Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report which seeks the views of Housing Scrutiny Commission Members on the first 12 months of the Homelessness Strategy being fully implemented.

The Director of Housing submitted a report which sought the comments of the Commission on the first 12 months of the Homelessness Strategy being fully implemented.

Martin Clewlow, the Homelessness Head of Service gave the meeting a detailed introduction noting the aims of the five year strategy, which overall was the better manage homelessness in the city, in particular through a single point of access to the services. In summary, he felt that improvements were being made, whilst achieving savings and there was no noticeable increase in rough sleeping.

Members raised a number of queries on the following matters:

Queries were raised about the new role of customer services staff taking initial calls in relation to homelessness issues. Martin commented that more calls could now be taken due to the longer opening hours. The relationship with Customer Services was developing, but if a client needed specialist support and appropriate officer would be available. 

Questions were asked about the impact on the strategy / homelessness figures from universal credit and other benefits changes. Martin comented that it currently wasn’t clear as details of exemptions weren’t currently known, but it tended to be larger families that were affected this impact will likely increase to smaller families.

The Supporting Tenants and Residents (STAR) team was welcomed however the role they undertook was queried, particularly whether they could help with form filling, it was noted that they had referred a client to a Councillor suggesting that the Councillor could assist in filling in the form. Martin commented that the role of the team was to support people in tenancies (both public and private sectors) to ensure that they didn’t break down with differing levels of support depending on needs. Martin undertook to explore the issue about the referral to a Councillor with the STAR team. A further comment was made in relation to STAR suggesting that there was duplication with the work of the Welfare Rights Service. Also it was felt that the level of referrals to STAR from elected members should be examined.

Further queries were made regarding changes to the housing register and the definition of those people regarded as ‘adequately housed.’ The Head of Service commented that no one should have been taken off the register even with recent changes. People on the register are written to every year to ask if they wish to remain on. Councillor Aqbany indicated that he would provide the Director with a letter on this issue which had caused some confusion with one of his constituents.

A further query was raised about whether other local authorities could provide any learning experiences to improve Leicester’s services in relation to repeat homelessness. The Head of Service noted that a consultant undertook work for the Council exploring approaches in other areas. A study undertaken by York university had looked at 9 approaches across the country, which showed that there was no one size fits all approach for success. It did however indicate that the ‘housing first’ model, where clients go straight to a tenancy rather than into hostel accommodation first which was currently being used for some clients was proving to be successful. There had also been a review of the processes that duty officers undertake in hostels to see if this could have an impact on repeat homelessness. Also the ‘Revolving Door’ service was also working intensively with people who were on their 3^rd /4^th tenancy to ensure that future tenancies were successfully maintained. Another barrier that was considered was outstanding arrears, the Council changed it policy to ensure that arrears did not prevent people from obtaining a new tenancy, they wouldn’t however be written off.

Further questions were raised in relation to the future provision of hostel places and the financial health of the homelessness service. The Head of Service and the Executive Member for Housing both indicated that there was currently no scope for further reductions to the number of hostel beds, particularly given the forthcoming welfare changes.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the progress made by the Homelessness Strategy was welcomed, particularly that there had not been an increase in rough sleeping;

2)    That a further report be submitted to the Commission on the impact of the welfare reform changes prior to their implementation; and

3)    That the Homelessness team be thanked for all their hard work in delivering the strategy.