Agenda and minutes

The Chairman advised the Committee that, following the previous meeting, the Chairman of the Hillingdon Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board had written to apologise for the poor quality of the responses to the Committee's written questions. The basic responses had been passed to a member of staff, (who was no longer with the organisation), with the mandate to expand upon the answers given before passing these to the Committee. Unfortunately, the original, basic answers were forwarded to the Committee in error. It was accepted that the responses were inadequate, and it was confirmed that care would be taken to ensure all future responses were of the correct standard.

Apologies were received from Councillor Beulah East (with Councillor Jazz Dhillon substituting) and Cllr Peter Money (no substitute).

None.

Referring to minute 50, Hillingdon Adult Safeguarding Board - Chairman Q&A Session, Councillor Eginton highlighted that Councillor Cooper's comments regarding the quality of the responses to the Committee's written questions had been omitted. Councillor Cooper had remarked that the written responses received had been hard to understand, and were lacking in relevant information.

In addition, Councillor Eginton's statement that other Councils were making their ratified performance data available for review earlier than October had been omitted.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the previous meeting be approved as a correct record, subject to the above additions.

It was confirmed that all items would be considered in public.

Debby Weller, Policy and Strategy Manager - Housing, provided a witness report as part of the Committee's review into the changes to Housing Benefits. Ms Weller was supported by Dan Kennedy, Head of Business Performance, Policy and Standards.

Members were informed that at the previous meeting, the witness session had provided evidence from a front-line service perspective, whilst the second witness session would consider how reforms to Housing Benefits fit within a wider policy framework for Housing.

Ms Weller referred to the Homelessness Reduction Bill, currently being considered by Parliament. The Bill was designed to prioritise early intervention from councils to prevent people threatened with homelessness from actually becoming homeless. Under the Bill, councils in England would be required to help all eligible people, whether they were single or a family, for 56 days before they were threatened with homelessness. Those who were already homeless would receive support for a further 56 days, to help them secure accommodation. This was approximately double the support time currently offered, and would be advertised on the Council website, and via leaflets, partners, and other communication channels.

The disparity between Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the private rented sector and the actual rents charged by landlords meant that there was an increased risk of homelessness due to evictions of households unable to meet rental costs and that the application of the lowered Household Benefit Cap posed a further risk. This had implications for the supply of housing and the steps that could be taken to assist potentially homeless households. Once the legislation was passed, a steering group, which would include local authority representatives, would assist in informing of the revised homelessness guidance. The group had not yet been constituted, and so it was unknown whether Hillingdon would be asked to contribute. The revised guidance was expected to include a more detailed understanding of what would be considered 'reasonable steps' to assist homeless households. There may also be an impact on 'suitability of accommodation' requirements including in relation to affordability and location. It was not unlikely that aspects would also be tested via case law.

Changes to the funding of Supported Housing, including hostels and refuges, would reduce funding via the benefits system.  From 2019/20 onwards, core rent and service charges would only be paid up to the LHA rate (through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit), with the difference to be made up by Local Authorities through a discretionary fund. A Green Paper setting out the detailed arrangements, to allay uncertainty for supported housing providers, was expected this Spring.

The Government recently published regulations to remove the automatic entitlement to housing costs in the Universal Credit Full Service for some 18 -21 year olds. This was designed to encourage young people who could stay at home to do so, to avoid moving out and passing those costs onto the tax payer. Exemptions to the policy included claimants who were orphans or whose parents lived abroad, or where it would be inappropriate for the claimant to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

Noted.

Noted.