A homeless child in Stroud has spent more than six months living in B&Bs.

Figures obtained from responses to Freedom of Information requests show that one child in Stroud had been living in B&Bs for more than half a year at the end of December 2018.

It is unlawful for local authorities to house homeless families with children or someone who is pregnant in B&B accommodation for more than six weeks.

However, some families may be being accommodated outside of housing law, for example, where the council has no duty to help, such as by children’s services departments.

The figures come as a report was published last week by the Children’s Commissioner for England expressing concern at thousands of children growing up in shipping containers, office blocks and B&Bs.

The figures for Gloucestershire cover B&Bs and other accommodation where residents have to share a bathroom and kitchen with others who live there.

The Children’s Commissioner raised concerns about children living in B&Bs because, while other residents might be families, they may also be vulnerable adults, such as those with mental health or drug abuse problems, creating intimidating and potentially unsafe environments for children.

In total, Gloucestershire reported 43 families or pregnant women and seven children living in B&Bs and other shared facility accommodation at the end of December.

Of these, 10 families or pregnant women and four children had been there longer than six weeks.

However, it is possible that some or all of these families have since moved to other accommodation.

The figure may also be higher as Gloucester no longer holds information about the number of children in such accommodation.

A spokeswoman for Stroud District Council said: “For data protection reasons, we are not in a position to comment on individual cases. In general terms, any temporary accommodation must be suitable and the council will take whatever steps it reasonably can to meet this requirement.

“Due to the increase in homelessness both nationally and here in Stroud, the council is taking proactive measures to secure temporary accommodation to seek to prevent applicants with family commitments being temporarily housed in B&B accommodation.

“Examples include sourcing accommodation by developing some of our own stock; identifying property to purchase and sourcing more temporary accommodation from private sector organisations.”

The Children’s Commissioner is particularly concerned about families being placed in B&Bs, office block conversions – where flats are often smaller than national space standards – and shipping containers – which are also cramped, as well really hot in summer and too cold in the winter.

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, said: “Something has gone very wrong with our housing system when children are growing up in B&Bs, shipping containers and old office blocks.

“Children have told us of the disruptive and at times frightening impact this can have on their lives. It is a scandal that a country as prosperous as ours is leaving tens of thousands of families in temporary accommodation for long periods of time, or to sofa surf.

“It is essential that the Government invests properly in a major house-building programme and that it sets itself a formal target to reduce the number of children in temporary accommodation.”