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Issue - meetings
Housing and Homelessness Recovery Plan
Meeting: 06/07/2020 - Cabinet (Item 264)
264 Housing and Homelessness Recovery Plan PDF 302 KB
(Andrew Palmer, Assistant Director Housing and Built Environment)
Decision:
1. To support the 3 priorities set out in the council’s housing and homelessness recovery plan, as set out in paragraph 11
2. For Hastings Borough Council to host a Housing Solutions role, within the Mental Health Specialist Accommodation Team. To allocate funding of £6,842 for the role.
3. To continue to provide dispersed temporary accommodation placements for rough sleepers. The full year net cost to the council is estimated at £643,000
4. To note the net cost of the council’s statutory emergency accommodation is estimated to be £343,000 above the original budget projection for 2020/21
5. To continue to lobby government to provide additional funding to help meet the rising costs of homelessness
6. To resume the launch of Live, Work, Thrive and extend the programme end date until March 2023Minutes:
The Assistant Director, Housing and Built Environment, presented a report to update the cabinet on the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on housing and homelessness services and to set out our recovery plans for the next 12 months.
The number of homeless households living in emergency accommodation has increased from 205 at the start of lockdown to 240 at the end of June. Of these, 51 are discretionary placements for former rough sleepers.
The increasing use of emergency accommodation is due to ongoing homelessness presentations during lockdown; additional placements made for rough sleepers as a result of the “everyone in” instruction from the government; and a lack of move-on options in both the social and private rented sectors.
Demand for homelessness services is expected to rise significantly when the current restrictions on evictions are lifted at the end of August, particularly if this coincides with an economic downturn.
Councillor Batsford proposed approval of the recommendations, seconded by Councillor Rogers.
RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
1. To support the 3 priorities set out in the council’s housing and homelessness recovery plan, as set out in paragraph 11
2. For Hastings Borough Council to host a Housing Solutions role, within the Mental Health Specialist Accommodation Team. To allocate funding of £6,842 for the role.
3. To continue to provide dispersed temporary accommodation placements for rough sleepers. The full year net cost to the council is estimated at £643,000
4. To note the net cost of the council’s statutory emergency accommodation is estimated to be £343,000 above the original budget projection for 2020/21
5. To continue to lobby government to provide additional funding to help meet the rising costs of homelessness
6. To resume the launch of Live, Work, Thrive and extend the programme end date until March 2023
Reasons for the decisionThe outbreak of Coronavirus has placed additional demand for on the council’s homelessness services. A range of activities are underway with partners to help reduce pressure upon the service and help mitigate the additional costs associated with extended temporary accommodation usage.
Councillor Forward proposed a motion for the exclusion of the public from the meeting, seconded by Councillor Rogers.
RESOLVED that the public be excluded from the meeting during the, consideration of the items of business listed below because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of “exempt” information as defined in the paragraphs of schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 referred to in the relevant report.
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