Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC) project aims to create a linked dataset of information about homelessness in England, to improve understanding of its causes and impacts. It is the result of a collaboration between the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).    The project will allow decision-makers to develop more effective policies to reduce homelessness and improve the lives of people across the country. Specifically, H-CLIC project will involve linking data from across local authorities in England, and to other administrative datasets. The H-CLIC data records local authorities' actions under the 2017 Homelessness Reduction Act, which significantly reformed England's homelessness legislation by placing duties on local authorities to intervene at earlier stages to prevent and reduce homelessness. The H-CLIC project has three elements, some of which will be phased: The first aims to use the linked H-CLIC data from across local authorities to develop a better understanding of whether homelessness is resolved in the long term, particularly across local authority boundaries. This will help to establish what works to prevent homelessness, and which elements of the Homelessness Reduction Act are most effective. The second aims to match together H-CLIC data and the Rough Sleeping Evaluation Questionnaire to identify how effectively interventions have prevented homelessness and improved other outcomes in the longer term. DLUHC already have rough sleeping evaluations in progress that would benefit from this work. Finally, the third element aims to match the H-CLIC data to data gathered from other government departments/health agencies to determine the wider circumstances and outcomes of people who have experienced homelessness, such as educational outcomes, employment, benefits and health. This will enable us to identify the wider impacts and longer-term outcomes, and estimate the costs of homelessness. The DLUHC intends to use the data to assess the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act, for example by identifying the factors associated with better or worse outcomes for households at risk of homelessness and to understand more about the factors that drive homelessness and how best to address them. Ultimately, the project will provide central government departments, local public services and delivery partners with valuable information about the cycle of homelessness and its impact on the lives of those it affects, as well as the impact and cost-benefit of interventions and services targeted at reducing homelessness. The information should be useful to inform future service design and reform and investment decisions. Further information, including reports and tables, may be found on the Gov.uk Homelessness Statistics Collection webpage.

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The variables include: Local authority code, name and region; Assessment of the household’s homelessness circumstances; year and the quarter of the original assessment of circumstances and needs;  Household's accommodation arrangements at the time of their homeless application; household's last settled accommodation; main reason for loss of last settled home; Household type; ethnic group, age, gender, nationality and employment status of the main applicant; employment status of the main applicant's partner if in same household; Main prevention activity undertaken by the local authority as part of the Prevention Duty and reason for that; household’s accommodation when the Prevention Duty ended; Main relief activity that was undertaken by the local authority as part of the Relief Duty; reason the Relief Duty was ended; whether household was homeless at the end of Relief; Coded outcome of the decision on what duty (if any) is owed; household’s accommodation following that decision; Year and quarter that the household entered and left local authority temporary accommodation; Whether the household is in receipt of housing benefits or means-tested benefits; Whether under support needs the household includes: Anyone in specific categories covering young persons, young parents, care leavers, older people, anyone with physical/mental ill health and/or a physical or learning disability; anyone who has experience of, or is at risk of, specific types of exploitation or abuse; anyone with drug or alcohol dependency needs, or with an offending history; anyone with a history of repeat homelessness or rough sleeping; whether they are a former asylum seeker whether have served in HM Forces; or whether they need access to education, employment or training. Grouped accommodation outcomes across duties. For further details, see documentation.

No sampling (total universe)

Compilation/Synthesis