Agenda item

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director of Community Development seeking the approval of the business case for the development of Temporary Accommodation and Housing Options for the Homeless and the associated budget of £11.6m.

Councillor Simon Myers, Executive Member for Culture, Arts and Housing presented the report noting the significant increase both nationally and locally in demand for temporary accommodation for homeless people.  The overall number of homeless households placed in temporary accommodation exceeded the availability of the council’s current core offer of 169 units of temporary accommodation which meant that the council was reliant on the use of hotels and B&Bs to meet its legal duties. This increased reliance had significant cost implications for the council and a disproportionate impact on overall spending. Gross spend on temporary accommodation had risen by 400% from 2019/20 to 2022/23 exceeding £2m per year.  Within North Yorkshire levels of demand were likely to remain high going forward, which required proactive intervention measures.  Due to the scale of need and urgency of the problem, the business case was based on a mixture of provision of council-owned accommodation and that of registered providers to replace more expensive emergency accommodation.  The largest use of B&B and hotel accommodation was within Harrogate and Scarborough and efforts in these areas would be prioritised.  In Scarborough, the aim was to include the development of a supported housing scheme – ‘a place of change’ – based on the best practice model of Fern House in Harrogate.

Members welcomed the report:

·       Noting the moral and business case for action

·       Noting the acuteness of the problem in Scarborough

·       Noting that local government reorganisation placed the council in a stronger position to tackle this challenge

·       Hoping that the 90 units proposed could be procured more quickly than the four years stated in the report

·       Suggesting that regular updates on progress be provided to the Executive, Housing & Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Scarborough and Whitby Area Constituency Committee as appropriate    

The Corporate Director for Community Development, Nic Harne commented that as part of the proposals in the report there would be improved gathering and monitoring of homelessness data to help assess progress.  He also undertook to provide local division member, Councillor John Ritchie with further details of homelessness levels and use of temporary accommodation in Scarborough.

Resolved (unanimously) – that:

(i) the business case and a £11.6m budget for the delivery of accommodation for a minimum of 90 homeless households is approved;

(ii) the approval of individual business cases is delegated to the Corporate Director of Community Development in consultation with the Corporate Director Resources, the Executive Member for Culture, Arts and Housing and the Executive Member for Finance and Resources;

(iii) determining the detail of the grant offer to registered providers is delegated to the Corporate Director of Community Development in consultation with the Corporate Director Resources; and

(iv) there is regular reporting on progress to the Executive, Housing & Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Scarborough and Whitby Area Constituency Committee.