Agenda item

The Council delivers support and assistance to people at risk of becoming homeless and people who are homeless by commissioning services, developing effective partnerships with the voluntary sector and having an effective Housing Options & Homelessness Team.  This report provides an update on these services including some proposed enhancements.

The Head of Housing introduced this report to the Panel. He explained that the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, which came into effect in April 2018 was the biggest change to homelessness legislation for 15 years. He added that B&NES had been working in a similar manner to this for the past 10 years so it was not as challenging for us as some other Local Authorities.

He stated that client interviews do now take around twice as long, between 2-3 hours, as a large amount of information is collected. He said that footfall had not increased as much as had been anticipated. He added that more complex issues are being identified with clients, particularly mental health.

The Team Manager for Strategy & Performance stated that in August 2018 the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) launched their Rough Sleeper Strategy and as part of the strategy B&NES had recently successfully secured around £660k of funding over the period of 2018/19 to 2019/20 to provide following additional services, including:

·  Safesleep - 20 additional bed-spaces for rough sleepers between November and February. 

·  Advice and support within the Emergency Department at the RUH to divert patients from sleeping rough.

·  A wider Housing First project for rough sleepers, providing 5 units of accommodation.

·  Mental Health Clinicians embedded within the outreach team. Working alongside outreach workers, these specialists will be able to assess any mental health needs and enable access to services, both of which have previously proved to be a barrier to treatment.

Councillor Liz Richardson commented that the mental health work was welcome. She asked if any funds generated through HMO Licensing or penalties to landlords could be used for further homelessness accommodation. She commented that it will be interesting to see the numbers in this year’s rough sleeper count.

The Head of Housing replied that the HMO Licensing Service is cost neutral and that income from fines is ring fenced for work associated with housing regulations. He added that in terms of funding there is normally a short notice period given in which to apply and said that currently MHCLG are showing a desire to fund this work year on year.

Councillor Barry Macrae commented that the work undertaken was positive, but was concerned with what would happen should the funding cease. He said that further prevention work was required and asked if future reports could focus on reducing numbers.

The Head of Housing replied that where possible officers will use the Reconnection Service to ascertain that accommodation is still available and that appropriate support can continue for rough sleepers that arrive from other parts of the country, having left accommodation and support networks behind.

Councillor Lisa O’Brien commented that the pro-active work of officers is laudable and felt that Councils have a moral duty to help those in need / vulnerable.

The Chairman commented that the figures relating to temporary accommodation for the area were really good. He asked if a violent incident occurred at Julian House would the service be withdrawn from the client(s) involved.

The Team Manager for Strategy & Performance replied that the team at Julian House do have a high tolerance level, but a point does come when individuals cannot be accommodated. She added that a blanket ban is never issued to allow for reconciliation.

The Chairman asked if the public should be advised better on how to help individuals.

The Team Manager for Strategy & Performance replied that money should not be given directly to individuals and suggested they should look to supporting initiatives to raise awareness.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the contents of the report.