Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Benjamin Murphy, Jason Pritchard and Ruby Sayed.Apologies were received from Benjamin Murphy, Jason Pritchard and Ruby Sayed.

Apologies for lateness were received from Alderman Vincent Keaveny and Henrika Priest.

The Chairman led the Sub-Committee in thanking Julie Mayer, former clerk to the Sub-Committee for her excellent work.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 4 December 2019.

In considering the minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2019, the Committee was advised that work was underway to identify how Brexit was likely to affect EU Nationals currently or at risk of being affected by homelessness and rough sleeping and that this would be reported to the next meeting of the Sub-Committee on 21 April 2020.

In response to a question from a Member, The Superintendent, City of London Policy confirmed that following consultation with partners, it had been decided to maintain the existing arrangements for mental health triage nurse patrols which operated between 3.00pm-2.00am every day, as this was the time period during which people in distress were most likely to present for support.

With regard to Item 11: Any Other Business, Members were advised that the ‘Doctors of the World’ Mobile Clinic pilot scheme commenced on 3 December 2019 and that consideration was being given to extending the initial pilot for a further 6-month period if resources could be identified.  The Severe Weather Emergency Plan (SWEP) had been activated for a four-day period in January 2020 and sufficient provision had been available to meet the level of need.

A Member requested that paragraph 3 of Minute 7: Rough Sleeping Performance Report be amended to state:

“The regular Parkguard officer had a very good relationship with the homeless population, who generally viewed the presence of uniformed officers as helpful, rather than intimidatory, although a Member observed that some rough sleepers were reluctant to interact with the Outreach Team when they were accompanied by Parkguard officers, which she considered could be limiting the opportunity for engagement.”

It was noted that Parkguard was not accredited under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme within the City of London but did hold this accreditation in other areas where it could

Members are asked to note the Sub Committee’s Outstanding Actions list.

In considering outstanding actions, Members noted that a number of actions had been completed.

Members were invited to make individual arrangements to visit the Lodge, Dellow Day Centre and Anchor House Hostel, and contact details for these services would be provided to Members following the meeting.  Rough sleeping had been identified as an issue at Paddington Station, and the contact details for the Outreach Team would be provided to the representative of the British Transport Police following the meeting.

RESOLVED, that outstanding actions be noted.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services detailing the total number of rough sleepers identified within the City of London’s annual street count figure and providing comparison data relating to previous annual and bi-monthly street counts and overall monthly rough sleeping figures and the following points were noted:

·         The annual street count took place on 28-29 November 2019 and identified 41 individuals which was a significant reduction on the previous year when 67 individuals were identified.  In response to a question from a Member, the Rough Sleeping Coordinator confirmed that the decrease in the number of rough sleepers over the past year was partly due to improved engagement with support providers which had helped more individuals to remain in accommodation.  A Member noted the low number of female rough sleepers identified in the street count and requested that Transport for London be approached to provide data on individuals identified as sleeping on public transport which could give a fuller picture of homelessness and rough sleeping.

·         A wide range of nationalities were represented within the 2019 street count cohort of whom 39% of rough sleepers were from the UK, 37% were from the EU/EEA, 12% were non-EU and the nationalities of 12% were unknown.  The large proportion of rough sleepers from the EU/EEA was a particular concern as the right of these individuals to receive support and accommodation was likely to change following the Brexit transition period.  Work was underway to secure worker status for rough sleepers with EU/EEA nationalities where possible. 

·         A Member highlighted that the majority of rough sleepers identified within the street count had some form of serious support need related to mental health, alcohol use or substance misuse.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

Members are asked to note a non-public appendix at Agenda Item 15.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services providing an update on the recent consideration of options to provide an assessment hub and additional high support hostel accommodation by the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee and Policy and Resources Committee and the following points were noted:

·         The Resource Allocation Sub-Committee and Policy and Resources Committee had approved capital funding for an assessment hub and funding to lease a hostel to provide high support accommodation for a 10-year period.  The confirmation of revenue funding to deliver the support service for both projects was subject to a separate process and would be considered at the next meeting of the Court of Common Council on 5 March 2020.

·         The Chairman thanked the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Sub-Committee and Officers for their excellent work towards securing this provision which would provide much-needed support for homeless individuals and rough sleepers, including those with complex needs.  In response to a question from a Member, the Head of Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping confirmed that it was planned for the assessment hub to be based within the City of London and for the hostel accommodation to be located as near as possible to the point of need to the City.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services providing an update on the level and nature of homelessness and rough sleeping activity within the City of London for Quarter 3 2019/20 and the following points were noted:

·         A total of 145 rough sleepers had been measured in the City of London in Quarter 3 2019/20 which was a significant decrease on 181 in Quarter 2 2019/20.  The proportion of new rough sleepers in the City of London was below the London average with 40% of new rough sleepers identified as not spending a second night out or being seen rough sleeping again in the period; however, the proportion of those living on the street longer term as well as intermittent returners remained high and a total of 11 people had been identified as the most entrenched and difficult-to-engage rough sleepers.  The Chairman underlined the importance of identifying whether neighbouring boroughs were experiencing a similar decrease in the total number of rough sleepers. 

·         In response to a question from a Member, the Rough Sleeping Co-ordinator confirmed that some types of accommodation stays, such as detox/rehabilitation services and supported reconnection were difficult to achieve for individuals which was why no stays had been recorded in these types of accommodation.  Parkguard Ltd was accredited by the Community Safety Scheme and did not issue Community Protection Notices to individuals identified as undertaking begging activity.  Parkguard Ltd would be requested to remove the reference to sleep within an outcome category within its patrol summary reports which stated, “Requested/directed to leave from known sleep/begging site”.

·         Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s figures relating to homelessness and rough sleeping activity were currently embargoed and would be circulated to Committee Members when available. 

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services providing a summary of work undertaken to date at the City of London Winter Programme at St. Katherine Cree Church, Leadenhall Street. 

The Chairman welcomed Mary Kneafsey and Harpreet Mandier of Providence Row Housing Association which provided specialist support to users of the City of London Winter Programme.

In considering data from the first month of operation, the following points were noted:

·         The City of London Winter Programme had commenced on 18 December 2019 and would run until 31 March 2020.  The service provided a safe and secure space to individuals found rough sleeping in the City of London with the aim of supporting them into accommodation within 14 days.  Nine individuals were brought into the service during the first month of operation, although some had left to attend Crisis at Christmas provision which had interrupted the support provided.  It had been identified that there was a high level of mental health support needs within the group which had made it difficult to source suitable onwards accommodation for some individuals. 

·         The relatively high incidence of individuals without recourse to public funds presented a significant difficulty in securing accommodation and work was being undertaken to regularise the status of rough sleepers with EU nationalities where possible.  The Sub-Committee discussed how support and information on immigration issues could best be provided to individuals, such as signposting.  A report on the issues of individuals without recourse to public funds would be presented to a future meeting of the Sub-Committee and the Committee requested that a Government official be approached to speak with the Sub-Committee on this issue.

The Chairman thanked the representatives of Providence Row Housing Association and the Diocese for its support in delivering the city of London Winter

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services presenting the reasons leading to individuals leaving accommodation provided as part of the City of London Rough Sleeping Pathway and the following points were noted:

·         These individuals tended to have high levels of support needs including those relating to mental health, alcohol use or substance misuse.  Some individuals with support needs also found it challenging to engage with the welfare benefits system which could lead to the breakdown of their accommodation arrangements.  A Member noted that some individuals felt a connection with the City of London and found it difficult to maintain accommodation elsewhere.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services providing an update and evaluation of the ‘Help with Real Change, Not Small Change’ alternative giving campaign and the following points were noted:

·         The ‘Help with Real Change, Not Small Change’ alternative giving campaign was launched on 12 August 2019 and aimed to raise public awareness of how vulnerable people on the streets could be supported most effectively.  Four new contactless card points facilitating automatic £3 donations to the homelessness charity, Beam, were purchased and located across the City of London Corporation estate.  The campaign was promoted via different communications channels including press articles and Twitter with a total campaign cost of £14,231.  As at 21 January 2020, £1,137 had been raised through the campaign, with the Tower Bridge Engine Room shop as the most effective location, suggesting that location was important in attracting donations. 

·         The Sub-Committee discussed the success of the campaign.  Despite a considerable amount of work undertaken by the Homelessness Service to engage with City-based businesses and the retail sector, it had not been possible to site further alternative giving devices during the course of the campaign.  The Mayor of London was running his own alternative giving campaign to target homelessness in partnership with Tap London, which had led to some confusion in terms of siting devices.  With regard to the analytics used to inform the campaign, a Member noted that the number of people walking past a location was not an effective measure of prospective donations.

·         Members agreed the importance of continuing to raise public awareness of alternative giving and discussed the potential to link in with the Mayor of London’s alternative giving campaign, the proceeds of which were divided between a number of homelessness charities.  A Member noted that there were opportunities

There were no questions.

The Superintendent, City of London Police provided an update on Operation Luscombe which took a partnership approach to the issue of begging in the City of London.  Additional funding of £84k had recently been secured from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to fund a 6-month pilot scheme in which a specialist team comprising a Police Constable and Police Community Support Officer would focus on begging and homelessness within the City of London.

RESOLVED, that other business be noted.

MOTION – that, under Section 100(a) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act

RESOLVED, that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 (Schedule 12A) of the Local Government Action.

Item Nos                    Para No

14                                3

15                                3

16                                1 and 2

17                                3

To approve the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 4December 2019.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2019 be approved.

Members are asked to note an appendix in respect of Agenda Item 6.

The Sub-Committee considered a non-public appendix for Item 6: Capital Bids Update.

There were two questions.

There was one item of urgent business.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub-Committee received a confidential report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services in respect of a City of London Community Trigger Case Review.