To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people aged 18 to 21 years approached their local authority for accommodation on the basis that they were homeless in each local authority area in the latest period for which figures are available. (229736)

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. Data collected include all decisions made on applications for assistance by eligible applicants, and the number of these applicants accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). These households are known as ‘accepted’ households.

Information on applications for assistance under the homelessness legislation by age is not held centrally. However the number of households accepted by local authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty, is collected by age bands, and includes those applicants who are aged between 16 and 24-years-old.

A table has been placed in the Library showing total acceptances of applicants aged between 16 and 24-years-old, by each local authority, for the most recent quarter for which information is available—April to June 2008.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many free emergency beds are available solely to homeless youths at any one time in (a) the UK, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley District and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. (229860)

The Department does not collect this information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department and its predecessors has spent on services for homeless youths in each of the last 10 years. (229861)

My Department does not record figures covering total spend on youth homelessness services for the time period specified.

Funding for youth homelessness services will typically come from unhypothecated revenue and capital grants given to local authorities and the voluntary and community sector (VCS) by my Department. For example, we have allocated £200 million over the next three years (2008-11) for local authorities and the VCS to tackle and prevent homelessness. It is for them to determine how best to use this money to achieve this aim.

In November 2006, the Government announced a package of measures to prevent and tackle youth homelessness, this included the establishment of the National Youth Homelessness Scheme. During 2007-08, an additional £600,000 for new services was made available. It helped local authorities set up new supported lodgings and other supported housing services, as well as schemes to prevent young people becoming homeless.

Since 2003, administering authorities have been allocated funding through the Supporting People programme, to support the most vulnerable people in their communities through the provision of housing-related support. Authorities, rather than central Government, determine how to focus their Supporting People funding. We do not collect data on how much of the funding authorities spent on services for homeless youths specifically, but do know that in 2005-06, authorities spent £105 million on young people at risk, and £115 million in 2006-07.