§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what is the estimated number of homeless people above the age of(a) 50, (b) 60 and (c) 70 years. [19361]
§ Ms Keeble[holding answer 3 December 2001]: This information is not collected centrally.
The Department collects summary information on the number of households accepted by local authorities in England under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Acts 1985 and 1996, as being eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need by main category of priority need. One of these categories is those households deemed vulnerable because of old age.
Some 4,000 households were accepted under this category in 2000–01, 4 per cent. of the total.
Age information on rough sleepers is not recorded in the format requested but information collected during counts of people sleeping rough and in homelessness agencies' client monitoring consistently shows that most rough sleepers are men, aged between 26 and 49.
In its 1998 report on rough sleeping, the Social Exclusion Unit reported that 6 per cent. of rough sleepers were over 60 years of age.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many homeless people there are in the Portsmouth, South constituency. [21796]
§ Ms KeebleThe latest available information reported to the Department by Portsmouth city council on the number of household accepted under the homelessness provisions of the Housing 1985 and 1996 Acts as being eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation is as follows:
Number of households Accepted as eligible, unintentionally homeless and in priority need during July to September 2001 162 Resident in temporary accommodation on 31 September 2001 70 Source:
DTLR P1(E) housing activity return (quaterly)
1017W