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Agenda item
Rough Sleeping Update
Minutes:
Andrew Palmer, Assistant Director, Housing and Built Environment presented a report to advise Cabinet on trends in rough sleeping locally and update on the work of the council and its partners to address this issue.
Michael Courts, Strategic Housing and Projects Manager gave an update to the councillors around the rough sleeping in Hastings. He spoke about the range of activities that the council are undertaking to reduce the number of rough sleepers in the borough. The council is increasingly reliant on external funding to meet the increase in demand for homelessness services. Often the nature of the funding is that it is short term and has to be competitively bid for. This is resource intensive and can prevent effective long term planning. The Rough Sleeping Initiative is a joint project between Hastings and Eastbourne Councils and contains a multi-disciplinary team of health, mental health, social care, substance misuse and housing professionals working collaboratively to develop holistic support plans for each individual. It has been operating for 6 months so far and has been very successful. There is a new project the rapid rehousing pathway, the project is based on a supported lettings model, creating a dedicated team of support officers working with rough sleepers with low to medium level support needs and people at a high risk of rough sleeping to access and sustain accommodation.
Councillors discussed the service and gave thanks to the officers for all their hard work on this. They discussed how the home works service has been re-invigorated and how it tries to prevent people at risk from becoming rough sleepers. The funding is short term and officers are working hard daily to provide these services even though the projects future is uncertain with the nature of the funding. If these services were to be removed then there would be a crisis, and it is a service that takes time and trust.
Councillors asked questions around the supply of units for housing first and were told that working in partnership with Optivo, the largest landlords locally, they have created a memorandum with them that has flagged several units that will let the council know when they are vacant. The Council would hope to build on this in future and encourage other major landlords to participate in the scheme. Councillors spoke on how rough sleeping is a national problem and not just local, and that seaside towns in particular have seen an increase in rough sleeping. Many rough sleepers do not have a strong connection with the local area but come here because they have fond memories of childhood or other visits in happier periods of their life.
Officers explained that revised legislation covering single homelessness households had widened the Councils responsibilities and resulted in many more people being accommodated temporarily and for longer periods. Councillors discussed the problems in finding accommodation how some landlords will not accept guarantors. This might impact upon the council’s ability to help rough sleepers find more permanent accommodation. It was recognised that a severe shortages of affordable housing in both the social and private stock was hampering efforts to move people on.
Councillor Batsford proposed approval of the recommendations of the Assistant Director’s report. This was seconded by Councillor Rogers.
RESOLVED (Unanimously) that:
1. To endorse the actions outlined in the report aimed at helping to address the increasing trend in rough sleeping.
2. To acknowledge progress mobilising the Hastings and Eastbourne Rough Sleeping Initiative in 2018/19 and to authorise expenditure of £824,843 to continue the programme of services in 2019/20.
3. To authorise expenditure of £310,000 of funding awarded to the Hastings Borough Council-led Rapid Rehousing Pathway project. To grant an exemption to the council’s Financial Rules under paragraph 21c of the
Financial Operating Procedures, to enable the council to procure the service directly from Southdown Housing Association.
4. That £10,000 is reallocated from the Flexible Homelessness Support Grant allocation to support temporary accommodation and rent in advance of deposits for people using the Rapid Rehousing Pathway.
5. To authorise expenditure of the from the reducing health inequalities programme, funded by Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group, including £20,000 worth of funding for a project working with rough sleepers.
6. To delegate authority to the Assistant Director, Housing and Built Environment in consultation with the Lead Member for Housing and Leisure Services, to finalise arrangements for the mobilisation and delivery, including entering into any contractual arrangements, of the Rough Sleeping Initiative, Rapid Rehousing Pathway and Clinical Commissioning Group funded activities.
Reasons for Recommendations:
The council has secured additional funding for projects to reduce rough sleeping.
Supporting documents:
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