Lewisham Council Does Not Count Number Of Homeless Children But Insists None Exist

Lewisham Council does not keep records on how many children are homeless but insists no children are homeless as they will “always find a home” for those in need.

This was revealed when media literacy charity The Student View filed a Freedom of Information request to the council on how many children have been homeless “at some point” last year in the borough.

The council responded that their Information Governance Team could not provide any further information than the official government data “due to the requirement for each record to manually be checked”.

Official government figures provide details on adults with dependent children, young people aged 16 to 17 and young adults that either left care or “require support to manage independently”. 

A total of 36 single parents with dependent children in Lewisham were known by the council to be homeless at the end of last year.

A council spokesperson said: “We will always find a home for children who need one.”