Agenda item

9.1

It was formally moved by Councillor Penny Baker, and formally seconded by Councillor Barbara Masters, that this Council:-

(a)      notes with alarm the significant projected overspend of £8.4m due to a shortfall in DWP subsidy for our Housing Benefit bill, which has increased rapidly, and specifically:-

(i)       notes that £4.9m of this overspend is due to increased Council homeless placements in B&B’s and hotels, and reaffirms its support for increasing social housing stock, work on void performance, and working with partner organisations to expand available housing to relieve homelessness; and

(ii)       notes that £3.5m of this overspend is due to increased numbers of people using exempt Supported Accommodation (SA), which is not commissioned by the Council or regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), and notes that £2.6m of the overspend within supported accommodation is due to placements by a single provider, which has reportedly provided just one hour of support to residents per fortnight;

(b)      notes that:-

(i)       serious concerns have been raised around the quality of support provided in the unregulated Exempt SA sector, with a Select Committee report stating that “in the worst instances the system involves the exploitation of vulnerable people who should be receiving support, while unscrupulous providers make excessive profits by capitalising on loopholes […] all paid for by taxpayers through housing benefit”; and

(ii)       despite limited information due to a nationwide lack of regulation, similar concerns have been raised within Sheffield, with one former provider perpetrating “institutional financial abuse of residents”, and one large currently operating provider prosecuted for providing “unsafe and unsatisfactory accommodation”;

(c)      believes that quality SA is necessary to support residents and relieve the crisis in homeless provision, however, believes that low quality supported accommodation is seriously harmful to vulnerable people and detrimental to the Council’s finances;

(d)      notes incoming new Local Authority powers from the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act (subject to consultation), including:-

(i)       an obligation to develop a SA strategy; and

(ii)       a potential discretionary power to introduce a licensing scheme for exempt SA; and

(e)      therefore, resolves to ask the Housing Policy Committee to:-

(i)       engage with Government consultation and consider supporting the introduction of a SA licensing scheme in Sheffield;

(ii)       consider investigating whether the largest exempt accommodation providers are providing quality support for vulnerable people, and value for money for Sheffield taxpayers;

(iii)      consider whether to introduce a policy to require future tendered services to avoid referring into non-registered exempt supported accommodation where possible; and

(iv)      consider writing to the Government requesting reform to Housing Benefit subsidy regulations to remove this financial burden.

9.2

Whereupon, it was formally moved by Councillor Nabeela Mowlana, and formally seconded by Councillor Fran Belbin, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.       the addition of a new sub-paragraph (a)(iii) as follows:-

(a)(iii)  notes that the need for the regulation of the Supported Accommodation sector was identified in 2020 by Steve McCabe MP who highlighted concerns about the growing number of exempt accommodation providers housing vulnerable people without any expertise or experience and so launched the Supported Accommodation Bill to legislate for proper checks on the support provided by these registered providers, a fit and proper check on potential landlords and the standard of accommodation to ensure all tenants are safe and receive appropriate support;

2.       the addition of a new paragraph (c) as follows, and the re-lettering of original paragraphs (c) to (e) as new paragraphs (d) to (f):-

(c)(i)   notes that the Local Government Association (LGA) wants to see a locally-led fully funded oversight and enforcement regime for exempt accommodation within a strengthened national regulatory framework, stating that this should include a requirement for all exempt accommodation providers to be Registered Providers, and ensure that councils’ responses can be tailored to the challenges they face and the contexts of local housing markets and demand; and

(ii)       further notes that the LGA has highlighted that most councils’ concerns about non-commissioned exempt accommodation could also be addressed by establishing council control over all referrals into exempt accommodation supported housing in their area;

9.3

It was then formally moved by Councillor Douglas Johnson, and formally seconded by Councillor Bernard Little, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.       the substitution, in paragraph (c), of the words “good quality SA” for the words “quality SA”;

2.       the addition of new paragraphs (d) to (f) as follows, and the re-lettering of original paragraphs (d) and (e) as new paragraphs (g) and (h):-

(d)      notes the loss of 32,245 Council homes through Right to Buy and believes the transfer of so many homes from the public sector to private landlords through the consequences of this policy is one of the drivers of the current record levels of homelessness and use of temporary accommodation;

(e)      believes that this Council is currently doing what it can to increase the amount of social housing, despite all parties having to face the reality of inflation in the construction sector and the consequent reduction in the expected number of new homes that can be built;

(f)       believes that not everyone gets the same chance in housing and recognises that many groups, such as refugees, are more likely to experience homelessness than people who are not refugees and may also experience worse standards when living in temporary accommodation.

9.4

The amendment moved by Councillor Nabeela Mowlana was put to the vote and was carried unanimously.

9.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Douglas Johnson was then put to the vote andwas carried.

9.5.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 64 Members; AGAINST - 1 Member; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.  Although Labour Group and Sheffield Community Councillors Group Members voted for, they voted against paragraph (e) in Part 2 of the amendment.)

9.6

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:-

(a)      notes with alarm the significant projected overspend of £8.4m due to a shortfall in DWP subsidy for our Housing Benefit bill, which has increased rapidly, and specifically:-

(i)       notes that £4.9m of this overspend is due to increased Council homeless placements in B&B’s and hotels, and reaffirms its support for increasing social housing stock, work on void performance, and working with partner organisations to expand available housing to relieve homelessness;

(ii)       notes that £3.5m of this overspend is due to increased numbers of people using exempt Supported Accommodation (SA), which is not commissioned by the Council or regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), and notes that £2.6m of the overspend within supported accommodation is due to placements by a single provider, which has reportedly provided just one hour of support to residents per fortnight; and

(iii)      notes that the need for the regulation of the Supported Accommodation sector was identified in 2020 by Steve McCabe MP who highlighted concerns about the growing number of exempt accommodation providers housing vulnerable people without any expertise or experience and so launched the Supported Accommodation Bill to legislate for proper checks on the support provided by these registered providers, a fit and proper check on potential landlords and the standard of accommodation to ensure all tenants are safe and receive appropriate support;

(b)      notes that:-

(i)       serious concerns have been raised around the quality of support provided in the unregulated Exempt SA sector, with a Select Committee report stating that “in the worst instances the system involves the exploitation of vulnerable people who should be receiving support, while unscrupulous providers make excessive profits by capitalising on loopholes […] all paid for by taxpayers through housing benefit”; and

(ii)       despite limited information due to a nationwide lack of regulation, similar concerns have been raised within Sheffield, with one former provider perpetrating “institutional financial abuse of residents”, and one large currently operating provider prosecuted for providing “unsafe and unsatisfactory accommodation”;

(c)      (i)       notes that the Local Government Association (LGA) wants to see a locally-led fully funded oversight and enforcement regime for exempt accommodation within a strengthened national regulatory framework, stating that this should include a requirement for all exempt accommodation providers to be Registered Providers, and ensure that councils’ responses can be tailored to the challenges they face and the contexts of local housing markets and demand; and

(ii)       further notes that the LGA has highlighted that most councils’ concerns about non-commissioned exempt accommodation could also be addressed by establishing council control over all referrals into exempt accommodation supported housing in their area;

(d)      believes that good quality SA is necessary to support residents and relieve the crisis in homeless provision, however, believes that low quality supported accommodation is seriously harmful to vulnerable people and detrimental to the Council’s finances;

(e)      notes the loss of 32,245 Council homes through Right to Buy and believes the transfer of so many homes from the public sector to private landlords through the consequences of this policy is one of the drivers of the current record levels of homelessness and use of temporary accommodation;

(f)       believes that this Council is currently doing what it can to increase the amount of social housing, despite all parties having to face the reality of inflation in the construction sector and the consequent reduction in the expected number of new homes that can be built;

(g)      believes that not everyone gets the same chance in housing and recognises that many groups, such as refugees, are more likely to experience homelessness than people who are not refugees and may also experience worse standards when living in temporary accommodation;

(h)      notes incoming new Local Authority powers from the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act (subject to consultation), including:-

(i)       an obligation to develop a SA strategy; and

(ii)       a potential discretionary power to introduce a licensing scheme for exempt SA; and

(i)       therefore, resolves to ask the Housing Policy Committee to:-

(i)       engage with Government consultation and consider supporting the introduction of a SA licensing scheme in Sheffield;

(ii)       consider investigating whether the largest exempt accommodation providers are providing quality support for vulnerable people, and value for money for Sheffield taxpayers;

(iii)      consider whether to introduce a policy to require future tendered services to avoid referring into non-registered exempt supported accommodation where possible; and

(iv)      consider writing to the Government requesting reform to Housing Benefit subsidy regulations to remove this financial burden.

9.6.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 66 Members; AGAINST - 0 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members. Although Labour Group and Sheffield Community Councillors Group Members voted for, they voted against paragraph (f) of the Substantive Motion. Although Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted for, he voted against paragraphs (e) and (f) of the Substantive Motion.)