Agenda item

To consider a report by the Homelessness Prevention Commissioning and Tendering Officer (copy attached) prior to their submission to Cabinet in December 2017, and the Regional Collaborative Committee in January 2018.

10.10 a.m. – 10.50 a.m.

 

Councillor Emrys Wynne declared personal interests in this item as he is a private landlord in Denbigh and he is a JP who sits on the North East Wales DRR Panel.

 

Councillor Melvyn Mile declared a personal interest in this items as he will be a tenant of Grwp Cynefin in the near future.

 

The Lead Member for Social Care & Children’s Services, Councillor Bobby Feeley, introduced the report (previously circulated).

 

She outlined the purpose of the Supporting People funding provided by the Welsh Government (WG) and the role of the Regional Collaborative Committee (RCC) in relation to Denbighshire’s Strategy and Homelessness Prevention Plan.  She emphasised that the Strategy was the county’s first standalone Homelessness Strategy since the implementation of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.  Previous homelessness prevention work had been included as part of the broader Housing Strategy.  Members were advised that both the Strategy and Prevention Plan before them had been consulted on widely by the Homelessness Prevention Team.  The Homelessness Prevention Team was a dedicated team which focussed on working with individuals and families to avert them becoming homeless.  Membership comprised of the former Supporting People Team and the Housing Solutions Team.  Members commended the establishment of a dedicated team to mitigate against the risks of people becoming homeless and asked for details of the officers who worked as part of the Team.  Officers undertook to provide this information, but advised that the first point of contact for an individual or a councillor with a homelessness query was the multi-disciplinary Single Point of Access (SPoA) Service.  SPoA would then signpost the person enquiring to the most appropriate service(s) that could help them

 

Responding to members’ questions the Lead Member and officers advised that:

·       the Homelessness Strategy was a multi-agency strategy which required the co-operation of all Council services;

·       at present the Supporting People (SP) element of the funding utilised to commission homelessness prevention services was ‘ring-fenced’ for those purposes.  However, a recent WG announcement had indicated that from 2019 onwards the SP grant funding would no longer be ‘ring-fenced’, with consideration being given to developing a “super grant”, incorporating the other Tackling Poverty funding streams, and the new Employment grant.  This potentially could render elements of the Strategy undeliverable in future.  Nevertheless local authorities had a statutory duty to deliver certain services to individuals who were, or at risk of becoming, homeless. No further information was available at present on the details of the recent WG announcement;

·       the SP funding for 2018-19 was secure and had been confirmed on a national level, however confirmation was awaited of individual local authority funding allocations which may be subject to change;

·       whilst the aim of reducing the number of households residing in temporary accommodation by 50% by 2021 did seem ambitious, officers were confident that with the establishment of the  Homelessness Prevention Team, which had brought together specialists within the fields of homelessness and housing support, that this could be achieved;

·       whilst it was acknowledged that integrating former offenders into the community was a successful means of reducing reoffending, former prisoners who presented themselves as homeless in Denbighshire would only be entitled to access housing support services if they could satisfy the ‘local connection’ test as per the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.  As members were keen for this to be highlighted within the Strategy the Head of Community Support Services undertook to seek legal advice on whether reference could be included within the Strategy; 

·       to date one ‘house share’ project to meet the needs of young people had been piloted in Denbighshire.  This approach had its complexities and was currently being evaluated and compared to schemes trialled in other areas;

·       the ‘house share’ pilot to meet the needs of young people was completely separate to the supported housing schemes for people with learning disabilities and other supported living schemes for which there was a large and growing demand;

·       young homeless people (16-17) would not be allocated a ‘house share’ or supported housing placement where they would share the facility with much older individuals, or vice-versa;

·       The “Y Dyfodol” young people’s supported housing project in Rhyl was currently being remodelled, to ensure that it appropriately met the needs of young people who were homeless or were threatened with homelessness.  This was very much in line with the development of a “Positive Pathway” approach to supporting young people.  The remodelled contract would commence in October 2018;

·       the Council and its partners were actively, as part of the Strategy’s delivery, looking at reducing its usage of bed and breakfast facilities to house homeless families and individuals by up to 50%. One of the reasons behind this was that it was felt that this type of accommodation was not suitable for families and not conducive with family life;

·       whilst the majority of the bed and breakfast accommodation currently used by the Council was located along the coastal belt, it did utilise accommodation elsewhere in the county as well.  The location would depend on whom it was for, where it was required, and the reasons for placing people and families at the accommodation e.g. fleeing domestic violence etc.  The type of B&B accommodation provided would depend on the size of the family unit, it could vary from a room within a hotel/guest house to a chalet on a residential holiday park.  The Council would usually pay a lower rate than the tourist rate for the accommodation, however the rates would vary based on the size of the family unit – this approach was similar to the one applied in other local authority areas.  The Council’s Housing Enforcement Team and its Public Protection Department were responsible for ensuring that the properties commissioned were safe and of the required standards for accommodating people.  Members requested that details be shared with them on the average cost per unit of temporary B&B accommodation commissioned by the Council;

·       every effort would be made to ensure that temporary accommodation was found for everyone who presented themselves homeless and met the required criteria on the day they presented homeless.  Having secured temporary accommodation the Homelessness Prevention Team would then work with the families/individuals, other Council’s departments and external organisations to try and secure long-term housing solutions for the individuals concerned;

·       the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 stipulated that the Council had 56 days from the day an individual/family approached the authority to notify them that they were at risk of becoming homeless to work with them to prevent them from losing their home, or if necessary, support them to secure suitable and sustainable accommodation.  This was twice as long as under the previous Act, and a far more achievable target, which better allowed for early intervention and prevention of crisis point.  It was therefore imperative that those who were at risk of losing their homes contacted the local authority as soon as they were aware of the risk e.g. on the day the eviction notice was served to enable officers to work with them to draw up a housing plan and assist them to access help and support;

·       the Single Access Route to Housing (SARTH) application and allocation process seemed to be working well following some initial teething problems.  From the Homelessness Prevention Team’s perspective the new single application process was far simpler and assisted them with their work of supporting clients to find suitable housing solutions; 

·       that the Council, due to the need to have more flexibility in relation to the services provided, no longer operated a ‘night shelter’ for people sleeping rough who wanted to utilise it.  Currently it operated  7 day emergency beds which were available to rough sleepers with no local connections and no support packages in place on a 3 day licence;

·       the aim now was to develop a ‘No Second Night Out’ offer which would provide a more holistic approach towards supporting the entire needs of rough sleepers, some of which were extremely  complex, to support them to reconnect with society and find housing that met their needs in the long-term.  It was eventually hoped that the ‘No Second Night Out’ work, through the delivery of a variety of prevention work would develop into a ‘No First Night Out’ approach with a view to ending homelessness in the county.  However, officers agreed with members that having no rough sleepers at all may not be achievable, as for some it was a cultural choice to sleep rough;

·       the Homelessness Prevention Team dealt with all individuals who were either homeless or at risk of being made homeless, including children.  If children were involved the Team would liaise closely with officers in Children’s Services;

·       an internal officer working group was currently working on the potential impact of the introduction of Universal Credit on Denbighshire residents.  This Group was continuing the work of the Tackling Poverty Working Group which had operated during the term of the previous Council.  In due course, this Group would in due course report on its work to one of the Boards that would be established to support the delivery of the Council’s new Corporate Plan;

·       that officers were working closely with Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) seeking them, at an early stage, to draw the services and support available from the Homelessness Prevention Team to the attention of tenants who were at risk of being evicted at an early stage with a view to averting a crisis situation;

·       an action plan to deliver the 2018-19 Supporting People/Homelessness Prevention Plan was in the process of being drawn up.  The action plan’s delivery would be reviewed and monitored on a regular basis by the Homelessness Prevention Planning Group;

·       they were of the view that both the Strategy and Prevention Plan were deliverable and sustainable in the long-term, subject to the availability of funding.  However, the uncertainty in relation to future SP funding, if included as part of the RSG funding, was a concern hence the reason why the Well-being Impact Assessment (WIA) for both the Strategy and Prevention Plan had scored 3 out of the possible 4 stars; and

·       under the Strategy every effort would be made to provide a Service through the medium of Welsh to individuals wherever possible, as per the requirements of the county’s  Welsh Language Standards.  Nevertheless, as was acknowledged in the WIA this could place additional pressure on the one fluent Welsh speaking member of staff in the Team, but every effort would be made to accommodate any requests received.

 

At the conclusion of the discussion members commended the Homelessness Prevention Team on their work and on the Strategy and Prevention Plan, emphasising the importance of educating people on financial matters, particularly financial planning and how to prioritise their spending with a view to reducing the risk of being made homeless.  The Committee:

 

RESOLVED: -

 

(i)              to confirm that, as part of its consideration, it had read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessments for both the draft Strategy and the Prevention Plan;

(ii)             having considered the draft Strategy and Prevention Plan, and subject to the above observations, to recommend to Cabinet that the Denbighshire Homelessness Strategy 2017-21 and the Denbighshire Supporting People/Homelessness Prevention Plan 2018-19 be approved and adopted; and

(iii)            to request that a progress report on the implementation of the Strategy and the delivery of the Prevention Action Plan be presented to the Committee at its meeting in May 2018