Member

Amendment 100 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Young, seeks to extend automatic priority to all care leavers up to the age of 25. This is a fundamental and critical area. Care leavers repeatedly bring up their experience of homelessness and poor housing. Priority needs status identifies households whose circumstances make them significantly more vulnerable than others if they become homeless. I do not think I need to reassure the noble Lord that the provisions within the homelessness legislation already ensure that all care leavers up to the age of 21 have priority need. This is also the case for care leavers aged 21 to 24, as he quite rightly pointed out, who are vulnerable due to their time in care. I suggest, perhaps, that this is one of the areas that the responsible Secretary of State could pick up through the new corporate parenting requirements that will come as a result of the Bill to ensure they have a very practical way of looking at some of the issues.