Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Housing presented the regular report which updated the Committee in respect of the recent status and activity in the South Kesteven District Council’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Services.

There had been an increase in Homelessness case figures from January to February. Active homelessness cases were at 224 with 57 being in temporary accommodation.  

Rough sleeping continued to be a challenge faced by all the District Councils and although seven rough sleepers were reported in January in South Kesteven this figure would have been higher if not for the provision of the night shelter in Grantham.   Change 4 Lincs Outreach Teams conducted three weekly outreach sessions in the early hours to attempt to engage with all those who were rough sleeping in the SKDC area.

From April 2026 the Outreach service would be locally delivered by in house roles within South Kesteven.  It was noted that 22 individuals had accessed the night shelter during the winter period with 14 being successfully supported into more permanent accommodation through collaborative partnership working by SKDC with Living Concepts.   Had the night shelter not been utilised the Council would have incurred approximately £34,000 in costs for nightly paid accommodation over the same period. 

SKDC’s partner, Living Concepts was now operating as a supported housing provider, delivering accommodation in Grantham for individuals with identified support needs.  This integrated provision enabled a flexible and inclusive response to a wide range of housing and support requirements.  Although the service was newly launched, it was anticipated that the approach would help reduce gaps in service provision, strengthen engagement with service users and improve communication between partners.

One Member made reference to the “allowed” camp site at Kesteven Road, Stamford.  It was stated that the Council did not “allow” people to camp there and the Officer indicated that they could give the Member more information outside the meeting.

Another Member made reference to alternative initiatives and referenced pods that had been supplied in coastal areas.  The Head of Service, Housing stated that alternative initiatives were always being looked into and it was stated that pods had been looked at but these were not cost effective for this area.  New and innovative ways of tackling rough sleeping were constantly being looked at.  Reference was made to the success of the night shelter and ways to open the shelter all year round were being reviewed.

The Head of Service, Housing stated that the service was moving away from reactiveness towards a more preventative modal approach to look holistically at the service.

Further discussion followed in respect of extending the time that the night shelter was open and work was on going with the Ark. It was stated that the months that the night shelter was open would be extended but other more cost effective ways would also be continued to be looked into as there was a cost implication of keeping the night shelter open all year.  More preventative measures in respect of homelessness were being considered.

More comments were made in respect of the homelessness figures and it was stated that “trends” were not easy to track, however, the Head of Service, Housing would look at what data could be included in the next report to the Committee.

Questions were raised about the use of HMO’s for temporary accommodation and also number of veterans who presented as homeless to which the Head of Service, Housing replied.

The report was noted and Officers thanked for the work that they undertook in respect of the homelessness function.