We are implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act, which commences in April 2018. The Act significantly reforms England\u2019s homelessness legislation, ensuring that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.<\/p>
The law is clear that households with dependent children should only be accommodated in B&B in an emergency and then for no longer than 6 weeks.<\/p>
Our new Homelessness Advice and Support Team, drawn from local authorities and the homelessness sector, are providing targeted challenge and support to help Councils improve their practice and performance \u2013 including the use of B&B accommodation for families.<\/p>
The Government remains committed to combating homelessness and rough sleeping. To achieve this, we have set up a Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce that will focus on prevention and affordable housing. We have allocated over £1 billion over the course of the spending review to tackle and reduce homelessness. This includes £315 million Homelessness Prevention funding and a Flexible Homelessness Support Grant which local authorities can use more strategically to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place. This amounts to £402 million over the two years from 2017/18, with further funding to be announced for 2019/20.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4282", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-03-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-03-05T15:57:18.917Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "7"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Housing, Communities and Local Government"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Housing, Communities and Local Government"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-02-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Temporary Accommodation: Children"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they expect the number of children in hostels and other temporary accommodation in England to rise; and what steps they are taking to reduce this number.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/738", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Alton of Liverpool"} ], "uin" : "HL5558"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/845359", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/845359/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Ministers at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government meet with representatives of local authorities, voluntary and charity sector organisations, policy experts and other partners on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues including homelessness and rough sleeping.<\/p>