Agenda item

Report of Phil McGrath from the YMCA – presentation and questions for a duration of 30 minutes.

In a detailed presentation, Phil McGrath, Secretary of Morecambe and Lancaster and District YMCA, told Members that the Lancaster and District YMCA, in partnership with Signposts, had submitted a successful tender for Homelessness Prevention Services, and the service had been running for 6 months.

Members were advised that access to the Doorstep Project had been a major focus for the first 6 months of the Homelessness Prevention contract, and Doorstep bases and access points had been established throughout the District, including substantive bases at Signposts Multi-Agency Resource Centre in Morecambe, and Lancaster and District YMCA’s base in Lancaster.

Access to the service had been increased and the service was being offered at other venues, 5 days a week from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.  It was intended that the service be further expanded as resources were identified and secured.  The service was also available and frequently accessed via the internet through the websites of the Lancaster and District YMCA and Signposts Multi-Agency Resource Centre, and by telephone.  Internet access also included a translation, which enabled the text on the website to be translated into a range of languages, and British Sign Language interpreters had been utilized to work with service users accessing the Project.

The Doorstep Project had worked with Lancaster and District Women’s Aid, where Domestic Abuse had caused potential homelessness, with the Lancaster National Offender Management Service in working with offenders and ex-offenders, and a range of other support services wherever homelessness prevention had become an issue for the service user.

The Project had strong links with services to ensure that alcohol/drugs/substance misusers, those with mental health problems, rough sleepers and the long-term homeless had access to the Doorstep Service and sustainable tenancies.  The Project was working with British Minority Ethnic Communities, including gipsies and travellers, and the Polish community, through interpreters and specialist support for those for whom English was not their first language.

The Doorstep Project’s pre-crisis work and had been successful in preventing service users from becoming homeless through a range of inputs, including liaison with landlords, supporting tenants in knowing their rights as a tenant and ensuring that relevant authorities were involved in cases of legal eviction, that the correct benefits were being claimed and by ensuring that the root causes of tenants’ housing difficulties were tackled through using a range of services, both in-house and externally, which also ensured that recurring homelessness was reduced.

The Accommodation Officer had worked with accommodation providers to ensure access to a wide range of accommodation and, through liaison with Lancaster University Students Union, to access former student only accommodation.  Through local lettings agencies, the impact of the Deposit Guarantee Scheme had been widened.  A central register of accommodation, available to the Private Sector, had been developed with Lancaster City Council. 

During the 6 month period, the Project had assisted 7 people in gaining council houses and secured accommodation for 87 properties with Private Landlords (40 of these being through the Deposit Guarantee Scheme).

Doorstep Project staff had worked to ensure that the needs of homeless young people were constantly monitored and appropriate accommodation sought, with direct access to Portland Street Emergency Accommodation Project and referral to 2a High Street, the Morecambe Foyer and Council Housing.  A schools programme had been commissioned for senior and junior schools, linking directly to the National Curriculum, and work had been delivered at Lancaster and Morecambe College Freshers’ Fair and presentations given to the Homelessness Forum in April 2009 and the Young Peoples Housing Forum and Mental Health Housing Forum.  A Housing Roadshow was currently being delivered and taken to 6 venues and other venues were being considered.

Members were advised that 167 referrals had been made to other agencies to give added value to the service, and the Project had exceeded expectations from a Council perspective.

A question and answer session followed the presentation.

Resolved:

That the Doorstep Project Team be thanked for their report.