Agenda and minutes

Cllr Anwen Muston, Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised it was also being live streamed to the press and public.

Cllr Muston explained the process to be followed during the meeting for asking questions.

The following apologies were received for the meeting:

Chris Howell,Commercial Regulation Manager

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record]

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 February 2023 be approved as a correct record.

[Anthony Walker, Head of Homelessness and Migration, to present report]

The Chair invited Anthony Walker, Head of Homelessness and Migration, to give the presentation. 

The Head of Homelessness gave the Government’s definition of the phrase ‘rough sleepers’ which refers specifically to people either sleeping or about to bed down in the open air or public spaces which would not be deemed as accommodation.

The Head of Homelessness advised the panel that people do habitually rough sleep despite having secure accommodation and reassured members that the outreach service offers every individual help to access support services and housing.

The Head of Homelessness advised the panel that the Rough Sleeper Annual Count took place on Thursday 10 November 2022 between 11:45pm to 2:30am across five locations in the City.

The Head of Homelessness commented that there has been a slow reduction in the numbers of rough sleepers over the last few months after an increase in numbers during autumn 2022.

The Head of Homelessness advised the panel that an organisation P3 have been commissioned to provide rough sleeper services for the City until April 2025. The service is delivered in partnership with other voluntary and community sector organisations.

The Head of Homelessness advised that the life expectancy for people sleeping rough is considerably lower than the national average, 43 years for women and 47 years for men, in comparison to 82 years women and 79 years for men in the UK. In addition, people with a history of rough sleeping experience severe mental health inequalities when compared to the general population.

The Head of Homelessness commented on trends highlighted in the survey, some of which are more challenging to address due to additional factors, for example, personal choice or complex immigration status or substance misuse. The Head of Homelessness added that most individuals sleeping rough in Wolverhampton are not homeless and have accommodation options, but issues such as mental health or substance misuse is a barrier to them using their settled accommodation.

The Head of Homelessness commented on the findings from monthly survey count detailing the numbers of people regularly sleeping rough in Wolverhampton. The monitoring findings are submitted to the DLUHC. The monthly figures have remained low since November 2022.

John Denley, Director of Public Health, commented on the improvements in reducing the number of people sleeping rough when compared to the situation four years ago where 35 people were recorded as sleeping rough. The Director highlighted the challenges facing the professional service, for example, providing support to people with dual diagnosis – a very significant substance misuse and acute mental health issues in terms of them being able to access appropriate support services. 

The Director added that in this example, unless you can stabilise a person’s mental health situation it will be a challenge to address their substance misuse issues and vice versa. The Director commented on the efforts of the service and the wider partnership to reduce the numbers of people rough sleeping to single figures, despite the current economic challenges.

The Head of Homelessness outlined the details  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

[Hannah Pawley, Community Safety Manager, to present report]

The Chair invited Hannah Pawley, Community Safety Manager, to present the report

The Community Safety Manager presented the draft Community Safety Strategy consultation document for comment. The Community Safety Manager explained that the strategy was informed following a workshop session in March 2023 with members of Safer Wolverhampton Partnership (SWP) Board to agree the priorities.

The Safer Wolverhampton Partnership is a statutory board which was established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. A key responsibility of the partnership board is to develop a strategic plan around how the City is going to address crime and disorder issues. The current strategy is due to expire in 2023.

The document was now being presented to share with panel members about the proposed direction of travel for the strategy.

The Community Safety Manager advised the panel that the document is a multi-agency strategy

The Community Safety Manager commented that a decision was made to widen the board membership. There are resident representatives and voluntary sector and regional bodies on the SWP Board. There is an understanding that the priorities of the partnership need to be flexible to able to respond to emerging crime trends or legislative changes.

The Community Safety Manager gave a summary of the six SWP strategic priorities and the commented on the expected achievements and how success will be measured.

The Community Safety Manager commented on the key considerations or challenges to achieving the priorities, for example, a challenge was how to measure the effectiveness of a strategy which is centred around prevention, how to align the priorities with other strategic priorities to avoid the risk of duplication.

The Community Safety Manager commented on the responsibilities of Wolverhampton Safeguarding Together, Safer Wolverhampton Partnership Board and the Health and Wellbeing Together Board and their responsibilities for the local delivery proposals outlined in the presentation.

The Community Safety Manager commented on the key partners, stakeholders, and communities to be consulted with about the draft strategy and the proposed timeline for endorsing the document. A report will be presented to Cabinet in October 2023 for approval of the community safety strategy.

The Community Safety Manager commented on the role of local communities to influence the delivery of the strategic priorities. A series of community online consultation meetings planned which will also be promoted amongst key partners.

The Community Safety Manager advised the panel that there has been a review of the Partners and Communities Together (PACT) and commented that the groups were not considered to be effective everywhere. The role of PACT was considered to have a key role in supporting and delivering the priorities in the strategy

The Community Safety Manager added that there was also the issue of inconsistency in terms of members of the public and partner organisation representative at PACT meetings.

The proposed changes are aimed at increasing attendance while accepting that there is a not a one size fits all approach for each of the PACT areas.

The Community Safety Manager advised the panel that starting in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present report]

The Chair invited Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present the report.

The Scrutiny Officer advised the panel that the report outlines the agenda items for the remainder of the municipal year. The work programme will be updated to reflect the previous discussions on the agenda.

The Scrutiny Officer advised the panel that suggestions were welcome on specific areas that members would like reports to cover and any new topics that they would like to be added.

A panel member suggested a report on the future of PACT meetings be added to the panel work programme for November 2023.

A panel member suggested a report on aids and home adaptations as there was concern about 220 estimated people waiting for an occupational health assessment and the impact that this is having on the health and wellbeing of people, affected by the delay. The panel highlighted the issue of people living in a property which cannot be adapted and who are finding it difficult to get a transfer to a suitable property where this work could be done. As a result, they are having to wait several years to find a suitable property through the housing transfer system.

A panel member suggested adding an extra meeting to the panel work programme in October 2023.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report.

Resolved:

1.    The Scrutiny Officer to update the draft work programme.

2.    The panel agreed to add an extra date to the panel work programme to be held in October 2023.

[Chris Howell, Commercial Regulation Manager, and William Humphries, Service Manager Private Sector Housing, to present report]

The Chair advised the panel that the agenda was exempt. The Panel agreed the following resolution

That in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information on the grounds shown below

This report is exempt from publication under Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), Part 1, Paragraph 6a.

The Chair invited William Humphries, Service Manager Private Sector Housing and James Turner,Environmental Health Team Leader, to present the report.

Steve Evans, Cabinet Member for City Housing, outlined the background to the proposals and expressed support for the plan to improve housing standards in the private sector.

The panel discussed the proposal to introduce a housing licensing scheme.

The panel discussed the risks and benefits about the introduction of the scheme.

The panel thanked the presenters for the report.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to support the proposals outlined in the presentation to introduce a housing licensing scheme in Wolverhampton.

2.    The Service Manager Private Sector Housing to consider the panel comments on the proposal.

3.    The panel agreed to receive a further report on plans to a meeting in February 2024.

4.    The Service Manager Private Sector Housing to present an update six months after any proposed housing licensing scheme has been implemented.