Agenda item

Street Culture Task Group Recommendations

Report of the Street Culture Task Group

Minutes:

7.1

The Committee received a report of the Street Culture Scrutiny Task Group which provided details of the Group’s examination of Street Culture and included its findings and recommendations. 

 

 

7.2

The Chair (Councillor Chris Peace) took the Committee through the report, which provided an overview, details of the approach taken, findings, recommendations, issues for future consideration and conclusion.

 

 

7.3

Also present for this item was Councillor Tony Downing (Cabinet Adviser for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety).

 

 

7.4

Members of the Task Group commented on their involvement, making particular reference to the positive work being undertaken by the City Centre Ambassadors, the need to be clear on the difference between rough sleeping and begging, the need for Council Members to report rough sleeping hotspots, the predominance of people who had been released from prison amongst those sleeping rough, the need to encourage local businesses to become involved and the Help Us Help campaign.

 

 

7.5

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

 

 

 

(a)       thanks Councillor Tony Downing (Cabinet Adviser for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety) and the members of the Street Culture Scrutiny Task Group for their contribution to the meeting;

 

 

 

(b)       notes the contents of the report and Members’ comments;

 

 

 

(c)        approves the report’s recommendations as follows:-

 

 

 

“(1)      Support what is done now across the system. We recommend areas for improvement in education of others to improve our message about rough sleepers, and for example the relationship with begging, and particularly raising profile and awareness of “Help Us Help” through media;

 

 

 

(2)       Ensure the system is effective for all those involved in working at the frontline on the street and that they know how/where to get the right support for an individual, enhanced through common training & culture in frontline organisations of handling individuals;

 

 

 

(3)       Encourage the sharing of information and systems that support joined up provision and collaboration – both technical and relationship – and that the current good communications and relationships across agencies continue to be formalised so that they are not dependent on individuals or impacted negatively by changes in personnel;

 

 

 

(4)       We support and reinforce our previous recommendation that having heard testimony from a range of experts in the field of homelessness, that the excellent work by different agencies, including Help Us Help, be given the opportunity to develop further before the idea of a Night Café be considered.  Further, whilst commending the intentions behind this idea, note the concerns about its safety expressed by some contributors at the committee meeting on 9th November and subsequently to the task group;

 

 

 

(5)       We do have some concerns about current provision, for example what are the alternatives when some provision is not there e.g. Ben’s Centre on Wednesdays, and the suggestion that addiction services be offered outreach as well as drop-in, and we ask Cabinet to lead on a response to this;

 

 

 

(6)       We have a concern with the robustness of communication on Weather Watch, and ask that the channels of communication for informing Weather Watch is in operation be reviewed and/or monitored;

 

 

 

(7)       We want to feed our recommendations into multi agency working for further response.  For example to the City Centre task groups and into the action plan of the workshop held on 11 October 2017;

 

 

 

(8)       We would recommend that Committee findings be shared with health providers for a response.  We would like to see that access to universal health services is not disadvantaged by being of no fixed abode or in a hostel, especially mental health services, as we believe these are essential to tackle predominant underlying issues for rough sleepers, street beggars and substance misusers;

 

 

 

(9)       We seek reassurance that should the Authority take the legislative route of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) where appropriate, it would be implemented proportionately. We would welcome early engagement in development of any Sheffield PSPO and ask the Cabinet Member to include the Committee, or its task group, in the development process; and

 

 

 

(10)     Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 should be included in the scrutiny work programme 2018/19 – review of impact and actions in Sheffield.”

 

 

 

(d)       requests that Cabinet provides an initial response to the recommendations by July 2018; and

 

 

 

(e)       requests that Cabinet leads on behalf of partners to provide a multi-agency response for October 2018.