§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many people were homeless in each year since 1979. [10981]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe numbers of households for which local authorities in England accepted responsibility to secure accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 and the Housing Act 1985 in the years since 1979 were as follows:
45W
Numbers 1979 55,530 1980 60,400 1981 66,990 1982 71,620 1983 75,470 1984 80,500 1985 91,010 1986 100,490 1987 109,170 1988 113,770 1989 122,180 1990 140,350 1991 144,780
Numbers 1992 142,890 1993 132,380 1994 122,460 1995 121,280 1996 116,870 Note:
The figures for the years 1979 to 1982 are not strictly comparable with those for the later years because of changes to reporting arrangements made in 1980 for non-metropolitan districts and in 1982 for London borough and metropolitan districts.
Site November1996 May 1996 February 1996 November 1995 May 1995 November 1994 November 1993 March 1992 Strand/West End 140 128 113 138 138 153 118 104 Victoria 44 56 33 34 41 33 33 36 Waterloo/Bullring 57 55 30 53 44 59 56 121 South Camden 45 49 29 47 47 43 69 1179 Total 286 288 205 272 270 288 276 440 Whitechapel and City 43 58 36 63 77 67 53 — W1/W2 28 25 32 24 — 34 — — 1South Camden total includes Embankment (now West End) and Temple (part now in Whitechapel and City) so exact comparison not possible. When the rough sleepers initiative in central London began in 1990, voluntary agencies estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 people were sleeping rough in central London. Monitoring arrangements for the initiative include counts of people sleeping rough, undertaken twice a year by voluntary sector homelessness agencies. The latest count for which figures are available, in November 1996, found 286 people in the central London areas covered. Information from previous counts, which began in March 1992, is as set out in the table, which also includes information on counts in Whitechapel and the City and parts of the W1-W2 postal district.