Report of the Director of Housing Operations

This is a short update report on the plans for winter for people who sleep rough and the new Commissioning Strategy for the Homelessness Service.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Housing Operations that provided an update on the plans for winter for people who slept rough and the Homelessness Commissioning Strategy.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Updates on the transformation progress;

·         Describing the Enabling Independence Strategy, the Council wide strategy on supported accommodation; and

·         Noting that Members had requested that a full homeless scrutiny update report be presented to the 10 January 2023 meeting.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Recognising that people experiencing homelessness often also had complex needs associated with substance misuse and mental health, and the response and support to this needed to be appropriate;

·         Recognising the importance of prevention initiatives to avoid people experiencing homelessness;

·         Prevention Hubs needed to be established across all areas of the city;

·         The need to reduce the use of Bed and Breakfast (B&B) accommodation, especially for families;

·         Private Landlords needed to do more to improve the quality of their properties and respond to repairs in a timely manner;

·         Housing Associations should improve the turnaround times to re-let vacant properties to reduce the reliance on the Private Rented Sector;

·         Data was sought on ethnicity and temporary accommodation occupancy;

·         How equalities considerations informed the approach to address homelessness; and

·         More information was requested on the Peony Project.

The Committee heard from Councillor Reid, Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee. She reiterated the concerns raised regarding the impact on rates of homelessness of the cost-of-living crisis and rising childcare costs that had been articulated by the Members. She stated that it was important that families who were placed in temporary accommodation were housed close to the child’s school and support network. She called for an end to housing families in Bed and Breakfast accommodation and called for more Social Housing to be delivered across the city. She also supported a call for an immediate end to no fault Section 21 evictions and called for the use of Council controlled advertising boards to promote help and advice.  

The Deputy Leader informed the Committee that the Manchester Homelessness Partnership had been relaunched on 10 October 2022. She stated that homelessness presented a significant challenge for the city and would be exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis. She stated that if Manchester residents wished to support homeless people, they should contact the many voluntary support organisations or donate to the Real Change MCR campaign. She further commented that people could also donate goods to the Mustard Tree. She further commented that the Council continued to lobby government to adequately fund services to support homeless people. She called for an end to no fault Section 21 evictions, an increase in the Local Housing Allowance Rate and for developers to build more affordable homes.

The Assistant Director for Homelessness advised that it was recognised that people experiencing homelessness often had complex needs and the response and support offered needed to be appropriate to meet their needs and provide wrap around support. He reiterated the importance of prevention work to avoid homelessness, adding that this was everyone’s responsibility. He stated for example that if a landlord did serve a notice to quit officers would work on behalf of the tenant to negotiate and engage with the landlord to maintain the tenancy, adding the need for professional, quality landlords to operate in the Private Rented Sector. In response to a specific question, he provided a definition of the term ‘intentionally homeless’ and the duty on the authority in such cases.  

The Assistant Director for Homelessness advised that B&B accommodation was only used in exceptional cases and for no more than six weeks; however, there were circumstances when this this period was extended. He advised that the average length of stay was 25 days. He stated that different departments did work closely together such as Children’s, Adults and Community Mental Health services. 

The Director of Housing Operations stated that, following the meeting. he would circulate information on the Housing Strategy that described the approach to refurbishing the Council’s own assets to accommodate homeless people.  In regard to Registered Social Housing voids, he stated this could be attributed to issues with the supply chain; however, he acknowledged this was an issue that needed addressing. He further advised that the intention was to build upon and expand the Prevention Hubs model. In response to a question asked regarding commissioned accommodation, Members were informed that this was Housing Related Support services delivered by third party Registered Housing Providers.

The Strategic Lead for Homelessness described that the Peony Project was a project that provided supported accommodation for women with complex needs. She said this provided intensive support to enable people to move on into suitable alternative accommodation. She advised that more information would be provided in the report scheduled for the January 2023 meeting. In response to a question regarding Floating Support, she advised that this was a new model of service delivery and would be evaluated with the intention being to roll this model out more widely across the city. She reiterated the point raised earlier that homelessness prevention was everyone’s responsibility and provided an example of primary care signposting people to appropriate sources of support and advice.

The Assistant Director for Homelessness paid tribute to the staff working in the homelessness teams and paid tribute to their dedication and commitment to supporting some of the most vulnerable residents in the city. He said the team collectively had a vast knowledge and experience and he was keen to listen to their suggestions as to how the service could be improved.

The Chair advised that Members would be discussing and agreeing the scope of the report scheduled for January 2023 at the rise of this meeting. She requested that the report authors liaise with both Lead Members for Race as this report was being written to ensure the points raised regarding equalities were addressed.

The Chair stated that she would write to the Secretary of State Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and invite them to visit Manchester to witness the experience of homelessness in Manchester. She further called on all Manchester MPs to lobby the Secretary of State on this issue.

Decisions

1.            The Committee note the report and would be agreeing the scope of the report scheduled for January 2023 at the rise of this meeting.

2.            That the Chair, in conjunction with the Deputy Leader, write to the Secretary of State Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and invite them to visit Manchester to witness the experience of homelessness in Manchester.