Families in B&Bs down by 16% – but it's not enough, says Shelter

New government figures show a reduction of 1100 families in bed and breakfasts between September and December last year. Social exclusion and equality minister Barbara Roche said: "The figures show we are on the right track. We have got to keep up the current rate of activity – and we will."

But homelessness charity Shelter warned that this rate of decrease was not enough for the government to meet its target of getting all such families out of bed and breakfasts by March 2004 (see "The Future for Families in Bed and Breakfasts", below).

Shelter director Adam Sampson said: "With one year to go, we hope the government will show it is serious about meeting the target. It must send a clear message to all local authorities – high and low bed and breakfast users alike – to make sure they explore every avenue of alternative housing for homeless families and end the human misery suffered by so many by March next year."

Roche said the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister ran seminars so that councils could learn best practice from those who had successfully reduced their use of bed and breakfast hotels.

Youth homelessness charity Centrepoint welcomed the news that fewer families were in bed and breakfasts but said the accommodation was also unsuitable for vulnerable young single people.

The figures showed some notable successes in reducing the use of bed and breakfasts. Kensington & Chelsea council, in west London, almost halved the percentage of its homeless who were in bed and breakfasts between 2001 and 2002.

And Greenwich and Lewisham councils, in south-east London, both entirely avoided the use of bed and breakfasts for another successive year.