Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
1st Report - England’s Homeless Children: The crisis in temporary accommodation
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
HC 338
Published 3 April 2025
Recommendations
3
Acknowledged
Mandate local authorities to conduct mandatory temporary accommodation inspections and publish annual reports.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response 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.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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10
Acknowledged
Require local authorities to report quarterly on out-of-area placements and publish H-CLIC data.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response 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 a public dashboard.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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Conclusions (2)
13
Conclusion
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 …
Government Response 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.
20
Conclusion
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 …
Government Response 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.