recorded the numbers of persons found sleeping rough at pre-identified sites in Greater London on census night, 21–22 April 1991; the total number recorded was 1,197.
A count conducted in November 1992 by voluntary organisations that work with homeless people found 419 homeless people sleeping rough in central London; this compares with a figure of over 1,000 prior to the introduction of the Department's rough sleepers initiative in 1990.