Agenda item

The following background papers are attached:                           (Enclosures)

·              Homeless stats 2005/06

·              Homeless BVPI’s appendix 2

·              Service Standards for the Housing Solutions Team appendix 3

·              Housing Strategy priority 2 homeless appendix 4

The Housing Solution Manager briefly referred to the performance related information, which had been circulated with the agenda and gave stark information about homelessness.   The presentation would hopefully give a broad idea about the service offered by the Council which was underpinned and driven by legislation outlined in the Housing Act 1996 part VII, Homelessness Regulations 2006 and the Homelessness Act 2002.  

There was a team of officers that offered a front-end service with advice and assistance to people.  A suite of information leaflets which offered broad advice in various languages was available together with a website.   Nothing was taken at face value and all circumstances were investigated with advice being given to help prevent homelessness.  Housing Solutions worked closely with Tenancy Services to help stop instances in the past whereby a tenant had been evicted by the Council and promptly walked back into the offices as homeless.

The Housing Solutions Team Leader then spoke to the Panel about the preventative agenda, which was being driven forward by the Government.     The Council now had an initial homelessness enquiry form which started the ball rolling, so that information could be obtained and options considered and resolved before the need for a formal homeless claim was made.  Partnerships with outside agencies such as the CAB were part of the preventative agenda and the Housing Solutions Team Leader referred to training which she had recently carried out with volunteers at the CAB on housing advice.    All options were looked at when a homelessness enquiry was made including home visits, negotiation with family members and mediation where necessary.   The successful landlords forum had helped the section improve access to private landlords.  If someone presented as a non-priority need and the Council’s statutory duty did not apply they would be given advice and information of where to tap into facilities that were available outside of the Council.     Housing Solutions involvement included:

·Taking claims

·Investigations – a homelessness investigation could take 6/7 weeks and include medical issues, mortgage arrears etc

·Temporary accommodation

·Decisions

·Allocations

·Reviews

·Performance Indicators

The Housing Solutions Team Manager then listed the examples of those people who had a priority need to be housed which included pregnant women and those vulnerable as a result of having been a member of HM regular forces i.e. naval, air or military.   People who were unintentionally homeless could be split into those who had a priority need and those who did not.    The council had a duty to accommodate those with a priority need but also to provide advice and assistance to those who did not.   She then discussed the main duties owed to an applicant who was intentionally homeless and what definitions were used for intentionally homeless and how deliberate acts or omissions made people intentionally homeless.

When a decision was given to an applicant it was clearly documented.  If the applicant wished to have his/her case reviewed then a special form was completed together with any messages or new supporting information and a senior officer not involved with the original application went through all the information including any new information available, this was an informal review.  If the applicant was still not happy with the review, than a formal review would be carried out by the Housing Review Board.  The applicant could submit written representations and each review had to be within eight weeks of the request.  All record keeping pertaining to any homelessness requested was documented and kept in the relevant case file.

A comment was made about the partnership with the CAB with concern being expressed about the CAB funding for the future. The Housing Solutions Team Leader said that the current partnership arrangement was a one off. Bids had been requested and the CAB had been successful, the Scrutiny Officer said that the core funding was a separate issue and not one for this panel; it was the responsibility of the Resources DSP.   Further questions were asked about BME groups, this question was a standard one used to help to understand the make-up of the community.

How did officers know when false information was given. When applications were progressed the applicant had to sign to say the information was correct.   Reference was made about people who left prison for certain crimes and who was notified to which the Housing Solutions Manager referred to the Multi Agency Public Protection Panel and the meetings they held with various bodies such as the police, the probation and social services.

One member referred to the misconceptions that abounded about how people actually came to get accommodation from foreign countries and couldn’t something be done to “set the record straight”?  The Housing Solutions Manager replied that there were strict guidelines governing applicants from EU countries and these were adhered to, unfortunately there would always be an element of mistaken belief by some of the public about how homelessness and housing allocation was dealt with no matter what was said.

The possibility of a hostel for South Kesteven was raised and it was acknowledged that there was no local hostel with the nearest being at Lincoln and Nottingham with no guarantee that anyone sent there would get a place. Unfortunately, funding was required and there were simply no resources available.   The team worked with the resources that they had available to the best of their ability.

The Chairman on behalf of the panel thanked the Housing Solutions Manager and the Housing Solutions Team Leader for an interesting presentation.