Issue - meetings

To consider the response from Strategic & Community Housing Services to the questions from the review panel. 

10.1          The panel was keen to understand the relationship between Haringey Strategic and Community Housing Services, Children and Young People Service and Adult Services. In addition to receiving written responses to a list of questions constructed by the panel (appendix 1), The Head of Housing Needs & Lettings, Strategic & Community Housing Services (SCHS) was invited to a meeting of the Review Panel to outline the services on offer to this client group.  In response to a question on how many young adults in this category were housed by the Council, including a breakdown in terms of gender age, and ethnicity the Panel learned that SCHS did not have precise numbers in this group, however the Special Needs Team had dealt with over 200 cases which included families with young adults. When a young person who was part of a household that was homeless or potentially homeless and to whom the Council had a statutory responsibility under the Housing Act 1996, they could be assisted initially with temporary accommodation and ultimately permanent accommodation.  This was dependent on other factors and included an assessment process involving the Council and the Special Needs Team where there are physical or mental health issues. 

10.2          The Panel noted that the current lettings policy (under review) awards specific points for medical, mental health, lack of facility or property conditions.  This, along with a dedicated housing advice and options team meant that the SCHS could also assist by exploring alternative options such as resettlement in the private sector with support. 

10.3          Those young people with physical disabilities needing specific adapted accommodation might prove difficult to house as adapted units were very scarce.  The SCHS was working with Housing Association partners to increase the supply of this type of accommodation.  Whilst the council was looking at increasing supply, it was acknowledged that there were a number of competing priorities and there were less than 100 adapted properties in the borough. It was felt that the Council was reactive rather than proactive in this area, however there were discussions about the possibility of providing a quota system with a number of units set aside to be able to more effectively meet the needs of different client groups with specialist needs. The panel also noted that there was no Service Level Agreement between relevant services

Referrals to SCHS

10.4          The Panel asked SCHS whether they could identify how young people in transition were referred to them, whether the system worked and the possibility that some clients might be in need but were unknown to them. The Panel heard that it was not always easy to identify this client group as there were no specific monitoring arrangements in place in the Housing Service to distinguish them.  As a result of the scrutiny investigation, the panel learned that dialogue was to take place with SCHS colleagues in Social Care in order that appropriate mechanisms could be developed to identify and capture this specific need. Only a small proportion of households/young adults were formally  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9