Joan Ruddock
Main Page: Joan Ruddock (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Nick Boles
The rule I would apply is that wherever possible it should be left to local authorities to make those decisions. However, there are a few cases where applications have significance beyond local authority boundaries and it is therefore impossible for one local authority to decide. In the case the hon. Lady mentions, I would imagine that that criterion was not fulfilled.
Dame Joan Ruddock (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab)
7. What recent assessment he has made of progress by his Department in reducing homelessness.
The Minister for Housing (Mr Mark Prisk)
The latest statistics show that homelessness is just half what it was in 2003 at its peak. However, despite the tough financial climate, we are investing £470 million to ensure that England continues to provide vulnerable people and vulnerable families with a strong safety net protected in law.
Dame Joan Ruddock
I really wonder whether the Minister has ever seen the fear in the eyes of a woman who can no longer pay her rent, does not know where the family will go, and does not know if her children can stay in the same school and if she will lose her job. Statutory homelessness has risen dramatically over the period of this Government. The Secretary of State warned the Prime Minister that it would go up by tens of thousands as a consequence of Government policies. What has the Minister got to say to that?
Mr Prisk
The right hon. Lady is right to make it a personal issue, because it is a personal issue, which is why last week I spent time with rough sleepers, who were out on the streets at night, to see for myself exactly the point she raises. I say to her that we are dealing with homelessness at its root, which means we are making sure we have a proper safety net that we have strengthened by making it easier to take people into settled and not temporary accommodation. It is why we are making sure that more people are going into work, so that they do not find themselves in difficulty, and we are making sure that we expand the private rental sector and build more homes. Sadly, I have to say that we saw the number of social homes in this country fall by nearly half a million under the last Labour Government.