Issue - meetings
HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION GRANT ALLOCATIONS AND UPDATE
Meeting: 17/02/2026 - Cabinet (Item 26)
26 HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION GRANT ALLOCATIONS AND UPDATE 
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REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – REGULATORY
Demand for the Council’s housing services remains high with the need to secure additional services for those threatened with, or experiencing homelessness.
Decision:
RESOLVED: That Cabinet approved the funding proposals for the allocation of the remainder of the 2025/26 award of homelessness grants as outlined in Table 3 in paragraph 8.2.
REASON FOR DECISION: There is a need to secure additional services for homeless households in the district. Adopting the recommendation at 2.1 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).
Minutes:
Audio recording – 19 minutes 43 seconds
N.B. Councillor Ian Albert declared an interest in the item due to his membership of the Black Squirrel Credit Union. Following advice from the Director – Governance, Cllr Albert remained in the Chamber but did not take part in the debate or vote on the item.
Councillor Mick Debenham, as Executive Member for Regulatory, presented the report entitled ‘Homelessness Prevention Grant Allocations and Update’ and advised that this report was seeking approval for the proposed allocations of the remainder of the 2025/26 award of homelessness grants of up to £365k, as outlined in Table 3 in paragraph 8.2 of the report.
Following a question from Councillor Donna Wright, Councillor Mick Debenham advised that if there was any overspend on the budget allocation for temporary accommodation costs, the Council would be responsible for these costs.
Following a question from Councillor Daniel Allen, the Strategic Housing Manager advised that a decision had been made by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to combine the homelessness and rough sleeping grants into a new Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grants for 2026/27 with provisional allocations for the next three financial years.
Following a question from Councillor Daniel Allen, the Director – Resources advised that the government was looking to simplify the funding formula for local governments by merging existing grants into the general funding provided and for the Council to then decide itself where to allocate those funds.
Councillor Daniel Allen praised the work of the Black Squirrel Credit Union with assistance with homelessness prevention and relief for North Hertfordshire clients.
Councillor Mick Debenham proposed and Councillor Daniel Allen seconded and, following a vote, it was:
RESOLVED: That Cabinet approved the funding proposals for the allocation of the remainder of the 2025/26 award of homelessness grants as outlined in Table 3 in paragraph 8.2.
REASON FOR DECISION: There is a need to secure additional services for homeless households in the district. Adopting the recommendation at 2.1 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).