Agenda and minutes

To receive any Declarations of Interest from Members.

In advance of the meeting, Councillor Marcus Franks declared an interest in Agenda Item 3, and reported that, as his interest was personal and prejudicial, he would not take part in the meeting or vote on the matter.

Councillors Emma Webster, Tony Vickers, David Rendel, Jeff Brooks and Jeff Beck declared an interest in Agenda Item 3, but reported that, as their interests were personal and not prejudicial, they determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.

Purpose: To examine  the approach by statutory and other agencies to homelessness in West Berkshire.

(In advance of the meeting, Councillor Franks declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Agenda item 3 by virtue of the fact that he was employed by Sovereign Housing Association. As his interest was personal and prejudicial he advised that he would not attend the meeting or vote on the matter).

(Councillor Webster declared a personal interest in Agenda item 3 by virtue of the fact that her company worked with developers across the UK. As her interest was personal and not prejudicial she determined to take part in the debate and vote on the matter).

(Councillor Vickers declared a personal interest in Agenda item 3 by virtue of the fact that the Liberal Democrats were landlords of a property in West Berkshire, he volunteered at Loose Ends, and his wife was Martha Vickers of Newbury Town Council. As his interest was personal and not prejudicial he determined to take part in the debate and vote on the matter).

(Councillors Rendel and Brooks declared a personal interest in Agenda item 3 by virtue of the fact that the Liberal Democrats were landlords of a property in West Berkshire. As their interests were personal and not prejudicial they determined to take part in the debate and vote on the matter).

(Councillor Beck declared a personal interest in Agenda item 3 by virtue of the fact that he was a member of the Newbury Conservative Club who were landlords of a property in West Berkshire. As his interest was personal and not prejudicial he determined to take part in the debate and vote on the matter).

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the scrutiny review, and set out the expectations of the day. He reminded all those present that the review was intended to clarify the current approach to homelessness in West Berkshire provided by a number of agencies, and consider what improvements might be possible.

Scene Setting

June Graves and Mel Brain provided an introduction to the role of the Council’s Housing Service and raised the following points:

·        There had been an increase in demand for homelessness services, however it appeared that this had now plateaued. It was expected that all agencies would have experienced a similar increase in demand. In addition the forthcoming Welfare Benefit reforms were expected to increase homeless numbers with the introduction of universal credits and the ‘bedroom tax’; There were also a number of factors including the Localism Act, a new Tenancy Strategy, new powers for discharging duties and new flexibilities for determining allocation policies that would impact on housing and homelessness in the future;

·        West Berkshire Housing Service closely monitored activity across a number of different factors;

·        Partnership working and support across all agencies was essential;

·        Approximately 20% of homeless people presenting to the Council came from rural areas where homelessness was linked to the loss of employment (where accommodation was provided whilst employed). This presented a different set of issues as the person would likely want to remain in the area they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.