Indicators of progress: Definitions, data, baseline and trends information
Milestone 6 : Reducing the number of households with children living in temporary accommodation
Indicator
This milestone is measured by means of information collected by the Executive from local authorities under the homeless persons legislation and relates only to those households who were secured temporary accommodation under the legislation. Recent changes to the homelessness legislation, which broaden the categories of homeless people entitled to temporary accommodation, and which strengthen homeless people's rights may in the short term at least affect the total number of homeless people in temporary accommodation. As families are almost always likely to have been assessed as in priority need, it is unlikely that these legislative changes will impact significantly on this group.
Availability of data
This is the second year information on households with dependent children is available. This data is available for the first time disaggregated by household type. The milestone will be increasingly focused on households with dependent children in inappropriate temporary accommodation as more information becomes available. Information on all households in temporary accommodation will continue to be presented, but this year data is included for the first time on the number of households with dependent children and the total number of dependent children living in various types of temporary accommodation.
Information on temporary accommodation can be disaggregated by local authorities, but is not available by age, gender, ethnicity or disability. Analysis by urban and rural split is also not available.
Temporary accommodation
Table 6a shows the annual total temporary accommodation pattern for the years between 1991 and 2002 (using the position at the end of each March as the annual figure) and the quarterly pattern between March 2000 and March 2002. Households in temporary accommodation make up less than 0.2 per cent of all households across Scotland.
Information on total households with dependent children in temporary accommodation is given for 8 quarters. The evidence suggests that the percentage of all households in temporary accommodation that have dependent children may be falling. The proportions in the last 4 quarters are all less than the proportion in the same quarter of the previous year. However, it is still too early to establish exactly what the trend is.
Considering the number of households in Bed and Breakfast accommodation as a percentage of all households in temporary accommodation, the pattern over the early and mid 1990s was of a steady decline from over 17 per cent of temporary households in 1991, to less than 10 percent in 1998. Since March 1999, there appears to have been an increase with the latest figure for March 2002 showing just under 14 per cent of temporary housing accounted for by households in Bed and Breakfast.
Table 6a : Households in temporary accommodation by type of accommodation
Period (as at end of month shown) | Local Authority dwelling | Hostel 1 | Bed and Breakfast | Other 2 | Total | Total households with dependent children |
Number | % of total |
March 1991 | 1,174 | 1,363 | 458 | 160 | 3,155 | - | - |
March 1992 | 1,262 | 1,384 | 616 | 173 | 3,435 | - | - |
March 1993 | 1,315 | 1,335 | 612 | 310 | 3,572 | - | - |
March 1994 | 1,799 | 1,428 | 486 | 72 | 3,785 | - | - |
March 1995 | 1,851 | 1,648 | 449 | 80 | 4,028 | - | - |
March 1996 | 1,884 | 1,776 | 454 | 100 | 4,214 | - | - |
March 1997 | 1,741 | 1,562 | 355 | 114 | 3,772 | - | - |
March 1998 | 1,859 | 1,465 | 360 | 80 | 3,764 | - | - |
March 1999 | 1,855 | 1,543 | 413 | 53 | 3,864 | - | - |
March 2000 | 1,826 | 1,608 | 500 | 61 | 3,995 | - | - |
June 2000 | 1,906 | 1,654 | 464 | 67 | 4,091 | 1,546 | 38 |
September 2000 | 1,946 | 1,578 | 465 | 90 | 4,079 | 1,606 | 39 |
December 2000 | 1,904 | 1,505 | 416 | 70 | 3,895 | 1,410 | 36 |
March 2001 | 1,969 | 1,512 | 502 | 78 | 4,061 | 1,438 | 35 |
June 2001 | 2,143 | 1,309 | 483 | 71 | 4,006 | 1,406 | 35 |
September 2001 | 2,052 | 1,353 | 463 | 63 | 3,931 | 1,373 | 35 |
December 2001 | 2,095 | 1,351 | 421 | 67 | 3,934 | 1,170 | 30 |
March 2002 | 2,111 | 1,341 | 566 | 69 | 4,087 | 1,305 | 32 |
Source : Scottish Executive
Note : (1) - Hostel accommodation is mainly accounted for by Glasgow
(2) - Includes mainly housing associations and private landlords, and prior to June 1999 the figures may include an unknown number of LA-owned chalets or mobile homes.
Of the households with dependent children, table 6b shows over 80 percent are accommodated in a Local Authority dwelling, compared with just over 50 percent of all households in temporary accommodation. Similarly around 86 percent of dependent children reside in a Local Authority dwelling.
Table 6b: Households with children and number of children living in temporary accommodation by accommodation type
Household Type | Local Authority Dwelling | Hostel 1 | Bed & Breakfast | Other 2 | Total |
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
All Households |
End June 2001 | 2,143 | 53 | 1,309 | 33 | 483 | 12 | 71 | 2 | 4,006 | 100 |
End Sept 2001 | 2,052 | 52 | 1,353 | 34 | 463 | 12 | 63 | 2 | 3,931 | 100 |
End Dec 2001 | 2,095 | 53 | 1,351 | 34 | 421 | 11 | 67 | 2 | 3,934 | 100 |
end March 2002 | 2,111 | 52 | 1,341 | 33 | 566 | 14 | 69 | 2 | 4,087 | 100 |
Households with dependant children |
End June 2001 | 1,167 | 83 | 101 | 7 | 88 | 6 | 50 | 4 | 1,406 | 100 |
End Sept 2001 | 1,163 | 85 | 86 | 6 | 76 | 6 | 48 | 3 | 1,373 | 100 |
End Dec 2001 | 1025 | 88 | 58 | 5 | 48 | 4 | 39 | 3 | 1170 | 100 |
end March 2002 | 1088 | 83 | 100 | 8 | 92 | 7 | 25 | 2 | 1305 | 100 |
Total number of dependant children |
End June 2001 | 2,206 | 84 | 188 | 7 | 149 | 6 | 82 | 3 | 2,625 | 100 |
End Sept 2001 | 2,215 | 85 | 156 | 6 | 138 | 5 | 86 | 3 | 2,595 | 100 |
End Dec 2001 | 1929 | 88 | 114 | 5 | 81 | 4 | 64 | 3 | 2188 | 100 |
end March 2002 | 2019 | 86 | 151 | 6 | 138 | 6 | 45 | 2 | 2353 | 100 |
Source : Scottish Executive