Tag: Lord Adebowale

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Adebowale on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children aged 16 or 17 have presented to their local authority as homeless in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2014–15, and how many of those were (a) assessed under the Housing Act 1996, and (b) assessed and then accommodated under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

One person without a home is one too many. That is why we have maintained and protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities through the local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20. We have also increased central government funding to tackle homelessness to £139 million over the next four years.

The causes of youth homelessness are highly complex and our priority is to ensure that young people at risk of homelessness get the support they need. That is why we have also invested in the development of a Positive Pathway framework to help local authorities and their partners support young people to remain in the family home (where it is safe to do so) through a collaborative and integrated approach, as well as identifying the relevant support services needed should they become homeless. This includes supported accommodation as a starting point for 16 and 17 year olds.

Since 2002, 16 to 17 year olds have been classed as a priority need category and are owned a main homeless duty by their local authority. The number of 16 or 17 year olds who applied and were accepted as homeless was 580 in 2014-15, and 530 in 2015-16 (falling from 2,190 in 2009-10). All of these cases were dealt with under the homelessness provisions of Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.

We do not hold details on the age of applicants who reported to their local authority but were ineligible or not homeless.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Adebowale on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in transferring healthcare in police custody to the NHS from April 2015; why that transfer has been delayed; what plans they have to ensure that work done by the police and NHS England to date is not lost; and how they will ensure that the same level of physical and mental healthcare is available to those in custody as to those not in custody.

Lord Bates

My rt honFriend the Home Secretary has decided that a reallocation from the overall police settlement in respect of custody healthcare costs would not be appropriate at this time. Funding responsibility for police custody healthcare services will therefore remain with Police and Crime Commissioners who will have flexibility to prioritise resource towards police custody healthcare, based on local needs. We expect that in doing so, they will wish to continue to develop the close partnerships which have already been established with local NHS England commissioners as part of the work on police custody healthcare arrangements in ensuring the most appropriate local commissioning, and healthcare arrangements.

We will continue to support such partnerships to build upon the work done to date and, particularly, to work with them to explore the scope for new models for better integrating the commissioning of the range of physical and mental health initiatives and interventions available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Adebowale on 2016-07-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children aged 16 or 17 have presented to their local authority as homeless, and how many of those were accommodated under the Children Act 1989, in (1) 2015–16, and (2) 2014–15.

Lord Nash

The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of children aged 16 or 17 who have presented to their local authority as homeless, or how many have been accommodated as a result of homelessness.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Adebowale on 2015-10-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 12 October (HL Deb, cols 36–40) on the right to buy, whether (1) there will be a timeframe within which housing associations are expected to build extra homes, and (2) there will be a minimum guarantee of rented accommodation built to support individuals suffering from ongoing health issues.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The National Housing Federation voluntary agreement states that housing associations and the Government share a mutual objective to ensure that replacement homes are delivered as quickly as possible.

Whilst aiming for replacement within two years, the default position is that housing associations will have flexibility to replace homes within a three year period. The Housing and Planning Bill will also seek to introduce clauses that will speed up the planning system so that new homes can be delivered quicker.

Under the agreement, housing associations may exercise discretion not to sell properties provided through supported housing as defined by Part V of the Housing Act 1985.