Agenda item

The report was introduced by Paul Sylvester, Head of Housing Options and Joe Wheeler, Senior Benefits Policy Officer and was said to be a technical paper.  

The Council was said to provide accommodation pathways for those with support needs but today’s report was focussed on how the Council was providing temporary accommodation for homeless people.

The Council’s aim was to deliver more cost effective and high-quality emergency homelessness accommodation. However, the number of people in Bristol presenting themselves as homeless had significantly increased in recent years.  The costs of providing accommodations had also increased significantly.  Officers explained that the Spot purchase arrangements were high cost and were not working well and said BCC was trying to move to new Block contracts, which were also less expensive.

A Member said they were struck by the charts on pages 2 & 3 of the report (p44 & 45 of pack) which showed a significant increase in homelessness presentations since 2018 and the year-on-year reductions in social housing allocations.  The increase was related to Government policy but why there were such reductions in social housing allocations. Officers said that people are were now staying in their current social housing homes and not moving on because it was so expensive to rent privately. They said they were expecting a significant increase in new build homes but re-lets were likely to stay at low levels because of the above point.

A Member commented on the idea that BCC could potentially have ‘arm’s-length’ regulated providers but the market was not interested and asked what was else being considered?  Officers said there were many different ways to deliver temporary accommodation services and it was quite a specialised area.  Some types of accommodation were said to be much harder to deliver and carried more risk for the Council.  A proposal was being developed for a locally supported housing association.  However, it was said the Council could fulfil the role of regulated provider because it would remove the need for profits to be made.  It was said to be an interesting proposal and officers were developing a set of options to be considered by the administration. 

A Member referred to the commissioned homeless pathways diagram on page 6 of the report (p48 of the pack) and suggested that the accommodation did not always meet the needs of some people and in some cases was not deemed as safe by those who stayed there.  Officers said they always take client feed back into account and try to address such situations.  They were currently looking at a large hostel model as one alternative.  In 2 years there would be more options for single people in supported housing.  The Member said this type of accommodation was very needed but was there not some way to speed that up as many of the people affected were very vulnerable. 

A Member commented that the report focussed on costs but what input had there been from service users to developing plans?  Officers said they were working with a national charity to help people have their voices heard.  They always consulted and engaged clients to understand their lived experiences and ensure their voices were heard.

The published report stated the Council places people in accommodation ‘within the City boundaries and also the sub-region’.  Members asked how far away the sub-region could actually mean? Officers said they aim provided accommodation in Bristol where it was possible.  But at times had to consider options outside of Bristol for example South Gloucestershire.  Or at times they also help people to move to other parts of country where they already have friends or family.  However, moving out of the area was always a voluntary decision. 

A Member asked about resettlement & independent living pathways; where did people with high support needs go when leaving temporary accommodation when there was such a shortage of affordable accommodation?  Officers said they tried to give people the best possible start when they left supported accommodation.  But resettlement support was time limited and they did what they could to try and help stop people from having to go through the whole process again.

The Chair commented that he was encouraged by the plans officers had and hoped they would come to fruition.