Homelessness Prevention Action Plan Review and …...Introduction 4 Introduction Cherwell District Council’s Homelessness Prevention Plan has been refreshed for 2016 - 2017. The

Homelessness Prevention Action Plan Review and update for 2016 - 17

Contents

Foreword from Lead Member for Housing ........................................................................................ 3

Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 4

Aims ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

Key Facts ................................................................................................................................................... 5

Key Findings ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Homeless Prevention Action Plan Update 2016 – 17 ...................................................................... 7

Appendix A - Homelessness Prevention Partnerships ...................................................................... 18

Appendix B - Statistical Information ................................................................................................... 19

2

Foreword

Foreword

I am pleased to support Cherwell’s Homelessness Prevention Action Plan 2016/17 and to ensure it has full support from Councillors. This council is very keen to reduce the number of households and communities

whose lives are affected by homelessness.

Cherwell has moved from a crisis situation of over 400 households in temporary accommodation to approximately 40 households weekly. We have been pleased to see the quality of temporary accommodation become mostly purpose built, well managed homes where families stay until they can achieve a settled housing solution. We are not complacent about our performance and know that it is the result of both good operational work and effective planning within the council and with our partners.

As a nation, we are beginning to see an economic recovery, and in our district unemployment is down to 1%. These are good signs for the economic success of communities. However, house prices and rents in our district are rising and becoming difficult for households to afford. We are working in a time of a significant reduction of funds for public services, and on-going welfare reforms.

I want to make sure that our most vulnerable residents are included. Our Homelessness Prevention Action Plan provides focus to help us all to understand the reasons for homelessness and provide solutions which really address them through partnership working to prevent homelessness. By working through a range of partnerships we hope to provide a safety net to include the needs of all individuals who need help to improve their life chances. Our objectives remain support to improve personal responsibility, personal resilience and personal health and well-being to prevent homelessness.

Councillor John Donaldson Lead Member for Housing

3

Introduction

4

Introduction Cherwell District Council’s Homelessness Prevention Plan has been refreshed for 2016 - 2017. The review of this Homelessness Prevention Action Plan comes at an important time strategically, with the following influences on the review:-

• Major reductions in public spending have meant we continue to see reduced funds available for homelessness prevention to the Council and its partners.

• The County Council has announced that it expects to need to make a further £50 million of cuts from its current budgets between now at 2019/20 and has recently consulted on its proposals to remodel services throughout the council. This includes possibilities of further reductions in housing related support for adults and young people. This will have a massive effect on homelessness prevention in Cherwell District Council if approved.

• The District Council is setting its budget for 2016/17 in an atmosphere of reduced funding from the County and a reduction in its own budget.

• The implementation of Universal Credit for single claimants has been introduced within Oxfordshire this year. The number claiming within Cherwell is still relatively low but announcements are expected for when this will be rolled out to larger sections of the community.

• Effects of Welfare reform are beginning to be felt. This includes a freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates until 2020 and benefit cap reduction to £20,000 for families living outside of London these are expected to have implications for claimants’ ability to sustain a tenancy.

• Interest rates have remained low, keeping mortgages more affordable.

• We are pleased to see ‘value for money’ achieved through the partnerships funded from the Homeless Prevention Grant. Our regular monitoring showed 10673 individual support requests in 2014 – 2015 were met. This equates to £9.32 per intervention.

The review sets out the aims and proposed outcomes for the year 2016 – 17, showing how the council will continue to work with its partners to prevent homelessness. We will retain the three themes of personal responsibility, personal resilience and personal health and well-being as we believe that focussing on these areas is the best way to support residents to avoid homelessness and sustain settled accommodation.

Aims, key facts and findings

5

Key factsEthnic diversity Cherwell District Council has lower than average national levels of ethnic diversity.

The levels of diversity have increased between the censuses of 2001 and 2011Unemployment Unemployment in Cherwell District Council is lower than the national

average at 0.6%Demand for housing The numbers on the Housing Register decreased when the new Allocation

scheme was implemented but are now rising The majority of applicants are seeking 1 or 2 bedroomed accommodation

Empty homes The number of empty homes in the district has decreased, assisted by the Council’s Build! initiative and the use of home improvement grants

Homelessness acceptances

The level of homelessness acceptances has increased significantly in the past year but correlates with the increase in the number of people approaching the council for assistance.

Reason for loss of last settled home

Very low levels of people being homeless on leaving careFew people homeless as a result of leaving hospital

Main causes are: Loss of assured shorthold tenancy Parents no longer willing or able to accommodate

Temporary accommodation

Use of temporary accommodation has increased over the past yearPeople are needing to stay in temporary accommodation for longer than previously due to a lack of affordable private rented accommodation to discharge homeless duties into.Use of bed and breakfast remains low but we have seen increase in the early part of this year.

No 16 and 17 year olds are accommodated in B & BRough sleeping The estimated number of rough sleepers in Cherwell increased from 14 to

21 during the most recent estimate in November 2015

AimsWith our partners’ support, Cherwell District Council aims to

• Take a broad view of homelessness prevention, looking to build personal responsibility, personal resilience and personal health and well being

• Continue to keep homelessness levels low through early intervention and crisis prevention

• Deliver focussed support which concentrates on preventing homelessness and avoiding repeat homelessness

• Understand the causes of homelessness and target prevention services to relevant groups such as emergent households

• Provide suitable accommodation to meet the needs of people in the district including better access to private sector accommodation

6

The cost effectiveness of early prevention

Research by Heriot-Watt University calculated the cost of preventing someone from becoming homeless was £1,700 compared with the £5,300 cost of helping someone after they become homeless The costs of a rent deposit scheme are estimated to be eight-and-a-half times less than the costs of providing accommodation under the main homelessness duty according to an advice note from the Department for Communities and Local GovernmentHelping someone to retain their accommodation through mediation(for example settling family disputes is nine times less expensive than finding someone new accommodation according to an advice note from the Department for Communities and Local GovernmentAdvice on housing options, such as how to solve benefit problems or helping people to manage their finances (i.e. debt advice, benefit take-up), is also estimated at nine times less expensive than finding someone new accommodation

For more detailed information Appendices

Appendix A Cherwell District Council homelessness partnerships

Appendix B Statistical information

Key Findings We have analysed the data which affect the way we deliver the Homelessness Prevention Action Plan with the following key findings

• Number of households accepted as homeless has increased from last year

• End of AST has become the main reason for presenting as homeless this year and has seen a 9% increase on the total number of presentations to the Council when compared to the previous full year (14/15). Only half of those presenting as homeless as a result of end of AST were accepted as homeless.

• The increased partnership work with the voluntary sector, together with commissioning an outreach service has resulted in improved intelligence about rough sleeping. It demonstrated that Cherwell has been consistently under resourced through Supporting people and the successor funding.

• The number of duty presentations increased significantly last year.

• The number of looked after children is statistically predicted to increase which has implications for their housing need on leaving care

• The number of referrals made for people rough sleeping within the District has also increased. As a result of this we have also seen an increase in the number of people accessing the Single Homeless Pathway.


77

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 1

Per

son

al r

esp

on

sib

ility

8

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 1

Pers

onal

resp

onsi

bilit

y

Key

obje

ctiv

es

Key

actio

ns a

nd m

ilest

ones

Pr

ogre

ss to

dat

e G

oing

forw

ard

Reso

urce

s G

old

Stan

dard

Ch

alle

nge

Incr

ease

acc

ess

to g

ood

qual

ity

hom

es in

all

sect

ors

Inve

stig

ate

and

enab

le

inno

vativ

e m

odel

s of h

ousin

g pr

ovisi

on:-‐

o

Build

to re

nt

o

Rent-‐sav

e-‐ow

n o

Ch

erwell’s own

deve

lopm

ent

prog

ramme

o

RP dev

elop

men

t prog

rammes

Vario

us dev

elop

men

t mod

els h

ave

been

con

sidered

throug

hout th

e life

of Che

rwell’s Hom

eless p

reve

ntion

Actio

n plan

s. C

urrently delivery of

new hou

sing ha

s bee

n de

livered

throug

h Ch

erwell’s dev

elop

men

t team

and

the Bu

ild! P

rogram

me.

Deve

lopm

ent h

as also

bee

n prov

ided

throug

h RP

s

Actio

n –

Cont

inue

with

CD

C’s

own

deve

lopm

ent p

rogr

amm

e -‐ C

DC’s

deve

lopm

ent p

rogram

me for 1

6/17

on

wards w

ill fo

cus o

n the de

livery at

the Grave

n Hill Site

, Bicester a

s well

as other Build! O

pportunitie

s.

Additio

nal ren

ted acco

mmod

ation

deve

lopm

ent for sing

les a

t affordab

le re

nts is a

lso in

the

pipe

line with

some to be de

livered

du

ring 20

16.

Actio

n –

Keep

abr

east

of p

ropo

sed

chan

ges

to p

lann

ing

requ

irem

ents

to

pro

vide

aff

orda

ble

hous

ing

-‐ We

will nee

d to fo

cus k

eenly on

the

prop

osed

cha

nges to

plann

ing

requ

iremen

ts from

the Hou

sing an

d Plan

ning

Bill. It is p

ropo

sed to

remov

e the ne

ed fo

r dev

elop

ers t

o prov

ide affordab

le hou

sing throug

h S1

06 agree

men

ts. T

his c

ould m

ean

that th

ere may

be no

new

rent

ed

affordab

le hou

sing de

livered

throug

h large de

velopm

ent s

ites an

d co

uld

face being

dep

ende

nt on relets only

for tho

se in

nee

d.

HCA

grant

Registered

Prov

ider fu

nds

CDC

recyclab

le

gran

t Exist

ing gran

t ag

reem

ents

1, 2, 6


8

9

Cher

wel

l Bon

d Sc

hem

e (C

BS)

Continue

to w

ork with

priv

ate

sector la

ndlords t

o source

prop

ertie

s for th

e Ch

erwell

Bond

Sch

eme an

d to dev

elop

an

d review

the sche

me

CBS co

ntinue

s to be

an op

tion

offered to hou

seho

lds w

ho are

unab

le to

raise

the mon

ey re

quire

d to cov

er th

e de

posit

nee

ded to

access Priv

ate Re

nted

acco

mmod

ation.

We ha

ve se

en a re

duction in th

e nu

mbe

r of p

eople be

ing supp

orted

by th

is op

tion recently due

to Loc

al

Hou

sing Allowan

ce ra

tes n

ot

refle

cting the cu

rren

t marke

t costs

for p

rivate rented

accom

mod

ation

Actio

n -‐ C

ontin

ue w

ith L

andl

ord

Hom

e Im

prov

emen

t Gra

nt s

chem

e,

in re

turn

for n

omin

atio

n rig

hts -‐

This ha

s ena

bled

us t

o ga

in

nominations to

priv

ate rented

acco

mmod

ation at Loc

al Hou

sing

Allowan

ce ra

tes (LH

A)

Actio

n -‐ P

rom

ote

land

lord

s fo

rum

-‐

Officers w

ill con

tinue

to w

ork with

land

lords t

hrou

gh th

e Co

uncil‘s

Land

lords F

orum

and

new

sletters

whe

re th

e be

nefits o

f joining

the

Cherwell B

ond Sche

me will be

prom

oted

to try to in

crea

se th

e am

ount of a

ffordab

le re

nted

prop

ertie

s ava

ilable.

Actio

n –

Cons

ider

new

opp

ortu

nitie

s to

impr

ove

acce

ss to

the

priv

ate

rent

ed s

ecto

r -‐ W

e will exp

lore new

initiatives to

provide

affo

rdab

le

homes in

the private sector

Actio

n –

Tena

ncy

Rela

tions

Off

icer

(T

RO) t

o lia

ise

with

land

lord

s to

pr

omot

e go

od p

ract

ice -‐

The TR

O w

ill con

tinue

to provide

increa

sed supp

ort to land

lords. He

will im

prov

e literature an

d lega

l ad

vice to

land

lords o

n tena

ncy

man

agem

ent issue

s. He will also

prov

ide ex

pert adv

ice an

d go

od

practic

e to su

pport s

taff across th

e Co

uncil in pa

rtne

rships and

also

includ

ing the Ch

erwell B

ond Sche

me

Exist

ing

resources

Exist

ing gran

t ag

reem

ents

Tena

ncy

Relatio

ns

Officer

1, 6

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 1

Per

son

al r

esp

on

sib

ility


9

10

for tho

se in

hou

sing ne

ed to

access

private sector hou

sing

Co

ntrib

ute

to a

fin

anci

al

incl

usio

n st

rate

gy w

hich

fo

cuse

s on

wha

t ca

n be

ach

ieve

d in

par

tner

ship

an

d pl

ans

for t

he

pred

icte

d ef

fect

s of

wel

fare

re

form

Pers

onal

Bud

getin

g o

prov

ide de

bt and

mon

ey adv

ice to

housing ap

plican

ts

o

Establish

a Credit

Union

in Che

rwell

o

Target th

ose most in

need

of C

redit U

nion

services to

take

up

acco

unts

o

Continue

to w

ork in

partne

rship with

the

Cherwell staff

awarding

Disc

retio

nary

Hou

sing Pa

ymen

ts,

targeting pe

ople at risk

of hom

elessness

Cherwell D

istric

t Cou

ncil ha

s ex

tend

ed its e

xisting co

ntract w

ith

Citiz

ens A

dvice (CA) (formerly

Citiz

ens A

dvice Bu

reau

) to en

able it

to con

tinue

until Ap

ril 201

7 which

will be the co

mplete leng

th of the

tend

er.

This co

ntract provide

s free mon

ey

and de

bt adv

ice to all resid

ents in

Ch

erwell o

n a rang

e of issues and

prov

ides se

rvices ope

ratin

g in

Banb

ury, Bicester a

nd Kidlin

gton

. Se

rvices are provide

d throug

h offic

e ba

sed ap

pointm

ents and

hom

e visit

s Citiz

ens A

dvice are also dev

elop

ing

their e

mail services a

nd te

leph

one

services to

mak

e their s

ervices m

ore

accessible.

To date, th

is fin

ancial yea

r (Ap

r –

Sept) 3

081 clients h

ave be

en se

en by

CA as p

art o

f the

con

tract for m

oney

an

d de

bt adv

ice.

Citiz

ens A

dvice also provide

a fa

st

track ho

using ad

vice se

rvice to

supp

ort tho

se at risk

of

homelessness.

We worke

d with

OCC

to ensure that

Conn

ectio

n Floa

ting Su

pport s

ervices

continue

to be fund

ed to

provide

Actio

n -‐ C

DC

to c

omm

ence

ne

gotia

tions

to c

ontin

ue p

rovi

sion

of

Deb

t & M

oney

adv

ice

follo

win

g ex

piry

of t

he c

ontr

act M

arch

201

7 -‐

Work with

in th

e Co

uncil to plan

and

co

nsider arran

gemen

ts and

fund

ing

to con

tinue

to provide

qua

lity de

bt

and mon

ey adv

ice to th

e resid

ents of

Cherwell following the ex

piry of the

cu

rren

t ten

der a

rran

gemen

ts in

March

201

7.

Actio

n -‐ R

efre

sh a

nd re

-‐laun

ch

Cred

it U

nion

-‐ Re

fresh an

d rebran

d Cred

it Union

in Che

rwell to prov

ide

low cost loa

ns and

saving

s for

Cherwell residen

ts.

Actio

n -‐ P

rovi

de o

n-‐go

ing

trai

ning

an

d in

form

atio

n on

wel

fare

refo

rm

for s

taff

and

par

tner

s in

par

tner

ship

ac

ross

the

Coun

cil -‐ Provide

training

op

portun

ities and

upd

ates on

welfare re

form

s to en

sure partner

agen

cies and

staff a

re up to date an

d

well informed

on the cu

rren

t issue

s an

d ch

ange

s

Cont

inue

Fin

anci

al In

clus

ion

wor

k

Hom

elessness

prev

entio

n gran

t Exist

ing gran

t ag

reem

ents

Exist

ing

resources

Voluntary

sector

resources

1, 2, 3

,4,7

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 1

Per

son

al r

esp

on

sib

ility


10

11

expe

rt su

pport s

ervices a

nd

assessmen

ts fo

r vulne

rable clients.

We pa

rticularly fo

cus t

riage

services

at both the Be

acon

Cen

tre an

d Bridge

s Drop in cen

tre in Bicester to

prov

ide supp

ort for in

depe

nden

t living an

d referrals t

o othe

r age

ncies

such

as C

itizen Ad

vice fo

r in-‐de

pth

mon

ey and

deb

t adv

ice which

also

prev

ents Hom

elessness.

with

Par

tner

s -‐ w

ork to promote an

d de

velop fin

ancial in

clusion mea

sures

and joint w

orking

throug

h regu

lar

mee

tings -‐ includ

ing othe

r tea

ms in

the Co

uncil a

nd partner age

ncies

across th

e statutory an

d vo

luntary

sectors.

Actio

n -‐ S

uppo

rt w

ork

of N

OAP

-‐ En

courag

e service prov

iders t

o work

colla

borativ

ely to ensure no

du

plication, and

coo

rdinated

supp

ort

and service de

livery an

d a joined

up

approa

ch to

mee

t clie

nt’s nee

ds. T

o ex

tend

this work to in

clud

e Fo

od

Bank

s across t

he Dist

rict. To

do this

we will a

lso con

tinue

to w

ork with

Citiz

ens A

dvice North Oxfordshire

Advice Partnership

Skill

s and

trai

ning

o

Bu

ild an op

erationa

l working

relatio

nship

with

the Job Ce

ntre

Plus m

anag

er

Close lin

ks w

ere mad

e with

the JCP

man

ager and

supp

orted the

implem

entatio

n of Unive

rsal Credit

with

Che

rwell. The

JCP man

ager le

ft

their p

ost s

hortly after th

e im

plem

entatio

n of UC.

Actio

n -‐ I

dent

ify n

ew c

onta

cts

at JC

P -‐ R

e-‐establish

con

tacts a

nd fo

rge

close working

with

the ne

w Jo

b Ce

ntre Plus m

anag

er fo

llowing staff

chan

ges.

1,2,3

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 1

Per

son

al r

esp

on

sib

ility


11

12

Key

Stra

tegi

c Ar

ea 2

Pe

rson

al re

silie

nce

Key

obje

ctiv

es

Key

actio

ns a

nd

mile

ston

es

Prog

ress

to d

ate

Goi

ng fo

rwar

d Re

sour

ces

Gol

d St

anda

rd

Chal

leng

e Pr

ovid

e su

ppor

t to

mem

bers

of v

ulne

rabl

e gr

oups

(inc

ludi

ng

vuln

erab

le a

dults

, vi

ctim

s of

dom

estic

vi

olen

ce a

nd y

oung

pe

ople

); to

avo

id

hom

eles

snes

s, b

e “h

ousi

ng re

ady”

and

m

aint

ain

hous

ing

succ

essf

ully

Cont

ribut

e to

the

re-‐

com

miss

ioni

ng

proc

esse

s and

opt

imise

pr

ovisi

on in

Che

rwel

l fo

r se

rvic

es w

ithin

the

o

Yo

ung Pe

ople’s

(YP) pathw

ay

o

Domestic

Ab

use services

o

Sing

le

homeless

peop

le

includ

ing those

who

may

be

sleep

ing roug

h

Re-‐com

miss

ioning

of O

CC fu

nded

supp

ort to the Yo

ung Pe

rson

’s

Pathway

was com

pleted

in April

2015

and

is now

ope

ratio

nal.

The Oxfordshire Single Hom

eless

Pathway

has bee

n re-‐com

miss

ione

d throug

hout th

is ye

ar and

con

tracts

have

now

bee

n aw

arde

d to th

e successful organ

isatio

ns. Work is

now st

artin

g for C

herw

ell to receive

fund

ing for s

uppo

rt to

provide

local

acco

mmod

ation op

portun

ities by

Februa

ry 201

6 to ensure those with

a Ch

erwell con

nection will hav

e im

prov

ed access t

o local

acco

mmod

ation w

ithin th

e distric

t A ne

w Cou

nty Do

mestic

Abu

se

Strategic lead

has bee

n ap

pointed by

OCC

and

is beg

inning

a st

rategic

review

of d

omestic

abu

se se

rvices

and supp

ort fun

ding

across t

he

Coun

ty.

Locally w

e ha

ve estab

lishe

d a multi-‐

agen

cy group

in Che

rwell w

hich

Actio

n -‐ H

old

loca

l Hom

eles

s Pa

rtne

rshi

p m

eetin

gs a

nd e

vent

s to

pr

ovid

e up

date

s an

d tr

aini

ng to

sta

ff

and

part

ners

– com

mun

icate with

local

partne

rs to

share kn

owledg

e an

d be

st

practic

e.

Actio

n -‐ A

tten

d m

onito

ring

mee

tings

w

ith O

CC -‐ Co

ntinue

to m

onito

r the

prog

ress of the

dev

elop

men

t of

supp

orted ho

using in Che

rwell to en

sure

that th

e ne

w pathw

ay fo

r single

homeless c

lients w

ill be op

erationa

l from

1 Feb

ruary 20

16

Continue

to m

onito

r the

new

ly

commiss

ione

d Su

pported Hou

sing

Pathway

provisio

n for y

oung

peo

ple (16-‐

25 yea

rs) a

nd you

ng fa

milies provide

d throug

h in th

e YP

pathw

ay in

Che

rwell.

Actio

n -‐ C

ontin

ue to

pro

vide

DA

outr

each

sup

port

in C

herw

ell D

istr

ict

Coun

cil -‐

Con

tinue

to provide

a DA

specialist o

utreach worke

r in Ch

erwell.

This po

st w

ill con

tinue

to su

pport

repo

rted

cases, a

ssessed as lo

w and

med

ium risk cases by Po

lice, to

preve

nt

homelessness w

hene

ver its possib

le and

safe to

do so

Exist

ing

resources

Hom

elessness

prev

entio

n gran

t Exist

ing gran

t arrang

emen

ts

Coun

ty

Coun

cil

fund

ing

2, 4, 5

, 9

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 2

Per

son

al r

esili

ence

12

13

Key

obje

ctiv

es

Key

actio

ns a

nd

mile

ston

es

Prog

ress

to d

ate

Goi

ng fo

rwar

d Re

sour

ces

Gol

d St

anda

rd

Chal

leng

e includ

es re

presen

tatio

n from

the

Banb

ury pu

rpose bu

ilt Refug

e to

ensure w

e are ke

pt upd

ated

and

pa

rticipate to re

presen

t Che

rwell.

Actio

n -‐ H

old

regu

lar D

A pa

rtne

rshi

p m

eetin

gs in

Che

rwel

l to

keep

upd

ated

-‐ Prov

ide a do

mestic

abu

se m

onito

ring

mee

ting in Che

rwell to includ

e Co

mmun

ity Safety an

d those prov

iding

othe

r spe

cialist

services in

the Distric

t includ

ing Ba

nbury refuge

and

also

the

new cou

nty DA

specialist P

ost

Actio

n -‐ P

artic

ipat

e in

the

coun

ty

revi

ew o

f do

mes

tic a

buse -‐ To

work

jointly

with

the Co

mmun

ity Safety

Man

ager to

share attend

ance at the

Co

unty m

eetin

gs of O

DASG

and

also

to

participate in th

e co

unty re

view

of

domestic

abu

se se

rvices and

refuge

acco

mmod

ation prov

ision

Im

prov

e an

d de

velop

Partne

rship working

and

prov

ide suita

ble ho

using

optio

ns

Revi

ew se

rvic

e pr

ovisi

on

for v

ulne

rabl

e gr

oups

in

the

stat

utor

y an

d vo

lunt

ary

sect

or,

o

to create be

tter

access to

services across

the distric

t o

to optim

ise

value from

the

floating

supp

ort s

ervice

o

evalua

te

partne

rship

fund

ing

We ha

ve m

ade co

ntact w

ith

voluntary an

d faith

group

s inc

luding

Fo

od Ban

ks and

hav

e im

prov

ed

partne

rships w

ith st

atutory ag

encies.

We mon

itor d

elivery in co-‐op

eration

with

the flo

ating supp

ort s

ervice

prov

ider.

We co

nduc

t reg

ular se

rvice leve

l ag

reem

ent m

onito

ring mee

tings w

ith

all fun

ded orga

nisatio

ns to

eva

luate

prov

ision

.

Actio

n -‐ R

evie

w a

nd u

pdat

e w

ebsi

te -‐

Review

inform

ation on

the Ch

erwell

web

site an

d prom

ote the work be

ing

done

across t

he cou

ncil an

d othe

r ag

encies to

preve

nt hom

elessness

with

in th

e distric

t. Ac

tion

-‐ Ref

resh

the

Cher

wel

l Co

mm

unity

Dire

ctor

y -‐ R

eview provisio

n of in

form

ation to age

ncies a

nd

individu

als inc

luding

the Co

uncil

Commun

ity Dire

ctory.

Actio

n -‐ P

rodu

ce n

ew le

afle

ts a

nd

post

ers

-‐ Provisio

n of posters and

other

advice and

materials to re

port and

assist

those who

may

be sle

eping roug

h.

Exist

ing

resources

Hom

elessness

prev

entio

n gran

t Exist

ing gran

t arrang

emen

ts

Voluntary

sector

resources

2,4,5

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 2

Per

son

al r

esili

ence

13

14

Key

obje

ctiv

es

Key

actio

ns a

nd

mile

ston

es

Prog

ress

to d

ate

Goi

ng fo

rwar

d Re

sour

ces

Gol

d St

anda

rd

Chal

leng

e

Actio

n -‐ C

ontin

ue C

DC

part

ners

hip

fund

ing -‐Con

tinue

to m

onito

r pe

rforman

ce and

ensure gran

t fun

ding

to partnership w

orking

to preve

nt

homelessness c

ontin

ues

Off

er o

ppor

tuni

ties

for

indi

vidu

als

to

part

icip

ate

in im

prov

ing

thei

r hou

sing

opt

ions

Prov

ide Se

lf bu

ild and

self-‐fin

ish opp

ortunitie

s with

in th

e Bu

ild

prog

ramme ho

using

deve

lopm

ents.

Prov

ide a Sp

ecialist

approa

ch and

service for

those ap

plying

for

housing stating they

are

‘No fix

ed abo

de’ to ga

in

access to

the Hou

sing

Register.

Deve

lop a ne

w and

im

prov

ed ‘Mov

e-‐on

protoc

ol’ to m

axim

ise

the use of su

pported

acco

mmod

ation

oppo

rtun

ities w

ithin th

e Distric

t

Applican

ts to

the ho

using register

stating they

are of N

o Fixe

d Ab

ode

are offered an

app

ointmen

t with

a

Hou

sing Officer to co

nfirm

their

circum

stan

ces a

nd disc

uss t

he

housing op

tions and

supp

ort

available to th

em.

A ne

w m

ove-‐on

protoco

l from

supp

orted acco

mmod

ation ha

s bee

n de

signe

d as part o

f the

recent re

view

of th

e ho

using allocatio

ns sc

heme.

Actio

n -‐ M

onito

r the

out

com

es o

f the

M

ove-‐

on p

roto

col -‐

Embe

d the Ch

erwell

‘Mov

e-‐on

protoco

l’ with

Partners

prov

iding supp

orted ho

using an

d to

mon

itor its su

ccess. This n

ew w

ay of

assessing requ

ests to

mov

e-‐on

will

enab

le m

axim

isatio

n of su

pported

housing acco

mmod

ation an

d also

ensure th

at th

e skills r

equired to

man

age a tena

ncy are ad

equa

tely te

sted

to ensure tena

ncy success.

Actio

n -‐ S

uppo

rt d

evel

opm

ent o

f a

‘tena

ncy

read

y sc

hem

e’ fo

r peo

ple

in

pris

ons

-‐ Enc

ourage

the de

velopm

ent o

f a tena

ncy read

y Sche

me with

in pris

ons

Actio

n -‐ I

nves

tigat

e su

ppor

t to

prov

ide

furn

iture

and

fitt

ings

by

dona

tion

or a

t re

ason

able

cos

t

Exist

ing

resources

Hom

elessness

prev

entio

n gran

t Exist

ing gran

t arrang

emen

ts

Coun

ty

Coun

cil

fund

ing

Voluntary

sector

resources

CLG offe

nders

Bid

2

Improv

e de

velopm

ent

of opp

ortunitie

s for

single pe

ople to

succee

d throug

h supp

ort, skills

and ho

using

oppo

rtun

ities at

affordab

le re

nts in

Consideration to dev

elop

a sing

le

person

s hou

sing strategy and

more

new sing

le hom

eless p

rovisio

n in

Cherwell D

istric

t Cou

ncil.

Successful CLG

Single Hom

eless B

id

led by

Che

rwell for th

e co

unty to

Actio

n -‐ W

ork

in p

artn

ersh

ip a

cros

s th

e H

ousi

ng T

eam

to p

rodu

ce a

Sin

gle

Pers

ons

Hou

sing

Str

ateg

y to

ens

ure

ther

e is

an

impr

oved

sup

ply

of s

ingl

e ac

com

mod

atio

n in

Che

rwel

l – This w

ill

prov

ide a step

ping

ston

e an

d op

portun

ity fo

r tho

se w

ith add

ition

al

2,3,4,5

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 2

Per

son

al r

esili

ence

14

15

Key

obje

ctiv

es

Key

actio

ns a

nd

mile

ston

es

Prog

ress

to d

ate

Goi

ng fo

rwar

d Re

sour

ces

Gol

d St

anda

rd

Chal

leng

e Ch

erwell

prev

ent h

omelessness a

nd im

prov

e ho

using op

tions fo

r ex-‐offend

ers.

Furthe

r work to be co

nsidered

to

unde

rstand

and

mitiga

te cuts from

OCC

.

supp

ort n

eeds w

ho re

quire

skills a

nd

supp

ort to en

able th

em to

access

gene

ral h

ousin

g successfully and

will

includ

e de

livery of 13 un

its of sup

ported

acco

mmod

ation in Che

rwell to be

used

as part o

f the

new

sing

le hom

eless

pathway

and

integrate with

existing

supp

orted ho

using prov

ision

across t

he

coun

ty and

provide

supp

ort w

ithin

Distric

t.

Deve

lop a Ro

ugh

Slee

pers’ a

ction plan

to

try to re

duce ro

ugh

sleep

ing

We ha

ve dev

elop

ed sign

ificant

partne

rship working

in Che

rwell to

prov

ide arrang

e of se

rvice de

livery to

supp

ort v

ulne

rable pe

ople and

prev

ent rou

gh slee

ping

in Che

rwell.

This co

ntinue

s to be

a m

ajor fo

cus

for the

com

mun

ity and

we ha

ve

been

pleased

to partic

ipate with

Fa

ith group

s, Stree

t link, Salva

tion

Army mee

tings, B

eaco

n Ce

ntre,

Street Pastors and

BYH

P

Actio

n -‐ P

rodu

ce a

Rou

gh S

leep

ers

mul

ti ag

ency

Act

ion

Plan

and

impr

ove

cont

act w

ith F

ood

bank

s an

d St

reet

pa

stor

s -‐ C

ontin

ue to

liaise w

ith Partners

to preve

nt hom

elessness a

nd to

provide

supp

ort to vu

lnerab

le peo

ple. To also

includ

e the Street Pastors and

Foo

d Ba

nks information an

d intellige

nce to

work to enc

ourage

positive

eng

agem

ent

from

all those in nee

d. Provide

inform

ation to ena

ble them

to assist

those they

link

with

in th

e local

commun

ity to

access s

ervices.

2,3,4,5

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 2

Per

son

al r

esili

ence

15

16

Key

Stra

tegi

c Ar

ea 3

Pers

onal

Hea

lth a

nd W

ellb

eing

Ke

y ob

ject

ives

Key

actio

ns a

nd m

ilest

ones

Pr

ogre

ss to

dat

e G

oing

For

war

d Re

sour

ces

Gol

d St

anda

rd

Chal

leng

e Im

prov

e pa

rtne

rshi

p w

orki

ng to

dev

elop

and

m

aint

ain

serv

ices

in a

tim

e of

aus

terit

y,

offe

ring

oppo

rtun

ities

to

deve

lop

expe

rtis

e an

d sh

are

best

pra

ctic

e,

impr

ove

valu

e fo

r mon

ey

and

offe

r a c

o-‐or

dina

ted

appr

oach

Prov

ide forum opp

ortunitie

s for d

iscussio

n an

d pa

rtne

rship working

o

sin

gle ho

meless

forum

o

Vulnerab

le A

dults

acco

mmod

ation

pane

l o

Yo

ung Pe

ople’s

acco

mmod

ation

pane

l

There ha

ve bee

n sig

nific

ant

chan

ges t

o pa

rtne

rship working

an

d co

mmiss

ioning

of

supp

orted ho

using.

Ope

ratio

nal joint w

orking

and

pa

rtne

rship ha

s con

tinue

d successfully in

Che

rwell w

ith

both You

ng Peo

ples and

Vu

lnerab

le Adu

lts m

eetin

gs

mon

thly.

A co

uncil finan

cial in

clusion

even

t was su

pported an

d ap

preciated by

partners

Partne

rship working

is essen

tial

to m

inim

ise effe

cts o

f the

on-‐

going ch

ange

s

Actio

n -‐ C

ontin

ue to

sup

port

pa

rtne

rshi

ps in

the

loca

l co

mm

unity

to p

reve

nt

hom

eles

snes

s an

d pr

omot

e fin

anci

al in

clus

ion

-‐ Partnership

working

con

tinue

s to be

essential to prev

ent

homelessness.

We will con

tinue

our existing

links w

ithin existing resources

to con

tinue

the cu

rren

t service

delivery.

Exist

ing resources

Hom

elessness

prev

entio

n gran

t Co

unty Cou

ncil

2,5

Participate in all forum

oppo

rtun

ities fo

r disc

ussio

n an

d pa

rtne

rship working

o

JATA

C o

MAR

AC

o

Joint H

ousin

g Stee

ring Group

o

Oxfordshire Hou

sing

and Hom

elessness

The Hou

sing De

partmen

t has

continue

d to be represen

ted at

the va

rious m

ulti-‐ag

ency

mee

tings to

ensure that

Cherwell a

re aware of activities

taking

place across t

he dist

rict

and throug

hout Oxfordshire.

This ha

s allo

wed

us t

o iden

tify

oppo

rtun

ities to

work in

Actio

n -‐ C

ontin

ue to

att

end

rele

vant

mul

ti-‐ag

ency

m

eetin

gs fo

r dis

cuss

ion

and

part

ners

hip

wor

king

op

port

uniti

es – to

partic

ipate

at Oxfordshire Cou

nty Co

uncil

mee

tings to

disc

uss t

he effe

ct

of th

e sig

nific

ant g

overnm

ent

budg

et cuts a

t OCC

which

will

Exist

ing resources

Hom

elessness

prev

entio

n gran

t

2

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 3

Per

son

al H

ealt

h an

d W

ellb

ein

g

16

17

Key

obje

ctiv

es

Key

actio

ns a

nd m

ilest

ones

Pr

ogre

ss to

dat

e G

oing

For

war

d Re

sour

ces

Gol

d St

anda

rd

Chal

leng

e Group

o

Hea

lth and

Wellbeing

Boa

rd

o

Brighter Futures

them

e grou

ps

o

Cred

it Union

project

grou

p o

Fina

ncial inc

lusio

n pa

rtne

rship

o

HSA

G

Review

ing an

d form

ing ne

w

grou

ps if necessary

partne

rship such

as t

he DCL

G

Sing

le Hom

eless fun

d project

supp

ortin

g ex

-‐offe

nders

throug

hout Oxfordshire.

The joint C

redit U

nion

Project

with

Sou

th Northan

ts DC ha

s en

ded. Initia

l con

versations

have

bee

n he

ld to

start a

Ch

erwell foc

used

project in

pa

rtne

rship with

San

ctua

ry is

to beg

in sh

ortly

to ensure

delivery refle

cts t

he nee

ds of

the distric

t.

affect current su

pported

housing prov

ision

and

working

arrang

emen

ts in

Che

rwell a

nd

across th

e co

unty.

New

requ

iremen

ts fo

r Sa

fegu

arding

and

the ne

w

MAS

H re

ferral sy

stem

for a

dults

an

d ch

ildren ne

eds t

o be

em

bedd

ed w

ith partners a

nd

staff throu

gh a training

prog

ramme

Actio

n –

Cont

inue

to d

evel

op

the

DCL

G o

ffen

der p

roje

ct to

pr

even

t hom

eles

snes

s -‐ O

n-‐go

ing strategic assessmen

t of

ex-‐offe

nder hou

sing ne

eds

throug

h the on

-‐going

work with

DC

LG fu

nding an

d the CR

C in

Cherwell

New

IT platform fo

r Credit

union

Wor

k to

war

ds G

old

Stan

dard

for

hom

eles

snes

s se

rvic

es

and

cont

inue

to p

rovi

de

a hi

gh q

ualit

y ho

usin

g op

tions

ser

vice

, foc

ussi

ng

on h

omel

essn

ess

prev

entio

n

Work with

NHAS

and

the

Oxfordshire Hou

sing an

d Hom

elessness g

roup

to m

eet

the Gold Stan

dard and

use

the diag

nostic pee

r rev

iew

tool to

improv

e pe

rforman

ce

A diag

nostic pee

r rev

iew w

as

unde

rtak

en in

Sep

tembe

r 201

4 which

we pa

ssed

with

a m

ark

of 72%

. Th

is ha

s allo

wed

us t

o no

w beg

in app

lying for the

10

challeng

es to

mee

t the

gold

stan

dard

Actio

n -‐ C

ontin

ue w

ork

to

achi

eve

hom

eles

s G

old

stan

dard -‐ Work with

the

Nationa

l Practition

er Sup

port

Service, NHAS

and

the

Oxfordshire Hou

sing Hom

eless

grou

p to m

eet the

Gold

Stan

dard and

use th

e diag

nostic

peer re

view

tool to

improv

e pe

rforman

ce.

Exist

ing resources

all

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 3

Per

son

al H

ealt

h an

d W

ellb

ein

g

17

18

Key

obje

ctiv

es

Key

actio

ns a

nd m

ilest

ones

Pr

ogre

ss to

dat

e G

oing

For

war

d Re

sour

ces

Gol

d St

anda

rd

Chal

leng

e Im

plem

ent the

new

Allocatio

ns Sch

eme en

surin

g those in greatest n

eed are

prioritise

d for h

ousin

g o

Re

assess

applications to

achiev

e ap

prop

riate

band

ing un

der the

ne

w sc

heme

o

Ensure app

lican

ts

unde

rstand

the ne

w

sche

me

o

Train pa

rtne

rs in

the

new sc

heme

A review

of the

existing

allocatio

ns sc

heme ha

s bee

n un

dertak

en th

is ye

ar and

a

revised ve

rsion was la

unch

ed

on 7 Sep

tembe

r 201

5 follo

wing

consultatio

n with

partners

abou

t propo

sed ch

ange

s.

Chan

ges introdu

ced includ

ed

the introd

uctio

n of a re

serve

list for th

ose with

out a

reco

gnise

d ho

using ne

ed and

the introd

uctio

n of prio

rity for

peop

le w

ho can

dem

onstrate

that are su

bject to fin

ancial

hardship w

ithin th

eir e

xisting

home.

Actio

n -‐ R

egul

arly

revi

ew

Allo

catio

ns S

chem

e ru

les

as

new

cha

nges

in le

gisl

atio

n ar

e in

trod

uced

and

mon

itor r

ent

leve

ls a

cros

s al

l ho

usin

g se

ctor

s -‐ M

onito

r the

cha

nges

introd

uced

by the revised

allocatio

ns sc

heme to ensure

that th

ose in greatest n

eed are

prioritise

d for h

ousin

g an

d that

there ha

ve not bee

n un

intend

ed con

sequ

ences o

f the review

.

Exist

ing resources

2

Key

stra

tegi

c ar

ea 3

Per

son

al H

ealt

h an

d W

ellb

ein

g

Appendix A Homeless partnerships

18

19

App

endi

x A

Hom

eles

s pa

rtner

ship

s Che

rwel

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Appendix B

19

1. Demographic overviewChanges between 2001 census and 2011 census

a) Ethnicity

The BME population in Cherwell has increased in the 2011 census compared to the 2001 census. Current proportions are shown in the graphs below.

Band General HomelessST moving to district Transfer Grand Total

1 39 66 1052 345 28 1 89 4633 218 39 257Reserve List 15 3 18Grand Total 617 28 1 197 843

2. Housing demandChanges made to the Housing Allocations Scheme as part of the Localism Act 2011 meant there was a significant reduction in the number of people eligible to join the housing register. We have recently reviewed these changes and amended the allocations scheme to support more people to join the housing register. The figure below show the number of people registered to be on the housing register as of 5th November 2015.

2011 census Ethnicity - BME

Cherwell SE National12% 13% 18%

Population Up from 131,785 to 141,868

b) AgeUnder 15s down from 19.8% to 18.8%Over 65s up from 13.5% to 15.3%Source Gold standard NPSS

20

Current Bedroom Need General Homeless

ST moving to district Transfer Grand Total

4 19 16 353 46 25 712 245 28 49 3221 307 1 107 415Grand Total 617 28 1 197 843

The table below shows that the 87% of people on the housing register need 1 or 2 bedroom properties.

3. Trends in Homelessnessa) Rough Sleeping

The number of people reported to DCLG as rough sleeping within the district in 14/15 was 14. The most recent estimate (conducted in November 2015) increased to 21 with Cherwell. Oxfordshire saw a 64% increase in the number of people reported as sleeping rough in 14/15. This was partly due to a change in the way rough sleepers were reported by Oxford City who had previously conducted a street count whilst the other districts conduct estimates due to the geographic nature of the different constituencies.

Cherwell have seen an increase in the number of people reported as sleeping rough in the past year.

YearTotal Reported

Total Verified

Access the Pathway

Refused the Pathway

Not Eligible/ No Local Connection Re-connected

Aug 12 – Mar 13

38 8 4 0 3 1

Apr 13 – Mar 14

90 27 8 15 3 1

Apr 14 – Mar 15

132 79 25 21 7 2

Apr 15 – Sept 15

60 27 7 10 0 0

mate (conducted in November 2015) increased to 21 with Cherwell. Oxfordshire saw a 64% increase in the number of people reported as sleeping rough in 14/15. This was partly due to a change in the way rough sleepers were reported by Oxford City who had previously conducted a street count whilst the other districts conduct estimates due to the geographic nature of the different constituencies.

Cherwell have seen an increase in the number of people reported as sleeping rough in the past year

21

Homeless Presentations –

Figures show that the number of people approaching the council as homeless or at threat of becoming homelessness has increased in the past year.

Year 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15Cancelled 2 1 0 5Number of Presentations 124 127 128 166Accepted 62 59 51 78Non Priority 10 9 22 26Intentionally Homeless 30 24 33 26Not Homeless 20 27 14 30Not Eligible 2 1 3 1Pending 0 5 5 0198 Referrals 0 2 0 1Duty Presentations 72 58 52 100Casework Presentations 53 69 76 66

• The number of presentations continues to increase, last year we saw an increase of 22%

• The number of people being accepted increased by 23%

• 28% of approaches were from Singles or Couples

• The number of presentations made to duty increased by 92% - this was in part due to changes in service delivery in the housing needs team due to vacancies within the team and long term sickness

Year 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15Cancelled 2 1 0 5Number of Presentations 124 127 128 166Accepted 62 59 51 78Non Priority 10 9 22 26Intentionally Homeless 30 24 33 26Not Homeless 20 27 14 30Not Eligible 2 1 3 1Pending 0 5 5 0198 Referrals 0 2 0 1Duty Presentations 72 58 52 100Casework Presentations 53 69 76 66

22

Reasons

2013/14Number Accepted %

2014/15Number Accepted %

End AST 26 11 20% 48 24 29%Parental Eviction 27 11 21% 35 23 21%Relative / Friend Eviction 20 5 16% 18 8 11%Relationship Breakdown 10 8 8% 18 6 11%Other Loss of private / Tied 4 2 3% 14 5 8%Domestic Abuse 13 5 10% 8 3 5%Hospital Discharge 3 0 2% 1 0 1%Other Violence 1 0 1% 3 1 2%Illegal Eviction 0 0 0 0 0 0Mortgage Repossession 3 3 3 4 2 2%NFA 3 0 2% 2 0 1%Prison 1 0 1% 1 0 1%Supported Accom Eviction 4 3 3% 9 5 5%Emergency 5 1 4% 1 1 1%Loss of Tied accommodation 0 0 0 0 0 0MOD Discharge 4 1 3% 0 0 0Other Reasons 0 0 0 2 0 1%Pending 0 0 0 0 0 0RSL Eviction 4 1 3% 2 0 1%S198 Referral 0 0 1 1 Totals 128 51 166 78

Reasons for Presentations and acceptances

• We have seen the number of people approaching the council for assistance having been evicted from Private Rented Accommodation nearly double in the past year this is now the top reason for people becoming homeless in Cherwell.

23

Advice and Prevention

Emergency Temporary Accommodation Placements

Though improved casework we have been able to plan more efficiently for cases that we are aware will require placing in temporary accommodation. This improves the standard of service being provided and prevents costs to the council in having to identify expensive B&B accommodation.

Call 01295 227004or visit www.cherwell.gov.uk

The information in this document can be made available in other languages, large print braille, audio tape or electronic format on request. Please contact 01295 227001

HOUS_JB03291_06/2016

How to contact us

Housing Needs Team Cherwell District Council Bodicote House Bodicote Banbury Oxfordshire OX15 4AA

Tel: 01295 227004

e-mail: [email protected]

www.cherwell.gov.uk

Documents

Homelessness Prevention Action Plan Review and …...Introduction 4 Introduction Cherwell District Council’s Homelessness Prevention Plan has been refreshed for 2016 - 2017. The