Temporary accommodation possible factor in deaths of 74 children in England
Temporary accommodation has been cited as a possible contributing factor in the deaths of 74 children – predominantly babies – in recent years in England.
Of those who died between April 2019 and March last year, 58 were aged under one, the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for households in temporary accommodation said.
Temporary accommodation can include bed and breakfasts, hotels and hostels and is often supplied by councils.
Between October 2023 and September last year, 80 children died while living in temporary housing, according to the National Child Mortality Database – accounting for 3% of the total number of child deaths during that period.
Dame Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP and chair of the APPG, said: 'Seventy-four children have died in five years with temporary accommodation contributing to their death.
'That is more than one every month. How shocking is that? In the fifth largest economy in the world.
'Last year, the APPG chair was successful in getting the homelessness code of guidance changed to include cots for homeless families. This guidance needs to be made law to ensure that deaths in temporary accommodation is zero.'
The child death overview panel (CDOP) process assesses circumstances of such deaths, including whether temporary accommodation was a contributing factor.
The APPG said there was a disproportionate number of children from deprived areas represented in the figures.
Children from non-white families were also overrepresented, accounting for 38% of deaths across the five-year period despite making up only 27% of the population.
The Big Issue founder, Lord John Bird, said the figures were 'a shameful tragedy'.
The cross-bench peer is setting out a private member's bill in the House of Lords this week for the establishment of a 'Ministry for Poverty Prevention'.
There were 123,100 households in England in temporary accommodation in the three months to the end of June 2024, a rise of 16.3% on the same period the previous year, according to figures published in December by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
There were 159,380 children in temporary accommodation between April and June 2024.
Last year, figures showed that residing in temporary accommodation was a factor in the unexpected deaths of 55 children between April 2019 and March 2023.
The deputy prime minister and housing secretary, Angela Rayner, said: 'These truly shocking findings break my heart.
'We will fix the current system that has left far too many families trapped in temporary accommodation with no end in sight and end homelessness for good by tackling the root causes and driving up housing standards.'
In 2022, a coroner ruled that damp and mould was the cause of the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in a Rochdale social housing flat in 2020.
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