Notes from the Homelessness consultation
Notes from Southend Homeless Action Network (SHAN) MeetingHeld at SCF’s Plaza Centre on Tuesday 12th September 2017Attendees (24): Kelly Clarke (SoS Borough Council [SBC]); Glyn Halksworth (SBC, Drug and Alcohol Commissioner); Sid Patrick (SBC); Cllr Mark Flewitt (SBC); Ian Land (Rosemead); Tuula Prenkuukha (SoS Adult & Community College [SACC]); Tricia North (SACC); Hem Patel (57 West); Julie Chambers (57 West); Pam Davies (57 West); Colin Ball (One Love); Zoe Smith (One Love); Gary Turner (HARP); Rob Carvosso (Storehouse); Fay Kricha (Family Mosaic); Del Thomas (Street Spirit); Quiller Hawkins; Susie Burt (Ace Lifestyle); Trish Carpenter (Citizen’s Advice, SoS); Gill Ioannis (Hope 3:16); Peter Courtenay (Street Pastor); Salvo; John Simmons (Co-Ordinator, SoS Churches Winter Night Shelters & Chair, Management Group, SoS Street Pastors) [Notes]; and John Barber (Chair). Apologies: Jo Bates (Homeless Street Hub); Majzoub Ali; Seb Whalley (Isaiah Project); Dan Pratt (57 West); Julie McEvoy (57 West); Alison Ponto; Melanie Smith and Debbie Ballard (SoS Job Centre).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.Everyone then briefly introduced themselves by name, role and organisation. Cllr. Flewitt informed the meeting that Andrew Fiske was absent because he would shortly be retiring from SBC and his housing responsibilities will be covered by Glyn Halksworth. John B. asked that our thanks be passed to Andrew for all his work in the housing and homeless arena in Southend.2. Minutes and Action Points from our last meeting (11/07/17).a) After a correction to the date in the heading of Item 2 (from “14/03/17” to “09/05/17”), the minutes were accepted.b) Matters Arising:-John B. mentioned that the Rough Sleeper leaflet had been updated to version 3.3 and is now available at . He has already been told about some minor changes, but asked that he is informed about anything else that needs to be changed. He is not proposing this time to print the leaflet but if that is something others wish to do and pass them on, then please let him know.Sleeping Bags: Peter Courtenay reported that he and a colleague had collected 55 sleeping bags after the V Festival. The Street Pastors will give them out in a controlled way. He had noticed that those who asking for a sleeping bag are usually those who are not engaging with support services.3. HARP Update - Gary Turner.Last year HARP dealt with more than 1100 people, most of them at their Bradbury Centre by giving advice and guidance, and signposting clients to other agencies and partners.HARP now have 174 units of accommodation (including the new White Heather Hostel [women only]). These include:-a specialist unit (based on the Housing First model) for long-term rough sleepers some of whom have been there for 2 years;move-on units (with less support);units for those dealing with substance abuse; andunits for 18 - 24 year olds (these focus on education and training with the aim of getting them into employment).The Bradbury Centre is the venue for many groups (including some for rough sleepers) and where other agencies can meet with clients. Between 12 and 30 rough sleepers come in for a breakfast; this gives staff an opportunity to speak to them and signpost them to e.g. STARS.HARP have been partners in the Church Winter Night Shelters (CWNS) for the last 6 winters doing the referrals and “back-end” casework. The HARP Impact Report about the CWNS for 2016 -17 is available. One major success last winter was the introduction of Personal Support Plans; these helped some clients/guests to get benefits sorted, addictions to be addressed, and accommodation obtained.The Bradbury Centre combines the Day Centre and the Emergency Night Shelter although the latter is not direct access and is almost always full. The White Heather Hostel for women is on the same site and has 20 beds; the feedback has been excellent and clients are moving on from it quicker than expected!Partnerships are very important: visitors from other agencies are very interested in HARP’s work and are sometimes surprised to see their service users there!Challenges:-The rollout of Universal Credit is now impacting on their residents and rough sleepers; mainly because fortnightly payments are becoming monthly. They are arranging budget training.The changes to Housing Benefits due in 2019.End of PRS tenancies at short notices; need skills to talk to landlords.Opportunities:-Volunteers: have 65; need more!Jobs: all are advertised on their (refurbished) website.Cllr Flewitt informed the meeting that the Private Landlord Licensing Scheme will come before the Council in October. 60% of rented properties across the Town are owned by private landlords; if “disturbed” we could end up with an even worse position. The report from the Housing Working Party will have to go to the Secretary of State but currently BREXIT rules!Peter Courtenay asked about HARP’s ‘house rules’ and the accusations that HARP is making a huge profit. Gary said that their rules were the same as most other housing associations; they have tenancy agreements with responsibilities on both sides. Gill Ioannis (HOPE 3:16) said that some of their clients that HARP’s approach is “one strike and you’re out”. Gary refuted this: unless something very serious happens, eviction is the last event in a chain - why would they throw someone out after working so hard to get them into their accommodation? Rob C. supported Gary’s account and Julie said that at least 2 clients from HARP had been banned from 57 West. Del asked how soon a client who has been evicted can re-engage? Gary said it depended on the circumstance - it could be as soon as the net day! With regard to “profit-making”, HARP are a charity with trustees and all surplus income is ploughed back into property and refurbishment. Clients do have to pay a top-up (Service Charge): in the Night Shelter (which has 24/7 support, and provides 3 meals a day) it is ?25pw, whilst in move-on units where they provide food, it is only ?8pw.Gary will send John B. a Fact Sheet for distribution with the minutes.4. Helping Those in Danger of Becoming Homeless - Trish Carpenter (Citizen’s Advice).Trish reported on some research she had done into why SHAN was still needed.They deal with 13000 - 14000 issues per year.About 14% of them relate to housing (excluding arrears of mortgage/rent); about half of them relate to homelessness (but not many are from Street Homeless).About 20% relate to being threatened with homelessness (because of e.g. relationship breakdown).More than 30% are about private rented accommodation.20% are about debt with the majority having mortgage/rent arrears.So how we got to this situation? Mainly because of relationship breakdown, low paid work, unemployment and benefit issues.Looking at the bigger picture nationally, although they don’t want to stop simplification, Citizen’s Advice is one of many agencies asking for a pause in the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC) for two reasons:-Technical issues: mainly because the delay in adding housing cost to a claim is at least 13 weeks; bearing in mind that if rent is 8 weeks in arrears, a landlord can legally evict a tenant.Regulation issues: there are no separate regulations for UC; they are all from the replaced benefits.It is also obvious that the PRS is struggling with many landlords now only wanting working tenants and with the minimum income level required by them is rising. They are also now commonly asking for 6 months rent in advance and some are even saying, “I’d rather leave it empty than rent to someone on benefits”. In addition, there are now very strict criteria about obtaining Legal Aid for cases about housing.Citizen’s Advice have a court desk at Southend County Court that gives emergency at the door support. In August, there were 2 listings that covered 49 cases but only 11 asked for help. In most of those cases, they were able to get an adjournment. Their highest failure rate was with PRS cases because, if the Section 21 notice has been issued correctly, there is very little they or even the judge can do unless the landlord withdraws the notice or doesn’t action it.If people lose their property, it’s a very quick spiral downwards. Many landlords won’t take tenants who are on benefits or without a guarantor.If there is a relationship breakdown, the major problem is that many properties are now managed by an agent. It may be better if CA can negotiate directly with the landlord.The licensing consultation will be a good opportunity to discuss some of these issues.Peter Courtenay asked if it would be better to licence the agents as well as the landlords. Cllr Flewitt suggested this idea be sent to Glyn Halksworth.Ian Land asked if CA have stats about what they do. Trish said they do; better to ask for specifics.5. SoS Borough Council (SBC) and Housing Update - Cllr Mark Flewitt.Mark said that everything discussed today will go to the relevant part of SBC.He gave the following updates:-A Housing Investment Company is being set up (with the unanimous support from councillors) to source local land and build social housing on it.A Review of Sheltered Housing (for over 55 year olds) is underway. There will not be any closures but it may release some units for housing single homeless people.Mark agreed with John S. who said that all kinds of housing are needed for all types of people; Mark said that SBC are listening and mentioned the ageing LGBT population as a particular group.The Housing Prevention Strategy is being refreshed. It was delayed by the General Election and then the change of CEO, but it should be ready to go to Cabinet in November and will go out for public consultation.South Essex Homes’ licence will soon be extended for another 5 years (with another possible extension after that). They look after approx. 6000 properties/tenants.He had recently met with Genesis Housing about the problem in Elizabeth Tower.Mark then issued an invitation: all housing cases can be sent to him and/or Glyn Halksworth.Ian Land asked about new builds and social housing. In response, Glyn said that 30% of new developments have to be social housing, but developers would rather give the Council money.John B. thanked mark for his contribution. He had invited the new CEO of SBC to SHAN, but she can’t make it until May 2018!6. Lockers for the Homeless - Quiller Hawkins.Quiller introduced this topic by saying that he had met and talked with Alan Brown several times last year and had learnt that Alan’s guitar had twice been stolen.He had promised Alan he would do what he could and had come up with the idea of lockers for the homeless people to store their belongings in.He had taken this idea to Cllr Flewitt and to some homeless people and to some of the charities that worked with the homeless in the town and had been pleasantly surprised at the positive feedback. (He was also surprised and pleased to find out how many people and agencies were who were supporting the homeless in Southend.)He had discovered that Lisbon (with 800 homeless people) had started to install lockers in 2013 and they were now also in Paris and other towns/cities across Europe.He realises that they won’t suit everyone, the location of them is very important, and the major risks are vandalism, security and bullying, but Lisbon appears to be coping with these OK.However, it is not just the physical lockers, but the responsibility and empowerment they give to the homeless and rough sleepers. The key to the locker is really important because it symbolises a rough sleeper’s “own space”. The lockers could also act as an address with a postcode and letter box.Thanks to Cllr Flewitt’s interest, the Council are discussing the idea.Quiller is willing to talk to anyone about his idea.7. Healthy Lifestyle - Susie Burt (Ace Lifestyle).Susie introduced this item by saying that she had been working in this area for about 8 years. Ace Lifestyle were previously known as Health Trainers and Get Healthy.Healthy living / lifestyles are funded by SBC’s Public Health Team and cover:-Eating well;Weight management;Stopping smoking;Fall prevention;Etc.They offer many free programmes that people can be referred to and then follow them up (e.g. 3 months subscription for Slimming World or a gym, etc.).They are available to anyone aged over 16 and living in Southend.Ace Lifestyle are very keen to work with those who wouldn’t normally access such services. To improve uptake, they do outreach and talks (to e.g. The Storehouse and HARP), use publicity (flyers are available) and offer mini health checks.They can issue vouchers for the Foodbank and can supply recipe ideas for healthy meals. Although they are not trained dieticians or nutritionists but can offer advice to e.g. newly diagnosed diabetics.They offer free “Make Every Contact Count (MECC)” training to agencies so when their clients say, “I’d like to stop smoking”, they know what to say/do.Direct access is available or they can be accessed via professional referrals. They will also signpost to other services/agencies.8. Round the Room.SoS Churches Winter Night Shelters:John S. informed the meeting that the Shelters will be opening on Weds. 29th Nov. and will run until Tues. 20th March (16 weeks).The same 7 churches as last winter will be hosting, but please ask all potential guests to go to HARP’s Bradbury Centre for a referral.Volunteers are welcome; please contact John S. in the first instance at john.simmons17ewb@ or on 07866 740065 (09:00 - 23:00 only please). Training courses are being arranged during October and November, and the Volunteer Briefing Evening will be in early November.SoS Adult & Community College:Tuula offered short bite-sized courses to volunteers and/or clients.Let her know what’s needed and they’ll see what they can do.57 West:Julie mentioned that they will be moving to Clarence Road Baptist at the end of October.Also, Dan Pratt is doing a lot of work for the Baptist Church on Modern Slavery and Trafficking.One Love:Colin reported that, in addition to Thursday evenings at the Hollybrook site, they will also be opening on Mondays from 25th September.He distributed a brief report about their work so far.HARP (additional):Gary apologised, but he had forgotten to mention:-they had also collected some sleeping bags after the V Festival; the team will be recording the recipients; andRough sleepers can use the Bradbury Centre as their postal address.The Storehouse:Rob mentioned that they are organising a “Bring a can to work” day soon to replenish their warehouse.It was pointed out that ‘tin’ might be a better word to use rather than ‘can’.HOPE 3:16:Gill informed us that they will be opening another (4 bed) house at the start of October; referrals are welcome.9. SHAN Meetings for the rest of 2017 and through 2018 will be on:- Tuesday 14th November;Tuesday 9th January;Tuesday 13th March;Tuesday 8th June;Tuesday 10th July;Tuesday 11th September; andTuesday 13th November.All meetings are 11:00 – 01:00 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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