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10 Sep 2008 : Column 1988W—continued


10 Sep 2008 : Column 1989W

Home Information Packs

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to review the operation and effectiveness of the home information pack scheme. [223112]

Caroline Flint: We continue to keep the implementation of Home Information Packs (HIPs) under review in light of market conditions. An evaluation of the HIPs programme is currently planned for 2010 by updating “The HIPs Baseline Research Report”, published in January 2007 and which is available on our website at:

We will keep the timing of this evaluation under review in order that it should take place after the housing market has returned to more normal conditions and to enable the identification of the impacts of HIPs separately from wider housing market effects.

Homelessness

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of households presenting as homeless were accepted as such in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each London local authority in each of the last five years. [217138]


10 Sep 2008 : Column 1990W

Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 14 July 2008]: Information about English local housing authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level.

Under the legislation, authorities must secure suitable accommodation for applicants accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need (or take steps to secure that accommodation does not cease to be available if the applicant is likely to become homeless within 28 days). CLG's quarterly homelessness Statistical Release refers to these duties as “the main homelessness duties” and relevant applicants are recorded as “homeless acceptances”.

Two tables have been placed in the Library. Table A shows the number of eligible applicants for whom a decision was taken, and the number and proportion where the applicant was found to be eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore accepted as being owed a main homelessness duty, between 2003-04 and 2007-08, by local authority. Note that the decision figures exclude applications by households not eligible for assistance under the legislation.

Table B shows the same data for each Government office region and for England.

The following table contains extracts from these two tables and shows the proportion of applicants for whom a decision was taken where the outcome was that the applicant was accepted as being owed a main homelessness duty, between 2003-04 and 2007-08, by Government office region and London local authority:


10 Sep 2008 : Column 1991W

10 Sep 2008 : Column 1992W
Percentage

2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08

England

45

45

44

46

48

Regions

North-east

44

43

46

51

55

North-west

42

44

42

45

45

Yorkshire and the Humber

42

37

34

36

40

East midlands

48

50

52

56

59

West midlands

44

44

41

46

52

East of England

49

51

49

50

53

London

45

46

45

46

48

South-east

48

50

51

52

50

South-west

51

49

47

44

46

London local authority

Barking and Dagenham

46

51

67

(1)

49

Barnet

19

16

(1)

63

50

Bexley

32

36

27

30

36

Brent

36

31

41

46

48

Bromley

45

(1)

56

60

72

Camden

64

63

71

64

62

City of London

48

70

58

60

50

Croydon

27

28

25

32

24

Ealing

42

36

32

26

27

Enfield

62

(1)

64

62

63

Greenwich

40

40

37

46

52

Hackney

(1)

63

(1)

48

49

Hammersmith and Fulham

51

53

56

33

60

Haringey

(1)

72

72

64

89

Harrow

40

18

20

29

38

Havering

61

43

(1)

53

43

Hillingdon

52

65

57

57

59

Hounslow

61

68

64

68

63

Islington

(1)

47

(1)

41

42

Kensington and Chelsea

48

48

27

(1)

24

Kingston upon Thames

33

(1)

(1)

24

24

Lambeth

57

63

59

54

70

Lewisham

54

58

55

58

82

Merton

24

41

63

70

69

Newham

72

(1)

55

46

44

Redbridge

77

(1)

69

52

66

Richmond upon Thames

41

58

57

46

48

Southwark

71

65

53

47

49

Sutton

30

30

37

40

40

Tower Hamlets

70

63

55

66

(1)

Waltham Forest

31

29

31

32

24

Wandsworth

46

46

44

45

38

Westminster

29

34

49

58

(1)

(1) Data not reported
Source:
CLG P1E data

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