Issue - meetings

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the increase in homelessness and growing demand for temporary accommodation and the work being undertaken by the Council to respond to this demand.

2.    Approve the adoption of the new Temporary Accommodation Placement  ...  view the full agenda text for item 75

Consideration was given to the report which sought approval of a new Temporary Accommodation Placement Policy as attached at Appendix 1. The report set out the objectives and principles that were reflected in the Policy and explained how the Council intended to meet its statutory obligations under the Housing Act  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the increase in homelessness and growing demand for temporary accommodation and the work being undertaken by the Council to respond to this demand.

2.    Approve the adoption of the new Temporary Accommodation Placement Policy (Appendix 1).

3.    Delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health for a 3-year period in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, to make operational amendments to the Policy when the need is identified.

4.    Note officers’ intention to continue to pursue opportunities for a 3-year period to increase the portfolio of Council-owned temporary accommodation to meet service demands, subject to available budget and in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing.

The Chair invited Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Housing and James Clarke, Assistant Director for Housing to introduce the report. The Cabinet Member for Housing explained the report was seeking approval for the ne Temporary Accommodation Policy. It explained how the Council met it statutory obligations and provided a brief update on the demand for temporary accommodation. It mentioned the work being undertaken to improve the situation for residents and indicated a negative impact on the Council’s financial position, which was welcomed.

Councillor Yasseen expressed that she was supportive of the idea of not using hotels for temporary accommodation due to the expense and didn’t feel they were fit for purpose. She felt that demand had increased because the Council did not build enough houses that fit within the alternative model. She noted that around 600 houses had been built in Boston Castle but understood that very little of that stock could be used for this clientele.  There were lots of factors that contributed to that. She asked if the new Housing Strategy plans ensured this need was accounted for.

A new Housing Strategy was being developed and would be presented to scrutiny and Cabinet next year.  It was explained that the majority of the need could be met through straightforward general needs accommodation.  Generally, rents needed to be low, which was why social housing was the preference. The was one of the reasons why there had been long standing support for an ambitious housing growth programme in the borough. Many of the Council lettings did go to households who were homeless or were previously homeless but there was a shortage of council housing which led to the temporary accommodation issue.  All members were encouraged to support housing growth initiatives within their areas.

There was small proportion of the caseload who’s needs could not be met through traditional general needs council housing.  An example would be single males with a history of rough sleeping where those things had been tried previously but not worked.  Supported accommodation was needed for those households, and this was a challenging sector due to the funding issues.  The Council was considering that as part of the Housing Strategy what it needed to do but also where did it need to work in partnership with charities and housing associations who already did this in other areas to ensure the right provision was in the right locations. 

The routine use of hotels as temporary accommodation needed to be phased out but unfortunately, there would always be a place for the use of hotels as emergency accommodation when people present on the day, because it was not feasible or pragmatic to find a permanent or even semi-permanent property in all cases.

Councillor Yasseen sought assurance that when the policy was implemented that all safeguarding issues were considered when using hotels and that when new housing was developed that the Council was not concentrating on availability in one area over another.  Part B of appendix one was a practice  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51