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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Answer

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homeless families there were in Shrewsbury and Atcham in each year since 1997. [223147] Yvette Cooper: Information about local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly and is in respect of households rather than families. The number of households accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need and the number of households in temporary accommodation arranged by local authorities under homelessness legislation as at 31 March of each year in Shrewsbury and Atcham, since 1997, is tabled as follows. Also shown is the number of acceptances, and those in temporary accommodation, as a percentage of all households in Shrewsbury and Atcham. After being accepted as homeless, a household will be placed in some form of accommodation. They may be placed in temporary accommodation, until a settled solution becomes available, or they may be given a settled solution straight away depending on the accommodation available to the local authority. As an alternative to temporary accommodation an authority may arrange for a household to remain in their current accommodation (homeless at home), until a settled solution becomes available. Shrewsbury and Atcham district council _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Acceptances1,2 Households in temporary Rough Sleepers4 accommodation2,3 (as at 31 March) Mid-year Total As a percentage Total As a percentage Total (number of household of all of all persons) estimates5 households households (thousand) 1997-98 40 84 0.21 39 0.10 -- 1998-99 40 94 0.24 61 0.15 0 1999-2000 41 92 0.22 103 0.25 0 2000-01 41 88 0.21 108 0.26 0 2001-02 40 104 0.26 116 0.29 0 2002-03 41 200 0.49 92 0.22 0 2003-04 41 299 0.73 73 0.18 6 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Households eligible under homelessness legislation and found to be unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category. Figures provided are for the financial year (ie April-March). 2 ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly). 3 Households in accommodation either pending a decision on their homelessness application or awaiting re-allocation of a settled home following acceptance. Excludes those households designated as "homeless at home" that have remained in their existing accommodation and have the same rights to suitable alternative accommodation as those in accommodation arranged by the authority. 4 ODPM Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (annual). Data not collected prior to 1998. 5 Estimated as at 30 June each year. ODPM. Information is also collected, since 1998, on the number of people who sleep rough, that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night. The above table shows number of persons sleeping rough in Shrewsbury and Atcham district, on a single night. Quarterly Statistical Releases on statutory homelessness published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister include information on decisions, and households in temporary accommodation, at local authority level in an associated supplementary table. The latest release, of 14 March, and previous editions are available both in the Library of the House and via the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c1193-4W; 223147

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Families Homelessness Shropshire Shrewsbury Atcham

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk