Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – HOUSING AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

The Council has received ring-fenced grant funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to help it meet its legal housing duties and this report details proposals for the allocation of this funding for specialist homelessness services for local people.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

(1)   Approved the funding proposals for the in-year award of Homelessness Prevention Grant for 2024/25 as set out in Table 3 in paragraph 8.3.

(2)   Approved the funding proposals for the allocation of part of the 2025/26 award of homelessness grants as outlined in Table 4 in paragraph 8.4 3.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: There is a need to secure additional services for homeless households in the district. Adopting the recommendations at 2.1A and 2.1B secures the provision of high-quality local services to help those in need, which is also consistent with the priorities set out in the Council’s Housing Strategy (2024 – 2029).

Audio recording – 4 minutes 23 seconds

Councillor Dave Winstanley, as the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health, presented the report entitled ‘Homelessness Prevention Grant Allocations and Update’ and advised:

·       The Council had received ringfenced grant funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), to meet legal housing duties and this report detailed the proposals for the allocation of this funding.

·       The Council had a legal duty to assist households who were homeless, as the Council did not own any housing stock and worked with housing providers to meet local needs.

·       The Council received over one thousand approaches for homelessness and housing advice each year, which were resolved without any legal duties being owed, so were not detailed in this report.

·       There was £74,825 remaining from the Homelessness Prevention Grant for 2024/25 as highlighted in paragraph 7.7 of the report and the allocation of this amount was detailed in Table 3.

·       In addition, the Council received notification in December 2024 of funding for 2025/26 from homelessness and rough sleeping grant funding programmes totalling £986k and this paper outlined how this funding would be allocated.

·       Proposals for homelessness grant allocation amounts to housing providers would be staggered over the next 3 fiscal years, as detailed in Table 4. The providers were, Survivors Against Domestic Abuse (SADA), North Herts Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB), Herts Young Homeless (HYH) and One YMCA.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Mick Debenham

·       Councillor Daniel Allen

·       Councillor Ian Albert

In response to questions, Councillor Dave Winstanley advised that:

·       Multiyear funding was a way of spreading the funds over the 3 fiscal years, which was due to MHCLG introducing a new needs-based funding formula.

·       This was not a new grant and funds had been received from MHCLG for the last twenty years.

In response to questions, the Strategic Housing Manager advised that:

·       The Section 151 Officer would confirm at the end of each financial year that all criteria had been met.

·       Social Services for Children looked after young people up to the age of 18. However, children who were 16 or 17 years old could be covered by the housing services as well.

·       Provision of housing units for 16 and 17 years old had been reduced as a result of the costs involved in providing 24/7 care.

·       There were not currently any housing units in North Herts District for homeless 16 and 17 years old, but children would be placed somewhere across Hertfordshire as the county council took on referrals across the ten district/boroughs.

·       Moving forward to work with partner district councils to provide 24/7 care could only be considered once there were clearer details of future funding from MHCLG.

Councillor Dave Winstanley proposed and Councillor Mick Debenham seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

(1)   Approved the funding proposals for the in-year award of Homelessness Prevention Grant for 2024/25 as set out in Table 3 in paragraph 8.3.

(2)   Approved the funding proposals for the allocation of part of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107