Does the Minister accept that there is a real Crisis of Homelessness, especially in the London area?

The other reason for the Homelessness Crisis is the shortage of rented housing in the private sector.

Ministers argue repeatedly that the Homelessness Crisis can be solved by bringing empty council homes into use.

Why was it more important than more textbooks in schools and an end to the Crisis of Homelessness?

We have had enough of listening to the pious platitudes of the Minister for Housing, Urban Affairs and Construction, who has presided over an appalling Crisis of Homelessness and has done little or nothing to tackle it.

I beg to move, to leave out from "That" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof,this House declines to give a Second Reading to a Bill which fails to tackle the Crisis of Homelessness in Scotland or to provide for resources to improve Scotland's housing stock, threatens to increase rents and reduce the security of tenants, further undermines the ability of elected local councils to provide for the housing needs of their people, and proposes to extend the power of central Government through an unaccountable quango.

When will she alleviate the Crisis of Homelessness in Britain?

Yet Britain has a Homelessness Crisis.

London authorities face a Crisis of Homelessness.

This evening we have had the usual attempt to present a rosy picture of a package which represents a further cut in funding for housing in Scotland, regardless of the growing Crisis of Homelessness, overcrowding and decaying housing stock.

It is a funny way to solve the Crisis of Homelessness in Britain by putting people in prison.

How dare the Minister blame local authorities in London for the Homelessness Crisis?

Why do the Government not accept responsibility for the scandal and Crisis of Homelessness in London?

or are sleeping on the streets of London because of the Homelessness Crisis or facing ever-increasing rents in both the council and private sector; that in the Health Service in London, many hospitals are under threat because of hospital closure programmes due to Health Service amalgamations; that traffic and transport chaos is rife throughout the capital and that there are many growing social problems, partly as a result of the abolition of the Greater London council, but also because of the general underfunding of all aspects of London's social infrastructure?

Is the Leader of the House aware that many people in London are facing increasing misery living in bed-and-breakfast hotels; or are sleeping on the streets of London because of the Homelessness Crisis or facing ever-increasing rents in both the council and private sector; that in the Health Service in London, many hospitals are under threat because of hospital closure programmes due to Health Service amalgamations; that traffic and transport chaos is rife throughout the capital and that there are many growing social problems, partly as a result of the abolition of the Greater London council, but also because of the general underfunding of all aspects of London's social infrastructure?

Finally, in view of the growing Crisis of Homelessness, and the likely further increase in homelessness as many people cannot find the money to meet their mortgage repayments, can we expect a debate on homelessness and housing in Government time?

Both examples were genuine and enterprising ways of raising private capital to cope with the Crisis of Homelessness in the inner city.

That is the Government's response to the debate over the summer about the growing Crisis of Homelessness and that is why the Minister spoke so inadequately for the Lords amendments.

The debate on the last Friday of the previous Session was postponed to permit debate on the Housing Bill, now the Housing Act 1988, which will make the Homelessness Crisis even worse.

When my hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley), in his excellent speech, talked about the Homelessness Crisis in London, the Under-Secretary of State, a former leader of Wandsworth borough council, was shaking his head in disagreement as if my hon. Friend's speech was being made up on the spur of the moment from his fevered imagination rather than from factual evidence.

It will become more difficult for all authorities to deal with the Homelessness Crisis.

Does not the recent Shelter survey show that there is a major Crisis of Homelessness in Scotland which he can solve only by dealing with it as his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment did - by allocating special funds for the purpose and allowing local authorities to get on with the jobs that they are best able to do?

I want to know whether the Patronage Secretary is aware of the Crisis of Homelessness in London and elsewhere and whether we shall have an urgent debate on homelessness, because the country demands to know what the Government are going to do about this obscenity.

The additional housing that will be provided will help to combat the Homelessness Crisis and reduce the burden of the bed and breakfast bill on local ratepayers.

Is not it true that the report is not being published because it would harm the Government's prospects in the general election, because the Minister is ashamed of what it will reveal about disrepair and dampness in Scottish housing, leading to a Crisis of Homelessness, and because he will not make available the necessary funds properly to house the people of Scotland?

The headline is, "Shame on the Tories' Doorstep" and refers precisely to our Crisis of Homelessness.

Does he agree with the Catholic bishops' conference that the Crisis of Homelessness under the Government is not only a fact but a scandal?

The headline is,Shame on the Tories' Doorstepand refers precisely to our Crisis of Homelessness.

Is the Minister aware of the growing body of concern among sources as diverse as the Prince of Wales, charities and local authority associations about Our Homelessness Crisis, particularly at this time of year?

We could freeze the rents-into-mortgages scheme until it can be seen that the Crisis of Homelessness is on the way to being solved.

In the midst of This Homelessness Crisis in London, will the Prime Minister make resources available for local authorities to build and to buy homes for rent, rather than creating bed-andbreakfast millionaires and paying money to companies for leasing properties?

The Crisis of Homelessness is worsening around us.

It is not necessary to have a doctorate in housing management to understand why there is a Homelessness Crisis in London and throughout the country: the answer lies with Government policies.

As we shall have extra time on Monday, could we have a debate on the Homelessness Crisis created by the Government?

Now it seems like the beginning of the Homelessness Crisis, although it was bad enough then.

I believe that when we look back we shall see 1 April as a key date with regard to housing and the Homelessness Crisis.

In summary, the Government are making the victims of the Homelessness Crisis pay for the Government's own failure to provide adequately for people's housing needs.

A letter from Westminster to the Department of the Environment said: To embark on such a large scale property designation we will reduce the number of properties available to meet the demand for social housing … If the designation policy is to be pursued alternative solutions to the Homelessness Crisis in Westminster will have to be found.

Secondly, will he assist us further with the cost of temporary accommodation for Britain's homeless families by asking his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to revise the thresholds and caps for housing benefit, to allow London authorities to address the Homelessness Crisis and to receive full funding to enable them to do so?

In numbers, that is significant, but it does not reflect the Homelessness Crisis proportionately as the homeless household rate is more than 10 times greater.

I suggest two ways in which pressures on London and the South East can be eased, a further escalation in the Homelessness Crisis can be avoided and the families and individuals can be given a much greater chance of integrating into the local communities to which they have been sent.

On the right to buy, I think I have made the position clear: we want to consider the matter where there is a Homelessness Crisis, and that is certainly the case in some inner-city areas and in London.

The Crisis of Homelessness in rural areas continues to escalate.

We already have a Homelessness Crisis in the city - we might reach the decent housing target, but only by having hardly any homes, so the homelessness target will be way off the mark.

I know from her contributions in the House that the Homelessness Crisis has been one of her top political priorities and she has helped to force the issue up the agenda.

The original steps to tackle the acute Crisis of Homelessness occurred under a Conservative leadership with Michael Howard's championing of the rough sleepers initiative.

We have a Crisis of Homelessness and of need; housing is in crisis in many ways.

The consultation my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Local Government has launched has been well received across the sector because it introduces a right, not an obligation, and when we have a Homelessness Crisis, I think it is right to give registered social landlords more flexibility than they currently have in allocating to homeless tenants.

This option could provide an appropriate solution for people experiencing a Homelessness Crisis at the same time as freeing up social homes for people on the waiting list.

Such a policy would tackle the growing Homelessness Crisis and the ever-expanding housing waiting lists.

If we are to tackle the Crisis of Homelessness in our communities, we first need to understand better the causes.

Rather than abusing the National Trust and other big-society opponents of sprawl as Luddites, why do not Ministers end their assault on the English countryside, start working with developers to ensure that the 400,000 homes with planning permission are actually built, and end the Homelessness Crisis now?

I ask the Minister how the costs of all this to families, communities and society are weighed against the benefit restrictions that are fuelling the Homelessness Crisis.

Leonard was put in contact with the Reverend Blunsum and his committee, which led to a meeting in October 1990 attended by representatives of 40 south Devon churches, together with 20 local agencies, looking for a community response to the Homelessness Crisis.

I hope that the Minister will today tell us that he will ensure that local authorities do not place families well away from their children's schools, their communities, their support networks and the elderly relatives for whom they provide care; ensure that local authorities can access temporary and emergency accommodation for families; deal with the scandal of long-term nightly booked accommodation; and provide the framework for a sustainable policy to help those vulnerable families who are facing this terrible Crisis of Homelessness.

The Government are cooking up a Homelessness Crisis, and I do not say that lightly.

The Crisis of Homelessness is not just for Christmas; it is a problem that must be addressed 24/7, 365 days a year.

Does my right hon. Friend not think that the forced sale of council homes will exacerbate the Homelessness Crisis?

The National Housing Federation claims the Chancellor's changes could cost some people up to £60 a week, enough to force them to leave their accommodation and in some cases add to the growing number of casualties sleeping on our streets as a Homelessness Crisis sweeps our country like a plague.

So we have an ever growing national Crisis of Homelessness, no solution at all to the root causes, and no extra money.

The Homelessness Crisis in Edmonton illustrates how this Government are failing ordinary people.