Agenda item

To review the Homeless and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019-2024 Report and consider any recommendations prior to public consultation.

Cllr A Brown (PH for Housing & Planning) introduced the Report, and stated that rough sleeping was a national plight that posed a serious risk to life. He outlined that the aim of the strategy was to achieve earlier identification of those at risk of becoming homeless, and to avoid a return to homelessness for those that had found accommodation. It was explained that the strategy would take a multi-agency approach to tackle all aspects of homelessness and rough sleeping.

Questions and Discussion

The HOM informed Members that the strategy was renewed every five years and  reviewed annually. This year the strategy was due for renewal, and had been approved for public consultation with responses required by 4^th November. She added that feedback had already been received from NCC and that the Council was looking into providing additional temporary accommodation. It was confirmed that the strategy would go to Cabinet in December for final approval.

In response to a question from Cllr G Mancini-Boyle, it was confirmed that statistics on the number of homeless coming into the district was limited to those with a connection to North Norfolk.

The Chairman raised concerns regarding resource implications, and asked what the strategy would mean for the Council’s resources. The HOM replied that the strategy did not imply that there would be any increase in resources beyond the existing Housing Services Team, though funding had been previously secured for four additional fixed term posts. The Chairman asked a subsequent question on the cost implications of the strategy, to which the HOM replied that the Council would always incur costs in this area due to its duty of care. She added that due to the variable number of people in need of assistance, it was difficult to quantify a cost at this stage. The Chairman asked whether the fixed costs such as staff salaries were reported transparently in the strategy, to which the HOM replied that this had not been included previously, but could be taken into consideration as part of the consultation.

The Chairman asked whether collaborative working had been considered as part of the strategy e.g. shared services. The HOM replied that the Council did work closely with its partners, but had to focus primarily on the need in North Norfolk. She added that the Council had worked extensively with NCC to help vulnerable young people. The Chairman asked whether there was any statutory reason why the Council could not share its services. It was confirmed that there was no specific reason not to share services, though Council’s often took a different approach to one another that could make this difficult. Members were informed that all seven Councils in Norfolk did work collaboratively on specific issues such as helping domestic abuse victims.

An individual case was discussed and it was confirmed that whilst NNDC was not the principal authority handling the case, accommodation would be offered in circumstances of extreme weather, and assistance would be offered after the principal authority’s 56 day duty of care period.

A question was asked regarding the rising costs of temporary accommodation, to which the HOM replied that due to the limited accommodation available in North Norfolk, it was often necessary to seek accommodation outside of the district which incurred additional costs.

Cllr J Toye expressed his thanks to the Housing Strategy Team for developing the Strategy and asked what could be done to offer the biggest help to the Team. The HOM replied that more homes to take complex individuals with specialist needs was the top priority. Cllr J Toye asked what could be done to support individuals or organisations that offer this type of accommodation, to which the HOM replied that the Council currently employed a Tenancy Sustainment Officer on a fixed term basis that fulfilled this role. It was confirmed that the officer provided support to landlords in these circumstances.

It was proposed by the Chairman that the Committee should respond to the consultation with the following recommendations:

1.    To recommend that costings and resource implications be included in the Strategy.

2.    To recommend that the Strategy demonstrates that all potential areas for collaborative working have been taken into consideration.

The proposal was seconded by Cllr E Spagnola.

RESOLVED

That the Committee submit the following recommendations to the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy Consultation:

1.    To recommend that costings and resource implications be included in the Strategy.

2.    To recommend that the Strategy demonstrates that all potential areas for collaborative working have been taken into consideration.