To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to ensure that children who have been identified as being at risk are adequately housed.

The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (2000) is used for the assessment of all children in need, including cases where there are concerns that a child may be suffering significant harm. The framework provides a systematic basis for collecting and analysing information to support professional judgments about how to help children and families in the best interests of the child. Practitioners should use the framework to gain an understanding of the impact of wider family and environmental factors including adequate housing on the parents and child.

Judgments taken by practitioners should take careful account of a number of issues on housing, such as: does the accommodation have basic amenities and facilities appropriate to the age and development of the child and other resident members and is the housing accessible and suitable to the needs of disabled family members? They should consider the interior and exterior of the accommodation and immediate surroundings and the provision of basic amenities including water, heating, sanitation, cooking facilities, sleeping arrangements and cleanliness, hygiene and safety and their impact on the child's upbringing.

If the family are social tenants, or on the housing register, the issues practitioners should take into account may contribute to the family being awarded preference in a local authority's allocation scheme. The circumstances in which households need to be given "reasonable preference" include where people:

are homeless; occupy unsanitary, overcrowded, or unsatisfactory housing conditions; need to move for medical or welfare reasons, including grounds relating to a disability; or need to move to avoid hardship