HC Deb 17 November 2003 vol 413 c26WS
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Yvette Cooper)

I am pleased to announce 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 we intend toMake an Order under s.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 re-state 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 http://www.odpm.gov.uk/.