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Temp Accommodation for children under 2 and cots access

RFI-2024-1500
Tuesday, 10 December 2024

Request

According to two clauses added to the “Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities” by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (under its old name of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) in February 2024, "accommodation will not be suitable for a household with children under the age of 2 if there is not adequate space for a cot for each child aged under 2", and "where households with babies and young children under 2 do not have access to a cot when placed in temporary accommodation, housing authorities should consider what support is available for the provision of a cot."

Link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities/chapter-17-suitability-of-accommodation#:~:text=Cots%20in%20temporary%20accommodation&text=This%20may%20involve%20housing%20authorities,a%20result%20of%20domestic%20abuse.

With this in mind, please tell me:
1. How many temporary accommodation is the council using as of today’s date to accommodate households with at least one child under the age of two?
Of these units, as of today’s date:
2. How many have been assessed as having adequate space for a cot?
3. How many have been assessed as NOT having adequate space for a cot?
4. How many have not been assessed for whether or not there is space for a cot?
5. How many families with children aged under two at the time of placement have been placed in temporary accommodation since February 2024?
6. Of these, how many families did not have their own cots and what provisions was the council able to make for them? (This information can be supplied as totals — for instance, X number of households had a cot provided, Y number of households were given guidance on how to obtain a cot, etc.)

Response

1) One

2) 30

3) Zero

4) Zero 

5) 9

6) This information is not held, however the Council would make necessary referrals and allow families usage of a cot until the furniture arrived.