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<p>Time spent in temporary accommodation ensures no family is without a roof over
their head. The Government is assisting areas to ensure that families spend no longer
than 6 weeks in B&Bs, which includes protecting and maintaining the homelessness
prevention funding at £315 million. We have also replaced Department of Work and Pension’s
Temporary Accommodation Management Fee with a Flexible Homelessness Support Grant
which local authorities can use more strategically to prevent and tackle homelessness.
This amounts to £402 million over the two years from 2017/18.</p><p>While the number
of households in temporary accommodation is below the 2004 peak, the law is clear
that households with dependent children should only be accommodated in B&B in
an emergency and for no longer than six weeks, which commences when the household
moves in.</p><p>When a family is accommodated in a B&B, the local authority must
provide written information that the period of accommodation should be no more than
6 weeks, after which the authority must secure alternative suitable accommodation.
Under the law, any accommodation must be suitable.</p><p>A small number of authorities
(around 5 per cent) account for 80 per cent of breaches. The Government has been clear
that in normal circumstances the long term use of B&B accommodation for families
with children is both inappropriate and unlawful and we are determined to stop this
practice. There are councils who are successfully reducing the number and length of
time families are spending in B&B accommodation and we expect areas in similar
situations to follow their example.</p><p>The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
publishes guidance on remedying personal injustice where one of their investigations
reveals there has been fault, including investigations in relation to Homelessness.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman publishes all decisions on complaints
on their website, including any remedies they recommend.</p>
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