THE EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS OF BEING A MIGRANT IN BRITAIN
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In priority need (with a child, pregnant woman or vulnerable person in the household). Not intentionally homeless.
Homelessness has been a significant route of entry into council housing in areas of high demand. The (Department of) Communities and Local Government (DCLG) publishes information about applications for homelessness services in the quarterly P1E returns, but these set out the total number of applications from people of ethnic minority origin only. Table 7.6 shows that applications for homelessness assistance have been declining over the last two years (as policies and practices designed to divert applicants have begun to bite). Ethnic minority applications, however, have not been declining as fast and now constitute almost half of all applications. Table 7.6
Statutory homelessness, by ethnicity, England Period 2006 Q2 Q3 Q4 2007
Total Minority Ethnic % of total 93,910 41,160 44 93,090 40,750 44 89,510 39,160 44
Q1 87,120 Q2 84,900 Q3 82,750
38,610 38,770 38,710
44 46 47
Source: DCLG Quarterly P1E returns.
DCLG also publishes P1E data collected about applications made by A8 migrants in the quarterly Accession Monitoring Reports. Since there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that widespread discrimination occurs against such applicants (who are routinely turned away unless they have worked and been registered on the Workers Registration Scheme for a year in the UK, in spite of DCLG guidance telling local authorities firmly that while working during this time they are eligible) and, since there are few applications anyway, the use of these figures is limited. The monitoring returns for A8 nationals to June 2007 show that identified accession country migrants made up 0.4 per cent of homelessness applications overall (an increase from 0.2 per cent in 2004 to 0.6 per cent in 2007). However, not everyone who applies as homeless receives an offer of accommodation; indeed in 2006/7 only 47 per cent were assessed as cases where the local authority has a duty to house. As Table 7.7 below shows, for A8 nationals since 2004, this proportion is much lower: only 35 per cent of the applications were accepted and so resulted in the local authority offering accommodation.
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