Minutes of 23 March 2006 meeting (83(M)2006)
HOMELESSNESS MONITORING GROUP
Members: Robert Aldridge Scottish Council for Single Homeless
Liz Burns Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
Michael Cameron Communities Scotland
John Mills Fife Council (CoSLA)
Catriona Renfrew Greater Glasgow Health Board
Archie Stoddart Shelter Scotland
Secretariat: Carole Barker-Munro Scottish Executive
Anna Donald Scottish Executive
Martin Moffat Scottish Executive
ITEM 1: Welcome and apologies
1. Anna Donald welcomed members to the meeting and advised that she would be chairing in the absence of Mike Neilson. Apologies were received from Rab Murray, Isobel Anderson, Mark Turley and Karen Watt. Karen Watt was represented by Michael Cameron. The chair welcomed Archie Stoddart to his first meeting of the Group and advised that Robert Aldridge was due to join the meeting at 1pm.
ITEM 2: Minutes of 26 January meeting
2. The minute was agreed; however it was requested that use of the term 'shopping around' in paragraph 8 be reconsidered.
3. It was noted that material from DWP and the Rock Trust had been circulated to members and would be taken forward at a future meeting. In the meantime members were invited to contact the Secretariat if they required any further information. The chair advised the Group that funding had been identified to continue the Furniture Grant Scheme in 2006/07 and allocations would be made to local authorities on the same basis as the current financial year. It was noted that work was underway on a review of the scheme and a paper would be presented to the June meeting of the Group.
4. The chair advised that the research being carried out by Ann Rosengard Associates on support needs of intentionally homeless households was in final draft form and was being considered by the Intentionality Subgroup. It was agreed that the draft report be circulated to members for information.
Action: Secretariat to consider amendment to paragraph 8 of minutes of 26 January minute; Secretariat to circulate draft intentionality research report to members.
ITEM 3: HMG Annual Report and Action Plan
5. The chair introduced this item of business and invited general comment on the report and action plan prior to detailed consideration of each section. The following points were raised:
5.1 The text in section 1 should contain fewer passive statements, more commentary on the current position and more material on further action required. This was felt to be particularly relevant to the sections on vulnerable people, homelessness strategies and temporary accommodation.
5.2 Specific milestones/action required should be identified for all recommendations in the action plan.
5.3 Section 1 should include a section on the Order on Unsuitable Temporary Accommodation and section 2 should be updated to reflect the statistics to be published on 28 March.
5.4 The RAG classifications in the action plan should be explained more fully to avoid possible misinterpretation.
6. Members discussed the format of the annual report and agreed it should be published with the action plan as a separate document. The production of a shorter version of the report, outlining progress to date and priorities for 2006/07, was discussed; it was noted that this version may be helpful in getting across messages about progress to 2012. It was agreed that a shorter version be drafted and circulated to the Group along with the next draft of the main report. The Secretariat agreed to consider hard copy and on-line distribution of the main report.
7. The draft report and action plan were discussed section by section and the following points made:
Section 1 - Progress with delivery
Legislation
7.1 The 2012 subgroup had agreed that guidance on achieving the 2009 target to reduce by 50% the proportion of households not assessed as priority need would be developed and circulated to local authorities along with the new template for recording progress. This development should be recorded in the action plan.
7.2 Within the action plan, reference should be made to a timetable for HMG providing advice to Ministers on commencement of the intentionality provisions of the 2003 Act. The Group should discuss this issue at the June meeting.
Culture and Training
7.3 More detail is needed in the action plan on the Awareness Raising and Best Practice subgroup's consideration of further work required.
Housing Policy
7.4 A process for taking forward the recommendation on lead tenancies needs to be identified and included in the plan.
7.5 The chair advised members of the forthcoming closure of the National Rent Deposit Fund and plans to keep on the Scottish Development Officer post via another organisation.
7.6 The text on allocations and offers to homeless people should be redrafted to acknowledge the tensions which exist between usage of temporary accommodation and the number and quality of offers made.
7.7 Members requested a paper for the June meeting on temporary accommodation and allocations, drawing together information from local authority progress reports for 2005/06, lettings data, Communities Scotland's inspections and information on the Order on Unsuitable Temporary Accommodation from the pilot study. It was agreed that this process and links to the research and guidance on allocations set out in the Ministerial Statement should be recorded in the action plan.
7.8 The text at recommendation 12 in the action plan relates to Common Housing Registers rather than Choice Based Lettings and should be amended. It was suggested that the Group consider international research on the outcomes for homeless people from CBL schemes, and also noted that Communities Scotland were due to report shortly on two landlords who operated CBL schemes.
Benefits
7.9 The chair advised that further information on performance of stock transfer local authorities against standards for dealing with Housing Benefit claims was being sought from DWP. Members noted improvements in performance but expressed continuing concerns and requested a detailed report which would enable the identification of poor performers who should then be targeted for assistance.
7.10 The text of recommendation 16 should be reviewed at a future date with regard to Communities Scotland's role in delivery.
7.11 Text should be included against recommendation 17 recommending evaluation and mainstreaming of Jobcentre Plus's pilot projects.
Prevention - High Risk Groups
7.12 Text at recommendations for individual groups should be more clearly cross referenced to recommendation 26.
7.13 Links should be included to ongoing work on the National Strategy for Sex Offenders and commencement of the Management of Offenders Act in recommendation 28. The report should recommend further action to clarify the roles of other organisations in prevention of homelessness among this group and on the way forward for advice services in prisons.
Homelessness Strategies - Prevention
7.14 Reference should be made to the submission of progress reports by local authorities at the end of April.
7.15 The template for future recording of progress should incorporate some reporting against the Task Force recommendations on prevention, highlighting its critical role.
Effective response - general
7.16 Commentary on recommendations 37 and 35 needs to be included in the main report.
7.17 Text on recommendation 37 should be redrafted to record HMG concern about temporary accommodation and advise that the Group will, this year, look at the findings of the pilot study on the Order on Unsuitable Temporary Accommodation and consider further action required. The text should also report the findings of all inspections carried out to date.
Effective Response - Health
7.18 Concern was expressed about the lack of permanent arrangements for monitoring delivery of the Health and Homelessness Standards and the need for this to be mainstreamed into general performance monitoring of NHS Boards. It was agreed that the Group would consider the findings of the 'One Year On' survey and discuss future monitoring of the standards in that context. It was also agreed that the Health Department should consider what other existing indicators may be relevant (e.g. those relating to substance misuse).
7.19 It was suggested that this suite of recommendations may need to be reviewed to take account of policy development since the Task Force report.
7.20 It was agreed that monitoring of recommendation 43 (GP registration) should be taken forward via progress reporting on homelessness strategies.
Effective Response - Employment
7.21 Concern was expressed about the 'green' RAG status awarded to the recommendation on the New Futures Fund as it was felt that the long-term future of the CPP approach was not yet known. The Secretariat agreed to reconsider the RAG status of the recommendation and discuss with colleagues in ETLLD.
Effective Response - Social Networks
7.22 It was felt that action required on this recommendation should move from awareness raising to identification and evaluation of best practice and guidance on successful approaches, and also consideration of how projects are tying in to homelessness strategies.
Action: Secretariat to redraft annual report and action plan in line with comments received. Secretariat to note scheduling of topics for workplan.
Section 2 - Effect of Change
8. It was noted that the 2012 subgroup had considered the text of this section at their last meeting. Comments on this section were invited by telephone or email.
9. Members noted the process for agreeing the text of the annual report and action plan, as set out in paper 81. The Chair invited members to submit any further views on the draft text to the Secretariat by 29 March.
Section 3 - Priorities for 2006-07
10. It was agreed that the second bullet point should be redrafted to be clearer as to the focus on preventing homelessness.
Action: Members to submit further comments to Secretariat by 29 March. Secretariat to circulate revised report, action plan and summary report to members by 5 April.
ITEM 4: Updates
11. Item not discussed.
ITEM 5: Dates of September and November meetings
12. It was noted that the scheduled dates for the September and November meetings were unsuitable for some members and agreed that the Secretariat would circulate a calendar chart for completion by members to identify suitable alternatives.
Homelessness Monitoring Group Secretariat
March 2006