Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of families with children being refused (a) homelessness relief and (b) homelessness prevention duties by local authorities in England.

My Department publishes quarterly data on the number of households that do not qualify for a homelessness duty after initial assessment which you can access on gov.uk here. The Department provides clear guidance for local authorities in exercising their homelessness functions, including taking decisions on duties owed, in the Homelessness Code of Guidance, which you can access here.

I wrote to council leaders and chief executives on Wednesday 25 February setting out local authorities’ legal duties to homeless families with children under the Housing Act 1996 and Children Act 1989.