§ Lord Tomlinsonasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they will announce the outcome of their recent consultation on improving standards of temporary accommodation for homeless households. [HL5570]
§ Lord RookerMy honourable friend the Member for Pontefract & Castleford has announced today that in the light of positive responses to the public consultation on the Government's proposals to improve standards of temporary accommodation for homeless households the Government intend to:
make an order under Section 210 of the 1996 Housing Act to come into force on 1 April 2004 to end the long-term (defined as more than six weeks) use of bed-and-breakfast (B&B) accommodation as temporary accommodation for homeless families with children or where a member of the household is pregnant;
issue statutory guidance to bring together and restate existing minimum standards for all temporary accommodation used by housing authorities to accommodate homeless families and individuals under the legislation;
issue statutory guidance on additional standards that should apply to B&B accommodation where this is used by housing authorities to accommodate homeless families and individuals under the legislation; and
issue statutory guidance on the arrangements that should be put in place to ensure that all households placed in temporary accommodation by housing authorities under the legislation receive support to ensure that their health, education and welfare needs are met.
A summary of responses to the consultation will be made available on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website—www.odpm.gov.uk.