Notes from the Homelessness consultation



Notes from Southend Homeless Action Network (SHAN) MeetingHeld at SCF’s Plaza Centre on Tuesday 9th May 2017Attendees (19): Seb Whalley (Isaiah Project); Del Thomas, Ross Hutsby & Claire Massey (all Street Spirit); Jill Close (DWP); Trish Carpenter (Citizen’s Advice, SoS); Cllr Lawrence Davies; Ian (Rosemead); Insp. Bill Potter (Essex Police); Peter Courtenay (Street Pastor & Deputy Manager at the Ferndale Baptist Winter Night Shelter); Paul Slennett (SoS Christian Bookshop & a Street Pastor); Andrew Fiske (SBC, Group Manager, Housing); Rev. Dan Pratt (57 West); Judith Codarin (SEAL); Trish (SoS Adult & Community College); Sarah Conlon & Emily (both SoS Domestic Abuse Project); John Simmons (Co-Ordinator, SoS Churches Winter Night Shelters & Chair, Management Group, SoS Street Pastors) [Notes]; and John Barber (Chair, SHAN; & Manager at the Ferndale Baptist Winter Night Shelter). Apologies: Gary Turner (HARP); Glyn Halksworth (SBC, Drug and Alcohol Commissioner); Kelly Clarke (SBC); Jo Bates (Homeless Street Hub); John Paul Anastasiadis (SEPT); and Janine Thomas (British Red Cross).N.B. Action Points are in bold underlined italics.1. Welcome and Introductions.John B. welcomed all to the meeting and reminded all present about the “Rules of Engagement” for these meetings:- We are SHAN; we are about Southend; the Homeless; and Action; and are a Network of concerned people working to move the homeless onto a better place.We don’t discuss individual cases at the meetings, although anonymous examples can be given to make a point.We don’t have a go at each other for perceived shortcomings.He then thanked SCF for their hospitality.Please send all additions and amendments to the Contact List to John B. asap.John B. asked that all review the Rough Sleeper leaflet (see ) and send him any amendments asap. He intends to publish an updated version by next SHAN meetingEveryone then briefly introduced themselves by name, role and organisation. 2. Minutes and Action Points from our last meeting (14/03/17).a) After corrections to para 3 (‘Vacancy’ changed to ‘Vagrancy’) and para 5.2 (to remove a superfluous phrase), the minutes were accepted.b) Matters Arising:-Andrew Fiske gave an update about SBC’s Homelessness Strategy.Publication of the draft had been delayed until after the General Election.They are reviewing their housing allocation policy and it will be published for consultation asap. The Homelessness Reduction Bill has now become law, but the Government don’t expect it to come into effect until April 2018. So, please don’t send everyone to SBC just yet!It will increase their workload: they will have to do more on preventing homelessness (because that will be a legal responsibility) and will have to develop a personal housing plan for all applicants. The “Right to Buy” for tenants of Housing Associations will further reduce the stock of social housing available to SBC.The Act doesn’t say anything about “affordable” housing. Judith Codarin advised that Tina Shepherd (at SEAL) will give impartial practical advice to anyone who needs it. Her phone no. is 07722 600639 and her e-mail address is: info@ .Cllr Lawrence Davies said that he was very frustrated that it appeared that there was nothing that SBC could do to increase the stock of affordable housing, and also that rents (especially in the PRS) were still rising. He had therefore started a petition about affordable rents (including a cap on PRS rents) and requesting that empty properties are subject to Compulsory Purchase Orders; he asked that we please consider signing it and/or write to our MPs and Councillors about the issues. 3. Domestic Violence and Homelessness - Sarah ConlonSarah is the Operations Manager of the SoS Domestic Abuse Project (SoS DAP); they had been in existence for 40 years and were previously known as “Southend Women’s Aid”. They had been given the SBC contract for helping people affected by domestic abuse in February 2017.They run:-The Dove Centre for women (and now men): referrals can be by phone or by drop-in; andFledglings for children: currently in the same building so please phone first (but hoping to move elsewhere).They now also accept self-referrals (or 3rd party referrals - since February).The staff are qualified and very experienced workers. Currently there are only two, but another two will join them shortly. High risk cases are referred to MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference), but medium risk cases are handled by them. As the risk level fluctuates, all cases are closely monitored.There is now a new lottery funded service for young people aged 13 - 19.They continue to run the local refuge.They have a helpline (01702 302333) that is available from 09:00 - 17:00. Outside those hours, this gives the out-of-hours contact number.Clients don’t have to roofless to be homeless.They work closely with SBC to find emergency accommodation.Every case is different; there is no set path.Not all victims have to leave home, some can safely go back. Homeless victims often have complex needs (e.g. drug and/or alcohol abuse); their primary issue has to be dealt with first so they work with other agencies (e.g. HARP, CGL / STARS, and Family Mosaic). It is exhausting but rewarding work; there have been several positive outcomes.Emily said that 16 - 19 year olds are most at risk, but 13 - 18 year olds are at an even higher risk. To counteract this, they are running awareness training sessions in schools and colleges (from Year 6).In response to questions, Sarah said:-that about 25% of clients were high risk, and currently less than 10 clients were street homeless.She wasn’t aware if local women were being allowed to sofa surf in return for sex; they would probably go to Rape Crisis rather than SoSDAP.Andrew Fiske explained that the new contract didn’t require all victims to be helped to go to a refuge; it also required the service to be expanded to deal with males.Insp. Bill Potter said he was aware that DOVE ask both the Police and Social Care for information; he asked if there was any “soft intelligence” that could be given to the Police. Sarah said that client confidentiality was paramount, but wondered if MARAC could be the meeting point. Bill reminded us that sometimes things quickly escalate from low to medium to high risk, so information was also important.Finally, Sarah said that SoSDAP could provide DV Awareness training to any organisation.Jill Close said that all Job Centre staff are DV aware. 4. Police Update - Insp. Bill PotterBill said that he and his colleagues are working hard to bring all of SBC’s commissioned groups together. The best example are the High Street Sweeps where reps go out together 2 or 3 times a month to talk to rough sleepers and street beggars to check if they are engaging with all the support agencies. This is a 4 - 6 month trial and will be reviewed in February/March 2018. The Police will be in plain clothes to avoid “spooking” those they want to meet.Cllr Lawrence Davies raised the non-attendance of the Police at the briefings for the SOS Bus and Street Pastors at 22:30 on Friday and Saturday nights. In response, Bill said that Ian Hughes will be there as often as possible, but he admitted that if the Community Policing team are on duty, then it won’t happen. He will investigate if the information could be made available in other ways.Cllr Davies then asked if more Police could be seen on foot rather than in cars? Bill’s response was that the Police and Crime Commissioner sets the central strategy (which now includes a request for more visibility) which filters down to his level, but it was all a matter of resources. Cllr Davis also asked if there was a strategy to deal with drug dealing on the streets? Bill said that he wouldn’t reveal any strategy because that could be too risky. He asked that any info. be reported to the Police or to Crimestoppers.John B. asked if Bill had any info. about gangs targetting homeless people? Bill said that they are three main areas:Homegrown suppliers: e.g. the Newham Gang - fortunately, not much seen in SoS.Country Lines: gangs from London coming to SoS to supply drugs - their phone numbers are well known to local drug dealers/users. Sometimes use locals (inc. homeless people) to do drug running for them (especially under 18s who can’t be searched).“Cuckooing”: the suppliers take over the flat/house of a vulnerable person and use it as a drug den - usually short-term. The Police have established good links with the local housing authorities to try to spot this early. Bill reminded us that there is an Operation Raptor team in the Community Safety Hub (in SoS Police Station). Dan Pratt reported that he had recently met Cristina Gavrilovic (Modern Slavery and Trafficking, Essex Police). He wondered if Bill knew what was happening locally to deal with / prevent homeless people who might be / are being targetted? Bill replied by saying that there will soon be a wide ranging operation in Southend (including Cristina) that will look at brothels / massage parlours / nail bars / etc.5. Winter Night Shelters - John SimmonsJohn presented a brief summary of his Annual Report, and highlighted some key stats for the 2016 / 17 season.Copies of the Annual Report and the Stats were made available to those at the meeting and will be distributed with the minutes.Judith Codarin asked why the Night Shelters couldn’t run through the summer? John B. said that they could only provide a respite facility, and John S. said that the volunteers were tired after 17 weeks. Many more would be needed for a year round facility. Some Shelter projects elsewhere in the UK did run all year round, but are usually based in one location and run by paid staff. John B. said that he would consider this last point as a subject for a future SHAN meeting.Paul Slennett advised that HOPE 3:16 will have more houses coming on stream very soon, and that the Centrepoint charity were interested in setting up a “hostel” in Southend. John B. will invite them to a SHAN meeting.Cllr Lawrence Davies said he had heard that the new Women Only Hostel at HARP’s Bradbury Centre were restricted to women with mental health issues; was this true? John S. said he couldn’t respond on behalf of HARP, but that was not his understanding. e organisation oups are t.ed housing for the homeless with 19 beds over 4 houses 6. Members updates - Share news of projects, etc.Rosemead: Ian informed us that he is a support worker at Rosemead which is a supported living provider for those who are homeless, at risk of homelessness and especially if they have offended in the last 5 years. They have a SBC contract, and residents are allocated via the Access Panel run by SBC and Family Mosaic. However, the future was uncertain and Ian wondered what their role would be. Citizen’s Advice, SoS: Trish said that if they see people with housing issues at an early stage, they may be able to help, but she noted that the courts are currently very busy with housing cases (e.g. evictions). She also suggested that a discussion about preventative services would be useful. John B. said that he would consider it for a future SHAN meeting.DWP: Gill warned us that Universal Credit would be rolled out to SoS in July (and to some postcodes in Rochford and Castle Point in September). This would apply to all new claimants (and some changes of circumstances) of JSA (income-based), ESA (income-based), Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit. John B. said that he would allocate a slot for this subject at the next SHAN meeting; he will also ask Sian Hines (at SBC) and Debbie Ballard (at the Job Centre) if they would wish to contribute.Street Spirit: Ross asked Bill Potter why the people he sees in the High Street on Saturday PM (some of whom are aggressively begging) are not seen at Street Spirit on Saturday evenings and didn’t attend the Winter Night Shelters. Bill didn’t know, but they will be varying the days and times of the sweeps.SACC: Trish said that SACC offer courses about sustaining tenancies, etc. They are working with HARP and CGL / STARS to develop “sound bite” courses - 2 hour sessions.SEAL: Judith said that SEAL members are now trying to involve Family Mosaic with all potential evictions - that’s the last thing that landlords want. They are very willing to help with tenancy sustainment education (landlords and tenants). If a vulnerable person becomes a tenant, the landlord will need support.57 West: Dan reported that they have been tasked by the Eastern Region of the Baptist Church to develop a response to modern slavery and trafficking. This will involve educating churches, B& B owners, taxi drivers, etc., and activating a community based response. They are planning to move to Clarence Road Baptist Church at the end of the year.Southend Christian Bookshop: Paul reported that they often encounter homeless people at the shop and try to help them as best they can. A recent example was a young man who had been abused by his wife; their older children had been taken into care and their baby was about to be adopted.7. Any Other Business - None.8. SHAN Meetings for the rest of 2017 will be on:- Tuesday 11th July; Tuesday 12th September; and Tuesday 14th November.All meetings are 11:00 - 12:45 at The Plaza Centre (600 Southchurch Road, SS1 2PT).Unfortunately, parking is an issue; the Centre’s car park is very small and is usually full. It is probably better to park on the streets to the north of Southchurch Road, or in the small Pay & Display car park next to the Tesco Express to the west of The Plaza Centre. ................
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