The Housing Strategy and Enabling
Manager and the Housing Development and Enabling Manager presented
a detailed presentation, included as an Appendix A to the minutes,
on the development of the county-wide Worcestershire Homelessness
and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2022-25 and action plan. During a
detailed presentation, the following matters were highlighted by
the Officers:
- The
Homelessness Act 2002 placed a statutory duty on all housing
authorities to have a homelessness strategy in place, which had to
be based on a review of all forms of homelessness in the
county/district. The current Worcestershire Homelessness Strategy
was due to expire on 31st December
2022.
- The
new Worcestershire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy set out
how the Worcestershire local housing authorities and Worcestershire
County Council would work together to prevent and relieve
homelessness.
- In
developing the new Strategy, a comprehensive assessment of the
nature and extent of homelessness and rough sleeping across the
County was carried out by analysing homelessness data and taking
account of the views of customers and partner
organisations.
- Subject to approval by Cabinet, there would be a public
consultation on the draft Worcestershire Homelessness and Rough
Sleeping Strategy 2022-25 and action plan, from 17th
October to 4th December 2022.
Following
presentation of the report, Members discussed a
number of areas and Officers responded to questions –
this included:
- Typographical error in respect of data in Table 3 of the
Worcestershire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2022-25,
detailing the temporary accommodation (TA) units in the District
Officers advised that the Council had an agreement in place with
Bromsgrove District Housing Trust (BDHT) to provide static units
and temporary accommodation. In total,
there were up to 50 units available.
This provided flexibility in the system in
order to meet demand, so there was a net surplus of units.
Officers undertook to rectify the typographical error in the
report.
- Explanation of the variance in funding allocated to councils
through the Government’s Homeless Prevention Fund for 2022/23
(for example £362,524 to Wychavon District Council in
comparison to £163,348 to Bromsgrove District Council). It
was explained that the amount of funding was based on level of
incidence of homelessness. Compared with most neighbouring
authorities, Bromsgrove District had a lower incidence of
homelessness and lower number of people towards whom the Council
had a relief duty (i.e., duty to take reasonable steps to help the
applicant to secure suitable accommodation), which resulted in a
smaller grant allocation.
- Clarification around the Relief Duty. Officers explained that
local authorities had a duty to provide accommodation to residents
who were in priority need group and unintentionally homeless, even
if the housing was provided in another local authority area (i.e.,
the resident’s home council had to cover the cost). It was
noted, however, that Bromsgrove District Council would generally
use its temporary accommodation to house Bromsgrove residents
only.
- Reasons as to why the number of rough sleepers in the Borough
declined during the Covid-19 pandemic period and what lessons were
learned. Officers explained that initiatives such as No First and
No Second Night Out accommodation, which provided support above
statutory duty and targeted people who were sleeping rough
year-on-year, were successful in reducing the number of rough
sleepers and encouraged people to sustain settled accommodation.
The targeted support provided on substance misuse also contributed
to lowering the number of rough sleepers during the
pandemic.
- It was
explained that the County Navigator Service from Maggs Day Centre were
occasionally deployed around the District to look for people who
were rough sleeping and there were regular checks in rough-sleeper
hotspots.
- It was
clarified that when service users were placed out of area on a
temporary basis, the Council would keep in contact and monitor the
quality of service received. When support was provided permanently
out-of-district, the Council would not monitor those service users.
Officers confirmed, however, that there was currently no need for
redirecting to out-of-district provision as enough capacity was
available in Bromsgrove District to meet the
demand.
- Ability of the services to respond to increased demand. Officers
confirmed that a considerable increase in demand for temporary
accommodation was anticipated as a result
of the cost-of-living crisis. Despite the stalling rate of
housing construction and large demand on the Council’s
Housing Register, Officers expressed confidence in being able to
deal with the anticipated increase in demand.
- Reciprocal arrangements with other authorities. The Housing
Development and Enabling Manager explained that the Council had
informal arrangements with other authorities, for example in terms
of providing transport for people rough sleeping from other parts
of the country back to their home local authority area where they
could access support. It was highlighted, however, that there was a
limited scope for any further cooperation as Bromsgrove District
Housing Trust (BDHT) had only six units of emergency temporary
accommodation.
- Family
or friends were no longer willing to accommodate was being cited as
the main reason becoming homeless in the District.
- It was
noted that in the post-Covid period there had been a considerable
increase in number of people becoming homeless through being
evicted from private sector accommodation due to the end of an
embargo on Section 21 notice evictions.
- Reporting cases of rough sleeping. Some Members reported
significant delays when contacting Streetlink via telephone to report rough sleeping.
In response Officers advised to report the cases through the
Streetlink website as any information
submitted this way was logged on the central government website and
alerted all local agencies, which enabled a coordinated,
multi-agency response.
- Other
avenues to report rough sleeping/homelessness. Members queried if
there were other avenues for reporting cases locally which allowed
for immediate response in urgent situations. Officers confirmed
BDHT could be telephoned from Monday to Friday during working
hours, and they would alert the local outreach team. The average
response time for this service was 48 hours.
- Feasibility of a 24-hour helpline number. Some Members commented
that there should an immediate support service available to
telephone in cases of urgency. In response, Officers stated that it
was not currently feasible for either the Council or the County to
have a dedicated, staffed 24-hour helpline as there were not enough
resources. However, there was an emergency, out of hours contact
number for people who were homeless or rough sleeping. In addition,
there was a Severe Weather Emergency provision available on
immediate basis.
- Officers confirmed that the Council had a dedicated Housing
Officer for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and this was funded via a
Government grant.
- Arrangements for custody leavers not to be released on Fridays.
Members asked if the current HM Prisons policy of allowing
prisoners to be released on Fridays had been reconsidered, given
that custody leavers without prior housing arranged were at risk of
being left homeless on the weekend as they had insufficient time to
access local support services, especially if they had a long way to
travel home. In response, the Officer undertook to provide Members
with a response and explained that this was a serious issue as
prisoners discharged on a Friday were likely to find it difficult
to access services and may start rough sleeping as a consequence.
- Bidding for the Mental Health Grant. Officers reported that the
County was not successful in the first round and there had been
another bid submitted by the public health team at Worcestershire
County Council. It was explained that, if successful, the grant
would only provide enough funds for appointing one health worker,
and there were other avenues for the Council to bid for larger
amounts of funding.
Members requested that a
Homelessness Services leaflet containing contact details of various
support organisations be produced by Officers and that a local
24-hour contact number for reporting rough sleeping and
homelessness cases be provided to Members.
RESOLVED that the report
be noted and recommendations contained
therein endorsed.
[Councillor S. A. Webb left the
meeting after consideration of this item.]