Strategy to tackle homelessness set to get cabinet all clear
Telford & Wrekin Council is set to approve a package of measures designed to reduce and prevent homelessness in the borough.
A revised Homelessness Strategy to cover the next five years will see the existing rough sleeping project extended to run all year round in partnership with Maninplace.
Funding has also been approved for 12 months for two new posts to provide a prevention role in the council’s Housing team to target support at preventing homelessness linked to domestic violence and also youth homelessness.
Additional one off funding of £95,000 on top of the existing Homelessness Prevention budget has been approved to boost the initiative to reduce homelessness has been approved for the next 12 months.
The revised Homelessness Strategy identifies four clear priorities:
•Ensure that high quality housing advice is accessible and well promoted to all to ensure that households or other support services which are able to identify their own housing solutions are able to do so
•Join up council and external services to prevent homelessness arising wherever possible
•Ensure that temporary accommodation is well managed and meets the needs of the service, ensuring people move onto sustainable housing as soon as possible – minimizing the use of bed and breakfast accommodation
•Work with partners to support vulnerable groups and prevent rough sleeping
The additional funding will enable a number of new actions to be delivered to help reduce and prevent homelessness. These are:
•Extending the existing rough sleeping project to be run all year round in partnership with Maninplace. Previously the service has only been funded during the three coldest months of the year.
•Provide continual support and expand the use of Dodmore Grange for young people on an initial 12 month pilot
•Design a suite of leaflets with housing and tenancy advice which people can access from the housing website
•Carry out exit surveys with young people to understand their experiences in supported/temporary accommodation to help reduce homelessness and increase successful moves to future tenancies
•Develop a tool kit aimed at young people to help prevent homelessness. This can then be promoted to schools and colleges
•Identify champions in each service area of the council who aim to raise awareness of homelessness to enable quicker responses to queries
•Develop a training package for people in temporary accommodation with a certificate to show they are tenant ready to help move clients into sustainable housing
Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Housing, said: ““Rough sleeping is inherently dangerous and exposes people to potential health deterioration.
“We have a statutory duty to review and update our Homelessness Strategy every five years so we carried out a review of our current homelessness situation including trends and needs.
“Consultation has been carried out with a wide range of stakeholders. As a result, the strategy sets out a range of measures for tackling homelessness including the provision of positive interventions and promoting the inclusion of all disadvantaged groups.”
Alan Olver, managing director of homelessness charity Maninplace, said: “We are pleased to have this opportunity to extend the current homelessness service to 365 days a year in order to prevent the only option that is open to some people – which is rough sleeping.”
The strategy is recommended for approval by Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet on June 29.
