Agenda item

Resolved: the committee noted the report.

Lee Georgiou (Housing Needs and Refugee Services Manager) introduced the report. The following key points were noted:

1.1  The implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act has led to a more personalised and person-centred approach but the structural challenges causing homelessness and the difficulties accessing alternative accommodation are still present.

1.2  Lewisham has 2,400 households in temporary accommodation. 739 of these were in nightly-paid accommodation as measured at the end of January 2020.

1.3  Frontline homelessness services have been completely changed since the Act came into force. The council established a programme of culture change, embedding coaching and motivational interview techniques across the service and made improvements to partnership working.

1.4  The outcome of this has been that the service has prevented more homelessness than ever before. 850 cases of homelessness were prevented this year. This is 690 more than last year.

1.5  At the same time, the number of people approaching the service has increased by 50%. The vast majority of the increase is single homeless households.

1.6  Despite the increasing number of preventions, the number of households accepted under the main homelessness duty has increased by 20%.

1.7  The service is committed to reviewing the council allocations policy in the next year. The review will focus on priority banding including overcrowding and victims of domestic abuse.

1.8  The service is also committed to reviewing the locational priority checklist.

1.9  The service is also rolling out a new integrated IT system to streamline the whole of the housing needs service and reduce the amount of time spent on paperwork.

1.10      The committee asked a number of questions. There was a discussion with officers and the following key points were noted:

1.11      A recent initiative intended to reduce and prevent homelessness is weekly workshops for people who find it difficult liaising with landlords and looking online for alternative accommodation. The workshops allow officers to help people build confidence and IT skills. There are vulnerable people who are struggling with these processes.

1.12      The increase in demand with the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act has been a significant challenge for the service and its staff, particularly for the single homeless service.

1.13      The service has introduced reflective practice sessions for staff to provide a safe space to talk about difficult situations they have dealt with and to share best practice.

Councillor Luke Sorba, Chair of the CYP Select Committee, addressed the committee under standing orders.

1.14      It was noted that the Children and Young People Select Committee has recently carried out a short review of the impact on children and young people of living in temporary accommodation.

1.15      The review found that there was a desire from the children social care team for a closer working relationship that could help to anticipate when a homelessness case might lead to a child needing a social care intervention. The review also found that there was an inconsistent pattern of communications between the service and schools.

1.16      Officers acknowledged that there is further work to do to improve joint working with children’s social care. There is ongoing joint work in regards to data and identifying families at risk of homelessness. There is also a new joint post to update the joint working protocol between children’s social care and housing.

1.17      There is a programme in place for schools, and the service has previously engaged with headteachers, but there is more work to do.

1.18      A priority for the service in the coming year is to work out what its partnership programme looks like in the longer term with the resources available. Partnerships should be ongoing dialogues rather than one off visits.

1.19      The Housing Needs service is trialling a new triage process whereby applicants receive a full assessment and personal housing plan when they first come into the service rather than having to wait another 2-3 weeks.

1.20      Officers in the Housing Needs service are all very clear victims of domestic violence from any borough can approach the council.

1.21      Officers agreed to return to the committee with further information on: the numbers and financial impact of additional households housed as a result of the Homelessness Reduction Act; the provision for free transport for children under the Education Act; the number of homeless households housed in the private rented sector (PRS) that re-present as homeless.

Resolved: the committee noted the report.