Issue - meetings

The Homelessness Act 2002 requires the Council to carry out a review of homelessness to inform the production of a homelessness strategy every 5 years. The Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019-24 meets this requirement

Councillor Vic Pritchard made an ad-hoc statement praising the Housing Team in the Council as well as the work of the relevant agencies in the area working with homeless and rough sleepers.  Councillor Pritchard said that there was still a lot of work to be done as numbers of rough sleepers and homeless people were high.  Councillor Pritchard concluded his statement by asking the Cabinet to take this matter seriously and commit to this issue.

Councillor Tim Ball agreed with Councillor Vic Pritchard that the Council indeed had very effective homelessness & housing options service, as evidenced by very low use of temporary accommodation.  However, Council’s aspirations were to do better, and this strategy would provide the basis for that improvement.  The Strategy would seek to improve work with private rented landlords, increase the numbers of Housing First tenancies and tackle homelessness on our local waterways.  In relation to rough sleepers - it was good to note that the Annual Rough Sleeper Count in November 2019 found 17 households resorting to sleeping rough, a decrease of 3 on the 2018 figure.  Of the 17, only 2 were found rough sleeping on the previous annual Count.  The gender split was 14 men and 3 women and were over 25.  However, the Council would want to do better and a bid for MHCLG (The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) grant would reflect this.

A proposal for extension funding for rough sleeper services in 2020/21 has therefore been submitted to MHCLG for consideration.  The proposal was drafted with MHCLG advisors’ input, so that officers were hopeful of a positive outcome, and confirmation of the allocation would be available soon.

Cold Weather Funding was discussed with MHCLG but did not go forward as the proposal was based on provision of ‘somewhere to go’ during the day, filling gaps in current provision and including further support and engagement. MHCLG wanted to see priority for the Cold Weather Fund being placed on accommodation options rather than day activities, and officers were advised that it was unlikely to succeed. 

Councillor Tim Ball moved the recommendations.

Councillor Dine Romero seconded the motion by thanking the Housing Team on their hard work.

Councillor Kevin Guy also supported the motion by adding that so called ‘sofa surfers’ should also be recognised within the strategy.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet:

2.1 Agreed the Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019/24.