Issue - meetings

To receive a briefing from the three People Portfolio Holders regarding the People areas of work and their portfolios.

Members received a briefing and update from the three People Portfolio Executive Members for Housing & Support, Leisure & Culture and Community Partnerships.

Councillor G. Knight, Portfolio Holder for Housing & Support, highlighted areas of work in the context of the considerable COVID-19 pandemic pressures and support for residents. Areas highlighted on presentation slides and written answers to the Committee included work with rough sleepers, housing benefit and Universal Credit claims, housing delivery in Tadworth and Redhill, continued development of affordable homes, work with Raven Housing Trust, numbers in bed and breakfast (emergency accommodation) and temporary accommodation, family support programme and money support teams’ work.

Members raised questions on the following areas:

·       Achieving net zero carbon targets – Members asked about the steps taken by the Council to encourage developers and social housing providers to achieve a target of net zero carbon by 2050. It was noted that the Council was working towards this target on current developments in the borough and was working closely with Raven Housing Trust on grant applications as well as planning work on future joint projects with significant investment in existing homes. Members highlighted the Surrey County Council ‘Green Jump Surrey’ project funding which was available to support low income households to install energy efficiency improvements.

·       Emergency and temporary accommodation – Members noted relatively low number of families in emergency bed and breakfast accommodation. With temporary accommodation, the Council has access to 124 designated self-contained temporary accommodation units each year. Members asked for a written answer on how the average number of households in i) temporary and ii) emergency accommodation has changed in the last three years, and also what the average length of stay in emergency and temporary accommodation was currently broken down by different bedroom size properties.

·       Family Support Programme and Money Support team – the Committee heard access to both critical services was under pressure due to COVID-19 challenges. There were waiting times of 12-14 weeks for family support referrals from Surrey County Council. However, three new staff had started on the County Council-funded programme and urgent cases were prioritised. The Money Support team had seen an increase in the number of referrals by 83% year on year due to redundancy/loss of employment, anxiety/depression or loss of family members among residents. A third member of staff had been redeployed to join the team, and they were working hard to reduce the waiting time, with priority cases allocated as soon as possible.

·       Additional Council Tax Hardship funding – additional government funding of £754,507 was received with £430,988 awarded to 3,331 households. It was confirmed that money left over from this funding could be carried over to 2021/22 financial year.

Members agreed to invite Raven Housing Trust representatives to Overview & Scrutiny Committee in the next Municipal Year, with this noted in the Committee’s Future Work Programme 2021/22.

Councillor A. Horwood, Portfolio Holder for Leisure & Culture, highlighted areas of work which included use of the Harlequin as a community support centre for food distribution in lockdown one, providing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61