Recommendations & Conclusions
4 items
3
Recommendation
1st Report - England’s Homeless Childre…
Acknowledged
Some local authorities are not taking sufficient account of the needs of children and families when making decisions on temporary accommodation placements. Many local authorities do not carry out any regular inspections of the conditions in the accommodation they use to house families. This is unacceptable. (Conclusion, Paragraph 26) The …
Read more
Some local authorities are not taking sufficient account of the needs of children and families when making decisions on temporary accommodation placements. Many local authorities do not carry out any regular inspections of the conditions in the accommodation they use to house families. This is unacceptable. (Conclusion, Paragraph 26) The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government must require all local authorities in England to carry out mandatory inspections of housing before it is first used as temporary accommodation, and whenever new residents are placed in the property. All local authorities should publish annual reports online to set out an overview of the main findings of these 43 inspections. The Government should provide additional funding, in line with the new burdens doctrine, to local authorities to ensure that they can carry out and report on these inspections. (Recommendation, Paragraph 26) Bed & Breakfast temporary accommodation
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government stated it would consider strengthening the Homelessness Code of Guidance regarding safeguarding considerations for temporary accommodation placements and develop toolkits and practical guidance for placement management, but did not commit to mandatory inspections or additional funding.
Read full response →
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
10
Recommendation
1st Report - England’s Homeless Childre…
Acknowledged
The Government must improve the quality of data on local authorities’ use of out-of-area placements. It should require all local authorities to report to the Department quarterly on instances of out-of-area placements as part of their H-CLIC data report, including the distance of placements, why out-of-area placements were used, and …
Read more
The Government must improve the quality of data on local authorities’ use of out-of-area placements. It should require all local authorities to report to the Department quarterly on instances of out-of-area placements as part of their H-CLIC data report, including the distance of placements, why out-of-area placements were used, and the type of accommodation used for households placed out-of-area. The Department should consider ways of making H-CLIC data more publicly accessible, such as through an 45 online homelessness data dashboard, to support local authorities to better understand homelessness pressures in their area, and to improve public awareness. (Recommendation, Paragraph 61)
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government highlighted the potential of data linking and stated it is working across departments on programs like ECHILD and BOLD, exploring how these platforms could offer short-term solutions for linking temporary accommodation and pupil data, but did not commit to specific H-CLIC reporting or …
Read full response →
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
13
Conclusion
1st Report - England’s Homeless Childre…
Acknowledged
Currently, schools are not always notified when a pupil becomes homeless or changes school due to a move into temporary accommodation. This prevents schools from offering additional support which those children may require. Similarly, GPs are often unaware that families are experiencing homelessness, leaving an incomplete picture of the health …
Read more
Currently, schools are not always notified when a pupil becomes homeless or changes school due to a move into temporary accommodation. This prevents schools from offering additional support which those children may require. Similarly, GPs are often unaware that families are experiencing homelessness, leaving an incomplete picture of the health impacts of homelessness on children. (Conclusion, Paragraph 64) As the Government seeks to establish ‘consistent identifiers’ for children through its Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, it should ensure that these can be used as a formalised notification system, so that a child’s school and GP are alerted when they move into temporary accommodation. This should be introduced alongside a focus on improving data reporting and sharing between public services, to fully understand the health impacts of temporary accommodation on children. (Recommendation, Paragraph 64)
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government provided a vague commitment, stating that the homelessness strategy will provide more detail on balancing responsibilities and accountability between central and local government regarding children in temporary accommodation, without addressing the specific recommendation for a formalised notification system for schools and GPs.
Read full response →
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
20
Conclusion
1st Report - England’s Homeless Childre…
Acknowledged
We welcome the Government’s decision to increase homelessness funding for 2025/26, including the £192.9 million uplift to the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG). However, the decision to ringfence 49% of HPG funding for activities to prevent and relieve homelessness may be a detrimental, one-size-fits-all approach towards the pressures facing some local …
Read more
We welcome the Government’s decision to increase homelessness funding for 2025/26, including the £192.9 million uplift to the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG). However, the decision to ringfence 49% of HPG funding for activities to prevent and relieve homelessness may be a detrimental, one-size-fits-all approach towards the pressures facing some local authorities. The ringfence may leave a gap in the funding of those councils which rely heavily on the HPG to fund temporary accommodation, at a time when local authorities are facing acute financial pressures. (Conclusion, Paragraph 87)
Show less
Government response AI summary
The government defended the 49% ringfence on the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG), explaining it was based on historical local authority spend and stating the HPG was not intended to cover all temporary accommodation costs, but committed to monitoring local authority spend.
Read full response →
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government