Minutes:
I am pleased to see that the Council treats homelessness and rough sleeping seriously, and as a priority, even though it remains at a low level in the Borough. Can you please confirm what action is being taken to manage this issue going forward?
Answer
Thank you for your question.
As you can see tonight in the agenda, I am bringing forward the Homeless and Rough Sleeping Strategy which forms part of the overall Housing Strategy. It is probably one of the most important papers that I will bring to the Council.
I can confirm that the Council does treat homelessness and rough sleeping very seriously and, although the numbers involved are relatively low, as you have said, the Council recognises the devastating impact it can have on individuals and families. Those impacts can be wide ranging and long term affecting their health, education and employment among things in other areas of their lives.
The draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy that is being recommended for approval by Executive at this meeting sets out the strategic approach to prevention, management and support for those threatened with homelessness or who are unfortunate enough to be already homeless or sleeping rough. It contains 4 strategic priorities:
1. Early intervention and prevention
2. Working towards ending rough sleeping and tackling hidden homeless
3. Building more affordable homes each year
4. Supporting our vulnerable residents
Within that fourth strategic priority the strategy highlights current actions and proposals for a number of key groups including care leavers and young people, those who have experienced domestic abuse, people with mental health problems, those with learning disabilities, ex-offenders and military veterans.
The Strategy includes an Action Plan that will be monitored, reviewed and updated annually. That action plan highlights the key outcomes we are aiming to achieve under each strategic priority.
In line with the Homelessness Reduction Act, the main focus for the Council and our partners is to prevent homelessness through early intervention and support. The Council has strong partnerships with agencies, charities and organisations across the Borough and there are a number of active and effective forums and working groups both across Directorates within the Council and more widely.
Through those partnerships, we aim to identify at an early stage those who may be at risk of becoming homeless and provide early support and advice. We also continue to work together to set up clear and accessible housing pathways for all identified key groups.
Supplementary Question:
When did the Council last carry out a survey of rough sleepers across the Borough and what were the results?
Supplementary Answer:
We carry out a survey of rough sleepers across the Borough on an annual basis, and the last one we carried out was in the middle of November. Through the information we collated through our partners, with charities and other organisations, we identified that we have 10 sleeping rough in the Borough. This figure compares to 7 in 2018, which although small numbers is a significant increase.
For information, this compares with Reading, they obviously have some different problems, but they actually have 25 rough sleepers, at this moment in time.