Published on : Wed, 23 Nov 2005 19:48GMT
by : David Parker

LONDON - A public accounts committee report on the problem of the homeless has criticized Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and has urged him to show imagination in tackling the crisis and ensuring that a long-term solution is in place.

Committee member and Conservative MP Richard Bacon said that although the government had provided temporary shelters to the homeless, a long term solution was desirable to ensure that the problem did not rear its head once again, "There are plenty of new ideas to improve on temporary accommodation. Loft conversions are being used to increase the capacity of some houses, rent deposit schemes are helping families purchase their own home and the use of the internet is giving free, quick access to private sector tenancies," Bacon said adding that such solutions had already met with some success and should not be overlooked when it came to helping "homeless families find longer-term accommodation."

The report also stressed that the creation of Homelessness Directorate, as part of the Office of Deputy Prime Minister in 2002 had also helped in solving the problem to an extent. It also pointed out that the number of families that have children in B&Bs was just 28 in March 2004 as compared to 6,700 in March 2002.

Homelessness charities have supported the observations of the PAC and have said that although good progress has been made in tackling the problem much more needs to be done. Adam Sampson, the director of the charity Shelter said that the PAC report showed that there was an urgent need for the Chancellor Gordon Brown to commit for the delivery of 20,000 extra social rented homes every year, "The public accounts committee is absolutely right to identify the dramatic fall in the number of new social homes being built as being at the root of the record levels of homelessness. Bad housing is ruining the health, education and life chances of a million children," he added.