Future For The Homeless

EDM number 405 in 1993-94, proposed by David Rendel on 20/01/1994.

That this House welcomes a full public discussion of the extent of homelessness, the reasons for homelessness and the policies and practice of the Government and local councils in dealing with homeless people; affirms its commitment to the legal principle first enshrined in the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act introduced into and piloted through Parliament by the late Stephen Ross, the then Liberal honourable Member for the Isle of Wight, that it should be the responsibility of local councils, without any moral judgement, to house all those unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and to the political principle equally strongly supported by Stephen Ross that central government should ensure adequate funding to enable local councils to meet their housing responsibilities; believes that allocation of housing by local authorities should at all times be fair to those whom the local authority already houses but who need to move, to those whom it has a new duty to house because they would otherwise be homeless and to those for whom there is no other prospect of affordable housing; and further believes that the objective of housing decently all those in need is best met by ensuring sufficient political commitment and funds for renovating, maintaining and building adequate housing which is then made available at a cost which people can afford.

This motion has been signed by a total of 16 MPs.