§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many supported housing places will be needed to meet the 2003 target set for the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Programme; how many such places have already been and are in the process of being provided; how many applications to provide new places have been received; and how many have been funded. [155786]
Mr. Robert AinsworthAlthough precise data are not available, we estimate that around 1,500 units of supported accommodation will be needed to meet the Government target that by 2003 all teenage lone parents under 18 who cannot live with their family or partner should be placed in supervised semi-independent housing with support rather than in an independent tenancy.
An audit of existing provision of supported accommodation for housing teenage parents undertaken by local authorities as part of the 2000 Housing Investment Programme identified between 4,000 and 5,000 units of accommodation as available for lone parents with onsite or floating support, of which around two thirds (2,749 units) was available for teenage parents under 18 years of age. However, it is doubtful whether all of this accommodation is located in line with need or is of sufficient quality to meet the support requirements of teenage parents.
Local authorities are responsible for assessing the need for additional accommodation for teenage parents within their areas. Currently 128 new units of accommodation for teenage parents are being funded through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP). Next year's Approved Development Programme includes 205 new units of accommodation. In addition under the new Safer Communities Supported Housing Fund, £4 million has been allocated to provide 134 new units of accommodation for teenage parents and bids have been received to provide floating support for nearly 200 units of accommodation. The Housing Corporation will be announcing shortly the number of floating support bids, which it will be approving for funding in 2001–02.