Agenda item

This report provides an update for review and comment by the Policy and Accountability Committee on the following areas: Rough Sleeping,

Implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018,Temporary Accommodation and Private Rented Sector and Sheltered Housing, doing things with residents, not to them – Resident Led Decision Making

 

Glendine Shepherd (Assistant Director, Housing Management) gave an overview of the report which provided updates on Rough Sleeping, Implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018, Temporary Accommodation and Sheltered Housing. The individual report authors then provided a brief summary of the reports and the following points were noted:

 

Rough Sleeping

 

Julia Copeland, Head of Strategic Commissioning and Rough Sleeping Lead explained that rough sleeping was the most visible and extreme form of homelessness. Details were provided on the causes and scale of the problem, as well as what steps the Council was currently taking to address the issue.

 

In line with the Council’s commitment to do things with residents, rather than to them, Officers interviewed 108 rough sleepers. This data was used to inform the Council’s response, and stemming from the Rough Sleeping Commissions’ 29 recommendations, it was  noted that the Council’s strategy would focus on improving prevention and early intervention through better information, signposting and partnership working.  Details were provided  on several of the new initiatives for rough sleepers. Actions included:

• The expansion of Housing First;
• Emergency night support service;
• Rough sleeper navigator posts;
• Homeless hospital discharge co-ordinator;
• Cold Weather Fund;
• More joined up services;
• Alternative Giving Scheme campaign; and
• Small Tap Big Change(with nearly £5K raised so far).

 

Concluding her remarks, Julia explained that in 2020/21 the majority of rough sleeper services (accommodation and out-reach services), would be recommissioned and Officers would continue to deliver better value for money, better outcomes and improved services to residents.

 

 

Homelessness

 

Simone Melia, Head of Homelessness Prevention and Assessment, provided details on the Council’s statutory duties to help residents before they became homeless i.e. they had nowhere to live, but where not rough sleeping.

 

The Committee heard The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (‘The Act’) which came into force in April 2018, had made significant changes to the way in which local authorities delivered homelessness services and put a greater emphasis on providing advice and guidance to those persons living with the threat of homelessness.

 

Details were provided on the number of people seeking homelessness assistance, the preventative work which officers were doing, as well as the new duty to refer (which put the onus on public sector organisations to let the Local Authority know if anyone was at risk of becoming homeless.)

 

Officers explained that the Economy Department had been recently restructured which had influenced how homeless services were delivered. Simone also highlighted the improvements which had been brought about by the new customer contact centre based at 145 King Street, the introduction of a new online self-assessment tool, upskilling and an improved customer service experience.

 

 

 

 

Temporary Accommodation

 

Gerry Crowley, Head of Allocations and Lettings explained the Council provided temporary accommodation as it had a legal duty to do so to those households which were homeless or threatened with homelessness. Setting the national context, it was noted that since 2010, there had been a 77% increase the number of families in temporary accommodation and a 250% increase in the number of families in bed and breakfast accommodation.

 

The Committee were pleased to learn that the Council had been able to reduce the number of families using temporary accommodation by 15% since April 2018, which bucked the pan-London trend. As such Hammersmith and Fulham was deemed to be a beacon Authority for its work in this area.

 

Details were provided on the Temporary Accommodation Delivery Board and also TA Reduction Working Group which had been established in 2018/19. It was noted that the key to the delivery of savings was through tenancy sustainment once a household had accepted an offer of housing in the private rented sector.

 

 

Sheltered Housing

 

Yvonne Stoney – Sheltered Housing Manager explained that Sheltered Housing Service comprised of 970 units across 22 schemes. Schemes varied in size and design but were all one-bedroom self-contained units for independent living, clustered around a shared communal lounge. Details were provided on the resources and the numbers of Officers involved in delivering the service.

 

It was noted that a significant amount of resident engagement work had been conducted and these details were set out in the report.

 

The Committee heard an active Residents Sheltered Housing Forum met every 2 months. To establish what residents wanted from the Service going forwards, a series of workshops were held and using this feedback, 3 options were developed. Of these, the residents agreed to implement option 1 for the new service structure.

 

In relation to the Homelessness Reduction Act, Cllr Rowan Ree asked how much additional funding this gave Local Authorities on a long-term basis. In response, Yvonne confirmed that no further funding was available. In the short term, new burdens funding was available for the first few years. Cllr Lisa Homan confirmed that after 2020/21 it was uncertain what would happen.

 

Cllr Rowan Ree asked in terms of fund raising for homelessness, whether Officers had done any direct fund raising with businesses in the Borough. In response, Julia  confirmed that Hammersmith Bid had been actively involved and the borough was at the start of charitable giving through initiatives like Small Tap, Big Change. Businesses also had their Corporate, Social Responsibility arms and there was an element of public giving.

 

Cllr Rowan Ree commented how effective the Small, Tap, Big Change initiative was and Mark Meehan explained this had been launched at the Council’s Business Awards. Mark explained that further information on the Small Tap, Big Change scheme and Beam would be circulated to Members outside the meeting.

 

Action: That Officers provide the Committee with further information on the Small Tap, Big Change scheme and Beam.

 

Cllr Rowan Ree asked whether the 3-month post at Charing Cross Hospital had started. In response, Julia confirmed that St Mungo’s would be seconding one its workers and it was hoped this work would start in the next 2 to 3 weeks. The savings arising from delayed discharges would be fed into the NHS.

 

Cllr Adronie Alford asked about the Emergency Night Support Service and how it worked. In response, Julia explained that it was located in Market Lane Day Centre in Shepherds Bush. The provision was very basic and comprised of camp beds for up to 8 people in a room and this was supervised by 2 staff. It opened from 9 pm to 8 am and it was the Street Outreach Team at St Mungo’s which brought the clients to the facility. Julia confirmed the centre had been a contributory factor in reducing the numbers sleeping on the streets at night. Officers confirmed they had approached Central Government for funding in the hope that this could evolve into a 24-hour service.

 

Asking a supplementary question, Cllr Adronie Alford asked if homeless attendees (of The Emergency Night Service) would be advised when they attended. In response, Officers confirmed that they would be advised  to refer themselves to Housing Solutions.

 

Cllr Adronie Alford noted that there had been a dramatic rise in the number of homelessness housing applications and if there were checks being done to ensure an applicant was genuinely homeless. In response, Yvonne explained there was a correlation between these and the increased number of single people making applications. Officers confirmed that a series of checks were made to verify if the person was genuinely homeless.

 

Cllr Helen Rowbottom explained that hospitals were not allowed to discharge persons without a fixed address onto the street and asked Officers to comment on this. Officers confirmed this was correct and hospitals should not be discharging to the street. It was noted that this was where the 3-month secondment to Charing Cross hospital should be beneficial.

 

Cllr Ann Rosenberg asked about Glass Door. In response, Officers explained that Glass Door was a Homeless Charity and London's largest open-access network of emergency winter shelters and support services for men and women affected by homelessness. Beyond that, there were a variety of drop in centres such as Queen Caroline or libraries. Mark Meehan also explained that most Officers had mobile phones and so they had on-line mobile access.

 

Cllr Ann Rosenberg asked how a homeless person went about completing on-line forms. Officers explained that there were PCs in 145 King Street and Officers were on hand to provide face to face assistance.

 

Residents were invited to ask questions through the Chair. A resident asked if outreach (to homeless people) had been conducted in libraries as they had noticed that rough sleepers tended to congregate in them. Rough sleepers had also been known to sleep bin rooms on the estates and residents expressed concern about this development. Officers asked residents to report any incidents of rough sleeping to the Council and organisations such as Street Link would be in a position to help.

 

Concluding the item, the Chair stated that it was good to hear about the  progress which had been made on the Rough Sleeping initiative since the recommendations from the Rough Sleeping Commission and thanked Officers for the updates and the extra work they had taken to action the  Homelessness Reduction Act. In relation to the use of Temporary Accommodation, he noted that there had been  more referrals, but less people using temporary accommodation which underlined the good work which was being done in this area. Sheltered Housing was also cited as a good example of doing things with residents rather than to them.

 

The Chair asked Officers what actions they thought had made a significant difference to bring about positive change. In response, Julia Copeland explained the Commission had focused on and given officers the incentive to join up a number of work streams to really make a difference. Julia highlighted that the Borough had a number of excellent voluntary services, strong partnerships and a good track record of working with the council’s voluntary organisations and providers. Officers had ensured they had listened to homeless peoples’ views and used the Council’s money wisely with evidence based commissioning.  Glendine Shepherd highlighted that in addition, the Council now had dedicated officers working in the area of rough sleeping which had made a real difference.

 

Concluding the item, Cllr Lisa Homan explained this was an area she shared with Cllr Sue Fennimore, Deputy Leader, which illustrated the degree of political commitment to tackle the problem of homelessness. She highlighted the Council had a committed staff body dedicated to addressing the issue. In relation to the Sheltered Housing work, Cllr Lisa Homan stated that she had attended a number of meetings where the Sheltered Housing initiative was discussed and there had been high levels of engagement.

 

The Chair said the report illustrated the large amount of positive work which was being done and the Committee looked forward to revisiting and scrutinising the work which had been done in the future.

 

 

RESOLVED

That the Committee reviewed and commented on the report.