Issue - meetings
Allocation of MHCLG Homelessness grant
Meeting: 16/06/2026 - Cabinet (Item 19)
19 ALLOCATION OF MHCLG HOMELESSNESS GRANT - PART 1 
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REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR – REGULATORY
The Council has received a multi-year funding settlement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), ring-fenced for the purpose of supporting the Council in meeting its homelessness duties.
Decision:
RESOLVED: That Cabinet approved the funding proposals for the allocation of Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant received from the MHCLG as outlined in Table 4 in paragraph 8.11.
REASON FOR DECISION: There is a need to secure housing services for homeless households in the district, including key existing services on the single homeless pathway. 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 – 2 hours 35 minutes 54 seconds
Councillor Mick Debenham, as Executive Member for Regulatory, presented the report entitled ‘Allocation of MHCLG Homelessness Grant – Part 1’ and advised that:
· The proposed allocation of MHCLG funding equated to £2.8M of ringfenced funding for statutory homelessness duties over the next three years.
· This report set out proposals for part of the funding, and this would align with grant conditions, national policy and local priorities as detailed in Table 4.
· Most of the funding would support two homelessness schemes in the district operated by Keystage Housing and One YMCA.
· It was proposed to allocate £700K to Keystage Housing over the next three years, with the allocation for this financial year being lower to reflect a £58K interim payment made to them in May.
· It was proposed to allocate £81K to One YMCA to reconfigure existing accommodation to create additional units and increase capacity at their facilities.
· £8K was proposed for Herts Young Homelessness to deliver education programmes to secondary schools.
· £616K would be left over, which was different to the incorrect amount of £674K detailed in Table 4.
· Proposed allocations would support the Council in meeting its statutory homelessness duties, enhance local provision and increase accommodation capacity.
The following Members asked questions:
· Councillor Donna Wright
· Councillor Ian Albert
In response to questions, Councillor Mick Debenham advised that:
· They had been paying Keystage since last March at a reduced rate of housing benefit, and the only risk was them not being able to continue providing their services.
· There was spare capacity as they were not inundated with homelessness.
In response to questions, the Strategic Housing Manager advised that:
· The district had fewer than 100 households in temporary accommodation.
· Single homeless people were the biggest challenge as they often had multiple needs and it was difficult to resource them, but organisations like One YMCA and Keystage Housing were critical in helping with this.
· Local Government Reorganisation may provide opportunities for extra capacity as they would be grouped with at least one other authority that had its own housing stock, which would increase their flexibility on providing homelessness accommodation.
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 Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant received from the MHCLG as outlined in Table 4 in paragraph 8.11.
REASON FOR DECISION: There is a need to secure housing services for homeless households in the district, including key existing services on the single homeless pathway. 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).