Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many families have been living in temporary accommodation in each of the last five years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head.
The government has undertaken a significant programme of work backed by over £1.2 billion, to tackle homelessness. This includes supporting local authorities in the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act, increasing access to the private rented sector for families in temporary accommodation (TA) and supporting London boroughs to procure TA more efficiently.
Last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all.
The following data refers to the number of households with children who were living in temporary accommodation on 31 March on each of the past 5 years.
31 March 2015: 51,210
31 March 2016: 56,430
31 March 2017: 60,980
31 March 2018: 61,610
31 March 2019: 62,010
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children have been living in temporary accommodation in each of the last five years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head.
The government has undertaken a significant programme of work backed by over £1.2 billion, to tackle homelessness. This includes supporting local authorities in the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act, increasing access to the private rented sector for families in temporary accommodation (TA) and supporting London boroughs to procure TA more efficiently.
Last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all
The number of children living in temporary accommodation is down from its peak in June 2006 at 130,470, with 126,020 in March 2019.
The following data refers to the number of children who were living in temporary accommodation on 31 March on each of the past 5 years.
31 March 2015: 98,620
31 March 2016: 111,060
31 March 2017: 120,520
31 March 2018: 123,520
31 March 2019: 126,020
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which families living in temporary accommodation are experiencing isolation; and what steps they intend to take to mitigate such isolation.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The government has undertaken a significant programme of work backed by over £1.2 billion, to tackle homelessness. This includes supporting Local Authorities in the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act, providing £19.5 million through PRS Access fund to increase access to the private rented sector for families in temporary accommodation (TA), committing £40 million to support London boroughs to procure TA more efficiently and providing the Flexible Homelessness Support Grant, a £617 million fund towards homelessness services.
Last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all.
We are clear that local authorities should, as far as possible, avoid placing households out of their borough. However, in some areas where there is a limited supply of suitable accommodation, we are aware that, on occasion, it is necessary to place households in accommodation outside of the local area. This is set out in legislation and guidance which local authorities must have regard to.
Homeless households have legal rights to request a review of a decision to place them in unsuitable accommodation.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to attract recruits into early years provision.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Employers in the early years sector are responsible for recruiting and setting the pay and conditions for their employees, within the statutory requirements set by government (for example, the national minimum wage).
Early years employers that do not pay the apprenticeship levy can receive up to 95% co-investment from the government towards the cost of apprenticeship training. Trailblazer groups of employers, supported by the Institute for Apprenticeships, are also developing new standards for early years at levels 2, 5 and 6.
In March 2017, the department published the early years workforce strategy which outlined government's plans to support employers to attract, retain and develop early years staff to deliver high quality provision. The strategy is attached.
As a result of the strategy we have worked with sector stakeholders to develop criteria for new more robust level 2 qualifications, as well as developing new career pathways information to support careers advice, recruitment and staff development. The new career pathways map is attached.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the turnover of staff in early years provision has been in each of the last five years in England, Wales and Scotland.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The information requested on the turnover of staff in early years provision is not held centrally. Early years policy is a devolved matter and data collection is determined by the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what lessons can be learned from the recruitment of teachers and social workers for the recruitment of staff to early years provision.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The challenges for recruitment and retention, and the appropriate response to these, will differ between sectors. The department has worked with the sector to develop an early years workforce strategy, published in March 2017 and attached. This set out how government will support employers to attract, retain and develop high quality early years staff.
Since then we have worked with sector stakeholders to develop criteria for new more robust level 2 qualifications, awarded a grant to take forward activity to promote gender diversity in the early years workforce, and created a new career progression document to support careers advice, recruitment and staff development. The early years careers progression map is attached.
We are also supporting employer trailblazer groups to develop new apprenticeship standards for the early years workforce and investing £20m in in-service professional development and training for early years practitioners in pre-reception settings in disadvantaged areas.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the forthcoming national bus strategy will include provision to make buses affordable for families in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Transport can be a lifeline for communities and people who could otherwise be isolated. The forthcoming National Bus Strategy for England will focus on the needs of passengers and will set out how national and local government and the private sector will come together to meet the needs of local communities. The full scope of the strategy is currently being developed.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards reducing the numbers of care leavers who are (1) rough sleeping, and (2) homeless, in 2019; and what steps they are taking to achieve further reductions in those numbers.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many care leavers were placed in supported accommodation at the age of 16 or 17 in (1) 2015–16, (2) 2016–17, (3) 2017–18, and (4) 2018–19.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Information on the number of care leavers aged 17 living in supported or semi-supported accommodation[1][2][3] for years ending 31 March 2016 to 2018 is shown in the table below.
Coverage: England | |
2015-16 | 180 |
2016-17 | 90 |
2017-18 | 80 |
Information on the number of looked after children by age living in supported or semi-supported accommodation since 2016 is shown in the table attached.
Information for the reporting year 2018-19 will not be available until December.
The department does not collect information on the number of children who leave care aged 16.
[1] Includes semi-independent transitional accommodation, supported and unsupported lodgings, and foyers and similar supported accommodation for care leavers.
[2] Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
[3] Information on 17-year-olds care leavers has been collected as experimental statistics since 2015-16.
Asked by: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many young people in local authority care were placed in supported accommodation at the age of 16 or 17 in (1) 2015–16, (2) 2016–17, (3) 2017–18, and (4) 2018–19.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Information on the number of care leavers aged 17 living in supported or semi-supported accommodation[1][2][3] for years ending 31 March 2016 to 2018 is shown in the table below.
Coverage: England | |
2015-16 | 180 |
2016-17 | 90 |
2017-18 | 80 |
Information on the number of looked after children by age living in supported or semi-supported accommodation since 2016 is shown in the table attached.
Information for the reporting year 2018-19 will not be available until December.
The department does not collect information on the number of children who leave care aged 16.
[1] Includes semi-independent transitional accommodation, supported and unsupported lodgings, and foyers and similar supported accommodation for care leavers.
[2] Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
[3] Information on 17-year-olds care leavers has been collected as experimental statistics since 2015-16.