Adults & Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee

5.1 The Chair introduced the item. 5.2 In response to Members’ questions the Executive Member for Adults and Communities, Group Manager Housing and Communities and the Commissioning Manager provided the following answers: • Housing was central to several County Plan objectives. This showed the significant priority of addressing housing issues to meet these objectives. • There was a challenge in respect of identifying new parcels of land for housing as there was not a large amount of land within Torfaen. However, there were properties being sought on the open market to be used as affordable housing solutions. • There was higher demand for services throughout the south of the borough. This was due to both house and rental prices increasing, influencing what people were able to access. • The removal of tolls on the Prince of Wales bridge was a driving factor in the increase of house prices. There was a flurry of activity as soon as the removal of tolls was announced which had drove rent and house prices. • The opening of the Grange Hospital had also driven prices but had also brought employment to the area. • Housing was a UK wide issue due to the significant increases in house prices. This had the consequence of people moving from areas where these price increases were most extreme, such as cities, and moving into cheaper areas such as Torfaen which consequently outprices homes for locals. • Accommodation pressures was around the release of offenders for such reasons as complex needs and behaviours and short remand durations. This had ultimately been affected by a lack of investment in this area. • Regional strategic work was undertaken within the RPB and the Health, Housing and Social Care group. An example of this work was Ty Glas Y Dorlan. • There was more regional work that could be undertaken, therefore a suggestion of a regional meeting of colleagues would be made. • The draft work plan had been completed. A lot of work had been undertaken to streamline this which led the plan to now focus on three themes. This plan would be taken to Strategic Leadership for endorsement prior to being presented to scrutiny for both recommendations and subsequent monitoring. • There had been several measures considered in respect of the plan which would be seen in more detail. These would consider a range of information across the whole partnership to understand any pressures surrounding accommodation. • There had been multiple reasons for the delay in opening Pearl House such as delays in development, issues with contracts and legal arrangements. It was hoped that the first resident would move into Pearl House mid-March. Staff who were hired to work at Pearl House were currently already working with the identified residents of Pearl House. • There had been no out of borough referrals taken in respect of Pearl House. • The funding for Pearl House had recently been commissioned and covered full costs. However, this funding was a grant, which could not be guaranteed but reassurance was given that the team was adept at managing this budget to ensure the best use of all funding. • Pearl House was a fantastic project but there had been a lot of unexpected costs associated with the fact this was a listed building. However, if the right conditions made themselves available again, there would be contemplation of undertaking this type of conversion work but with consideration of the lessons learnt. • The Council had received additional funding Welsh Government to recruit additional staff to the accommodation team in order to assume responsibility for managing properties. • The lease agreements were over a 5-year period and there had been a 2032 commitment for funding from Welsh Government. • The Leasing Scheme target of 1% of available properties by March 2027 would be met, but it was unlikely that the target of 10 properties would be met by the end of March 2025. • There were several benefits for Landlords that were associated with this scheme which had helped garner significant interest, which made the target of 1% not feel ambitious enough. • The Leasing Scheme was hugely cost effective for the Local Authority. • There were many services to support individuals who were providing a home to their family or friends, including families of young people in the form of mediation services. Information on these services could be found on the Torfaen County Borough Council and Homeseekers websites. • The sustainability of temporary accommodation was highly dependent on the ability to move people through the system. There were currently around 135 households in temporary accommodation due to delays within the move on system. However, there were additional measures in place to help manage this such as leasing from social landlords. • The lack of moving through the system was having an impact on general waiting lists, however, 40% of properties were ringfenced for move on arrangements. The lack of increase of the people registered for this service showed effective management. • There had been consideration of alternative accommodation designs, but these were not felt to be viable for Torfaen. However, working with private landlords to source flats to use as shared units had been identified as a viable option for the borough. • Housing first and then providing support did not work as hoped within Torfaen. Whilst there was still a housing first approach, this had been tailored to take time to understand each individuals’ needs in order to create a meaningful relationship to undertake work. • Community support was vital in respect of intervention and prevention as this also promoted strength and independency. Commissioning activities would be undertaken to look at the best use of funding in respect of community support. • Health needed to be part of the wider conversation around early intervention and prevention as mental health was felt to be one of the overarching issues in the case of early intervention. • Our provisions and support services were highly adept at reducing repeated homeless presentations. There had only been one individual that had experienced repeated homelessness recently out of a total of around 120 people. If a person resettled to a private rental there was still follow ups undertaken. • Feedback from service users had been highly positive. The service had continually evolved based on all feedback whether positive or negative. • The temporary to permanent housing pilot had been used on two occasions so far. There had been lessons learnt from the first pilot that were carefully considered when undertaking the second pilot. These residents were now thriving as tenants. • There were no plans to use the underspend in respect of funding. This would be put into a fund shared between all Local Authorities for use. • Homelessness will continue to rise due to the affordability of other options. There were already considerations of that could be undertaken in future, such as looking at the opportunity for the Council to be a guarantor for residents. • The Private Landlord Group run in Torfaen was the best attended nationally. 5.3 The Committee expressed their thanks to officers and for the visit to Pearl House and noted how well this project had been undertaken. The Officers left the meeting. 5.4 Recommendations Upon completion of their scrutiny activity, the Committee offered the following recommendations:- Recommendation 1:- The committee welcomed the Executive Member’s comments on regional working, recommending Cllr Daniels continue to pursue conversations with regards to exploring a different model for delivering regional work, specifically with neighbouring authorities to explore the potential for a model where a regional approach to identifying land parcels and SHG spend could be taken. Recommendation 2:- Taking into consideration lessons learnt from the Pearl House development and following assessment of its impact over the next 12 months, it was recommended to explore opportunities for identifying alternative, viable buildings in the borough for redevelopment Recommendation 3:- Members welcomed the assurance that affordable housing and/ or temporary accommodation was prioritised for those with a connection to the borough, recommending this approach continue to be adopted for all future provisions Recommendation 4:- With regard to moving to an Early Intervention and Prevention model with the belief that community action was best placed most of the time to help local people manage crises in their wellbeing, the committee recommended the health board be thoroughly engaged with the mapping of services and in ensuring a collaborative approach to delivering community-based support. Recommendation 5:- The committee commended the positive feedback received following website changes and service information redesign and recommended that further opportunities be explored, to promote the information and advice available such as engaging with the youth forum and other groups