Issue - meetings

Report No:   CAB/SE/17/025

Portfolio Holder: Sara Mildmay-White         Lead Officer: Davina Howes

RESOLVED:

That:

(1)     the additional statutory duties which will be in place as a result of the Homelessness Reduction Act, be noted;

(2)     the service be restructured and that an additional 6.8 FTE staff are required to meet the new statutory duties, as set out in Section 2.2 of Report No: CAB/SE/17/025; and

(3)     the funding of the additional posts be secured from the Flexible Homelessness Reduction Grant, as set out in Section 3.

The Cabinet considered Report No: CAB/SE/17/025, which sought approval for additional staffing resources to enable a restructure of the Housing Options and Homelessness Team in order to meet the requirements of the new Homelessness Reduction Act and the impact of other welfare reforms.

Councillor Sara Mildmay-White, Portfolio Holder for  Housing, drew relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet, including that the proposed restructure had been prompted by a number of  factors, such as:

(a)     a number of staff changes and the urgent requirement to fill vacant posts;

(b)     the need to have a robust service which could respond to forthcoming significant legislative changes, particularly the Homelessness Reduction Act;

(c)     recognition that changes to Universal Credit (UC) would have a real impact on tenants and landlords across West Suffolk;

(d)     reduction in the number of Housing Related Support funded beds, anticipated changes to housing support funding from 2018 and continual changes to the welfare system;

(e)     a review of the councils’ landlord liaison activities; and

(f)      feedback from the Housing Peer Review.

Section 1.2 of the report provided further details on the factors outlined above, as noted by the Cabinet.

Members then noted that the additional staffing costs to deliver the restructure across the two West Suffolk Councils was estimated at £230,354, which included all employer costs but was subject to final job evaluation of the posts.  These costs would be funded from a new government Flexible Homelessness Support Grant, which was ringfenced for an initial two year period and during that time, may only be used to prevent or deal with homelessness.  Section 3 of the report provided further details on the amounts awarded to St Edmundsbury and Forest Heath in 2017/18 and 2018/19, and how the grant was proposed to be used to fund the restructure.

Members were pleased to note that the restructure proposal would be funded from the new government grant, which led to a discussion on the responsibilities of landlords and letting agents regarding their respective roles in trying to mitigate homelessness.

RESOLVED:

That:

(1)     the additional statutory duties which will be in place as a result of the Homelessness Reduction Act, be noted;

(2)     the service be restructured and that an additional 6.8 FTE staff are required to meet the new statutory duties, as set out in Section 2.2 of Report No: CAB/SE/17/025; and

(3)     the funding of the additional posts be secured from the Flexible Homelessness Reduction Grant, as set out in Section 3.