Issue - meetings

1.    That homelessness prevention grants 2022-23 onwards are funded from the annual homelessness prevention grant award the Council receives from central government.

2.    That the award of homelessness prevention grants to voluntary and community organisations for 2022-23 be approved as set out in report CAB3340.

3.    That the spending plan for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme be approved.

4.    That authority be delegated to the Service lead for Strategic Housing and the Service lead of Communities and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Community and Housing, to be able to amend and extend the spending plan as the council respond to the needs and requirements in respect of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Read (on behalf of Councillor Horrill) addressed the meeting as summarised briefly below.

Noted that the report had two distinct elements and supported the proposals regarding the homes for Ukraine programme.  However, she did not support the allocation of monies within the Homelessness Prevention grant, specifically with the proposal to allocate only £10,000 to the Beacon.  The vital service provided by the Beacon and the pressures facing it due to reduced funding from the county council were highlighted.

Councillor Ferguson introduced the report and emphasised that the Homes for Ukraine programme had been included due to the urgent requirement to address the needs and offer support to Ukrainian arrivals to the district. 

The Service Lead – Strategic Housing responded to the comments raised on behalf of Councillor Horrill explaining that the Beacon would receive total funding from the council of approximately £50,000 during 2022/23 and emphasising the importance of ensuring the homelessness prevention grant was distributed across the various different types of homelessness experienced.

The Service Lead responded to Cabinet Members’ questions regarding the different types of grants available and members welcomed the flexible approach recommended in respect to the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Cabinet agreed the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

1.             That homelessness prevention grants 2022-23 onwards are funded from the annual homelessness prevention grant award the Council receives from central government.

2.             That the award of homelessness prevention grants to voluntary and community organisations for 2022-23 be approved as set out in the report.

3.            That the spending plan for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme be approved.

4.            That authority be delegated to the Service lead for Strategic Housing and the Service lead of Communities and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Community and Housing, to be able to amend and extend the spending plan as the council respond to the needs and requirements in respect of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

(Report Ref: BHP029)

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1.             That the Policy Committee notes that a report seeking formal approval of the Spending Plan will be considered by Cabinet in June 2022.

2.             That the Policy Committee review and provide comment on the Homelessness Prevention Grant – Spending Plan 2022/23, and in particular consider and comment on:

a)    The overall approach supporting the Council’s Homelessness Prevention service;

b)    The detailed proposals of the spending plan

c)    Proposals for managing the existing reserve.

Report reference Report Ref: BHP029

The Service Lead - Strategic Housing introduced the report, ref: BHP029 which set out proposals for the Homelessness Prevention Grant – Spending Plan 2022/23 which was available on the council's website here.

The committee was recommended to:

note that a report seeking formal approval of the Spending Plan would be considered by Cabinet in June 2022.

review and provide comment on the Homelessness Prevention Grant – Spending Plan 2022/23, and in particular consider and comment on:

 a)    The overall approach supporting the Council’s Homelessness Prevention service;

b)    The detailed proposals of the spending plan

c)    Proposals for managing the existing reserve

The committee proceeded to ask questions and debate the report, in summary, questions on the following matters were raised.

• engagement with hard to reach residents
• the process of undertaking the rough sleeper count
• the district domestic violence refuge
• the impact to services as a result of future Hampshire County Council  spending reductions
• the flexibility of resources to deal with out of hours needs, particularly around winter holiday times
• the measurement and assessment of organisations such as Trinity Winchester and The Winchester Beacon
• measuring the success of the Mental Health Step Out programme

These points were responded to by Councillor Learney (Cabinet Member for Housing and Asset Management), the Corporate Head of Housing and the Service Lead - Strategic Housing accordingly and were noted by the cabinet members present at the meeting.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the committee provided comments regarding the overall approach, the detailed proposals of the spending plan and the proposals for managing the existing reserve.

2.    That officers consider all the committee's comments raised during the discussion of the item.

That the committee recommended a future all-member briefing be undertaken on the subject.