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5 Mar 2007 : Column 1800W—continued
Stray Dogs
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department has taken to ensure that local authorities are fulfilling their obligations to receive and collect stray dogs under the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and what sanctions may be imposed on local authorities who fail to fulfil their obligations. [124581]
Mr. Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
Local councils are legally responsible for taking in stray dogs under the Environmental Protection Act. Any dogs seized by their officers or brought in by members of the public must be kept for a minimum of seven days and be provided with suitable kennelling.
There is no specific provision in the Environmental Protection Act for this Department to intervene if a local authority breaches its statutory duty in relation to stray dogs.
Temporary Accommodation
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was to the public purse of placing households in temporary leasehold accommodation in each year since 1997. [122933]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 23 February 2007]: Communities and Local Government collects data on Local Government expenditure in England on homelessness through the revenue outturn returns. The public expenditure on placing households in temporary accommodation in each year since 1997 is tabled as follows.
| £000 | |
The increase in expenditure on leased accommodation reflects both that more vulnerable people are receiving help with accommodation, following the strengthening of the statutory safety net in 2002; and the Government’s drive to improve the quality of temporary accommodation used to house people under the homelessness legislation. Although good quality, self-contained leasehold accommodation accounts for around 50 per cent. of temporary accommodation used by local authorities, more needs to be done to help people find settled homes. In 2004, we set the challenging target of halving the number of households in temporary accommodation by 2010.
Temporary Accommodation: Nottingham
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much Nottingham city council spent on temporary accommodation in each of the last five years. [123553]
Yvette Cooper: Nottingham city council, like all local authorities, receives homelessness grant funding to tackle and prevent all form of homelessness. However, the funding is not ring fenced and it is for councils to determine how the funding is used to support their homelessness strategy. The Department, therefore, does not keep a record of the amount of money spent on specific elements such as temporary accommodation. The funding that Nottingham city council has received from the Department to tackle homelessness is set out in the following table:
| Homelessness grant (revenue) to Nottingham over the past five years | |
| £ | |
Temporary Accommodation: Romford
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what temporary accommodation was made available from central Government resources to homeless people in Romford in each year since 2000. [124816]
Yvette Cooper: Information about local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority rather than constituency level. The constituency of Romford falls entirely within the London borough of Havering.
Information reported each quarter by local housing authorities about their activities under homelessness legislation includes the number of households in temporary accommodation on the last day of the quarter, and the types of temporary accommodation. The figures include both those households who have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty, and those for which enquiries are pending.
This data is published in our quarterly statistical release on statutory homelessness, which includes a supplementary table showing the breakdown of key data, including temporary accommodation and type, by each local authority. These are published on our website each quarter, and data for each quarter from 2000-01 to 2005-06 can be accessed from the following address:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l156302
These tables have also been placed in the Library for each quarter since 2000.
Data provided includes the total number in temporary accommodation for each year, broken down between bed and breakfast, hostel, local authority/registered social landlord stock, private-sector leased and other types of housing.
A summary table showing the total number of households in temporary accommodation, from 1997-98 to 2005-06, for each local authority (including Havering) was placed in the Library on 23 October 2006, Official Report, columns 1663-64W, in response to PQ 93795, Chris Ruane—Table B. Note that this summary table also includes any revisions made by local authorities since the supplementary tables were published.
Local authorities receive revenue support grant towards statutory functions, including homelessness. In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions provides subsidy up to a set cap for all housing benefit claims paid for households placed in temporary accommodation under the homelessness legislation.
In January 2005, the Government set a target of halving the number of households in all forms of temporary accommodation used by local authorities to discharge their main duty under the homelessness legislation by 2010.
Unemployed: Greater London
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households there are in (a) England, (b) Greater London, (c) the London borough of Havering and (d) Romford in which none of the residents are in employment; and how many such households are in publicly-provided housing. [124844]
Yvette Cooper: Based on the results of the 2006 labour force survey, it is estimated that the number of households in which none of the residents were in employment was (a) 6,876,000 in England, and (b) 881,000 in London. Of these, the numbers in social rented accommodation were (a) 2,240,000 in England, and (b) 388,000 in London.
Reliable estimates for the London borough of Havering and for Romford are not available from the labour force survey. However, from the 2001 census it is estimated that the number of households in the London borough of Havering where the main householder was economically inactive was 23,000. The basis for this estimate differs from the LFS estimates above. The census estimate (a) excludes households where the main householder was aged 75 or over and (b) is a count of those households where the main householder was economically inactive—which is not the same as the LFS estimates of the number of households where none of the residents were economically inactive.
A reliable estimate of how many of the 23,000 households with an economically inactive householder were living in social housing is not available for Havering.
Reliable estimates for Romford are not available.
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