Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhood Services)

This report provides a further update to members on the priorities for the services in the remit of this committee and details the changes to the initial revenue budget options proposed by officers in November 2022.   

Each scrutiny committee is invited to consider the current proposed changes which are within its remit and to make recommendations to the Executive before it agrees to the final budget proposals on 15 February 2023. 

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided a further update on the priorities for the services in the remit of this Committee and detailed the changes to the initial revenue budget options proposed by officers in November 2022.  

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Service overview and priorities;
• Service budget and proposed changes;
• Emerging pressures and growth;
• Workforce;
• Equality and anti-poverty impact; and
• Future opportunities and risks.

The Deputy Leader highlighted the national and local rise in homelessness and the factors contributing to this.  She advised that this meant that there was increasing demand for homelessness services while the Council’s overall budget had been reducing; however, she reported, there would be no budget reduction or service reduction for the Homelessness Service this year and she highlighted the key points within the report.  She thanked all the staff in the Homelessness Service for their work.

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

• To thank the Deputy Leader and officers for their work;
• To welcome that the homelessness budget was not being reduced and the work to build more social and affordable housing;
• Temporary accommodation, including the amount of time people were spending in temporary accommodation and savings to be achieved through reducing its use;
• The implementation of changes to the Allocations Policy; and
• Ending the routine use of bed-and-breakfast accommodation for families.

The Director of Housing Operations reported that the changes to the Allocations Policy had gone live today and that the impact would need to be monitored but that it should improve the prevention of homelessness and lead to more options and better outcomes for people at risk of homelessness.  He drew Members’ attention to a report which had been submitted to the Economy Scrutiny Committee on this and offered to share this with Members.  He advised that the amount of time spent in temporary accommodation varied depending on a number of factors, such as the size of the household and any support needs.  He confirmed the commitment to end the routine use of bed-and-breakfast accommodation for families, with plans to have significantly reduced the number by June 2023.  In response to a Member’s point about changing people’s perception of what happened if they presented as homeless, he agreed that culture change was needed and informed Members about work which was taking place to address this.  In response to a question from the Chair, he confirmed that cost of living rises presented a challenge, with landlords likely to respond to higher interest rates by setting higher rents; however, he advised that the Council was being creative to find solutions and develop a mixed housing portfolio.

The Chair thanked officers in Homelessness for their work and reported that the Committee would be receiving an update report on homelessness in the new municipal year.

Decisions

1.            To note the report.

2.            To request that the Committee be provided with a copy of the report on the Allocations Policy which has been submitted to the Economy Scrutiny Committee.