Scrutiny requested due to increasing demand, pressure on performance targets and upcoming significant legislative change.
Minutes:
Members were introduced to a presentation about homelessness in the district. The Wellbeing and Health Manager explained that the presentation had been designed to inform Members about the increasing demand on services, subsequent pressure on performance targets and the legislative change in April 2018 which would have significant impact on services. The presentation had been shared with Members at the start of the meeting and Members were invited to ask questions as they arose.
The presentation focussed on three areas of interest: Home Choices Service Demand and Performance, Implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and Strategic Direction. Members were given specific details of numbers of requests made to the Home Choices Service and reasons behind why this might be. It was explained that where people were facing housing difficulties because they had been asked to leave their property, the reasons for this would be explored in detail with them so as to resolve any issues that might make this a recurring problem. It was also highlighted that a significant amount of work was undertaken with landlords to help address issues before they reached a point of asking a tenant to leave and Jonny Goldsmith, Operations Manager for P3 in Lincolnshire, explained that there were also other support services involved who worked closely with the Home Choices Service in such cases to ensure individuals accessed other areas of help such as for substance misuse or mental health problems.
A Member of Committee asked whether there was an issue with people presenting in other areas such as Lincoln, so although not homeless or rough sleeping in West Lindsey, they would otherwise be accessing services in the district. It was explained that the team in West Lindsey worked very closely with the other services in the area and that it was not a coincidence that homeless statistics are lower than in other areas. It was highlighted that there were several ways of reporting though to the team if Members or Officers felt there was someone sleeping rough in the district and this was also open to the public to report, for instance through social media. Members congratulated the Wellbeing and Health Manager on this work and the efforts put in across the board.
With regards to the legislative change in April 2018, the Wellbeing and Health Manager explained there would be a significant increase in demand on the service and this would generate significantly larger workloads within the team. She explained that the team in West Lindsey had been working to the moral standard of the new legislation, that is to say, working above and beyond the existing legal responsibility of the Council, but the main impact would be significantly higher numbers of people eligible for this level of help under the new Act. To assist with the increased workload, it was explained that the staffing structure was under review and new staff were being employed to take on other responsibilities.
The Committee enquired specifically about housing difficulties for those who had left the Armed Forces and also those who had been released from prison. It was explained that despite significant enquiries across the district there did not appear to be any individuals accessing support who were ex-forces personnel and this was not an area of concern within West Lindsey. With regards to those who had been released from prison, it was acknowledged that there were often difficulties such as not having an address to return to or prison services not notifying housing services of the individual being released. As a visiting Member, Councillor Bibb explained that the matter had also been discussed at the Lincolnshire Safety Partnership and she agreed to take forward the concerns of the Committee about lack of information on prison releases back to the Lincolnshire Safety Partnership.
At the end of the presentation, the Chairman thanked the Wellbeing and Health Manager, and Mr Goldsmith, for their work across the district and the dedication of their teams. He noted the importance of investing in people and the need to create homes for people, not simply provide housing, and congratulated the teams on their approach.