Homelessness: Finance - Parliamentary Written Answer

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has allocated to each local authority in England under each category of homelessness grant for 2011-12; and what criteria were used in determining such allocations. Grant Shapps: Despite the record deficit inherited we are maintaining investment in homelessness grant at £100 million a year for each of the next four years. For 2011-12, we have announced allocations of £81.5 million for local authorities and £18.5 million for the voluntary sector. As part of our reforms to reduce the number of separate local authority grants, a further £8.5 million to tackle fraud and under-occupation has been integrated to provide a single allocation of Preventing Homelessness Grant for local authorities in 2011-12 totalling £90 million. There are a number of factors that were considered in determining allocations, but a very significant one is the need to support work to tackle rough sleeping. We have also sought to maintain the level of grant for individual authorities, including rolling forward the additional £10 million allocated to London authorities during 2010-11 to support implementation of welfare reform measures. Westminster council's allocation for 2011-12 is £8.325 million. These allocations have been confirmed for 2011-12 and published as provisional figures at the same level for 2012-13. We intend to consult in due course on proposed allocations for 2013-14 and 2014-15.