Homelessness a priority but fears over funding help
COUNCILLORS say homelessness is a priority in Bridgend county but they are “concerned” about how support services will be funded in the near future.
The Welsh Government has been supporting the council with extra money to tackle homelessness during the pandemic but councillors are uncertain about future service as the funding is set to end in September.
The council’s chief executive Mark Shephard said the council may see increased demand for homeless support which could cause “an increased financial burden” to the authority.
It costs the council an extra £2 million a year to meet the additional service levels introduced by the government during the pandemic, according to a report by council officers.
Bridgend County Borough Council saw a 25% rise in homelessness applications between March and October 2020, compared with the same period in 2019. The council provided temporary accommodation for over 700 homeless people in local hotels and bed and breakfasts between March and October last year.
The council is legally required to assess anyone where there is reason to believe they are homeless. During the pandemic, the Welsh Government widened the category of people classed as being in need of temporary accommodation, meaning that all homeless applications would be classified as priority need.
Given that this put increased pressure on council services, the government has been offering extra financial support to local authorities during the pandemic to tackle rough sleeping. The funds are set to end in September.
A cross-party recovery panel, formed of councillors from different political parties, was set up last July to advise the council’s cabinet on recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The group identified housing and homelessness as a key focus back in December and then held discussions with Community Housing Cymru, the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru, the council’s housing team and the Shared Regulatory Service neighbourhood service team.
In May the panel outlined a list of recommendations for the council’s cabinet to follow in order tackle homelessness:
Ask the Welsh Government to confirm funding for housing pods that can be used as a “last resort”;
Prioritise delivering one-bedroom accommodation due to high demand;
Show “concern” regarding the financial support from the government for tackling homelessness after September and how this could put pressure on the council’s budget;
Look into converting offices or commercial buildings into housing;
Ensure the council’s local development plan, which sets out what projects will be built over the next decade, meets needs for housing in a way that does not lead to inequality of access to housing.
Members of the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny meeting met virtually last Wednesday to discuss how the authority might deliver homelessness services beyond September.
Independent councillor Amanda Williams asked if the council expected to see a rise in homelessness once furlough payments ended.
“There’s potentially a lot of people who will be found in a tricky situation where landlords can once again evict,” she added.
Mark Shephard, the council’s chief executive, said “there is potential” for the authority to see increased demand for homelessness support.
“There probably does need to be an ongoing look at homelessness and we do know if that increased demand does happen there’ll be an increased demand on our services and an increased financial burden.”
He said the Welsh Government was providing the council with extra financial support for homeless services but he was unsure whether the council would be able to cope with increased demand once the funding stopped.
“My concern is if that additional enhanced support ends then there is an increased burden on the authority because there’s an expectation now that we will be able to deal effectively with all homeless people in our area,” he said.
“We’re geared up at the moment to try and address the issues that we are aware of adequately; if that significant increase in demand occurs then we would be looking to Welsh Government again to be saying ‘Well you need to resource this, you need to fund this properly’, if there’s going to be an additional burden on the local authority.”