Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of local authorities that take into account the needs of veterans in their homelessness strategies.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian life.
Housing authorities are required to publish a Homelessness Strategy and update it at a minimum every five years. Statutory guidance is clear that when drawing up their strategies for preventing and reducing homelessness, housing authorities must consider the needs of all groups of people in their district who are homeless or likely to become homeless and may require a broader package of resettlement support, such as veterans.
The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (HRA) was introduced to transform the culture of homelessness service delivery. Local authorities and other public bodies must work together to prevent and relieve homelessness for people at risk, irrespective of whether they are a family or single person, the reason they are at risk, or if they have a local connection to the area.
A person who is vulnerable as a result of having been a member of Her Majesty’s regular armed forces (a veteran) has a priority need for accommodation. This will include a person who was previously a member of the regular naval, military or air forces.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of local authorities that take into account the needs of veterans in their housing strategies.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Local authorities must frame their allocation scheme for social housing to give additional preference to certain members of the Armed Forces community, where they fall within one or more of the reasonable preference categories and have urgent housing needs. In line with the Armed Forces Covenant we changed the law in 2012 so that those serving in the Armed Forces as well as those who have recently been discharged do not lose their qualification rights for social housing because of the requirement to move from base to base.
When exercising their allocations function, local authorities must also have regard to statutory guidance (2020) which strongly encourages local authorities to take into account the needs of all serving or former Service personnel, including veterans, when framing their allocation schemes. The guidance also encourages local authorities to consider the housing needs of family members of serving or former Service personnel who may themselves have been disadvantaged by the requirements of military service.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of removing the local connection test for the Armed Forces community when applying for social housing on the prevalence of veteran rough sleeping.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government recognises the dedication and sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to adjust successfully back into civilian life.
In line with the Armed Forces Covenant, in 2012 we introduced regulations which ensure that serving personnel and those within 5 years of having left the forces cannot be disqualified from social housing because of a local connection or residency requirement. The data in England shows that the percentage of serving personnel and those leaving the forces within five years who were allocated social housing in a local authority area where they had not previously lived remained higher in 2019-20 than the percentage among the non-veteran population.
Veteran homelessness is low. Data shows that for the year 2020-21, 1,730 veterans were owed a homelessness duty out of the 268,560 total households who were homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the advice outlined in Improving access to social housing for members of the Armed Forces 2020 on the prevalence of veteran rough sleeping.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government recognises the dedication and sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian life.
Statutory guidance to improve access to social housing for members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their families makes clear that seriously injured, ill or disabled Service personnel, and former members of the Armed Forces, with urgent housing needs are always given high priority for social housing.
The allocation of social housing by a local council is the responsibility of the council concerned. Local authorities are best placed to assess the impact of allocations policy on local communities as these will vary, based on local priorities and circumstances.
In 2018, the Government implemented the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, the most ambitious piece of legislative reform in this area in over a decade. This requires the Secretary of State for Defence to refer members of the regular Armed Forces in England to a local housing authority within 56 days if they believe they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness (with the individual’s consent).
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many veterans have been allocated social housing in each year since 2010.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Between April 2012 and March 2020, there were 70,378 new social lettings to households containing someone who has served in the UK Armed Forces. From April 2016 this includes reservists. We do not have data on Armed Forces service for lettings before April 2012. The proportion of new social lets to households containing someone who has served in the UK Armed Forces has remained between 2-3% throughout this period.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan 2022-24 stated goal to end veteran rough sleeping within this Parliament, what steps his Department are taking to improve pathways of support.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The government is committed to ending rough sleeping, including veteran rough sleeping, and we are spending £2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the next three years. Our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian life.
We are providing local areas with the support and funding they need to provide tailored support to respond to the needs of those sleeping rough in their areas, including where some may have served in the Armed Forces. Through the Rough Sleeping Initiative, we have provided over £200 million this year to local authorities to make sure they can continue to provide tailored local interventions for rough sleepers in their area.
The key objective of the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (RSAP), backed by £433 million, is to provide 6,000 move-on homes and accompanying support services to those who are rough sleeping, or who have a history of sleeping rough, including veterans.
Through the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC), the Department collects data on the support needs of households owed a prevention or relief duty, including if they have served in Her Majesty’s Forces. H-CLIC also collects the number of people homeless on departure from Armed Forces Accommodation.
HCLIC Data shows that for the year 2020-21, 1,730 veterans were owed a homelessness duty out of the 268,560 total households who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. This is down from 1,920 households in 2019-20. We will continue to monitor this data carefully.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan 2022-24 to end veteran rough sleeping within this Parliament, what data his Department plans to us to measure the success of the Government's ambition to end veteran rough sleeping within this Parliament.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The government is committed to ending rough sleeping, including veteran rough sleeping, and we are spending £2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the next three years. Our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian life.
We are providing local areas with the support and funding they need to provide tailored support to respond to the needs of those sleeping rough in their areas, including where some may have served in the Armed Forces. Through the Rough Sleeping Initiative, we have provided over £200 million this year to local authorities to make sure they can continue to provide tailored local interventions for rough sleepers in their area.
The key objective of the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (RSAP), backed by £433 million, is to provide 6,000 move-on homes and accompanying support services to those who are rough sleeping, or who have a history of sleeping rough, including veterans.
Through the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC), the Department collects data on the support needs of households owed a prevention or relief duty, including if they have served in Her Majesty’s Forces. H-CLIC also collects the number of people homeless on departure from Armed Forces Accommodation.
HCLIC Data shows that for the year 2020-21, 1,730 veterans were owed a homelessness duty out of the 268,560 total households who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. This is down from 1,920 households in 2019-20. We will continue to monitor this data carefully.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan 2022-24, what funding will be allocated to end veteran rough sleeping within this Parliament.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The government is committed to ending rough sleeping, including veteran rough sleeping, and we are spending £2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the next three years. Our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian life.
We are providing local areas with the support and funding they need to provide tailored support to respond to the needs of those sleeping rough in their areas, including where some may have served in the Armed Forces. Through the Rough Sleeping Initiative, we have provided over £200 million this year to local authorities to make sure they can continue to provide tailored local interventions for rough sleepers in their area.
The key objective of the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (RSAP), backed by £433 million, is to provide 6,000 move-on homes and accompanying support services to those who are rough sleeping, or who have a history of sleeping rough, including veterans.
Through the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC), the Department collects data on the support needs of households owed a prevention or relief duty, including if they have served in Her Majesty’s Forces. H-CLIC also collects the number of people homeless on departure from Armed Forces Accommodation.
HCLIC Data shows that for the year 2020-21, 1,730 veterans were owed a homelessness duty out of the 268,560 total households who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. This is down from 1,920 households in 2019-20. We will continue to monitor this data carefully.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of veterans in the UK who are homeless in each year since 2019.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of homelessness and levels of veteran homelessness are low. Data shows that for the year 2020-21, 1,730 veterans were owed a homelessness duty out of the 268,560 total households who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. This is down from 1,920 households in 2019-20
The data is not yet available for 2021-22.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the prevalence of veteran rough sleeping throughout the UK.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
We are committed to tackling homelessness in all its forms, and this Government has committed to ending rough sleeping. The Department uses rough sleeping and homelessness data collections to drive progress and to monitor trends of the homelessness and rough sleeping population, including veterans. Our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to supporting this cohort.
Through the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC), the Department collects data on the support needs of households owed a prevention or relief duty, including if they have served in Her Majesty’s Forces. H-CLIC also collects the number of people homeless on departure from institution, one of which is Armed Forces Accommodation.
Levels of Veteran homelessness are low, the most recent H-CLIC statistics, for the period June to September 2021, are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness. The latest homelessness statistics in England show that in this period, of the 67,820 households owed a homelessness duty, 450 (0.66%) households had a support need as a result of serving in the Armed Forces.