the Pavement

Who decides?

Carinya Sharples, 03 July 2010

If you've struggled with a drug or alcohol addiction, refused help from an outreach worker or had mental health problems, chances are you've been discussed at a Safer Streets partnership meeting. Also known as multi-agency meetings or Local Strategic Partnerships meetings, these gatherings take place in boroughs across London and are a chance for homeless service providers to get together and discuss how to help individual rough sleepers off the streets.

To give you an insight into what is decided at these meetings, we spoke to Sam Ball, deputy director for London of Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI), the national social care charity which is commissioned by Camden Council to run Camden Safer Streets Team (SST).

Camden SST provides "street-based outreach work" in partnership with a number of key agencies:
• Hostel providers
• Drug/alcohol services
• Drug-intervention teams
• Police
• Mental health services
• Primary care services
• Local day centres
• Drop-in services
• Street wardens

Input is also provided by "Community Auditors" from StreetSafe, a Camden SST scheme through which, Mr Ball explained: "concerned members of the community can report on street activity directly to a single point of contact and are assured of a prompt and helpful response".

Of these agencies, representatives from the Drug and Alcohol Agencies; Drug Intervention Programme; Police; Hostel Providers; Day Centres; Drop-in Services and Street Wardens attend regular meetings at Camden SST's London regional office. These so-called "tasking and targeting meetings" take place every fortnight in King's Cross, Holborn, Bloomsbury and Camden Town, with two additional monthly meetings for the north of the borough. Organised by Camden SST, each meeting is chaired by the team leader responsible for that area.

So what is the purpose of this type of partnership meeting, a format used by many local authorities? "It's designed to allow coordination of a comprehensive and consistent care package for clients," explains Mr Ball. "It includes both service interventions and enforcement interventions where appropriate."

The implementation of these enforcement tactics, such as Anti Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos), is made clear by Camden Safer Street Team to homeless people in the borough, according to Mr Ball: "On initial contact we explain that street activity is considered anti-social behaviour and that continuation of that behaviour could lead to enforcement.

"We do it this way because we're aware then that we're able to give a clear, consistent and honest message to clients. Our aim is to enable people to break free from harmful patterns of behaviour, therefore reducing the impact of this on the individual and as well as on the community around them."

A "care package" - also known as a service plan or care plan - is basically a way of identifying what support or services you need. "Decisions are made about which agencies need to be involved in a case," explains Mr Ball. "In terms of hostels, for instance, each hostel has a specific designation, for instance those able to cater for individuals with mental health needs or those requiring continued-use placements".

Rather than discussing budgets and homeless services in general, the meetings are focused on the "clients". For Mr Ball, "it isn't about funding, it doesn't come down to that - it's who is best placed to meet this client's needs. That's very much the focus of those meetings."

So deciding, for example, increased funding for drug and alcohol rehabilitation is not on the agenda. "That's kind of out of our hands," Mr Ball explains. "We might request and advocate for that on behalf of the client if we felt they needed that but we wouldn't be able to make that decision."

According to a street count carried out on 22 April 2009, Camden has just six rough sleepers. However, statutory homelessness figures for January-March 2010 (Supplementary tables - Local Authority Breakdown - Statutory Homelessness: 1st Quarter (January to March) 2010, England) identify 668 people in temporary accommodation in Camden, plus 88 instances where duty of care is owed but accommodation has not yet been secured.

With such a fluid homeless population, the partnership selects particular people to discuss at each meeting. "We wouldn't necessarily go through every single client known to Camden Safer Streets Team because, as you know, there can be a changing picture and we want to prioritise in terms of need ... to make sure people get the right level of input in a timely manner," Mr Ball adds.

After the meeting, the next step is to offer targeted support to clients. "Obviously we'd want to agree a care plan with the client so ... if we or the client were to identify that actually they might benefit from, [for example], a mental health service then we'd look to do what we can to support them to engage with that service and get that service involved."

Although Camden SST has a contract with Camden Council, they are not required to give the council an exhaustive account of every meeting. "We wouldn't report back, naturally," says Mr Ball. "But, as with any service provision, our communication with the council happens along the lines with which they commission us, so we have an ongoing communication with Camden Council."

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Blocking tactics

Maggie Page, 03 July 2010

Aberdeen's chronic hostel shortage has received a further blow with the Licensing Committee blocking a proposed new hostel in the Tilydrone area.

The proposal to convert a former residential care home, Aberdon House, into a temporary accommodation unit for up to 38 households was met with strong opposition from local residents, who protested outside the Council meeting on 20 May.

The building, which is currently disused, is surrounded by housing for older people and campaigners objected to the proposal, arguing that it was more appropriate for the building to be returned to a residential home for the elderly.

Most of the 129 letters of objection voiced concern over the disruption to the peace and serenity of the area and argued that the hostel would cause distress to the elderly people in the neighbouring accommodation, many of whom are frail and disabled. Many also voiced concerns for their personal safety and increased antisocial behaviour as a result of the hostel.

Councillors refused the application by nine votes to six on the grounds that the location was not suitable. This was despite a compromise proposal by the SNP Councillors, which included reducing the period of the license to two years, introducing community liaison meetings, installing CCTV and increasing community safety wardens in the area.

The new facility would have gone some way to addressing the chronic shortage of accommodation for homeless people in the city that has led the Council to fail to deliver on housing legislation. Last year the local authority revealed 289 homeless people and families were not offered any temporary accommodation between April and September 2009.

This is the second time the Council's own licensing committee has blocked efforts to address this shortage. A decision by the committee last year to remove the House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) license for a homeless hostel on Crown Street following a similar campaign has led to the Council taking legal action against itself to contest the ruling.

Aberdeen Council, like all local authorities, has a legal obligation to provide temporary accommodation to homeless households and the Scottish Government has set a target to abolish the priority needs test by 2012.

However with this second block by the Licensing Committee the Council will be hard pushed to deliver these targets. During the committee meeting the solicitor for the Council highlighted that at that time 99 homeless people in Aberdeen were placed in bed and breakfast accommodation with a further 24 in hotels.

The fact that many of the protesters referred to the Crown Street decision as part of their objection raises concerns that it will become increasingly difficult to secure new accommodation sites. In his report to the committee Council Homelessness manager Paul Hannan outlined the need for the hostel and the dialogue he has held with the local communities.

He also said that perceived fears of anti-social behaviour are often unfounded: "The setting up of dedicated accommodation for homeless households in an area is often met with a negative response linked to potential fears from local people. Whilst we cannot give a 100 per cent guarantee that no problems will be caused, the experience of our management over many years is that such units do not cause the problems people predict."

The council has yet to announce whether it will appeal this latest decision.

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More local authority help

Staff, 03 July 2010

Local authorities will offer more options to those facing the prospect of homelessness, the Minister for Housing and Communities, Alex Neil, said today.

The Scottish Housing Options Approach funding programme will see councils refocusing services to look at individuals' options in the widest sense.

To reduce the number of homeless applicants, council staff must provide households with information and advice about the services available, including those that offer support, and to prevent homelessness happening where possible.

The Scottish Government has invested approximately £500,000, in staff training and service development. Alex Neil said: "It is essential we do all we can to achieve our 2012 target of offering all unintentionally homeless households accommodation.

"The Scottish Government and its partner COSLA are not, and never will be, complacent about tackling and preventing the trauma of homelessness.

"With the housing options approach, prevention activity is the main driver, which makes sense economically and socially, and is line with the Government's broader principles of early intervention."

The Housing and Communities Minister is a member of the Scottish Government/COSLA 2012 Steering Group, which has agreed to focus on homelessness prevention.

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