Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report to inform Members of the Scrutiny Commission of the progress to date in implementing Leicester’s Homelessness Strategy 2018-2023. The Commission Members are asked to note the report.

The Director of Housing submitted a report which informed Members of the Scrutiny Commission of the progress to date in implementing Leicester’s Homelessness Strategy 2018-2023. The Commission was asked to note the report.

Caroline Carpendale, Head of Service, presented the report, and made the following points:

·         Further progress had been made and work undertaken on nine agreed key actions as noted in the report.

·         It had been a busy year, and the Council had seen the number of people approaching for assistance and the number of people rough sleeping increase.

·         However in Leicester a lot of work was undertaken for the prevention of homelessness, with a 76% success rate (1,740 households). It was noted that maintaining those levels was a challenge, but the service remained committed to breaking the cycle of homelessness.

·         Partnership working with the voluntary sector was good and provided an opportunity to harness good practice and ensure services were not duplicated. The Homelessness Charter was launched in October 2018 in Leicester Cathedral.

·         The Diocese led on the Charter ‘giving through charities’ where people could pledge support to the Charter in different ways. The Diocese were working on a logo, and anyone working in partnership with the diocese and those signing up could use the logo. People would also be able to donate through the website.

·         There had been changes to frontline services to embrace the Homelessness Reduction Act for example, improved access to housing services and self-serve, and 1:1 coaching support for individuals struggling to take action to prevent their homelessness.

·         Alternatives for accommodation needed to remain fit for purpose; work would continue with mental health services and health care.

·         The Council helped with more than just the statutory homeless and had its own eligibility criteria for access to homelessness services.

·         Work continued to ensure that families did not need to go into hostels when homeless and where there was a need for temporary accommodation it was self-contained and only for a minimum period.

·         There was specialist accommodation for young people and offenders; if coming out of prison and homeless, there was higher risk of them reoffending.

·         As a corporate parent there was joint commissioning with children’s services. Officers were looking at the commissioning to ensure children got the best service.

·         More single people with complex issues were being seen, and therefore different models of accommodation to meet changing needs were required.

Members requested an indication of the numbers of people in the city seeking homeless assistance be included in a future report.

In response to Members’ queries, the following additional information was given:

·         Funding had been received for Homelessness Prevention Officers, but caseloads remained high even though new staff were being trained as quickly as possible.

·         There were a lot of complexities around rough sleepers, different cohorts, rough sleepers with tenancies – officers were working with those individuals to try and get them back into their tenancies. The Outreach Team, Transitions Team tried to get rough sleepers off the street. It was a difficult task to gain the confidence of some rough sleepers. An emergency protocol for severe weather was in place to ensure that no one needs to sleep rough during inclement weather. Some individuals with tenancies chose to remain on the street for different reasons; possibly through social isolation, or mental health issues. It was not just a local problem and the Street Lifestyles group looked at all issues around rough sleeping and street begging.

·         Some rough sleepers were from out of town, though there had been some significant success with reconnections with their own communities. Nonetheless there were some that did not want to be reconnected.

·         In relation to the private rented sector, the team worked hard to access accommodation in the sector and also supported those tenants. It was noted it was difficult to approach new landlords, and market rents were higher than the local housing allowance. Some people were benefit-dependent who would be difficult to house in the private rented sector.

·         There was just under 6,000 households in housing need at some point and the need for accommodation was becoming more of a challenge because of the lack of affordable housing. The Housing register would be brought to the next Scrutiny Commission meeting.

The Assistant Mayor for Housing thanked the officer and her team who worked hard to reduce the number of rough sleepers in the city. He said it was clear that work was in progress and could be extremely frustrating, but working with partners and the voluntary sector would continue to reduce the number of rough sleepers. He added that until there was a programme of building affordable housing, social housing and council houses in particular with reasonable rent, the issues would continue.

The Chair commended the officers who she knew were out very often after midnight. She thanked the officer for the report.

It was AGREED that:

1.    The report be noted;

2.    The number of people in the city seeking homeless assistance be included in a future report to the Commission;

3.    The Housing Register be brought to the next meeting of the Commission.