Economy and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The minutes of the meeting of the Local Area Forum (LAF) – South held on 2 November, 2022 were presented for information. RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Local Area Forum – South held on 2 November, 2022 be noted.

The minutes of the meeting of the Local Area Forum (LAF) – Central held on 2 November, 2022 were presented for information. RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Local Area Forum – Central held on 2 November, 2022 be noted.

The minutes of the meeting of the North Wales Police and Crime Panel held on 26 September, 2022 were submitted for information. RESOLVED- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the North Wales Police and Crime Panel held on 26 September, 2022 be noted.

The Scrutiny and Committee Services Officer presented the Economy and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee Forward Work Programme (FWP), together with the Combined FWP. • No changes were reported to the FWPs. • Reference was made to the last meeting, when it had overrun its allocated timings and that perhaps agendas should be less congested. The Scrutiny and Committee Services Officer reassured Members that the FWP was reviewed regularly by the Chair and Vice Chair to ensure that agendas were not too overloaded, with a maximum of 4 items per agenda. However, on occasions some items attracted lengthy debate, which could result in meetings over running. RESOLVED- That the Economy and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee Forward Work Programme, together with the Combined Forward Work Programme be approved.

None.

The Housing Strategy Manager, together with the Conwy Housing Solutions Partnership Manager presented the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP). All Local Authorities were required to develop a 5 year Plan which set out the main stages of how they would move towards a Rapid Rehousing approach. In order to carry out meaningful engagement, before a final Plan was submitted to WG, the RRTP undertook a public consultation. A range of key stakeholders took part in the consultation and overall, the feedback was positive. A consultation report had been prepared and circulated as an appendix to the report. The report included a list of events that took place during the consultation period, the number of stakeholders, who took part and a summary of the results. Rapid Rehousing was a housing-led approach to rehousing people who had experienced homelessness. The Plan was to ensure people reached a settled housing option as quickly as possible, rather than staying in temporary accommodation for too long, which in turn, helped to avoid the destabilising and marginalising effects of prolonged homelessness or prolonged stays in emergency or temporary settings. The key elements of the approach were as follows: · A focus on helping people into permanent accommodation at the same time as, rather than after, addressing any other support needs. · No requirement to be assessed for ‘housing readiness in order to access accommodation. · Offering a package of assistance and multi-agency support, specially tailored to individual needs where required. · Helping people experiencing homelessness, or at risk of homelessness, with lower or no support needs and in doing so, minimising the negative impact homelessness can have on people. In scrutinising the report, Members made reference to the following: · It was noted that, since the publication of the Committee report, the level of demand for temporary accommodation had increased. - In response, the Conwy Housing Solutions Partnership Manager reported that demand was increasing and that, since the end of November, over 600 people had presented themselves homeless. Conwy County Borough Council (CCBC) was currently placing approximately 50-55 people a month into emergency accommodation. · The prevention of homelessness needed to be a primary focus. The need to consider alternative provision to temporary accommodation was also highlighted. · The importance of properties meeting the appropriate quality standards. · The need to increase the supply of affordable housing and strengthening partnership working arrangements with key services. · In response, the Strategic Director – Economy and Place advised that CCBC were currently looking at different approaches to meet the challenges surrounding the housing crisis, which included CCBC bringing forward sites and/or acquiring properties, which in turn would be managed through existing Registered Social Landlord management mechanisms. · Ensuring that correct support was in place (where necessary) to prevent repeat homelessness was acknowledged. · Utilising funding opportunities e.g. Empty Homes, Social Housing and the private sector. · It was noted that, currently there were 1500 empty homes and only 41 had been brought back into use. - In response, the Housing Strategy Manager advised that Housing Services, together with an Empty Homes Working Group, were proactively promoting the initiative with property owners via bulletins, on-line signposting etc. The number of empty homes being brought back into use would increase as the properties were brought back to use. · The need to work with private developers to bring forward affordable housing. Some sites were lying dormant/unfinished. An update on the number of sites currently in this position was requested. · Some concern was expressed regarding the numbers of vulnerable people being placed in emergency accommodation outside of County, which in turn, was problematic for services, friends and family. - In response, the Strategic Director – Economy and Place reiterated to Members, that housing stock in Conwy was limited, therefore, on occasion, placing out of County was the only option. · CCBC worked with all the resources available to try and house individuals close to support services. To date, approximately 25 people had been placed out of County, all of whom were prioritised for a move back, should a unit/place become available. It was noted that the RRTP had been further developed following the feedback from the consultation. · Discussion also arose regarding the current HMO provision in Conwy County. It was acknowledged that not all HMOs were problematic. RECOMMENDATION TO CABINET: That the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan be approved.

RESOLVED- That the Public and Press be excluded from the meeting under the provisions of Section 100A of the above Act during consideration of the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 12 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that in all the relevant circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.