§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many applications or inquiries under part III of the Housing Act 1985 were first recorded by local authorities for England as a whole during each quarter of 1991 and 1992; and whether he will arrange for this category of information to be published as a national statistic in his Department's homelessness statistics.
§ Sir George YoungLocal authorities report the number of applications or inquiries under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985 in their quarterly P1(E) return.
In the second quarter of 1991, the return was revised to collect information on the total number of applications or inquiries made; previously information had been collected on inquiries completed.
The coverage of the data now collected depends on the administrative practices of individual local authorities. These vary widely between districts and over different periods of time, making it impossible to provide reliable national and regional estimates.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many decisions were issued by local housing authorities in England under section 64 of the Housing Act 1985 during each of the four quarters of 1991 and each of the first three quarters of 1992 in relation to households of specific ethnic origin who were(a) found not to be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 28 days, (b) found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 28 days, but not in priority need, when advice and assistance only were given, (c) found to be intentionally homeless and not accepted for permanent rehousing and (d) accepted for rehousing on a permanent basis; and whether he will arrange for these categories of information to be published as part of his Department's homelessness statistics;
(2) how many applications or inquiries were first recorded in England during each of the four quarters of 1991 and each of the first three quarters of 1992 concerning applications for accommodation under part III of the 316W Housing Act 1985 in relation to households of specific ethnic origin; and whether he will arrange for these categories of information to be published as part of his Department's homelessness statistics.
§ Sir George YoungLocal authorities provide information on their activities under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985 in their quarterly P1 (E) return.
Since the second quarter of 1991, local authorities have been asked to report the ethnic origin of all those households who applied to them as being homeless and about whom they made a decision under section 64 of the 1985 Housing Act.
Many local authorities have yet to provide information on ethnic origin and my Department is currently assessing whether the available data are sufficiently reliable for publication.
§ Mr. William PowellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the total number of households accepted, by each local authority in Northamptonshire for each year since 1979, for securing permanent accommodation under the homeless provisions of the Housing (Homeless Provisions) Act 1977 and the Housing Act 1985.
§ Mr. BaldryLocal authorities report the number of households for whom they accept responsibility to secure permanent accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Acts in their quarterly P1 (E) returns.
For the information for the years 1979 to 1991 inclusive, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Angus, East (Mr. Welsh) on 17 June 1992, Official Report, columns 569–70.
The information for 1992 is in the table:
Households accepted as homeless in 19921 Number Corby 72 Daventry 88 East Northamptonshire 107 Kettering 78 Northampton 519 South Northamptonshire 133 Wellingborough 131 1 Excluding intentionally homeless households.