Item 10 Appendix 3 - More than a Roof - Housing Solutions Strategy 2025-2028
West Dunbartonshire Council · 26 February 2025
Back to Housing & Communities Committee — 26 February 2025 and its agenda
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Assessment No 1222 Owner cmckay Resource Regeneration, Environment and Growth Service Housing and Employment FirstName Surname Job Title Head Officer Claire Mckay Housing Development Co- ordinator Members Donna Kirkwood-Senior Housing Development Officer Jennifer MacMahon - Senior Housing Development Officer Anna Stanislavchuk - Housing Development Officer (Please note: the word 'policy' is used as shorthand for strategy policy function or financial decision) Policy Title Housing Solutions Strategy The aim, objective, purpose and intended out come of policy It sets out the Council aims to tackle homelessness over the next three years with a key aim being to reduce homelessness in West Dunbartonshire. It also recognises that when it happens we provide good quality service to those who need and are clear what to expect. The four objectives of the strategy are; 1. Homelessness is prevented by providing good quality advice and information to enabled informed decisions on personal housing solutions, 2. Where homelessness does occur households are rehoused quickly, 3. Review and ensure there are a wide range of support services available to prevent and end homelessness, and 4. Working with partners to provide Interim options for temporary accommodation and best quality temporary accommodation where required. Service/Partners/Stakeholders/service users involved in the development and/or implementation of policy. Households expericing homelessness Staff of all WDC homeless services Stakeholders - other social landlords, housing operations colleagues - Health and social care partners, third sector Blue Triangle, other addiction and mental health services Surveys for the three groups created, along with community events and service user forcus groups. Attended team meetings and Stakeholders feedback via our Housing Solutions Partnership meetings. Does the proposals involve the procurement of any goods or services? Yes If yes please confirm that you have contacted our procurement services to discuss your requirements. No SCREENING You must indicate if there is any relevance to the four areas Duty to eliminate discrimination (E), advance equal opportunities (A) or foster good relations (F) Yes Relevance to Human Rights (HR) Yes Relevance to Health Impacts (H) Yes Relevance to Social Economic Impacts (SE) Yes Item 10 Appendix 3
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Who will be affected by this policy? Any resident in West Dunbartonshire Council who requires housing advice and those who require assistance from our homeless service (housing solutions). Who will be/has been involved in the consultation process? -Service users current and previous -Homeless Service Staff o Addictions o Mental Health o Adult Social Care o Criminal/Community Justice o Housing Associations o NHS o Third Sector Support o Throughcare o WDC Housing Operations o Woman’s Aid;
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Please outline any particular need/barriers which equality groups may have in relation to this policy list evidence you are using to support this and whether there is any negative impact on particular groups. Specific group to consider Needs Evidence Impact Age we have an ageing population in WDC but that's not reflected in our homeless presentations. We have one of the highest youth homelessness rates in the country. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), is now incorporated in Scottish Law. It is good practice to consider the impact council policies have on children and young people. Homeless applications age 16- 25 & % of all presentations: 2017/18 - 290 (28%) 2018/19 - 279 (27%) 2019/20 - 305 (30%) 2020/21 - 335 (32%) 2021/22 - 343 ( 28%) 2022/23 - 355 (29%) 2023/24 - 286 (26%) Below shows the ages of those who completed the consultation. 16-24 6 13% 25-34 12 26% 35-_44 11 24% 45-54 6 13% 55+ 11 24% (blank) 0% Grand Total 46 100% of those service users who completed the consultation survey. As our strategy recognises this group needs more tailored options it has a positive impact but not at the expense of other ages. Disability The Council has a duty to make its services accessible to disabled people. We routinely ask for medical needs/disability as part of the homeless assessment as we operate a person centred approach this ensures an offers of assitance of housing meets their needs. Of the closed homeless assessments for 2023/24 5% said they had a disability. Our strategy is person centred therefore our strategy has a positive impact as it also includes areas such as a hospital discharge protocol which could impact those with a disability in a ppositive way.
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Gender Reassign One in four trans people (25 per cent) have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. (Stonewall Research) Our updated equalities data questions have been rolled out to tenants and housing applicants. Across all WDC tenants, new tenants and all WDC housing applicants - 0.07% answered yes, 17% answered no and 4% preferred not to say. High % (80) still not answering at all so plan to monitor numbers and look to increase numbers where we can record an answer. All staff in homeless services completed LGBTQ+ awareness training on delivering services. We are also carrying out a consultation with this specific group with a view f creating a housing options pathway tailor to this groups need. Positive Marriage & Civil Partnership Strategy takes recognition of those in relationships, not and any relationship breakdowns The group with our largest presentations is from single people with 72% of applications being from a single household. One of are biggest reasons for why households have presented as homeless is relationship breakdown with 21% in 2023/24 presented as a result of a relationship breakdown. We also have a bespoke housing options pathway for those fleeing domestic violence which aim is to reduce the trauma experienced. Positive Pregnancy & Maternity Cross cuts with sex, with additional considerations Unsuitable accommodation has always covered women who were pregnant. However, there is a focus from the scottish government to reduce the numbers of children in temporary accommodation. Positive as its not at the expense of another group
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Race BME groups being more likely to be victims of racial discrimination. Services need to be accessible to users of other languages. 2023/24 stats show 87% of those who answered the question are White Scottish but also shows 1% Polish, 0.7% other Asian and 1% other ethnic not on the list. Due to wider asylum dispersal decisions there is a bigger various in the race of those presenting. However, we delivered a person centred service and therefore acknowledge different needs a requirements. We use language line as standard to ensure no language barriers and also ensure all our information is available in different languages. From our last round of consultation feedback received highlighting a concern that Gypsy/Travellers groups and accommodation were not specifically mentioned. However, as stated we provide a person centre approach therefore if we had someone from the travelling community present and did not want traditional accommodation his would be taken account of. Along side this the permanent travelling site is full and as we have a strong working relationship with the travelling community further discussions are taking place about additional sites however, this would not sit within this strategy. Our satisfaction from this community in general are exceptional high compared to our peers. positive Religion and Belief Race and religion are not identical but these can cross cut in cases of discrimination or harassment. Race and religion are not identical but these can cross cut in cases of discrimination or harassment. The overarching theme throughout our strategy is that the service we provide is person centred therefore all personal information and circumstances are taken into account. As Equality data is not compulsory we have a lower response with 51% do not respond to this. positive
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Sex Male and females have potential different experiences of homelessness. We collate gender details routinely as part of our assessments. We have also completed a gendered analysis as part of our RRTP, which has been updated for 24/25. Of those who presented in 2023/24, 45% were female (either single person or head of household). Which is a 1% decrease from 22/23. For those who presented as a result of domestic abuse 86% were female. An increase of 2%. In general more women have had a Prevent 1 case opened over the years than men. In 19/20, women accounted for 53% of the 243 Prevent 1 approaches. In 20/21, this was 59% of 375 approaches. 21/22 increased again to 61% of 647 cases . 22/23 was 61% of 447 cases and 23/24, 58% of 380. We have strong policies and process around domestic abuse approaches. ALthough this is gender neutral, women are still the highest proportion of those who report domestic violence. We also have strong working relationships with Violence Against Women Partnership. Additional domestic abuse rights for women are to be introduced within the new Housing Bill. We will therefore review our domestic abuse protocol in line with the new legislation. Of those who replied to online consultation; Female_ 25 54% Male_ 19 41% Non_Binary_ 1 2% Prefer_not_to_say_ 1 2% (blank) 0% Grand Total 46 100% positive
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Sexual Orientation Research by University of Surrey noted; Nearly 50% of LGBTQ+ people living in social housing accommodation do not feel a sense of belonging in their local community and over a quarter report feeling lonely in the area they live. Young LGBTQ+ are at risk of homelessness but there is often a undisclosed reason for being homeless. We have updated our equalities data to better capture those who use our service to better inform our policies. To help reduce any barriers, all front facing homeless service staff complete LQBTQ+ external training. We will also have surveyed LGBTQ+ community to highlight any barries they face accessing housing. This information will then be used to created a person centre housing pathway to help reduce barrier and provide a positive outcome. positive Human Rights Article 8, (private life etc) of the EHCR is especially relevant in this area. UNCRC considerations should be made, in this context Provision and Protection are most significant Housing is a basic human right, the aim of strategy to provide permanent housing as quickly as possible and in the right place is ensuring this right is met as soon as possible. Human rights considerations for individuals, families and Children and young people cross cut within the scope of this policy. positive Health The links between health and housing are endless. Homelessness/poor housing have a significant impact on health and lack of it negatively impacts individuals and families. Housing people as quickly as possible into settled accommodation will also have a positive impact. The strategy looks to stengthen partnership working with colleagues in health and social care with updated hospital discharge, addictions and mental health protocols which will also help with improved health. The strategy also covers support where health is a key area for all support services. positive.
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Social & Economic Impact WDC has some of the most deprived areas according to SIMD. Those on a lower income have reduced housing options and can live in poorer housing. Affordability is key within housing the strategy and in particular prevention actions include addressing affordability incuding a prevention fund to stop court action for social tenants. The service provides a whole system approach allowing more housing options to be affordable with our "Help to Rent" scheme to access private rented accommodation, along with fully utilising DHP to cover rent shortfalls or issues with under 35 LHA rates. temporray accommodation standards help ensure porerty same as mainstream which helps things like fuel costs as all meet SHQS positive Cross Cutting This strategy cuts across age, disability, health and social and economic impacts. This EIA also highlights that more information is required around sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race and religion. Many of the protocols and actions are cross cutting against many characteristics. Communication with services users should be informed by the Councils 'Communicating Effectively' guidance positive.
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Actions
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Policy has a negative impact on an equality group,but is still to be implemented, please provide justification for this. Will the impact of the policy be monitored and reported on an ongoing bases? The policy will be monitor annually and update a EIA as a minimum or as any further individual policies are created or amended. Q7 What is you recommendation for this policy? Intoduce Please provide a meaningful summary of how you have reached the recommendation EIA 1148: Having fully considered all characteristics, there are no negative impacts to any groups, only positive to young people, single households, pregnant women, religious, Gypsy/Travellers acknowledging different needs for different groups and not a one size fits all.