Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help tackle overcrowding in social housing in (a) Gloucester and (b) England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024 that sets out the steps the government is taking to increase social and affordable housebuilding, which will help tackle overcrowding.
Local authorities, including Gloucester City Council, are responsible for allocating social housing through schemes managed locally. In doing so, they are governed by a framework set by central government which ensures that they must give ‘reasonable preference’ to specific groups, including people in overcrowded housing. Statutory allocations guidance also recommends local authorities consider giving ‘additional preference’ (high priority) to families in severe overcrowding which poses a serious health hazard.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of people sleeping rough in Gloucester; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a long term plan to end rough sleeping.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness and rough sleeping levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. This Government will address this and deliver long term solutions to combat the need to sleep rough. We will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us on back on track to ending homelessness and rough sleeping once and for all.
Whilst we develop our new cross governmental strategy, the £547 million Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) which runs from April 2022 to March 2025 will continue its support to up to 300 local authorities across England including Gloucester City Council by funding local, tailored rough sleeping services.
On 31 March 2024, there were 198 households in temporary accommodation in Gloucester. Of these, there were 94 families with 204 children. This information is available at table TA1 Detailed_LA_202403.xlsx.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the number of (a) adults and (b) children living in temporary accommodation in the Gloucester constituency.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness and rough sleeping levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. This Government will address this and deliver long term solutions to combat the need to sleep rough. We will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us on back on track to ending homelessness and rough sleeping once and for all.
Whilst we develop our new cross governmental strategy, the £547 million Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) which runs from April 2022 to March 2025 will continue its support to up to 300 local authorities across England including Gloucester City Council by funding local, tailored rough sleeping services.
On 31 March 2024, there were 198 households in temporary accommodation in Gloucester. Of these, there were 94 families with 204 children. This information is available at table TA1 Detailed_LA_202403.xlsx.