Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
4th Report - Tackling homelessness
Public Accounts Committee
HC 352
Published 24 January 2025
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fourth report from Session 2024-25 · published 6 May 2025
Recommendations & Conclusions
16
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Out-of-area homeless placements significantly increasing, causing disruption for households, particularly children.
Conclusion
For a variety of reasons, including lack of housing supply and suitability of accommodation, some local authorities struggle to place households within their local area. MHCLG acknowledges that placing households out of area can cause disruption, especially to children, including …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and will explore publishing additional data on temporary accommodation and out-of-area placements by April 2025. MHCLG will also continue to engage with local government on this issue, noting existing legislation already requires local placements where possible.
HM Treasury
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18
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Anecdotal evidence indicates local authorities are 'swapping' homeless households between areas
Conclusion
We enquired whether some local authorities were effectively “swapping” households with other local authorities. MHCLG replied that it received a lot of anecdotal evidence that this was happening, and that such an approach was clearly wrong given that it is …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees and will explore publishing additional data on temporary accommodation and out-of-area placements by April 2025. MHCLG will also continue to engage with local government on this issue, noting existing legislation already requires local placements where possible. This is intended to encourage better collaboration among local authorities.
HM Treasury
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