Agenda and minutes

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Nancy Jirira.

There were none.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

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Report of the Director of Public Health

Camden’s Homelessness System Transformation is a three-year programme running from April 2022 to March 2025 that aims to implement a more holistic, integrated approach to homelessness in all its forms.

The programme takes a ‘whole system’ view of homelessness that looks at perspectives across health and social care, housing, community and justice sectors, and brings these key partners together alongside people with lived experience in a coproduction approach.

Since presenting to the Health and Wellbeing Board in July 2022, significant progress has been made. Multiagency governance has been strengthened, the programme has collaboratively agreed five overarching system priorities and, within this framework, a set of tangible objectives for 2023/24. The paper expands on these successes, also reflecting on lessons learnt, existing and surfacing challenges for homeless residents and next steps for the programme.

The paper provides the scrutiny panel with the background to the approach being taken forward.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Public Health.

Jonathon Horn, Head of Homelessness System Transformation, took the panel through the report and gave the following key responses to questions:

·       Officers had woven in the outcomes from the Cabinet Adviser’s report on Rough Sleeping into the Homelessness System Transformation Programme. Agency providers and people with lived experience of homelessness were also continuing to shape the programme through its engagement processes.

·       Those people who had a lived experience of homelessness who were helping to shape the programme, were also providing valuable information regarding the way current services were delivered and how they could be improved.

·       The Homelessness System Transformation programme was focussing on a whole system approach that would look at homelessness from the perspective of the person, this would take a collaborative approach to generating and delivering change, and would coproduce the work with their involvement.

·       This Homelessness System Transformation had brought to light that there were people who were homelessness that would not describe themselves as such (e.g. sofa surfers, homeless in-a home, people sleeping in cars), and because of this they were not accessing services as early as they should.

·       People experiencing homelessness often had complex mental health and physical needs. This would then require a multiagency approach to support them through their individual journey. This whole system approach was being worked through with a view to it being formalised through the Homelessness System Transformation programme. This would include not just policy co-ordination by the services providers (statutory and non-statutory) but individual decision-makers on the ground. This was being tested with a number of the key agencies involved in supporting people experiencing homelessness.

·       The Homelessness System Transformation approach covered all forms of homelessness, including adults with complex needs, and children and families. However it was acknowledged that to date the programme has been more focused on adults with complex needs and less so on families or residents’ perceptions of homelessness and overall knowledge of where to get help.

The panel then thanked Jonathan for his update.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Chair of the Housing Scrutiny Committee

The paper sets out the terms of reference for the Homelessness Scrutiny Panel as agreed by the Housing Scrutiny Committee on 11^th September 23. Also, the paper sets out how the scrutiny panel will take this work forward.

Consideration was given to the report of the Chair of the Housing Scrutiny Committee.

Members recognised that the Housing Scrutiny Committee would be seeking an update report regarding the Cabinet Adviser’s report on Rough Sleepers.

Members of the scrutiny panel agreed that officers produce a programme of interview sessions to be held over the September/October/November period. It was expected that most of these sessions would be held remotely. The panel would not seek to replicate the work already being undertaken by the Council that was based around an individual (especially that relating to rough sleepers), rather the panel’s main work would be based around gaps in provision/work around families/the views and experience of people who had a lived experience of being homelessness and their experience of services, the support given to them along with those that had not, preventative work that could be undertaken to stop someone becoming homeless, and any diversity issues arising. The panel would also consider the views of residents’ perceptions of homelessness and their overall awareness of where to get help.

                                                              ACTION BY: Isabel de la Cour

Once dates were agreed, officers would then send round an invite to all members of the panel along with the relevant parties, but one panellist would take the lead and produce a note regarding the issues raised and identify any recommendations they wished to propose to the panel. The outcomes from these interview sessions would be submitted in writing by the lead panellist for consideration at the second panel meeting. Panellists would also identify questions that they wished the interviewees to address. These would be sent to the interviewees prior to the interview session.

ACTION BY: Panellists/Isabel de la Cour

This initial focus of the evidence sessions would be statutory services based. The panel wanted to interview the relevant statutory services directors along with the key operational managers. In this regard they wished to interview the Director of Housing and the Head of Housing Solutions on the Council. Along with Sue Hogarth, Public Health Services Consultant, Lisa Luhman, Commissioning Manager Substance Misuse, Anneke Dejong, Professional Lead for Health Visiting, and Jo Collins. Officers and members would also highlight people that they wished to add to this list (including those from the justice sector if they were available).

ACTION BY: Panellist/Isabel de la Cour

Officers would provide panellists with a copy of the mental health services presentation that was considered by the Health and Welling Board.

                                                              ACTION: Isabel de la Cour

Where possible the interview sessions would allow for more than one statutory service to interviewed. Should this not prove to be possible then the service would be asked to provide a written response to the questions that could then be considered by the panel at the second panel meeting.

                                                              ACTION BY: Isabel de la Cour

The panel would then look at seeking evidence from VCS providers, along with people who had a lived experience of homelessness or the threat of homelessness and those residents who had not.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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