REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE HOUSING

AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

STRATEGIC POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING

HELD ON THURSDAY 18^th FEBRUARY, 2010

PRESENT:

Members:                                           Council Officials:

H-I(1)  Minutes

The minutes of the Housing and Social Development Strategic Policy Committee Meeting held on 12^th February, 2009 were proposed by Councillor E. Maloney seconded by Councillor C. King and confirmed and approved as a true record and signed.

 H-I(2)  Matters Arising 

            It was NOTED there was no business under this heading.

 H-I(3)  HOMELESS  

A presentation was made by Mr Cathal Morgan, Director of the Homeless Agency.

The following report which had been circulated was NOTED:

 “The vision contained in the Homeless Agency’s Action Plan 2007 – 2010 is the ending of long term homelessness and the need to sleep rough in Dublin by the end of 2010.  This vision is underpinned by three strategic aims:

-                     The prevention of homelessness

-                     The provision of effective services in each of the four Dublin local authority areas

-                     The provision of sufficient long term housing with appropriate supports as required.

In conjunction with the implementation of the Homeless Strategy, Pathway to Home, from the 1^st April 2010 the Homeless Persons Unit which is located in the City Centre and provides an assessment and placement service to the four Dublin Authorities on an agency basis will cease to operate those functions.  From that date on all persons presenting as homeless will have to call to the relevant Council and will be assessed and, where necessary, placed in emergency accommodation by the Council.  South Dublin County has established a Homeless Unit to specifically address the needs of homeless persons who present from that date.

While it is the intention that all emergency accommodation for homeless persons should be within their own County, it is recognised that this is not possible in the short term and some of the existing emergency accommodation currently in use will continue for some time to allow an orderly withdrawal from it and its replacement in the other Counties.  The Council is actively seeking to progress the provision of emergency accommodation in the Tallaght and Clondalkin areas in particular and has identified a number of options which are currently being explored.

In 2007, the Board of the Homeless Agency Partnership adopted a statement of direction for emergency and transitional housing and support services called Pathways to Home, that identified the need to put in place ‘a model of housing and related housing and care services that support and maintain successful tenancies’.  It is also the aim to ensure that emergency accommodation is returned to its original intended use of being a short term support for homeless persons and to this end to move all persons residing in such accommodation into mainstream housing within 6 months. 

To enable the achievement of this aim, the DoEHLG has provided two targeted schemes to address the long term housing needs of people progressing from emergency accommodation to independent living.  These schemes are known as Support to Live Independently (SLí) and the Homeless RAS initiative.  Both of these schemes envisage the procurement of accommodation largely in the private sector on a long term basis.  In the case of SLí accommodation, low to medium supports will be provided on a reducing basis for a period through a general support service which the DoEHLG and Homeless Agency are in the process of procuring.  The RAS option will accommodate those who have little or no support requirements.  Tenants allocated housing under the schemes will be required to pay a rent based on the Council’s Differential Rent Scheme. 

The DoEHLG has indicated that the funding of the strategy will come from the proceeds of savings on emergency accommodation which is currently being used as mainstream housing and that it will be of  a similar level to what was provided in 2009. 

The four Dublin Local Authorities are currently undertaking a review of the particular challenges which exist in relation to persons becoming homeless following eviction on the grounds of anti-social behaviour with a view to the development of a uniform approach on a regional basis.

 The Council’s Scheme of Letting Priorities sets out the criteria for eligibility for housing based on homeless priority.  It is not envisaged that these criteria will need to be amended at this time.  The receipt of applications for housing accommodation significantly increased in 2009 and in line with current practice those applying for housing on the grounds of homelessness are placed on the Homeless Register for priority housing.  They are not included on the Housing List as well.

This Council is currently examining a number of options for the provision of Emergency accommodation within the County.  Specifically the use of Liscarne House in Clondalkin is being examined at present and other locations are being investigated.  A report will be brought to the Council in the near future in this regard.

 The Council has already been extremely active in the development of services for homeless persons within its administrative area and the following provides a brief summary of the services developed to date:

Transitional Accommodation

South Dublin County Council provides quarterly funding to each of the service providers towards the management and maintenance costs of these facilities.

Long Term Accommodation

The Council developed a project with Focus Ireland for the provision of 24 single person units at Deerpark, Tallaght allocated primarily to those registered as homeless with the Council and the units have been fully allocated.A further project developed with Peamount Housing Association involved the provision of ten single person units for homeless persons and the units are fully allocated.

Women’s Refuge

A premises has been provided by the Council in Tallaght for use as a women’s refuge with capacity for six families to be accommodated at any one time.  The service is managed by Saoirse Housing Association.  The refuge is fully operational since December 2006.

Outreach Service

 The Council has appointed an Outreach Worker whose work focuses on:

-                     Interviewing and assessing the needs of applicants for inclusion on the Council’s Homeless Register.

-                     Families in emergency accommodation

-                     Long term residents of hostels

-                     People sleeping rough

Tenancy Sustainment Service

 The Council has established a Tenancy Sustainment Service to provide tenancy support for homeless persons being allocated permanent housing and to address the needs of existing tenants within the public, voluntary and private rented housing sectors who may be vulnerable to homelessness.

In 2009, South Dublin County Council directly provided permanent accommodation to 23 homeless applicants with a further 10 being accommodated in the voluntary housing sector.  At present, there are 91 applicants on the Council’s Homeless Register.  Of those, 50 are in Transitional Housing, 37 are in hostel / B&B emergency accommodation and 4 are accommodated in hospital.

The Council is fully committed to implementation of the Homeless Strategy, will continue to develop the provision of local responses to meet the needs of homeless applicants within the Council’s administrative area and has set up a dedicated team from within existing resources in order to streamline the implementation of the Strategy.”

Following a discussion to which Councillors E. Maloney and M. Duff contributed Mr. B. Coman, Director of Housing and Social Development, responded to queries raised.

 The presentation and report was NOTED and it was AGREED that Homeless would remain as a standing item on future agendas for the Housing and Social Development Strategic Policy Committee.

H-I(4)  DEVELOPMENT PLAN PARTV/AFFORDABLE

The following presentation which had been circulated was NOTED:

Mr. B. Coman, Director of Housing and Social Development, summarised the presentation.

Following a discussion to which Councillors E. Maloney, B. Lawlor, G. Kenny, M. McDonagh, M. Duff, and P. Kearns contributed Mr. B. Coman, Director of Housing and Social Development, responded to queries raised.

The report was NOTED and it was AGREED that Sectoral Net Affordability as outlined in the presentation be 15%.

H-I (5) ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR STRATEGY

The following report which had been circulated was NOTED:

“The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 requires each Housing Authority to draw up and adopt An Anti Social Behaviour Strategy in respect of

·         Dwellings let by the Housing Authority to tenants under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2009

·         Dwellings in which relevant purchasers reside

·         Sites for the Accommodation of Travellers

·         Dwellings covered by the Rental Accommodation Scheme

·         Dwellings owned and provided by Housing Associations

The significant anti-social behaviour provisions in the 2009 Act came into operation on 1 December 2009, as provided for in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 (Commencement) Order, 2009 (S.I. No. 449 of 2009) primarily:

·         Section 35 of the Act, requires the elected members of each housing authority to draw up and adopt an anti-social behaviour strategy within one year of the commencement of the section, that is to say, by 30 November 2010. The strategy must set out measures to promote good estate management and co-operation with other bodies, such as the Gardaí, that have a role to play in combating anti-social behaviour

·          Items 1(a) and 5 of Part 5 of Schedule 2, amending the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997, to extend the definition of "anti-social behaviour" to cover graffiti and damage to property, and to apply existing anti-social behaviour provisions, including the power to exchange information about housing applicants or beneficiaries engaged in anti-social behaviour, to a broader range of social accommodation, including accommodation provided through rental arrangements.

Before the strategy can be adopted the Council must consult with a range of bodies including the joint Policing Committee, The Garda Siochana, the HSE and any other person considered appropriate by the Council. A good deal of preparatory work has been undertaken in the drawing up of a draft strategy  by a sub committee of the last Housing and Social SPC.  The strategy will apply to those parts of its administrative area where the authority has: -

(a) dwellings let under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2009;

(b) dwellings that are the subject of Chapter 4 tenancy agreements [RAS]¹;

(c) dwellings in which relevant purchasers live; and

(d) sites for travellers (site in this context is defined in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997, as amended).

Link to the new legislation for information

The draft strategy contains a good start at a blueprint for how the Council will deal with Anti Social Behaviour in the future in a multi-faceted way.  The valuable working relationships which have been cultivated with the Gardaí and the HSE will be utilised to the full so as to deal effectively with the serious cases which the Council is presented with.  Experience has shown that a multi agency approach produces the most positive outcomes when dealing with complicated cases where anti social behaviour is often a symptom of underlying dysfunctionality within families.  All too often the obvious solution of eviction may not be the best solution in the interest of all family members.

The first step in the coordinated and collaborative approach to serious anti social incidents, which is being implemented, involves ensuring that all sections and departments of the Council are fully involved and engaged in finding solutions to the numerous problem cases which arise annually.

It should also be noted however that the Council is now adopting a very tough attitude to tenants or sub-tenants who show unwillingness to engage in a meaningful way with it or other agencies incorporating a regime of warnings whereby a Verbal Warning will be followed by a Written Warning and subsequently Notice to Quit and proceedings in the Civil Courts if initial responses are not considered adequate and genuine.

It should be noted that as the responsibility for the reception and placement of homeless now rests fully with the all 4 Dublin Councils it will be necessary to bring forward strategies which will be broadly similar and complimentary in this area. 

To assist the Council in drawing up the ASB Strategy it is now recommended that any member wishing to consider suggestions to the draft policy / strategy may meet in person with Billy Coman Director Services and Hugh Hogan Senior Executive Officer and we would encourage members of the Housing SPC to do so to assist in the formulation of the new Strategy.”

Mr. B. Coman, Director of Housing and Social Development, summarised the report.

Following a discussion to which Councillors E. Maloney, M. McDonagh and G. Kenny contributed, Mr. B. Coman, Director of Housing and Social Development, responded to queries raised.

The report was NOTED and it was AGREED to have a specific meeting on this subject at the end of March 2010.

H-I (6) ANY OTHER BUSINESS

It was NOTED there was no business under this heading.

The meeting concluded at  7.10 pm