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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Answer

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homeless households in priority need were in temporary accommodation on (a) 1 May 1997 and (b) 1 May 2004, broken down by Government Office Region. [179944] Yvette Cooper: Local authorities report information on their activities under homelessness legislation quarterly, and this includes the number of homeless households in various forms of temporary accommodation as on the last day of the quarter. The position in each Government Office region as at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2004 is tabled as follows. Homeless households1 in all forms of temporary accommodation, by Government Office Region _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 31 March 1997 31 March 2004 North East 480 770 North West 2,100 2,830 Yorkshire and Humber 1,000 2,400 East Midlands 1,380 2,820 West Midlands 1,070 2,140 Eastern 2,600 8,220 London 24,060 59,170 South East 6,390 12,790 South West 2,210 6,150 England2 41,250 97,290 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Households in accommodation arranged by local authorities pending inquiries or after being accepted under homelessness legislation. 2 Totals may not equal the sum of components because of rounding. Source: ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly) The definition of households in priority need was changed in the Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002 to widen the categories of households eligible for support.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

179944; 423 c92W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Homelessness Temporary accommodation

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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