Council and councillors

To receive Report No. 214/2016 from the Director for Places.

:

·         Homelessness

·         Domestic Abuse

Report No. 214/2016 from the Director for Places was received.

The Chair - Mr Lammie introduced the item to the Panel. The Poverty Project is working across all 4 Scrutiny Panels and all Members attended the Poverty Workshop on 13 September 2016.

The following areas were identified for the Places Scrutiny Panel to take forward:

·         Housing/Homelessness

·         Domestic Abuse

·         Transport – to be covered at February’s 2017 Places Scrutiny Panel

During discussion the following points were noted:

i)     Housing/Homelessness:

Portfolio Holder for Resources (excluding Finance), Culture, Sport & Recreation, Tourism and Housing – Mr Hemsley gave a brief introduction to the item and invited Mr Faircliffe – Housing Strategy & Enabling Officer to present appendix A of the report to the Panel.

·         The Rent Deposit Scheme was designed to help with the costs of private rental, which can often be 6 to 8 weeks rent upfront. Efforts were made to recoup this money, with payment plans set up, but often the full amount was not repaid.

·         The Panel requested a breakdown of the reasons (hidden pressures) for housing allocation and homelessness, for example living with family as cannot afford to move out).

·         Housing allocation worked on a points system, which helped to avoid the under occupation of homes, however, properties for older people often did not meet tenants aspirations.

·         On page 13 of the report ‘excluding staff’ should be removed from paragraph 2.

·         Housing at St Georges Barracks would still be used for forces accommodation once the base had been closed. Issues arise if families were to split, service personnel would stay in the home with the rest of the family potentially becoming homeless.

·         The majority of the 67 cases where homelessness was prevented were achieved by being housed via the Housing Register, support from Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) with debt advice and changes in circumstances (safe for them to return home).

·         The majority of homelessness cases in Rutland were due to:

o   Private Landlords

o   Parents / relationship breakdown

o   Social Housing issues

·         The Panel agreed that the definition of poverty should include people that are asset rich but cash poor and that consideration could be given to reducing the Council Tax burden to these people.

·         Concern was raised regarding reduced tolerances of Social Housing Landlords, which can result in repeat homelessness. The Chair – Mr Lammie will feed this back to the overall project.

·         The Council did not currently have enough housing stock, particularly 4/5 bedrooms homes for larger families. The Council often challenge Private and Social Landlords to prevent people becoming homeless.

·         A Social Housing marketing exercise was carried out 2 years ago. The result was that the number of people on the Housing Register increased as awareness increased. There is more the Council could do regarding communication.

·         The Panel raised concerns regarding disruptive families with complex issues that may result in homelessness and what the options were, taking into consideration the rural nature of Rutland.

·         Consideration should be given to the East of the County and Rutland residents that are drawn to services in Stamford, as this falls outside of Rutland.

·         Bed and Breakfast accommodation was normally within Leicester and is mainly used for single individuals or vulnerable people where the use of self-contained temporary accommodation was not practicable; it is not generally used for families.

·         Mr Phillipson - Director for Places (Development and Economy) commended the work that the Housing Options Team carries out, which is often complex and challenging. They worked with a ‘One Council’ approach and often worked closely with colleagues in the Adult Social Care team.

·         The Panel thanked Officers for their work within housing and homelessness.

ii)    Domestic Abuse (DA):

Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Places (Highways, Environment, Transport and Community Safety) and Market Towns – Mr Mathias gave a brief introduction to the item and invited Mr Crouch - Community Safety Manager to present appendix B of the report to the Panel.

·         The Council changed the supplier of services in December 2015 to an LLR based procurement. This is a joint contract between Leicester City, Leicestershire and Rutland. Since then Rutland and other districts have seen an increase in the number of incidents reported.

·         CAB provides help and advice on financial support, debt advice and information regarding benefits.

·         The council promotes the Domestic Abuse services regularly on Rutland Radio.

·         The Director for Places (Environment, Planning and Transport) - Mr Brown asked the Panel to consider that DA could be both the cause and the effect of Poverty.

·         Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC) heard on average 2-3 cases per month for the Rutland area.

·         The Panel commented on how the service was much more comprehensive since the change to the LLR Joint Contract.

·         The Council had access to10% of the capacity of the LLR Joint Contract capacity, which was an increase in capacity from the former contract.

·         The Ministry of Defence (MOD) had in-house services to deal with DA. The Council worked closely with the Army Support Service and MOD. The Panel commended the Chief Executive – Mrs Briggs on the substantial level of work she had undertaken with the MOD.

·         The Panel requested a review of the LLR Joint Contract in 12 months with a report to Places Scrutiny Panel shortly after.

·         The Council currently has no Perpetrator Programme in place. The Council are currently looking at a shared programme with LLR partners with potential support from De Montfort University for analytical related tasks. The Police to support a 2/3 day course for perpetrators on conditional cautions with positive requirements. The Police and Crime Commissioner recently committed funding of £33,000 to this programme. The council has committed a further £2,000 with a possible extra £900 if required. A decision on this is expected by the end of the financial year. The MOD is trialling in-house Perpetrator Programme in the North of England and is hoping to roll this out in the autumn of 2017.

·         CAB and multiple Council departments were attending DASH Risk  Management refresher training in January 2017.

AGREED:

1.    The Panel DISCUSSED the contents of the Report

2.    Housing/Homelessness:

·         The Chair – Mr Lammie to feedback that the definition of poverty should include individuals that are asset rich, but cash poor.

·         The Chair – Mr Lammie would include the reduced tolerances of Social Housing Landlords into the report to be fed back to the overall project.

Domestic Violence:

·         A review of the LLR Joint Contract in 12 months with a report to Places Scrutiny Panel shortly after.