Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Regeneration Economy and Growth and presentation which provided an update on the draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029 (for copy of report and presentation slides, see file of minutes).

Marie Smith, Housing Manager provided Members with a detailed presentation that focused on the background to the draft strategy; key points in relation to the draft strategy including how it differs from the existing strategy; detail of the four priorities within the strategy; detail of the consultation process; next steps including confirmation that a delivery plan would be produced and case studies showing various pathways for residents presenting to the service.

The Housing Manager confirmed that it is a statutory requirement for the authority to have a strategy in place and that an in-depth review had been carried out from April 2019-October 2022 of homelessness and rough sleeping across County Durham to form an evidence base which had been used to inform the draft strategy.  She continued by informing members that a consultation had taken place with partners and members of the public earlier in the year on the proposed priorities for inclusion in the strategy.

She continued by highlighting that the strategy differs from the existing strategy as it has been informed by a more detailed evidence base than previously covering ten cohorts, looking at the issues for each cohort and identifying any gaps in the service offer.  It was confirmed that around 7,500 people contact the housing service each year claiming homelessness, it is then determined as to whether the authority owe them a duty. It was confirmed that more people are contacting the service sooner and therefore the service is strengthening its intervention support and that of the initial 7,500 contacting the service 2,500 are accepted as being homeless in line with the requirements of the legislation.  The main reasons for homeless within the county are, end of private rented tenancy, domestic abuse and parent/friend no longer willing to provide accommodation.

The Housing Manager continued by highlighting that the Service has seen a large increase in the number of people requiring early advice to prevent a crisis situation, and that there has also been an increase in the number of people with complex needs accessing the service. In addition, access to some tenures can be more difficult for certain cohorts and there are pressures on temporary accommodation currently available. 

In relation to the priorities of the draft strategy, the Housing Manager confirmed that conversations are ongoing to provide an explanation of what will be achieved in the first twelve months and that the service will come back to a future committee and confirm how they have performed in relation to the actions identified in the delivery plan. 

In relation to next steps, the Housing Manager confirmed that the seven-week consultation period runs to the 18 December 2023, the second draft of the strategy will go to Cabinet in June, that a homelessness Forum will be established that will be led by Durham County Council and will focus on performance in relation to the delivery plan and it was confirmed that a delivery plan will be developed.

Councillor A Batey commented that the current approach to providing support was very much digital based with a lack of face-to-face contact and there was concern about clients having access to the necessary technology to enable them to access the required support. She continued by suggesting that there was a need to identify more opportunities for support to be provided via face-to-face contact with clients, particularly in view of the recent review of Durham County Council’s Customer Access Point provision. Marie Smith, Housing Manager advised that work was taking place to make it as easy as possible to access current support via the Durham County Council website and contact on a face-to-face basis was available at various centres throughout the County.

Christopher Hepworth, Housing Manager added that work was ongoing exploring available office accommodation and whether staff were currently based at the appropriate locations. He continued that there were currently two dedicated Visiting Officers with more preventative face-to-face work being undertaken and that the team were heavily reliant on partners to refer clients to the support provision available. 

Councillor A Batey felt there was a need to ensure that young people were aware of the support available both from a perspective that they may need to access the support but also so they could promote what support was available within their local communities. She suggested that information on available support be provided in schools and colleges throughout the County and that colleagues within the Housing Solutions Service may want to visit both schools and colleagues to provide details of available support. Marie Smith, Housing Manager advised that in relation to preventative work undertaken, the team worked with Children Services and Schools, to promote the type of support currently available and confirmed that working with schools would be included within the resulting delivery plan.

Councillor C Lines commented on the significant increase in people contacting the service with complex needs and queried what additional pressure this placed on the service. Marie Smith, Housing Manager advised that there had been an increase of 13% in relation to people presenting with complex needs and confirmed that Officers had a list specifying what constituted complex needs. She added that the service work closely with partners such as Public Health when it is identified that those needs include domestic abuse, drug and alcohol dependency and noted that often individuals would present to the service six to seven times and the service would work with them each time to get the support that they require.

Councillor A Surtees referred to points raised by Councillor Batey and Councillor Lines and commented that reasons causing homeless needed to be monitored and recorded as there was a cohort of people who were affected by the ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ that would require support. She added that the increase in the mortgage rate and general rise in living costs would create more homelessness in the future. She highlighted the need to continually promote the support available and suggested that information in relation to available support should be available generically in community venues throughout the County.

The Chair was concerned that people without electricity/broadband would not have access to the support network that was available online and highlighted that many people were vulnerable and required face-to-face contact and empathy which could not be provided via e-mail. He suggested that hubs to provide the necessary support be explored. In addition, he felt the strategy needed to be flexible to be able to respond to change and highlighted the need for a delivery plan to be developed to identify how the actions within the strategy would be delivered. The Chair then asked to meet Officers outside the meeting with regards to provision/schemes within the Chester-le-Street area.

Councillor K Shaw commented that the service had been one of the six best performing authorities in relation to responding to homelessness and had won the Local Authority of the Year awards in 2021, however the authority were now in the position of underperforming and were below regional and national performance figures and queried the reasons behind the change. Marie Smith, Housing Manager advised that the service dealt with high and complex caseloads which were resource intensive, and Officers were working hard towards turning current performance around. She added that the changes with regards to how performance statistics were recorded was also a factor.

Christopher Hepworth, Housing Manager explained that the way data was recorded had changed since the Homeless Reduction Act and various welfare reform changes. Previously Durham County Council had recorded Discretionary Housing Payments which were classed as preventions. The service no longer administer these payments and therefore they no longer feature in the performance information. He added that the team had a quick turnover of staff with a large percentage of Housing Officers working with the team less than 12 months. It was noted that the team were in a better place, staff vacancies had now been filled, with the team having two visiting officers and new software had been installed to reduce the administrative burden, therefore performance would improve.

Councillor P Heaviside commented that a percentage of people presenting as homeless were ex-offenders and he understood that ex-offenders were unable to seek accommodation via Registered Social Housing Providers for ten years and, therefore had to seek accommodation via the private sector. He asked whether it would be possible to work with Social Housing Providers in the County to look at each case on an individual basis. Marie Smith, Housing Manager advised that two initiatives had been funded by Government to provide accommodation to ex-offenders which had proven to be very successful. Officers were having discussions with Social Housing Providers in the County and noted that one of the Housing Providers was very keen to pilot a scheme to provide accommodation to ex-offenders.

Resolved:

(i)           That feedback in relation to the draft strategy be shared with the Service Grouping to further revise the draft strategy and to develop a delivery plan for inclusion within the strategy.

(ii)          That the revised draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029 including the delivery plan be considered by the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee prior to being considered by Cabinet in June 2024.