Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many young people are currently homeless in the UK; what action they are taking to tackle youth homelessness; and whether they plan to create a national strategy to end youth homelessness as advocated by the PlanForThe136k coalition.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The most recent homelessness statistics for England (April to June 2023) are available at: Homelessness statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
This Government is committed to tackling all forms of homelessness including youth homelessness.
The Government's 'Ending Rough Sleeping for Good' Strategy, published in 2022 and backed by £2 billion over three years, recognises young people face particular challenges. The strategy confirmed a £200 million investment in the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) which will deliver homes for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping, including young people. In addition, £2.4 million of Rough Sleeping Initiative funding for 2022-2025 supports youth services in local areas.
The department will continue to work with local authorities and partners in the voluntary and community sector and private sector to tackle youth homelessness.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to incentivise people to downsize to smaller homes so that under-occupied family homes can be released into the housing market.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government has announced £10 billion investment in housing supply since the start of this Parliament, with housing supply interventions due ultimately to unlock over 1 million new homes over the Spending Review 2021 period and beyond.
At the same time, the Government recognises that a better choice of accommodation to suit changing needs can help older people remain living independently for longer and feel more connected to their communities.
The Government has established an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce to look at how a greater choice of housing might be provided for older people, including for those who wish to move from their home, releasing family homes into the market.
The year-long Taskforce launched in May 2023 and the Government is looking forward to receiving its final recommendations in 2024.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adverse impact on the ability of young people to vote as a result of the voter identification provisions of the Elections Act 2022; whether all those eligible to vote will have access to acceptable forms of identity documents irrespective of age; and what steps they are taking to (1) monitor, and (2) assess, the effects of the new voter identification system amongst all age groups at the local elections in May.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Noble Marquess to the debate on Voter Identification at HC volume 728, column 138, debated on 21 February 2023, and to the answer given to PQ HL 6447, and the debate on Voter ID at HC volume 731, column 919, debated on 27 April 2023.
Regarding the steps taken to monitor and assess the effects of voter identification, I refer the Noble Lord to the response given on 14 March to PQ 162192 .
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many households have benefited from the Homelessness Prevention Grant since it was launched in December 2021.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Homelessness Prevention Grant supports local authorities in England to deliver their statutory duties to prevent and relieve homelessness and provide temporary accommodation where required. The funding is paid to councils and can be used flexibly to deliver their homelessness and rough sleeping strategies, in line with local priorities. 278,110 households were assessed as either being threatened with homelessness or already homeless in 2021-22 and therefore owed a homelessness duty and supported by councils.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Ukrainian refugees have arrived in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme since it was launched on 14 March.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
As of 20 April, 65,900 applications had been submitted under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme (compared to 41,200 under the Ukraine Families Scheme.) Of these 39,300 have been approved and as of 18 April, 6,600 have arrived in the UK.
LA level information on visas granted is now being published at www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukraine-family-scheme-application-data.
We have 31 welcome points up and running in all key ports of arrival, where those arriving can access support, translation services and support to reach their sponsor home.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many anti-Semitic attacks were reported during May in (1) England, and (2) London; and what steps they are taking to address such abuse.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
There is no place in our society for antisemitism. The Home office do not release monthly statistics – these will be published in due course. However, the recent figures from the Community Security Trust have recorded 267 antisemitic incidents between the 8th and the 24th of May. Of those, 115 were registered in London specifically.
This Government takes hate crime against any community very seriously and are clear that victims should be supported and the individuals who carry out these heinous crimes must be brought to justice. We are providing £14 million this year to the protective security grant to protect Jewish schools and community buildings. We were also the first country to take the important step of adopting the international holocaust remembrance alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism in 2016; and, following our encouragement, over 3/4s of local councils have adopted the definition, along with many other organisations, including the Premier League and over 80 Universities– demonstrating their willingness to support the Jewish community.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many rough sleepers there are in England; and what plans they have to deliver the same level of support as the ‘Everyone In’ campaign, launched on 26 March 2020 for the duration for which restrictions are in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We have taken unprecedented steps to protect rough sleepers during the pandemic. This work has not stopped, and through Everyone In, by November we had supported around 33,000 people with nearly 10,000 in emergency accommodation and over 23,000 already moved on into longer-term accommodation.
Given the new variant of COVID-19, and the current national lockdown, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure that people who sleep rough are kept as safe as possible and that we do everything we can to protect the NHS. This is backed by £10 million to protect rough sleepers and ensure their wider health needs are addressed.
We have written to all local authorities, to ensure that even more rough sleepers are safely accommodated, and to ask that this opportunity is actively used to make sure that all rough sleepers are registered with a GP where they are not already and are factored into local area vaccination plans, in line with JCVI prioritisation for COVID-19 vaccinations.
The most recent national statistics on rough sleeping are the Autumn 2019 annual statistics, which showed a total figure of 4,266 rough sleepers on any given night. The next rough sleeping snapshot statistics for Autumn 2020 will be published later this month.
We continue to work with the homelessness sector, local authorities and health and care partners, to ensure the needs of those experiencing homelessness can be met during the pandemic.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many households have been made homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic; and what additional support they have offered to those households, in particular to families, which have been made homeless as a result of the pandemic.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is clear that no one should be without a roof over their head.
The Government is spending over £700 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this financial year, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to end rough sleeping and fully enforce the Homelessness Reduction Act. This includes £263 million to local authorities to fulfil their statutory homelessness duties which includes activity to prevent homelessness and providing temporary accommodation for those who are in priority need, unintentionally homeless and eligible for assistance.
In addition, the Government has taken significant action to keep people in their homes. Landlords are required to provide 6-months' notice before seeking repossession except in the most serious cases such as anti-social behaviour, fraud and egregious rent arrears. This means that most renters served notice today will not have to leave until July, with time to find alternative support or accommodation. We have also taken steps in England to ensure bailiffs do not enforce evictions, except in the most serious circumstances. This legislation will be in place until at least to the end of 21 February when it will be reviewed.
This is on top of the unprecedented resources already committed to councils since the start of the pandemic, including over £4.6 billion in un-ringfenced grants, the Contain Outbreak Management Fund and additional funding for authorities to support care homes, high streets and the most vulnerable in their communities.
Relevant data for the period April – June 2020 can be found (attached) here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statutory-homelessness-in-england-april-to-june-2020
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tenants over the age of 60 currently live in private rental accommodation; whether this proportion of older people in private rental accommodation is increasing, and if so, how rapidly; and what plans they have, if any, to take action to increase security for older tenants, including repealing section 21 of the Housing Act to prevent landlords from being able to evict tenants at short notice without giving a reason.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest English Housing Survey for 2017-18 estimates that there are 379,000 households where the Household Reference Person is 65 years and older, the age range for which data is collated by the annual English Housing Survey. The proportion of people aged 65 or over in the private rented sector has remained broadly stable at 8-9 per cent since 2014/15.
We know that security of tenure is a concern for many in the private rented sector, including older renters. That is why the Government announced in April that it proposes to create new rules around ending a tenancy by reviewing. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. These proposals are currently subject to consultation until 12 October and accompanied by a package of court reforms to make the system faster and simpler. The Government’s proposed measures will provide greater certainty for tenants and make the housing market fit for the 21st century.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the latest figures for the number of rough sleepers in England; and what progress has been made on implementing their rough sleeping strategy announced on 13 August and its ambition to halve the number of those sleeping rough by 2022 and to end it altogether by 2027.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The latest rough sleeping figures for the number of rough sleepers in England is the 2017 annual count, available (attached) online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-in-england-autumn-2017 . Results of the 2018 annual count will be released in January 2019. Following the publication of the Rough Sleeping Strategy in August, significant work has been underway across departments to deliver the commitments made. I was pleased to recently publish (attached) a delivery plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rough-sleeping-strategy-delivery-plan ) setting out progress to date and key milestones in the coming months. In 2019 we will publish the first annual update to the strategy, building on our existing work and delivering new interventions where our evidence shows they are needed.
The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why this 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 Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period.