HC Deb 18 December 2002 vol 396 cc866-8W
Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homeless people are living rough, broken down by health authority. [87203]

Mrs. Roche

The information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

On 12 September 2002, it was announced that an estimated 596 people are sleeping rough on any one night in England based on data collated from local authorities in the summer of 2002. Because health authority areas and local authority areas are not coterminous, it is not possible to give the number of people sleeping rough broken down by local health authority area.

Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what support he gives to homeless people discharged from hospital. [87206]

Mrs. Roche

Under the homelessness legislation, local housing authorities must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for people who are unintentionally homeless and who have a priority need for accommodation. This would include people who are vulnerable and unintentionally homeless on leaving hospital.

In addition, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working with the Department of Health on its revision of the Hospital Discharge Workbook, due to be published shortly. This emphasises that all acute hospitals should have formal admission and discharge policies, which will ensure that homeless people are identified on admission, and their pending discharge notified to relevant primary health care services and to homeless service providers, so that people are not in a position of being made homeless at this point.

Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made on improving the access of homeless people to health care under the national homelessness strategy. [87447]

Mrs. Roche

The Homelessness Directorate's report, "More than a roof", set out a new approach to tackling homelessness, focused on the problems that homeless people face in the places where they live. It identified addressing health needs as critical in helping homeless people as well as preventing homelessness.

In the Cross-Cutting Review on health inequalities, which the Government published on 20 November, inequalities faced by vulnerable groups—including homeless people—were identified as a top-line priority. As part of Government's response to this through measures to improve access to health services for vulnerable groups and others, the Government have put in place more than 1,300 Personal Medical Service Pilots and 42 NHS Walk-in Centres. Local authorities are expected to work with a range of organisations to deliver their homelessness strategies, including Primary Care Trusts on appropriate health services.

Tim Loughton

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many copies of Drug Services for Homeless People: A good practice handbook have been distributed; and what range of organisations has received it. [87465]

Mrs. Roche

All Drug Action Teams (DATs) and key local authorities and homelessness agencies were e-mailed a letter from the Under-Secretary of State, Home Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North-East (Mr. Ainsworth) and myself about Drug Services for Homeless People: a good practice handbook on 4 December. They were directed to www.homelessness.odpm.gov.uk/homelessness/pubs/drug-services/index.htm where the document can be downloaded, and were given the opportunity to be e-mailed the document directly. In addition, over 700 hard copies of the handbook are being posted this week to all DATs, Drugs Prevention Advisory Service (DPAS) co-ordinators, local authority Housing Directors and other key contacts. Further free copies are available from my Department's free distribution centre.

Tim Loughton

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding his Department is setting aside for(a) the research into the impact of temporary accommodation on health and education of homeless families and (b) the project to evaluate different models of family support to establish good practice announced in his press release of 3 December; when he expects this work to be completed; and which Government and non-Government groups will be involved. [87466]

Mrs. Roche

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be commissioning a major survey of homeless households in temporary accommodation early in the new year. The research will examine the factors that led to homelessness among a representative sample of households placed in temporary accommodation under the homelessness legislation, and the impact of homelessness and life in temporary accommodation on those households.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's procurement guidance strongly advises against releasing the project budget in advance of commissioning the work as this can distort competition. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will ensure that sufficient funding is available to cover the estimated cost of the research which we anticipate will take up to two years to be completed.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will consult other Government Departments, including the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills, on the research. In taking forward the work, the appointed contractors will be expected to consult local authorities and other interest groups.

In line with the commitment to tackle homelessness more effectively we are also commissioning a project to evaluate different models of family support. The project will examine models led by different agencies, the voluntary sector, Primary Care Trust and a local authority (Hull City Primary Care Trust, Blackpool City Primary Care Trust, Leicester City Council and the Field Lane Foundation in London). All the models chosen demonstrate multi-agency working and have a health focus. The research will examine the effectiveness of the models in preventing repeat homelessness and will identify good practice to influence future delivery of services.

The evaluation will commence in February 2003 with a review of each service by June 2003, and a final paper by December 2003. Again, it is not appropriate to release the project budget at this stage but we will ensure that there is sufficient funding available to cover the estimated cost of the evaluation. In taking forward the work, the appointed researchers will be expected to consult other relevant interest groups and agencies, drawing on other examples of good practice in the field of family homelessness.