Cyflwynwyd gan:Cyng / Cllr. Craig ab Iago
Decision:
a) Support
the prioritisation of using the Housing Support Grant as outlined in paragraph
36 of the report.
b) Support the principle of continuing
to work with external providers to be able to offer additional specialist support
services to what can be offered in-house.
c) To note the risk associated with the
revenue grant in the future (as with all other revenue grants) and the
mitigation measure noted in paragraph 39 of this report.
Minutes:
The report was submitted by Cllr Craig ab Iago
DECISION
a. To support the prioritisation of using the Housing
Support Grant as outlined in paragraph 36 of the report.
b. To support the principle of continuing to work with
external providers to be able to offer additional specialist support services
to what can be offered in-house.
c. To note the risk associated with the revenue grant in
the future (as with all other revenue grants) and the mitigation measure noted
in paragraph 39 of this report.
DISCUSSION
The report was presented
and it was noted that the Cabinet had been highlighting the fact that the two Governments
had not been doing enough to tackle the housing problems in the county. The steps taken by the Council to tackle the housing problem were highlighted, such as a report about second
homes within the county, looking at the tourism field and
community regeneration. It
was stressed that one of the Housing and Property Department's
priorities was tackling homelessness, and it was added that a large
portion of the Housing
Action Plan was dedicated to this
issue.
It was added that
today's decision outlined the department's plans to use the Housing Support Grant funds to tackle homelessness.
The Head of Housing
and Property Department added that the number of homeless people had increased in recent
years. It was explained that, during the early years of the increase in homelessness,
the Council had been slow to respond and had failed to create a long-term plan. By now,
it was noted that the
long-term plan was in place
and the plan was outlined.
It was stressed that, over the past year, there had been a 26% increase in the number of people presenting as homeless, an increase
of 71% over five years. It was noted that it was a period of crisis and that
the current way of working was not adequate. It was noted that the Housing Support Grant would assist the department to move ahead with
stage 2 and 3 of the plan, namely to build temporary housing units for the homeless
and to increase the number of support staff per individual.
It was noted that, in
2019, the Government had forewarned
that they would look at reducing
this grant. However, as a result of increased homelessness during the covid-19 period, the future of the grant changed entirely. It was noted that there
was an additional allocation of £1.6m and consequently the Department would be able to build 50 temporary housing units immediately.
It was added that the funds would also
allow the Council to double the support team for homeless
individuals to receive emotional support as well as life skills.
Observations arising from the discussion
¾
The report was welcomed and the need for
support for the homeless was noted. Attention was drawn to hidden homelessness.
¾
The need to undertake preventative work was stressed, and it was asked whether it would be possible to use the grant funding for this
work. It was noted that the early intervention work was an integral part
of offering support so as to support the individuals to keep hold of their accommodation
as well.
¾ Members gave thanks for the long-term plan, together with increasing capacity within the department to undertake the work that was needed to support the individuals.
¾ It was noted that it was good to have good news to support individuals and be proactive in future.
Awdur:Dafydd Gibbard
Supporting documents: