Agenda item

(i)      Joint Report of the Assistant Chief Executive and the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Economic Development.

(ii)     Presentation by the Advice and Prevention Manager, Regeneration and Economic Development.

The Chairman introduced the Advice and Prevention Manager, Regeneration and Economic Development, Lorraine Walkden who gave an overview presentation on the Family Intervention Project and the Housing Intervention Project (for copy see file of minutes).

The report and presentation looked at:

Background to the Family Intervention Project and the objectives.

Eligibility criteria.

How the process was operated.

Detail of assessment process.

Use of the service.

Background to Housing Intervention Project.

The Chairman thanked the Advice and Prevention Manager for the presentation and then continued by asking members if they had any questions.

Members asked if there were any statistics to show the success of the interventions used by the FIP project and if there was a reward grant for success.

The Advice and Prevention Manager responded that there are a number of measurable outcomes some of which include families not being evicted, children attending school and a reduction in domestic violence.  In relation to a reward grant for success the committee was informed that as part of the Strong Families Programme grant is received by the Authority for hitting particular targets however this grant would go to Children’s Services not Housing Solutions.

Councillor Bell requested clarification as to how the families were referred to the FIP project.  It was confirmed by the Advice and Prevention Manager that a lot of the families are referred via the First Contact Service and Housing Solutions.  It was highlighted that the FIP project is pro-active identifying families who would benefit from the project early, often via LMAPS.

Resolved:

(i)       That the contents of the report be noted.

(ii)      That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive a further update on the Family Intervention Project and Housing Intervention Project at a future meeting of the Committee.