Meeting documents

Considered report previously circulated, which provided a detailed account of the results of the Homelessness Review that had been undertaken by the five Districts and proposed an Action Plan that covered four priorities which included:-

·         Supporting the transition in services required by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017;

·         Supporting clients to remain in their existing accommodation;

·         Supporting clients to access suitable and affordable accommodation; and

·         Building and maintaining strong working relationships across partnerships.

During the discussion of this item, Members made comments and statements and asked questions which included:-

·         Members were disappointed that the Housing Portfolio Holder was not present at the meeting.

·         Members suggested that the public speaker approached the Somerset County Foundation, who were organising a day for people to attend with ideas for projects that could tap into Hinkley Point funds and could help with funding issues, it would also help promote partnership working and networking.

·         Members thanked the Housing Officer for their hard work on the strategy.

·         Concern was raised about the amount of people that TDBC currently had lodged in the Travelodge due to the lack of accommodation available to them.  Members requested an update in three months’ time.

·         The Chairman agreed and requested regular reviews. 

The strategy was a countywide strategy and would not be able to be reviewed every three months, however, the Housing Officer could produce figures for the local cases and update Members on that.  Currently the amount of cases being lodged in temporary accommodation was abnormally high.  There were a number of issues that had caused the high figures, lack of social hosing, landlords not willing to take on tenants on benefits, were just a couple of examples.  Staff were trying to help customers find accommodation and had accompanied them when they had gone to an estate agents to offer assistance.

·         Members praised the methods being adopted by the Housing Team and the support they were offering to customers.  They suggested that the Council should be advertising the success stories which would help promote the help available to customers.

·         Members queried whether officers had access to a database of private landlords located in the area who they could approach for homeless customers. 

Yes, the Homeless Team had access to a list of local landlords.

·         Members raised concern that when customers had been given rent money to pay the landlord themselves, there had sometimes been issues with managing their money.

The Housing Officer shared their concern because it had been historically proved that certain tenants struggled with their finances and would get themselves into rent arrears.  Direct payments to landlords had been used previously to tackle this issue.  However, Central Government had introduced regulations that benefit payments should be paid direct to the tenant to give them the opportunity to manage their own money.

·         Members requested an update on the housing project that had been set up to assist ex-servicemen.

The project had identified that there was a need for ex-servicemen accommodation in the area.  The Housing Officer advised the Committee that once the customer’s service history was known, they were directed to the project.

·         Members queried whether there was capacity if all the rough sleepers were taken off the streets tonight.

There were currently twenty-two rough sleepers known to the Housing Department.  Four of which had been long term rough sleepers and were not visible and did not want to use Council accommodation.  Officers still offered help and would liaise with other agencies who would visit them.  There was capacity to accommodate all of the rough sleepers but the choice to use it was down to the customer.

·         Members queried whether the Homeless Team liaised with the Housing Options Team because they had experienced cases where the customer had been let down by the service provided.

The Housing Officers confirmed that all the Housing Teams worked together, however, some decisions were difficult because housing and homelessness was governed by strict regulations set in law.  Homelessness legislation instructed officers on what they could and couldn’t do.  The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 had widened the regulations on how many types of people could be helped.  The use of private rented accommodation was promoted due to the fact that there was not enough social housing in the area and it wasn’t fair on tenants to be temporary accommodation for long lengths of time.

·         Members queried how much money was being spent on temporary accommodation.

The figures were not available at the meeting, but the Housing Officer would distribute the answer to Members.  Some of the cost was covered by housing benefit and housing grants available from Government.

·         Members had experienced problems with poverty through their work and knew there had been an increase in use of local food banks and temporary accommodation.  They were concerned because the problem would only get worse due to the lack of funding.

·         Members were disappointed that the Government had made the decision to pay Universal Credit direct to tenants.

·         Concern was raised on customers that had fled domestic abuse who had ended up homeless.  They were aware that there were charities that issued grants to assist victims of domestic abuse.

The Housing Officer highlighted that paragraph 2.6 of the Strategy gave details of what help was available for victims of domestic abuse.

·         Members queried how many homeless applications had been received this year compared to the previous year.

Last year 470 homeless approaches were recorded.  From April to September 2018, 520 applications had been reported and the Housing Officer believed it was due to the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

Resolved that the Scrutiny Committee:-

a)    Provided ‘in principle’ support to the draft Somerset Homelessness Review and Strategy;

b)    Challenged and scrutinised the detail and identified content that may require further clarity or amendment and provided a view on whether Scrutiny considered some aims and priorities were more important than others; and

c)    Challenged the content of the draft Equalities Impact Assessment and suggested any further additions or amendments.