Information about English local authorities’ actions under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level. Data collected include the number of households 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). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
The hon. Member's question asks for figures for the months of December and January. The total number of households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty (‘acceptances’) are collected on a quarterly rather than monthly basis, and numbers in temporary accommodation are a snapshot as at the end of each quarter. Monthly data are therefore not available, but data are provided in the following tables for the last (October to December) and first (January to March) quarters of each year since 1997:
Acceptances October to December quarter Temporary accommodation as at December 31 1997 130 322 1998 133 386 1999 73 327 2000 113 404 2001 79 356 2002 46 327 2003 73 331 2004 73 285 2005 55 144 2006 36 169 2007 46 152
Acceptances January to March quarter Temporary accommodation as at March 31 1997 109 252 1998 96 346 1999 119 326 2000 108 339 2001 138 392 2002 52 351 2003 76 274 2004 70 246 2005 35 137 2006 38 145 2007 50 136 2008 28 159
Mid-year rough sleeping estimates have been published annually since 1998, and give a snapshot of the number of people sleeping rough on a single night, based on local authority street counts in those areas where there is a known or suspected rough sleeping problem. Rough sleeping estimates for Eastbourne borough council are shown in the following table.
Number of rough sleepers in Eastbourne borough council (mid-year estimate) 1998 11 1999 3 2000 1 2001 0 2002 0 2003 0 2004 3 2005 3 2006 6 2007 6 2008 0
Information about English local authorities’ actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level, about households rather than individuals.
Data collected includes the number of households 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). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
Information on the number of households housed in temporary accommodation is reported quarterly by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter. The figures include: those households which have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty; those for which inquiries are pending; those being accommodated for a limited period because they have been found intentionally homeless and in priority need; those being accommodated pending possible referral to another authority, and those being accommodated pending the outcome of a local authority review or county court appeal.
The number of dependent children (or expected children) in these households is also collected, but data on the number of adults is not. Figures for total households, households with dependent children and total children reported by the Eastbourne borough council over the last five years are shown in the following table.
Total households in TA arranged by local authority Total households in TA arranged with dependent (and expected) children Total children (and expected children) within these households1 2003-04 246 205 — 2004-05 137 54 82 2005-06 145 67 100 2006-07 136 76 127 2007-08 159 96 163 1 Children in TA was not collect until the 2nd quarter 2004.