Homeless Persons

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide details of applications made in Scotland under the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 for the period I April 1985 to 31 March 1986, in a form similar to the tables published on pages 42, 43 and 44 of "Scottish Housing Statistics" 1985.

Table 1
Applicant households by status, whether accommodation provided and period of application
Status	Period of application (year ending 31 March)	As assessed by local authority
Status	Period of application (year ending 31 March)	Number of applicants	Number of intentionally homeless	Number for whom accommodation secured
Homeless	1981	7,025	541	6,111
	1982	8,270	491	7,433
	1983	8,664	523	7,658
	1984	8,086	518	7,203
	¹1985	9,585	659	7.942
	¹1986	10,021	634	8,419
Potentially homeless	1981	2,443	342	1,652
	1982	1,988	281	1,274
	1983	2,000	352	1,293
	1984	2,301	279	1,465
	¹1985	3,390	310	2,251
	¹1986	4,158	315	3,077
Neither homeless nor potentially homeless	1981	1,785	—	767
	1982	1,678	—	619
	1983	1,522	—	515
	1984	1504	—	427
	¹1985	1,731	—	725
	¹1986	1,943	—	1,179
Not stated or contact lost	1981	3,615	—	85
	1982	4,019	—	32
	1983	4,273	—	43
	1984	3,625	—	35
	¹1985	5,085	—	—
	¹1986	5,315	—	—

Such of the information requested as is currently available centrally is set out in the tables.Figures for 1986 are provisional and exclude applications made to the districts indicated in the tables for which returns have not been submitted. Estimates for the more significant missing districts are: Stirling (1,200), Dumbarton (860), Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (700) and Nithsdale (170).

Status	Period of application (year ending 31 March)	As assessed by local authority
Status	Period of application (year ending 31 March)	Number of applicants	Number of intentionally homeless	Number for whom accommodation secured
Total applications	1981	14,868	883	8,615
	1982	15,955	772	9,358
	1983	16,539	875	9,509
	1984	15,516	797	9,130
	¹1985	19,791	969	10,918
	¹1986	21,437	949	12,675
¹ Based on incomplete returns.

Table 2—Applicant Households by reason for loss of last accommodation and type of priority need (1 April 1985 to 31 March 1986)
			Type of priority need¹ Household member vulnerable because of:
Reason for loss of last accommodation	Household with dependent children	Household member pregnant	Old age	Physical disability	Mental illness	Other special reason	Household homeless in emergency	Household not in priority need	Total number	Total percentage
Parents, friends or relatives no longer willing/able to accommodate	3,555	1,325	316	163	93	1,188	2	2,446	9,088	42·4
Dispute with spouse/cohabitee—violent	2,277	77	53	29	28	294	0	197	2,955	13·8
Dispute with spouse/cohabitee—non·violent	2,199	66	86	34	34	293	1	713	3,426	16·0
Court order	741	46	34	26	9	89	0	153	1,098	5·1
Loss of service tenancy	181	23	27	5	3	14	0	67	320	1·5
Action by landlord	362	91	71	19	6	34	3	292	878	4·1
Fire, flood, store etc.	226	9	79	9	3	8	559	21	914	4·3
Discharged from institution	7	3	17	13	43	65	0	65	213	1·0
Lost accommodation in hostel/hotel	56	50	29	17	8	43	2	197	402	1·9
Gave up secure accommodation	535	39	40	14	6	43	1	197	875	4·1
Other	839	122	131	45	26	123	7	574	1,867	8·7
Total number	10,978	1,851	883	374	259	2,194	575	4,922	21,437	100·0
Total percentage	51·2	8·6	4·1	1·7	1·2	10·2	2·7	23·0	100·0
¹ Households may be in priority need for more than one reason. All reasons given arc shown in the table.

Table 3 Applicant Household by circumstances as assessed by the authority and type of accommodation secured
1 April 1985 to 31 March 1986
		Type of accommodation secured			Total
Circumstances as assessed by the Authority	Permanent accommodation	Short stay accommodation only	Name	Transferred to another authority	Number	Percentage
Priority homeless, unintentional	5,610	1,656	174	79	7,519	35·1
Priority homeless, intentional	249	108	265	12	634	3·0
Non·priority homeless	355	441	1,066	6	1,868	8·7
Priority potentially homeless, unintentional	2,239	158	183	24	2,604	12·1
Priority potentially homeless, intentional	136	28	148	3	315	1·5
Non·priority, potentially homeless	444	72	723	0	1,239	5·8
Neither homeless nor potentially homeless	1,144	35	761	3	1,943	9·1
Contact lost, etc			5,315		5,315	24·8
Total Number	10,177	2,498	8,635	127	21,437	100·0
Total Percentage	47·5	11·7	40·3	0·6	100·0

Table 4—Summary of district returns
	Applicants		Applicants assessed as in priority need		Number of applicants for whom permanent accommodation secured	Number of applicants for whom only short stay accommodation secured	Number of applicants in short stay accommodation on 31 March 1986
Area	Number	Per 1,000 households	Number	Number intentionally homeless
SCOTLAND	21,437	11·20	11,072	634	10,177	2,498	875
Borders	33	0·82	33	2	12	20	4
Berwickshire	5	0·69	5	0	3	1	1
Ettrick and Lauderdale	11	0·84	11	2	7	4	1
Roxburgh	17	1·21	17	0	2	15	2
Tweeddale¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

	Applicants		Applicants assessed as in priority need		Number of applicants for whom permanent accommodation secured	Number of applicants for whom only short stay accommodation secured	Number of applicants in short stay accommodation on 31 March 1986
Area	Number	Per 1,000 households	Number	Number intentionally homeless
Central	2,067	20·59	1,580	17	454	1,278	161
Clackmannan	468	26·83	306	7	242	16	13
Falkirk	1,599	29·62	1,274	10	212	1,262	10
Stirling¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	138
Dumfries and Galloway	177	3·21	130	5	105	32	28
Annandale and Eskdale	55	4·02	30	0	22	10	3
Nithsdale¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	16
Stewartry	73	8·17	59	3	61	1	4
Wigtown	49	4·30	41	2	22	21	5
Fife	1,439	11·13	773	27	974	89	14
Dunfermline	539	11·53	371	16	345	32	11
Kirkcaldy	505	8·86	255	6	332	53	2
North East Fife	395	15·46	147	5	297	4	1
Grampian	1,593	8·58	775	29	975	178	24
Aberdeen	1,235	14·65	524	17	738	169	10
Banff and Buchan	46	1·54	30	0	23	6	0
Gordon	52	2·09	44	4	41	0	4
Kincardine and Deeside	18	1·08	18	0	18	0	0
Moray	242	8·05	159	8	155	3	10
Highland	341	4·80	181	24	142	30	18
Badenoch and Strathspey¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	2
Caithness	2	0·21	2	0	2	0	2
Inverness	273	12·85	137	21	106	23	6
Lochaber	42	6·03	25	3	24	1	1
Nairn	24	6·56	17	0	10	6	3
Ross and Cromarty¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	2
Skye and Lochalsh¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	2
Sutherland¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Lothian	2,618	9·16	1,006	86	1,025	429	72
East Lothian	430	14·10	249	16	282	15	9
Edinburgh	1,608	9·08	546	27	656	269	38
Midlothian	332	11·62	89	24	8	55	13
West Lothian	248	4·98	122	19	79	90	12
Strathclyde	11,699	13·50	5,350	392	5,406	340	496
Argyll and Bute	204	8·38	94	5	87	7	1
Bearsden and Milngavie	65	4·65	31	1	39	1	7
Clydebank	281	15·31	252	3	212	2	24
Clydesdale	45	2·17	37	0	32	5	1
Cumbcrnauld and Kilsyth¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	6
Cumnock and Doon Valley	46	2·91	37	4	19	16	5
Cunninghamc	319	6·34	278	8	221	47	8
Dumbarton¹	..	..	..	..	..	..	45
East Kilbride	431	14·82	195	30	168	79	33
Eastwood	7	0·35	7	0	3	4	1
Glasgow	5,890	20·70	2,005	131	2,077	14	86
Hamilton	425	11·27	266	22	236	77	22
Inverclyde	352	9·85	2·08	19	199	14	27
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	277	9·22	196	18	141	8	18
Kyle and Carrick	514	12·01	275	28	214	16	10
Monklands	398	10·91	142	10	141	3	21
Motherwell	1,075	20·40	246	62	483	35	44
Renfrew	1,151	15·23	927	41	1,000	6	135
Strathkelvin	219	7·47	154	10	134	6	2
Tayside	1,333	8·73	1,137	46	1,030	42	24
Angus	224	6·25	143	10	117	14	9
Dundee	660	9·30	600	5	599	1	12
Perth and Kilross	449	9·78	394	31	314	27	3
Orkney Islands	11	1·57	11	2	8	3	3
Shetland Islands	97	11·84	76	4	28	50	28
Western Isles	29	2·64	20	0	18	7	3
¹ Returns not received from these districts.

Volume 111: debated on Tuesday 24 February 1987