Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Director.

The Housing Needs Strategy and Partnership Lead presented the report reviewing the 2016/17 SafeSleep Shelter in Market Street, Exeter.

The operational cost of SafeSleep was £60,000, the Council’s contribution being £28,000 with the remaining £32,000 costs met through rental income, housing benefit payments and grants from Devon County Council and the Exeter Community Safety Partnership. The Exeter City Council budget contribution for 2017/18 would not be changed. The following statistics were provided:-

·         SafeSleep had opened from 21 December 2016 to 20 March 2017 providing 1,909 bed nights of accommodation to 36 women and 107 men;

·         averaged occupancy had been 21 per night with a high of 31 and a low of 12;

·         78% of those accommodated were local - Exeter (63%) or Devon (15%);

·         clients ranged in age between 17 and 73, with 76% of clients 18-44; and

·         65 clients (45%) achieved positive move on to more settled sustainable accommodation, 34 clients had negative outcomes and 44 unknown outcomes.

The concern that the facility would prove a magnet for others outside the area had been unfounded.

For the forthcoming winter, the service was currently out to tender, bids to be assessed in early October. The internal resources needed to monitor this and administer housing benefit to an external agency to be reviewed at the end of the scheme to compare to the 2016/17 experience. It was hoped that the bidders would be able to identify a venue with officers currently also assessing potential locations.

Responding to a Member, he confirmed that the increasing number of homeless young people was a concern with shared housing identified as the likely solution. A shared housing network project group had been set up jointly with neighbouring authorities to stimulate shared housing and the need to improve clients’ skills to cope with shared living would also be important. A further challenge would be to cater for both males and females in any venue identified, one Member suggesting if two different locations could be the solution 

The System Lead Housing reported that 25-40 were homeless on Exeter’s streets at any one time and that over the next eight weeks, four teams would be carrying out hotspot counts on given days. He reported that Homeless Link, a London based umbrella charity representing organisations on the frontline of homelessness, had requested a case study report to share with other local authorities etc.

Scrutiny Committee - People supported the report and noted its contents and the recommendations that would be used to inform future service delivery.