Worcestershire Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2022-2025

I am very pleased to introduce Worcestershire’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. This is Worcestershire’s fourth homelessness strategy and as I reflect back over the life of the previous strategy I could not have predicted that we would have had to respond to a global pandemic, an economic crisis and the displacement of so many people through war. So it is with some trepidation that we look to the future to present this, our fourth strategy.

We anticipate that the cost of living crisis will be a huge challenge for those on lower incomes and that loss of accommodation, increases in relationship breakdown and domestic abuse and impact on peoples mental and physical health will be significant.

We saw at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic that a government injection of funding dramatically reduced rough sleeping, and we have developed more effective collaborations with partners such as health and social care to ensure that those who are threatened with homelessness or experience homelessness receive the support they need. We want to build on these new partnerships so that we can respond effectively and efficiently to the challenges ahead.

With the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act we have created specialisms within our teams to respond effectively to victims and survivors of domestic abuse to ensure they have safe supported accommodation when they are in crisis.

These statutory enhancements to our service do put additional pressures on local authorities and come at a time when the demand for housing across all tenures is outstripping supply and housing costs are increasing. However, we are always looking for innovative solutions to meet needs and increase options available.

The Homelessness Reduction Act has supported us in our aspiration to tackle homelessness in all its forms, from rough sleeping and sofa surfing to those who experience abuse and harm at home or are living in unaffordable or unsatisfactory housing. Anyone can be affected by homelessness and the effects for families and individuals can be devastating and can impact on health and wellbeing, employment, education and crime.

We want to support people to be able to access good quality accommodation and lead dignified, fulfilling and rewarding lives that have purpose.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the organisations and individuals who worked with us during the pandemic to help others. I would like to also thank those who have contributed towards the development of this strategy. It sits at strategic partnership level within the umbrella of the Housing Board - recognising that tackling homelessness not only benefits the individual but also benefits the economy, the health of our population, reduces crime and disorder and reduces costs to the taxpayer.

This strategy will govern our approach for three years. However, given our experiences over the last two years, it is vital that it remains responsive and as such it will be kept under constant review.

Kevin Dicks, Chief Executive of Bromsgrove and Redditch Councils and Chair of the Worcestershire Strategic Housing Partnership

Strategic objectives and means of tackling homelessness and rough sleeping

Our overarching strategic objective is to end homelessness and rough sleeping and where it isn’t possible to prevent it from occurring, that it is rare, brief and non-recurring.

We will seek to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping through our work around prevention, intervention and recovery services and projects.

The Local Housing Authorities (LHAs) recognise the role our partners play in the statutory and voluntary sector in supporting the work we do and how they go beyond the delivery of our statutory services through providing complimentary statutory services such as Drug and Alcohol services or other additional services. However, this strategy is focused primarily on the role of the six LHA in Worcestershire and in meeting their legal responsibilities. It is the legal obligation of the LHAs to have a strategy in place and for it to be compliant with the Homelessness Act 2002. In developing the strategy, we have followed the legislative and good practise guidance and looked at examples of strategies across the country.

Homelessness Review

To inform the strategy, we have undertaken a Homelessness Review (Worcestershire Homelessness Review 2022 | Wyre Forest District Council (wyreforestdc.gov.uk)) which includes the mapping of services, data collection, service providers feedback and the feedback from people With Lived Experience (PWLE). This information has been used to inform the strategy along with outcomes from our stakeholder day and consultation responses.

Background

The Homelessness Reduction Act provided a catalyst for a change in the LHAs approach to homelessness and a framework to formalise and normalise upstream working (early intervention) in partnership with other services, although homeless prevention services had been typical across the county since the Homelessness Act 2002.

In particular, the Duty to Refer has enabled a step change in early notifications of those threatened with homelessness and whilst there is more that can be done, we now have the structure within which to deliver on this approach. Our work with partners such as health, social care, Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and criminal justice has improved and become more collaborative. Our pathways for key client groups have, or are, being strengthened.

The LHAs are working to upskill officers to recognise how each individual or household experience of homelessness is different and will often require a bespoke solution. Officers are trained to understand how adversity in childhood may impact on a person’s resilience and provide a more trauma informed approach. In doing so we are recognising that more people who approach the service have more complex needs and in response to this we are investing more in support services to help people to get back on track.

We have made significant progress in tackling rough sleeping on the back of the “Everyone In” initiative and intensive housing support through Housing First and Housing Led initiatives are supporting entrenched clients to sustain accommodation and move away from a street lifestyle.

In looking forward, the LHAs continue to see a high demand for social and affordable housing that outstrips supply and we anticipate the cost of living crisis will exacerbate an already challenging private sector market making access to private rented housing more difficult.

We are also anticipating increasing demand from those fleeing wars and are gearing up to look for innovative solutions in response to these households.

Strategy content

This strategy sets out work done to date, how we will continue to deliver services for those most in need and respond to the challenges that lie ahead. The strategy includes an executive summary looking at prevention, intervention and recovery before considering some of the national and local context (although this is outlined in more detail in the homelessness review document). The focus of the strategy then moves on to what the current picture is around homelessness and looks at five key groups who are prevalent amongst our homeless cohort; single people, those with complex needs and rough sleepers, families with children, survivors of domestic abuse and young people. We also consider temporary and permanent accommodation before reviewing the governance arrangements and concluding with a summary of the action plan.  

Included in the appendices are the legislative context from LHA perspective, a retrospective look on the outcomes from the previous strategy (2019-22), the current service delivery for our five key client groups, the action plan over the three years of the strategy and the communication plan.

This strategy is the result of a collaboration across the six LHAs with input and support from the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and statutory partners. The strategy focuses primarily on the role of the LHAs, where we have jurisdiction and the ability to control and influence services but this doesn’t diminish the role other statutory partners and the VCS have to play in tackling homelessness.

Our strategic objective is to end homelessness and rough sleeping but where it does occur to ensure that it is brief, rare and non-recurrent. This means providing a wide raft of services both directly and through commissioned partners to assist people that are rough sleeping to come off the streets, provide early intervention services to potentially homeless households, deliver new build homes and make best use of existing stock and to tackle landlords providing unsuitable accommodation or illegally evicting tenants.

The LHAs can tackle homelessness through direct delivery of services, collaboration with partners and through raising awareness of homelessness and rough sleeping throughout Worcestershire to ensure everyone knows where to go to get help or help other people facing homelessness.

Why prevention, intervention, and recovery?

Our methods for preventing homelessness and rough sleeping are based on the principals of prevention, intervention and recovery. This approach aligns with the Government’s “Ending Rough Sleeping For Good” strategy (2022). These are further defined below;

1. Prevention: timely support before someone becomes homeless (this includes early intervention services).
2. Intervention: targeted support to get people off the streets.
3. Recovery: the need for accommodation and support.

Across all of the strategy themes it will be a priority to ensure that the safeguarding of all adults including those who sleep rough is explicitly stated and addressed within service aims, learning from the Worcestershire Rough Sleeper Thematic Review and embedding the recommendations throughout strategy and service delivery.

1. Prevention

The effects of homelessness for families and individuals can be devastating and can have significant negative impacts on health and wellbeing, employment, education, and crime. It can also have significant costs to communities, local authorities, and public services.

Preventing homelessness is much more cost effective than dealing with its consequences.  A range of studies have been completed including by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government whose 2012 figures estimated that the average annual cost of homelessness was between £24,000 and £30,000 per person. More importantly, we also know that preventing homelessness and dealing with the root causes delivers far better outcomes for individuals and communities.

That is why we are so committed to preventing homelessness at the earliest possible opportunity and targeting support at those groups who are more vulnerable to becoming homeless.  The large proportion of preventative actions within the strategy reflects this commitment.

Through this strategy we will undertake range of preventative actions, including:

• Raising awareness around homelessness and rough sleeping to support earlier intervention, particularly through the development and delivery of a communication plan (this is included in Appendix Five of the strategy)
• Explore opportunities to reduce homelessness due to domestic abuse through a sanctuary scheme
• Explore further opportunities to co-locate staff and provide outreach services with other organisations to improve collaboration and raise awareness
• Improve data analysis and intelligence to shape and inform future commissioning of services
• Engage regularly with service users to enhance learning from lived experience
• Promote and encourage sign up to the Duty or Commitment to Refer from other agencies
• Review work with the private rented sector (PRS) following the rent reform legislation to ensure homelessness from the PRS is reduced.

2. Intervention

There will always be some people who find themselves homeless however good our homelessness prevention response is.  We want to ensure that any homelessness is rare, fleeting and non-recurring by deploying the appropriate support to get people off the streets or other homeless situations. We will put in place comprehensive and rapid interventions to help those in crisis, and offer a range of accommodation and support choices to meet specific needs and complexities

We will strengthen our approach to tenancy sustainment across tenures by developing and embedding support services across the county through a community-based approach and ensuring that support is flexible to meet individual support needs. We will explore opportunities to fund specialist mental health roles to work specifically with homeless households.

3. Recovery

Affordable and supported housing supply in Worcestershire is an on-going problem locally, as it is nationally. Demand far outstrips the supply. During the pandemic, the Government intervened in unprecedented fashion to ensure stability for millions of residents by effectively making it impossible to undertake evictions or repossessions in this country. As a result of this intervention activity levels around homelessness remained relatively stable nationally and locally new, creative ways of working across health services and housing services have developed around, for example, the needs of rough sleepers, but we are now starting to see an increase in homelessness approaches.

We want to increase the supply of, and access to, affordable and supported housing, so that people can recover successfully from homelessness.  Alongside this we will enable support for those who have multiple and complex needs to try to ensure that homelessness does not reoccur and longer-term housing solutions are maintained.

The Homelessness Review includes a more detailed consideration of the national and local context but there are some specific issues that are highlighted below either because they are significant pieces of legislation or due to their impact on homelessness.

Relevant legislation

Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Part IV

This legislation has given local authorities (LAs) further duties in relation to homelessness, including undertaking a needs assessment. It also imposes a duty on LAs to have a Local Partnership Board and to work in partnership with Local Housing Authorities (LHA) in areas where there are two tiers of local government.

The legislation states that local authority housing duties include offering ‘Safe Accommodation’ and this includes the offer of support from a local expert support service. ‘Safe Accommodation’ consists of self-contained supported accommodation or traditional refuge accommodation. Therefore ‘Bed and Breakfast’ is not considered to be Safe Accommodation.

The recent Domestic Abuse Act 2021 has enhanced the joint working with the County Council. The County Council now provide funding to the LHAs to employ specialist Domestic Abuse Housing Officers within the Housing Advice teams and indirectly support the provision of safe houses.

Renters Reform Bill

The Renters Reform bill that is going through parliament  seeks to transform the rights of those who reside in private rented accommodation through ending no fault evictions (section 21 notices) as well as offering other protections to tenants and improving the quality of homes.

Housing Teams and wider partners will need to be aware of these changes and adapt their services to work with landlords to encourage adherence to the new guidelines in the first instance and to look at enforcement where it is necessary.

Once further details regarding the bill are clarified working practices will need to be amended. Transition arrangements will need to be looked at carefully and adequate communication to landlords put in place to mitigate against an increase in homelessness prior to the bill coming into force, where landlords might take advantage of no fault evictions or seek to exit the market.

Armed Forces Act 2021

The Armed Forces Act 2021 further enshrines the Armed Forces Covenant into law to help prevent service personnel and veterans being disadvantaged when accessing public services.

The legislation introduces a duty to have ‘due regard’ to the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, as follows;

1. The unique obligations of, and sacrifices made by, the armed forces.
2. The principle that it is desirable to remove disadvantages arising for service personnel from the membership, or former membership, of the armed forces.
3. The principle that special provision for service personnel may be justified by the effects on such people by membership, or former membership, of the armed forces.

The new Duty applies to bodies that exercise public functions and is inclusive of bodies that provide housing and homelessness functions, thus meaning serving and ex service personnel, and their families must be fairly assessed when processing housing and homelessness applications.

The strategic housing partnership has been signed up to the Covenant since 2012 and are committed to the ongoing duties the legislation brings about.

Contextual changes

Incomes and the cost of living

Across the county there is a difference in household income. The average gross salary varies from £28.6k in Wyre Forest to £33.5k in Redditch but is well below the UK average of £38.1k. In Worcestershire female employees earn less than their male counterparts in every area.

Affordability of housing is also an issue in parts of the county with only Wyre Forest and Worcester city median house price to median salary ratio is lower than the England and Wales average of 7.69. The unemployment rate across the county is lower than the national average ranging from 3.5% in Wychavon to 4.7% in Redditch.

The impact of Covid-19, Brexit and the war in Ukraine has affected the cost of living (particularly food and fuel) and inflation is at it’s highest since the 1970s. This will have an impact on household disposable income and is likely to lead to many more people experiencing economic hardship, including some of those who have previously been relatively well off. It will also exacerbate existing poverty and those who have no credit history or savings to fall back on are likely to be particularly affected.

In terms of protected characteristics, evidence from the Cabinet Office identifies that Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people are more likely than non-BAME people to experience housing issues in relation to quality of housing, cost of renting as a proportion of income and overcrowding.

During the pandemic the lockdowns led to a reduction in income for many households and a consequent increase in rent arrears in both the social housing and private rented sector. Additional funding was given to local authorities in 2022 to support those in rent arrears and those generally experiencing hardship through the Household Support Fund and Vulnerable Renters funding. The use of food banks (distribution of food parcels) nearly doubled between 2019/20 and 2021/22.

Declining social housing supply and housing affordability

Across the county there is very high demand for social housing with nearly 12,000 households on the LHA housing registers. High employment levels and economic growth bring major opportunities for Worcestershire but also present significant challenges, including high housing costs and a shortage of accommodation which is affordable to local people especially those with low incomes.

There was a sharp reduction during 2021/22 in social housing lettings across the county due to pandemic down to 700 from a high of 1478 in 2018/19[1]. There is also a mismatch between the social housing available for letting. For example approximately 50% of vacancies in Wyre Forest are for older people, and yet less than 10% of the households on the housing register are over 65. Part of the issue is the overall decline of social housing numbers as a consequence of the Right To Buy and Right To Acquire, for example in 2018/19 113 homes were sold across the county.

In many parts of the county the supply of private rented properties at or close to local housing allowance levels is very restricted. In addition, most new social housing properties are at “affordable” rather than “social” rent trapping low income households into benefit dependency.

Rough Sleeper Strategy – “Ending Rough Sleeping For Good” 2022

The new strategy gives an explicit commitment to end rough sleeping achieved through the four strands of prevention, intervention, recovery and a transparent and joined up system. The strategy also announced the funding available to tackle rough sleeping some of which is included in Appendix Four.

Health

The development of Primary Care Networks (PCN) has led to closer working relationships between GPs and District Councils including through the formation of Collaboratives across the County.

The Health and Wellbeing Board acts as a forum in which key leaders from the local health and care system work together to improve the health and wellbeing of their local population. In Worcestershire the Board also has representation from District Council members and the Chief Executive of Redditch and Bromsgrove (in his role as Chair of the Worcestershire Strategic Housing Partnership).

The population of Worcestershire is ageing, with 23% over 65 compared to 18.6% in England and Wales and this does put additional pressure on health services.

Average life expectancy in Worcestershire for males is 80.1 years and 83.8 for females. These levels are above England’s worst life expectancy areas but not as good as it’s best areas.

Safeguarding

Local authorities have a duty under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014, to make enquiries relating to anybody aged 18 or over where it has reasonable cause to suspect that the adult in its area (whether, or not, ordinarily resident there):

1. had needs for care and support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs)
2. is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect, and
3. as a result of those needs is unable to protect him or herself against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it.

Safeguarding responsibilities are integral to all local authority service provision but are particularly important where individuals and families are experiencing homelessness.

Self Neglect Policy

Self neglect covers a wide range of behaviour including neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding. A new policy was developed and launched in 2022 and can be found here https://www.safeguardingworcestershire.org.uk/about-us/what-is-safegaurding/who-needs-safeguarding/self-neglect.

Complex Adults Risk Management (CARM) framework

This guidance seeks to provide front line practitioners with a framework to facilitate effective working with adults who are at risk of significant harm due to their complex needs, and where the risks cannot effectively be managed via other processes or interventions, such as section 9 care and support assessment or section 42, safeguarding enquiry under the Care Act 2014. The Complex Adults Risk Management (CARM) framework should be used when the adult’s engagement with support is intermittent or where it has proved difficult to engage with the adult, the risk is significant and an individual agency procedures have not been able to resolve the problem(s).

^{Note 1.} Worcester letting data not included _{[return to text]}

The national data reported through H-CLIC it is the most comprehensive set of data collected for every English authority over time and therefore provides a useful basis to analyse trends in homelessness and inform the development of the strategy. The data has informed our approach to increase homeless prevention, the levels of rehousing into the private rented sector and the provision of other forms of accommodation.

The implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) (2017) in 2018 led to a peak in applications in 2018/19 with the new duties owed. Please see Appendix One for more information about the statutory framework. However, this is not a trend that has continued and there has been a decrease in most Districts over the 4 year period although Redditch and Bromsgrove saw a small peak during 2019/20. The level of homeless applications in all districts remained lower in 2020/21 than in 2018/19 (except in Redditch).

Duties have been owed to over 95% of those approaching as homeless in 2018/19 increasing to over 98% in the subsequent years. More duties are owed to those already homeless, under the relief category. The total number of approaches under the relief category reached a peak of 54% in 2020/21 which is attributable to the Covid 19 pandemic and the “Everyone In” scheme.

Countywide the top four reasons for homelessness are end of Assured Shorthold Tenancies (AST), family and friends no longer willing to accommodate, other and relationship breakdown (non-violent). This is comparable throughout the county. More work needs to be done to identify the reasons for homelessness for those in the “other” category.

The pandemic saw more time spent with family and friends due to lockdown restrictions.  Statistics countywide evidence the stress this had on relationships with the increase in homelessness due to family and friends no longer willing to accommodate and non-violent relationship breakdowns. More notably, the number of homeless presentations due to domestic abuse saw an 8-9% increase between 2018/19 and 2020/21, prior to the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

In 2018-2020 55-60% of those who had a prevention duty owed and 56% owed a relief duty secured accommodation throughout the County.

Further data is included in the Homelessness Review.

This section considers some specific groups within the homeless cohort affected by homelessness. These are the groups that make up the majority of households that approach LHA’s and this section will cover the context and data relating to the groups.

Single People

Context

Single people are often most exposed to changes to welfare benefits and cost of living rises. Affordability issues are likely to be an issue in this cohort. Reflecting this, single homeless people make up a large proportion of applicants on the districts housing registers with the largest group aged between 18 – 34. 

Data Collection

In 2020/21 just over 50% of all homeless approaches across the county were from single people. The two most common causes of homelessness in Worcestershire are the loss of private rented accommodation and family or friends being no longer willing to accommodate. The support needs of this group vary but most common support needs include mental illness or disability, physical illness or disability and domestic abuse.

Complex needs and Rough Sleepers

Context

Rough sleeping can be a dangerous and isolating experience. People who sleep rough are more likely to be victims of crime and violence. The longer a person remains on the streets, or actively engages in street life culture, the more likely it will have significant implications on their physical and mental health. Female rough sleepers are particularly at risk and may require specialist or women only services to address their needs. Safeguarding issues are therefore particularly relevant to these groups. Actions in relation to safeguarding have been identified by the Thematic Review of Rough Sleepers, undertaken by the Adult Safeguarding Board in 2020 and those pertinent to the six LHAs are included in the action plan.

One of the positive outcomes of “Everyone In” was to embed the regular rough sleeper meetings across the county. Having regular rough sleeper/prevention meetings at a local level enables the co-ordination of services and information sharing to develop partnerships with all organisations and individuals committed to ending rough sleeping and homelessness. This includes a consideration of any safeguarding issues that need to be flagged with partners or referred to the Adult Safeguarding Team.

There is limited availability of rapid access supported accommodation resulting in households only accommodation option being outside of the county. Although Supported Housing providers in Worcestershire work within a trauma informed, person centred approach, clients with substance misuse, serious mental health conditions and/or a history of arson may find themselves waiting for a suitable placement due to stringent criteria.

Data Collection

Worcestershire official street count held each year has seen a decrease in rough sleepers since 2018 (please see table below).

Rough sleeper data is collated each week improving our local intelligence of the flow, return, stock of individuals and the reason behind their homelessness. Over 150 people were assisted in response to the first lockdown through “Everyone In”.

Families with children

Context

Worcestershire is an attractive place to live and work, inevitably leading to high rents and house prices, from increasing demand. This means some families are unable to afford a home. The recent pandemic and changes to the benefits system together with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the number of people in low paid work has seen a rise in the number of families at risk of homelessness.

We want to prevent homelessness by identifying the key risk factors/triggers in families lives that can lead to a family being at risk of homelessness at the earliest possible stage.

Data Collection

Across Worcestershire there are 5518 families on the Housing register (December 2022).

The data behind family homelessness in Worcestershire suggests that the immediate ‘triggers’ for family homelessness approaches are primarily relationship breakdown with partner (non-violent breakdown) which accounted for 16% of homeless approaches in 2018 to 15.6% in 2021; 12.7% of approaches were due to Domestic Abuse in 2018 raising to 17% in 2021; and the end of private rented tenancy (assured shorthold tenancy) which was 10.2% in 2018 and down to 6.8% in 2021, due to the eviction embargo during the pandemic.

Survivors of Domestic Abuse

Context

Domestic Abuse remains one of the most significant reasons for households facing homelessness across the county and has a wider impact of the lives of survivors and the community. Following the publication of the Domestic Abuse Act (2021) the LHAs implemented changes and enhancements to services towards creating a more robust and responsive service for those fleeing abusive relationships.

Data Collection

With the Domestic Abuse Act providing a more focussed service for survivors of Domestic Abuse, there has been an increase in the recognition of Domestic Abuse in homeless presentations and this has been recorded in the data collected.

In Worcestershire in 2020-21, there were a total of 12,887 domestic abuse incidents (crimes and non-crimes) reported to the police. In addition to those who have reported domestic abuse, there is thought to be a large unmet domestic abuse need in Worcestershire. Prevalence data suggests that 43% of incidents go unreported to the police. Across the County the number of homeless approaches due to Domestic Abuse accounted for 12.7% in 2018/19, 11.9% in 2019/20 and 17% in 2020/21 of all homeless approaches.

According to data collected via a Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) project, which ran from September 2020 to March 2022, of 162^[2] homelessness approaches were due to Domestic Abuse, 148 of those were owed a duty. 14 households were owed the prevention duty and 121 were owed a relief duty. As part of the DLUHC project, Worcester Community Trust were funded to develop and train a team of Domestic Abuse Community Champions, who are volunteers based in community settings, trained to advise and signpost survivors.  A total of 59 champions were trained and supported to make onward referrals for 195 service users, who were referred to services that would reduce the risk of them re-entering an abusive relationship.

A Research and Intelligence Officer has been recruited in order to support the gathering, analysis and dissemination of data for this client group and will help to inform future resourcing of services.

Young People

Context

Homelessness for young people remains a small but significant issue. This includes from people aged 16-17, Care Leavers and young parents. Many young people will have support as well as accommodation needs as they leave home for the first time.

The recent pandemic and changes to the benefits system together with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the number of people in low paid work has seen a rise in the number of young people at risk of homelessness.

Data collection

Across Worcestershire’s housing authorities in 2020/21 there were 629 young people aged between 16-24 on the housing registers down from 697 in 2018/19.

For young people the data indicates that most common causes of homelessness in Worcestershire are family or friends being no longer willing to accommodate, the loss of private rented accommodation and relationship breakdown with partner (non-violent breakdown).

^{Note 2}. some district data missing. _{[Return to data collection text]}

Temporary Accommodation

LHAs have a duty to provide temporary accommodation in certain circumstances (see Appendix One for further details). Accommodation provided must be suitable in terms of location, standards and cost. The Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities states that while Bed & Breakfasts (B&Bs) may be used in an emergency, councils should avoid the use of B&Bs wherever possible and, in the case of families or pregnant women, should use B&Bs for a maximum of 6 weeks.

The availability of different types of TA across Worcestershire differs between districts. The councils have a range of types of accommodation available for their use including B&B and self-contained units.

Table Three shows the number of TA units each Worcestershire LHA has available, compared to the average number of households in TA at any one time (using the average number of households in TA at the end of each quarter in 2021/22).

The above table shows that the average TA gap differs significantly across the districts and reflects the difference in demand for TA across the county.

Whilst the majority of the districts only use B&B accommodation on an ad-hoc basis, Worcester City, Redditch Borough Council and Wyre Forest have contracts with B&B providers in place to ensure the availability of this type of accommodation in order to fulfil their statutory duties to homeless households. Although contract arrangements mean that these units can be provided at a lower rate than ad hoc use, this type of accommodation is still significantly more expensive than other types of TA. In addition, as the Code of Guidance states, B&B is not suitable for families or people under 18 and should be avoided for other households wherever possible. Studies have shown that moving home many times in early life affects child behaviour and mental health. Specifically:

• Homeless children are more likely to be in poor health than non-homeless children
• Children who have been in temporary accommodation for more than a year are over three times more likely to demonstrate mental health problems such as anxiety and depression than non-homeless children
• Living in temporary accommodation puts children at greater risk of infection and accidents

The Worcestershire councils have therefore committed to reducing the use of B&B and replacing it with alternative accommodation which is less expensive and of better quality. As this forms part of their ‘business as usual’ work it doesn’t feature as a specific countywide action.

Permanent housing

In terms of permanent housing all the councils work with developers and registered providers to deliver market and affordable housing across the county. This work is underpinned by the council’s Local Plans which identify a wide range of tenures and types of housing including low cost home ownership and social/affordable rent properties. There is a shortage in the supply of housing, particularly in the provision of affordable housing with an annual requirement of all housing tenures of approximately 2279 per annum across the county.

Local Plan numbers are informed by a combination of the standard methodology requirement, Housing Market Assessments and Housing Needs Surveys to determine the required mix of housing. The councils also work with registered providers to ensure best use is made of existing stock including tackling under occupation and low demand schemes.

Work with private sector landlords and letting agents also enable councils to meet some housing needs in parts of the county although local housing allowance rates do make this challenging. The councils have been innovative in attracting landlords to provide accommodation through landlord forums, the use of rent bonds and deposits, social letting agencies and private sector leasing schemes, and this will continue during the lifetime of the strategy.

Oversight and delivery

Worcestershire Housing Board is responsible for ensuring that the commitments within the Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy are realised. The partnership is a multi-agency and cross sector partnership, ensuring delivery of the strategy is supported across relevant organisations. The Housing Board report to the Housing Strategy Board that is comprised of Chief Executive or senior officers from LHAs, Registered Providers, MHS, Health and Care Trust and Public Health.

The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy will be overseen by the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Group, a public and voluntary sector partnership and the chair of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Group will feed into the Housing Board regularly to update on actions, including countywide actions from the strategy and levels of homelessness across the county.

The Worcestershire Strategic Housing Officers Group (WSHOG) will be responsible for the operational delivery of the LHAs elements of the strategy.

Each LHA will have their own separate mechanism for reporting back to elected members in relation to homelessness and rough sleeping including committees and briefings to ensure there is political oversight on the delivery of the strategy and services.

The Local Homelessness Forums, made up of local partners including the VCS, will also support the oversight and delivery of homelessness and rough sleeper services and the strategy and feed into the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Group. To support this, we will utilise the DLUHC “dataforinsights” homelessness and rough sleeping dashboard.

In addition to the above governance arrangements it may be necessary to set up additional task and finish groups if faced with a particular issue e.g. as seen during the Covid pandemic or to bring together partners for a bid for grants such as the Rough Sleeper Initiative fund. This will give the LHAs the ability to respond flexibly to issues.

There are parts of homelessness system and related services that fall outside of the remit of the LHAs such as health prevention and substance misuse. The responsibility and governance arrangements for these matters rests with the County Council but with wider partner engagement. Please see the section on partnerships below for more detail on some of these relationships.

Partnerships

The role of partnerships is essential to the delivery of the strategy as many organisations have a role to play in tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in the wider context. This is not a definitive list of all partnerships but highlights some key groups and inter-relationships. There are also localised partnership and strategic groups within each LHA that aren’t included in this section as it is focusing on partnerships that are countywide.

ICB and health partnerships

The advent of the Integrated Care Boards and review of the role of the Health and Wellbeing Board has led to a new way of working within the health, social care and wider partnerships including greater District level working with Primary Care Networks.

Integrated Care System - Taking collective action to tackle health inequalities

Accessible text of Integrated Care System image 

Reducing Re-offending Group and MAPPA Strategic Management Board

The Reducing Re-offending Board are overseeing development and delivery of the criminal justice pathway and protocol across the county, following on from work commissioned by Public Health and the LHAs. Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) were introduced in 2001 under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 and subsequently strengthened by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 as the statutory arrangement for managing sexual and violent offenders. It provides a mechanism whereby the agencies involved can better discharge their responsibilities and protect the public in a coordinated way. The responsible authority for MAPPA in each criminal justice area consists of the police, probation, and prisons and LHAs have a duty to cooperate with MAPPA arrangements in assessing and managing the risks posed by MAPPA-eligible offenders and the Board oversees the process.

Adult Safeguarding Board and the Assurance Panel

The main purpose of Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board (WSAB) is to promote wellbeing and reduce the risk of harm for people with care and support needs. With regards to rough sleepers the delivery of the actions from the thematic review are overseen by an Assurance Panel. The LHAs are represented on the Board and Panel by a senior officer from WDC.

Corporate Parenting Board (CPB) and Post 16+ Housing Group

The CPB provides leadership and a governance structure for corporate parenting to drive forward the outcomes for looked after children and care leavers. It oversees the Board's strategy and promotes the voice of children and young people. It also provides challenge and scrutiny to ensure the best outcomes are achieved for children in care and care leavers. LHAs are represented at CPB by officers from WSHOG.

The Post 16+Housing Group brings together managers from the LHAs and Care Leavers service to ensure we work collectively to commission and deliver housing and support services to young people aged 16 and above and care leavers.

Domestic Abuse Partnership Board (DAPB)

The DAPB consists of key partners with an interest in tackling domestic abuse and supporting victims, including their children. The DAPB has been created to support Worcestershire County Council in meeting its duty under Part IV of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and to expand upon the wider community-focused work of the Worcestershire Forum against Domestic Abuse.

Monitoring

WSHOG will report progress against the strategy action plan to the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Group, who will ensure an annual review of progress up to and including 2025.

Each council will also be responsible for reporting back on its local action plan on a quarterly basis to its Local Homelessness Forum.

As part of developing the strategy we undertook a review of provision across the county, reviewed statistics from a variety of data sets, interviewed stakeholders and those with lived experience and held a stakeholder day in June 2022. This information and joint working helped identify gaps and future actions for the strategy. The stakeholders identified a number of suggestions that are business as usual and as such don’t feature in the action plan but will still be delivered including the revision of protocols already in place.

The strategy will be reviewed on an annual basis and this will include the review of current actions and identification of any new actions required for years two and three.

To summarise the key actions for the strategy, identified from gap analysis, are:

• Increasing the range of accommodation available to a number of client groups and ensure distribution throughout the county including general affordable housing, supported housing for survivors of domestic abuse through provision of “safe accommodation” and development of a countywide sanctuary scheme particularly through our work with our Registered Provider partners.
• Increasing access to the private rented sector through working with landlords
• Exploring opportunities for a greater range of supported and step-down accommodation, including accommodation for rough sleepers
• Reviewing the provision of accommodation and support for young people to ensure no young person will be placed in emergency bed and breakfast with shared facilities, other than in exceptional circumstances
• Working with the Research and Intelligence Officer to improve data collection and quality to inform decisions around commissioning, service delivery and funding bids
• Increasing the level of homeless prevention through a variety of actions including:
  • Undertake joint working and training with Registered Providers, Mental Health teams, Criminal Justice, Substance Misuse etc
  • Raising awareness of homeless services to stakeholders and the public through the communications plan and the ability to refer cases in through the Duty to Refer or Commitment to Refer
  • Developing homelessness prevention panels across the county
• Working with those with lived experience to identify gaps in provision
• Completing actions for councils identified in the Rough Sleeper Thematic Review
• Developing / enhancing opportunities for meaningful activities
• Upscaling our response to digital safety
• Increasing the supply of general needs accommodation and to make better use of existing homes to meet needs,

See the full action plan in Appendix Six

Legal duties

The primary homelessness legislation – Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 – provides the statutory under-pinning for action to prevent homelessness and provide assistance to people threatened with or actually homeless.

In 2002, the Government amended the homelessness legislation through the Homelessness Act 2002 and the Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002 to ensure a more strategic approach to tackling and preventing homelessness and to strengthen the assistance available to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness by extending the priority need categories.

In 2017 the Housing Act 1996 was amended by the Homeless Reduction Act 2017. This brought in additional duties to all households, namely the prevention and relief duties which apply regardless of priority need or intentionality.

In making decisions local authorities must take into consideration section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and give consideration to individuals protected characteristics. Local authorities also need to consider section 11 of the Children’s Act 1989 and the duty to promote and safeguard the wellbeing of children when making decisions.

Homeless duties

Housing authorities have a legal duty to provide advice and assistance to anyone that is eligible and homeless or threatened with homelessness.  If a housing authority has reason to believe that someone may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, they must investigate what duty they owe to them under the homelessness legislation. 

A person will be eligible depending on their immigration status. This is a complex area of law, though generally, UK nationals with a right to reside, those with settled status, pre settled status and exercising their worker rights, or those with limited or indefinite leave to remain with recourse to public funds would be eligible.

To establish if the applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness, the following needs to be established:

• Do they have the legal right to occupy accommodation that is available to them and their household for the next 56 days?
• Is the accommodation reasonable to occupy?

When assessing whether the accommodation is reasonable to occupy, the following should be considered:

• Is there a probability of violence? Violence has a broad definition here and includes emotional, financial, psychological abuse and controlling/coercive behaviour.
• Is there a probability of threats that are likely to be carried out?
• If the above are met the property is unsuitable, otherwise the local authority will need to consider all other matters in relation to the house to determine if suitable. The local authority will factor in the prevailing housing circumstances in the area when assessing whether a property is reasonable to occupy.

The duties are outlined below:-

If satisfied a household is homeless or threatened with homelessness, they have a duty to;

• Assess their circumstances and how they became homeless
• What support they need to sustain accommodation
• What accommodation would best suit their needs
• Develop a personalised housing plan setting out reasonable actions for the authority and customer to undertake to address the housing situation

If a household is threatened with homelessness, they will be owed a prevention duty. If a household is actually homeless they will be owed a relief duty. These are collaborative duties and the authority should seek agreement from the client in regards to actions set.

These duties can end if;

• A suitable offer of accommodation that is likely to last for 6 months is accepted
• A suitable offer of accommodation that is likely to last 6 months is refused, if the offer was a 6 month private tenancy or social tenancy the local authority would not need to consider if a main housing duty is owed
• If a prevention duty is owed, and someone becomes homeless, this will end the prevention duty and a relief duty will begin
• If a relief duty is owed and 56 days pass, this can end the relief duty and a main housing decision should be made
• If a household ceases to be eligible for assistance
• If someone deliberately refused to co-operate with their housing plan and the local authority has an approved policy on when duties should be ended in such instances. Worcestershire authorities are not currently ending duties due to deliberate refusals to co-operate with housing plans.

Main duty decisions

If the relief duty ends and the applicant has not been housed, and they have not refused a 6 month private or a social tenancy, the local authority will need to make a main housing duty decision.

A ‘main homelessness duty’ is owed where the authority is satisfied that the applicant is eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and falls within a specified ‘priority need’ group.

The ‘priority need groups’ include households with dependent children or a pregnant woman and people who are vulnerable in some way e.g. because of mental illness or physical disability. In 2021 this was expanded to include those fleeing from domestic abuse to have an automatic priority need for housing. In 2002 the priority need categories were extended to include applicants who are aged 16 or 17, care leavers aged 18-20, people who are vulnerable as a result of time spent in care, in HM Forces, in prison or custody, and those who are vulnerable as a result of having to flee their home because of non-domestic violence or the threat of violence. Guidance on factors local authorities should consider when looking at vulnerability can be found in the Code of Guidance for local authorities.

If someone does not fall within these categories or is not deemed vulnerable, they will not be owed a main duty due to not being in a priority need.

If someone is in a priority need the local authority will need to consider if they are intentionally homeless. A household is intentionally homeless if they have:-

• Deliberately done…
• …an act or omission…
• …in consequence of which…
• …they cease to occupy accommodation…
• …that was available and reasonable to occupy…
• And the act of omission was not done in good faith

All of these tests need to be satisfied for a household to be intentionally homeless. Acts or omissions should not be deliberate if the applicant was not capable of managing their affairs due to age, mental health or infirmity or due to a temporary aberration of the mind, or if under duress or benefit delays beyond the applicants control.

If someone is intentionally homeless there will be a duty to provide accommodation for a reasonable period of time for the household to make their own arrangements.

Temporary Accommodation

LHAs in England & Wales have duties to provide temporary accommodation under the following circumstances:

• Interim Duty

Provision of accommodation whilst homelessness enquiries are ongoing when the LA has reason to believe the applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and in priority need.

• Main Duty

The main housing duty is a duty to provide temporary accommodation until such time as the duty is ended, either by an offer of settled accommodation or by providing advice and assistance that is sufficient to secure accommodation. The main duty is owed when the LA is satisfied that the applicant is eligible for assistance, homeless, in priority need and not intentionally homeless.

Homeless Households not owed the rehousing duty

Homeless people not owed the full rehousing duty are typically single people or childless couples who are not assessed as being in ‘priority need’ or those deemed to be intentionally homeless. These groups are only entitled to advice and assistance if homeless, not the “main housing duty”. Some non-priority homeless people are offered access to Local Authority commissioned housing support services.

The local authority can utilise its discretion to assist certain households in exceptional circumstances.

Street Homelessness

DCLG defines street homelessness as: “People sleeping, about to bed down (sitting on/in or standing next to their bedding) or actually bedded down in the open air (such as on the streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or encampments). People in buildings or other places not designed for habitation (such as stairwells, barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations, or “bashes”).

The previous Homelessness and Rough Sleeping strategy 2019 – 2022 was developed during the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and the publication of the national Rough Sleeper Strategy in 2018. The primary focus was around increasing prevention services and the supply of accommodation and mirrored the national strategy by addressing prevention, intervention and recovery. During the strategy lifetime the Corona virus pandemic struck and the way services were delivered to homeless households and rough sleepers across the county changed profoundly, particularly in response to Everyone In. As a consequence, the strategy was given a refresh in 2021 and the action plan was revised.

This section outlines the principal aims and achievements of the strategy, including the revised actions from 2021.

Unfortunately, the pandemic did prevent the delivery of some objectives including hosting annual partnership events and establishing a service user group. An unsuccessful funding bid, due to high levels of competition from other councils, meant mental health services specifically for homeless households have not been developed.

Current Service Provision – Single Households

Current Service Provision – Rough Sleepers

Current Service Provision – Families with Children

Current Service Provision – Domestic Abuse

Current Service Provision – Young People

Homelessness services are funded through a variety of funding streams including the individual councils general fund budgets as well as additional funding received from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) called the Homelessness Prevention Fund (HPF)

Homeless Prevention Fund

Homelessness Prevention Fund is ringfenced and should be utilised to::

• Fully embed the Homelessness Reduction Act and contribute to ending rough sleeping by increasing activity to prevent single homelessness.
• Reduce the number of families in temporary accommodation by maximising family homelessness prevention.
• Reduce the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families and eliminate family B&B placements beyond the statutory six-week limit.

In 2022/23 it also includes an element for new burdens due to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

The allocations in 2022/23 are as follows;

However, there is currently a consultation into how this funding is allocated across the country with some of the Worcestershire councils potentially losing out, which will put prevention services at risk.

Worcester City only – Rough Sleeper Drug and Alcohol Fund

The Rough Sleeper Drug and Alcohol approach will involve a comprehensive peer mentoring program focused on harm reduction, engagement and recovery support. This will involve peer mentors from third sector agencies including St Pauls Hostel, Emerging Futures and Cranstoun. There will also be a rough sleeper assertive outreach and intervention team to deliver support to the target population including supported access to housing, health services and delivery of psycho social interventions. These will be aligned with current rough sleeping outreach services to provide a co-ordinated response from County Council, the city council and third sector partners.

Homelessness is a complex issue. People find themselves without a home for many reasons. There has been a steady increase in the number of people seeking help and there are many factors contributing to this including public sector austerity, welfare reform, cost of living rises and an undersupply of suitable, affordable accommodation. We provide a number of services across the county to try to prevent homelessness from occurring and to provide assistance to those that become homeless. In 2020/21 the county had approaches from over 2214 households, that we owed a duty to. There are also a much smaller number of people who sleep rough every year and across the county there are tailored services to address these needs including No First and No Second Night Out accommodation, support via the HOPES commissioned service, Navigators and in-house support teams and bespoke accommodation schemes for move-on including Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme (RSAP) funded projects. The Voluntary and Community Sector also support people facing homelessness with food, clothing and advice etc. However, not all those on the streets are Rough Sleeping, some will also be begging or street drinking for example and this message should be highlighted as well.

This communications plan has been developed by the District Councils to raise awareness around homelessness (an action in the Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy 2019-2022) and to deliver on the recommendations of the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Thematic Rough Sleeping Review. 

Objectives of the plan:

• To ensure that the public, organisations and people who are potentially homeless are aware of the help that is available
• To communicate how important it is for people to act early if they are having difficulties that may lead to homelessness
• To highlight the important work of the councils and their commissioned partners to raise awareness and reduce the misinformation circulated on social media
• Have some clear, jargon free key messages that highlight activity or actions for the councils, stakeholders and the public

Channels to be used (subject to local arrangements)

• Local Homeless Forums
• Websites
• Social media (depending on local policies)
• Members and staff briefings
• Newsletters

Resources (subject to local arrangements)

• Website and media teams
• Relevant Housing Managers (Operational / Strategic)
• Worcestershire Strategic Housing Partnership Officer
• Worcestershire Strategic Housing Officers Group (for annual review)

Year One (December 2022 – November 2023)

Year Two (Dec 2023 – November 2024)

Year Three (Dec 2024 – November 2025)

[1] In Wychavon, Worcester and Wyre Forest only

LHA Local Housing Authority
RSI Rough Sleeper Initiative
BDC Bromsgrove District Council
MHDC Malvern Hills District Council
RBC Redditch Borough Council
WC Worcester City Council
WDC Wychavon District Council
WFDC Wyre Forest District Council
PH Public Health
DLUHC Department of Levelling Up, Homes and Communities
WCF Worcestershire Childrens First
WSHOG Worcestershire Strategic Housing Officers Group
PWLE People With Lived Experience
VCS Voluntary and Community Services
ASB Adult Safeguarding Board
WHB Worcestershire Housing Board
WHSB Worcestershire Housing Strategy Board
PCN Primary Care Network
ASC Adult Social Care
UofW University of Worcester
DASS Domestic Abuse Support Service

Step 1 text

Prevention duty

Take 'reasonable steps to help the applicant to secure that accommodation does not cease to be available' (s.4)

Applies to all eligible applicants who are 'threatened with homelessness within 56 days'

Eligible applicants who become homeless then move on to the relief duty. 

Step 2 text

Relief duty

Take 'reasonable steps to help the applicant to secure that suitable accommodation becomes available' (s.5)

Applies to all eligible applicants who are homeless.

Priority need, unintentionally homeless applicants who remain homeless fall on the main duty

Step 3 text

Original rehousing duty

Secure that accommodation is available for occupation by the applicant. (s.193 Housing Act 1996)

Applies to priority need and unintentionally homeless applicants unless they have deliberately and unreasonably refused to cooperate (although they are still entitled to a 'final offer' of a 6 month private tenancy). Refused a final offer of suitable accommodation at relief state. Ends with offer of suitable settled accommodation. 

Chart showing relationships between various authorities and bodies. In the centre three slightly overlapping boxes read:

1. Integrated Care Board
   • Day-to-day responsibility for running NHS elements of the ICS
   • Develop plan to meet health needs, allocate resource, commission services, shape joint working
2. Integrated Care Partnership
   • Equal partnership between health and local authorities
   • Responsible for Integrated Care Strategy
3. Worcestershire Health & Wellbeing Board
   • Encourages integrated working
   • Oversees & approves the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, Better Care Fund & produces Health & Wellbeing Strategy

8 smaller boxes surround the 3 central ones and double ended arrows point from the surrounding boxes to one of the central three. 

Pointing to the Integrated Care Board box are:

• Health Watch
• Local Authorities 
• Housing and social care providers
• Other public bodies
• NHS trusts
• Primary Care

Pointing to Integrated Care Partnership is 

• Voluntary and Community Sector

Pointing to Worcestershire Health and Wellbeing Board is

• District Collaboratives