§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many homeless households were accepted by local authorities in 1995; and what were the figures for 1979. [21286]
§ Mr. CurryIn 1995, local authorities in England accepted responsibility to secure accommodation for 120,810 households under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985. The corresponding figure for 1979, adjusted to exclude intentionally homeless households which were no longer included after the first quarter of 1991, was 55,530. These figures are not strictly comparable because of changes made to reporting arrangements in 1980, for non-metropolitan districts, and 1982, for London boroughs and metropolitan districts.