HL Deb 26 June 1997 vol 580 c189WA
Lord Gladwin of Clee

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What responses they have received to the proposals for changing the homelessness legislation contained in the consultation paper that was issued on 23 May.

Baroness Hayman

There have been about 200 responses to the consultation paper, the overwhelming majority of which unreservedly welcomed our proposals. Today we have laid draft regulations that would add households owed a main homelessness duty to the groups of people to whom local authorities are required to give reasonable preference in their housing allocation schemes.

This is the first step in our plans to rebuild a proper safety net for families and vulnerable individuals who lose their homes through no fault of their own. It means that, in allocating housing, local authorities will be taking into account the experience of homelessness alongside other indicators of housing and social need.

While it is for each local authority to balance the priority for different groups of housing applicants, this measure gives authorities the potential for moving households accepted as homeless into permanent accommodation more quickly.