Children in temporary accommodation - Government’s response "disappointingly lacking in detail", says Housing Committee Chair

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has today published the Government's response to the Committee's report on England's Homeless Children: The crisis in temporary accommodation.

Government response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report on England's Homeless Children: The crisis in temporary accommodation  (published 16 June) (html version) (news item)

Florence Eshalomi, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee said: “The Committee's report, in April, pointed to a crisis in temporary accommodation. Last year, a record 127,000 households faced homelessness, with devastating impacts to their health, work and education.

“When so many families are facing this crisis, the Government's response is disappointingly lacking in substantive detail in several key areas. In our report, we called on the Government to publish its strategy on ending homelessness by July 2025. Given the urgency of the issue, and the need to involve homelessness organisations and local authorities in tackling the temporary accommodation crisis, it is disappointing the Government is only willing to commit to ‘later this year' for publication of the strategy.

“The Committee's recommendation for the Government to provide an update on the work of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping has also been rejected. Given the purported role of the Inter-Ministerial Group, the Government's response on this issue does little to inspire confidence that the Group is making the progress needed to ensure the homeless strategy is truly effective”.

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee published the England's Homeless Children: The crisis in temporary accommodation report (pdf, html) on Thursday 3 April (see also news item).