For the Panel to consider the Housing Performance Q2 update report, and to make any recommendations to Cabinet accordingly.

Richard Wood, Strategy and Service Development Manager, will be available to present the report and answer any questions.

The Panel AGREED to change the agenda order, to hear the Housing Performance Q1 item before the response to the Planning for the Future government consultation.

Richard Wood, Strategy and Service Development Manager introduced a report detailing the Council’s performance across its housing activities. Before introducing the main issues it was explained that Covid had made target-setting and delivery more difficult.

The demands on homelessness-related services had increased over normal numbers, with elevated numbers presenting as homeless week on week. Nevertheless, despite higher numbers the Council had been successful in keeping the numbers waiting for temporary accommodation within the targets set for a non-pandemic impacted environment. The normal measures for work on rough sleeping had not been able to be provided; all work by the provider had had to be suspended in order to develop and run the emergency accommodation required under the ‘Everybody In’ policy. Over the course of two weeks at the start of the lockdown period, it was necessary to find 121 rooms, which was achieved. Interim provision at Canterbury House and the YHA had also been established. The Council had successfully secured from central government £1m for the Next Steps programme, to support that accommodation and additional move-on options also and had another bid in the pipeline for further long-term accommodation. The impact of the Council’s efforts in implementing the ‘Everybody In’ policy meant that counts of street homeless showed a decrease in the number of individuals, with 25 at the last count.

In other areas of the Council, the demands of Housing Services had continued throughout the lockdown period, with the service needing to adapt its processes to enable new lets and repairs to continue, with the latter playing a key role in identifying and providing support for vulnerable tenants during the pandemic.

In the area of construction and the building of social housing, the pandemic had caused severe disruption, with work having to be paused during the lockdown on the majority of sites. This was due largely to the challenges of social distancing, but also because of disruption of supply chains. Following the lifting of lockdown, catch up work had commenced. The year to date delivery of affordable homes stood at the end of the quarter at 33, with an anticipated 93 to be delivered by the end of the financial year.

In discussion, the Panel discussed the following:

-       The adequacy of the number of homes being delivered in comparison to the number waiting for housing. It was recognised that the number did need to increase, but that the Council was taking what steps were available to increase supply.

-       The Council’s responsibilities towards rough sleepers from outside the City’s boundaries. It was explained that the Council would provide emergency accommodation and undertake initial assessments, but once an individual’s links to another area were established, the relevant district would become responsible for helping the individual.

-       Details of future bids for additional funding from government, which would be used, if granted, to supply an additional 20 Housing First homes at affordable rents. This would focus on providing homes for those within the rough sleeping pathway, rather than broader issues around housing likely to arise from the pandemic.

The Panel also expressed concern at the prospect of provision of emergency shelter for those homeless people with particular vulnerabilities or difficulties accessing emergency housing, particularly those with no recourse to public funds and women fleeing domestic abuse. A protocol for providing emergency shelter for rough sleepers was being developed. The Panel suggested that it was necessary to monitor gender breakdowns of access through the ‘Everyone In’ policy to identify any in homelessness arising from domestic abuse. The Panel AGREED to make the following recommendations to Cabinet.

1)    That the Council commits to continuing to provide emergency accommodation to rough sleepers over the winter period, including those with no recourse to public funds.

2)    That the Council carries out a gender breakdown regarding who has been housed through the ‘Everybody In’ scheme to enable a more detailed understanding of the gendered impact of homelessness during Covid-19.

3)    That the Council reviews the suitability of its emergency accommodation to those rough sleepers who have specific vulnerabilities and ensures the needs arising from those vulnerabilities are provided for