To consider the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) provision that is in place for the 2018/19 winter period.

Rachel Lawrence, Rough Sleeping and Single Homelessness Manager, explained that a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) had been agreed by the Council and local homelessness organisations for 2018/19. As in previous years SWEP would provide additional emergency bed spaces in the winter period for people sleeping rough in the City. Last year was an extremely harsh winter during which SWEP opened for a total of 36 nights, providing emergency accommodation to all those who wanted it; a total of 141 individuals accessed SWEP, and a total of 837 nights’ of accommodation were provided. Because SWEP operated on a simple overtime model, this put significant pressure on individuals and the local homelessness organisations involved.

As in previous years, SWEP was instigated on a forecasted weather period of three consecutive nights at zero degrees Celsius or below. SWEP would operate on the same basis in the 2018/19 winter, however officers had discretion to open under other circumstances and will exercise a common sense approach in this regard. If people want to access SWEP, they would need to be at O’Hanlon House between 9:00pm and 9:30pm, from where they would be allocated a bed space at this or another SWEP venue. Transport would be made available if it was needed. The review of SWEP undertaken over the summer, considered whether it would be possible to extend this time frame, but there were logistical challenges and risks in doing this.

Owing to additional MHCLG funding, there were 41 more bed spaces available within the Oxford Adult Homeless Pathway for the 2018/19 winter than in the previous year. Oxford Winter Night Shelter also had an additional 10 bed spaces [total 20 spaces].

Since last year, officers had engaged with community groups and service professionals to gather feedback on improving SWEP provision. One of the key areas for improvement identified was about communication, and ensuring that:

a)    Contact Oxford SPOT - People understand that if they are concerned about a person who maybe rough sleeping and may therefore need to access SWEP, they should contact Oxford SPOT on 01865 243 229 or via email Outreach.Oxford@mungos.org. Oxford SPOT is not an emergency service, but calls and emails will be followed up as soon as possible. You can also report a rough sleeper through the national www.streetlink.org.uk website or call StreetLink on 0300 500 0914. If you believe a rough sleeper’s health is in immediate danger, please call 999.

b)    Timeline - there is a clear message about the time schedule for accessing SWEP. This was hindered last year owing to misinformation from well-intended individuals not associated with SWEP.

The Panel were pleased to note the focus on improving communication, and engaging with local organisations for feedback. Members explicitly requested that student groups remain involved in discussions regarding SWEP.

Officers advised that winter 2018/19 would possibly be the last year when SWEP operated on the current service model, eg. overtime. Officers were exploring  more robust long term models for winter support. However, any new model of this nature would incur a significant cost to the Council.

In response to questions, the Rough Sleeping and Single Homelessness Manager clarified that kennels for dogs must be arranged by 2pm on the same day. It was noted however that dogs would not be able to be visited during the 3 night SWEP period, which members felt made the kennels less appealing to some people. 

The Chair, Councillor Henwood, asked about the process for applying to volunteer for SWEP, and what type of references the application form was expecting. It was clarified that character references or employer references should be appropriate, however people who were interested in finding out more about volunteering for SWEP or to help in other ways could find out more online. The Chair advocated for greater advertising from the Council to get more applicants to help with SWEP. The Rough Sleeping & Single Homelessness Manager explained that volunteers would be used specifically this winter to assist with meeting, greeting and helping to direct SWEP users to their allocated venue. Homeless Oxfordshire would coordinate recruitment, training and management of these volunteers.

As part of the wider communications plan for SWEP, it was clarified that personal text messages would be sent to rough sleepers, together with a press release and email to all partner agencies, every time SWEP was triggered.

In response to questions about overworked staff, it was clarified that the Outreach Team would not be asked to work night shifts at SWEP venues, and they will instead focus on coordinating SWEP operation including bed allocations, and on client engagement and follow-up. Officers also explained that many of the people (approximately 1 in 2) who presented for SWEP last year were not previously known to services. Plans were in place however to improve data recording, but the emergency nature of SWEP meant that data recording may still be difficult.

The Rough Sleeping & Single Homelessness Manager explained that whilst more accommodation would be available this winter for rough sleepers, including those without a local connection, a procedure was in place to escalate capacity should it be needed, for example, if a SWEP venue ceased to be available.

Paul Reed, from Aspire Oxfordshire, suggested that a feedback form could be helpful in recording how people learnt about SWEP and their experiences, and the Rough Sleeping & Single Homelessness Manager confirmed that this was something that officers were wanting to do. The Panel agreed to put this forward as a recommendation to the City Executive Board, and asked that the results of the survey come back to the Panel next year.

In response to questions, the Rough Sleeping and Single Homelessness Manager explained that the decision to trigger SWEP was made by the Council’s Rough Sleeping & Single Homelessness Team in consultation with Oxford SPOT, who would also have consulted service providers involved in SWEP delivery. Councillor Arshad suggested that communication needed to improve concerning the availability of kennels, and the availability of transport between venues during SWEP. It was clarified that there were a limitless number of available kennels for dogs, and that transport would be made available from O’Hanlon House where it was required.

Members asked what should be done when someone was seen sleeping rough during SWEP. Officers strongly advised that all people use the 24hr Outreach Team phone number and – if there was a concern that a person maybe in immediate danger - the emergency services where necessary. It was clarified that, the Outreach Team did engage with people using SWEP to build relationships and make appropriate support service connections. However, the nature of this emergency provision, eg. it principally provides shelter and individuals will be asleep for most of their time in SWEP, means that opportunities for engagement are sometimes limited. Oxford SPOT would however also follow up with individuals who attend for breakfast at O’Hanlon House and Simon House.

The Panel requested to note their thanks to all of the officers and organisations involved in SWEP.

Resolved

That the Housing Panel:

1)    Recommends to the City Executive Board that a brief exit survey be issued to all SWEP users to gather feedback on how they were made aware of SWEP, and their experience of accessing the service.

2)    Requests that the responses to the survey be presented to the Panel in 2019, together with the winter provision proposals for 2019/20.

3)    Request that the new leaflets outlining the SWEP timeline be made available to members of the Panel. 

Councillor Gotch left the meeting at the end of this item.