Asked by: Lord Spicer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Callanan on 24 October (HLWS196), whether they intend to publish a new critical path showing how they will address congestion at the five London airports.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government has set out its preferred option for an additional runway in the South East, which will be required by 2030. However through the recent Aviation Strategy Call for Evidence the government has consulted on the proposal to support airports throughout the UK making the best use of their existing runways, subject to environmental issues being addressed and will respond in due course.
Beyond this, a new Aviation Strategy will consider whether there is a need for a new framework to be developed to allow airports to grow sustainably, and if so what that framework should look like.
Asked by: Lord Spicer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 11 January (HL Deb, col 10), when they will make available to the House the number of hostel places available and the number of people sleeping rough in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
One person without a home is one too many.
Whilst my Department does not hold information regarding the number of places in hostels for rough sleepers, Homeless Link, the national membership body for the single homelessness sector, estimates that in November 2014 there were 36,540 bed spaces in homelessness accommodation projects in England and 9,647 bed spaces in London.
Further information is available through Homeless Link’s Annual Survey of the sector. DCLG’s own annual snapshot indicates that in England there were 2,744 individuals sleeping rough on a single night in Autumn 2014. Just over a quarter of these, 742 individuals, were in London.
We have supported local areas to improve the quality of hostels through the Homelessness Change Programme, which provided £42.5 million of capital funding in 2012 – 2015 for new and refurbished bed spaces and facilities to provide meaningful activities to support pathways to independent living. The Department of Health is also funding a £40 million programme to refurbish hostels and improve the physical and mental health of rough sleepers, and provide low cost shared accommodation for young people at risk of homelessness.