Conwy’s Housing Support Grant Programme Strategy sets out the strategic direction for the Council’s housing related support and homeless prevention services for the next four years.
The Strategy also sets out the Council’s priorities for the next four years. These priorities are as a result of findings from the Council’s r needs assessment and also from feedback from stakeholders and partners.
The Strategy also satisfies the existing statutory requirements for a homelessness strategy under Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014. Conwy’s Homeless Strategy for 2018-2022 has been reviewed and is incorporated into this document.
With more people in temporary housing and being supported to exit homelessness there is a need to build on the work done during the pandemic, and to focus on tackling the issues that cause homelessness and the barriers people experience when trying to move to sustainable accommodation during a time where the housing market is changing and demand for affordable housing is increasing.
Ending homelessness is not just about the provision of accommodation but is also about ensuring sustainability of that accommodation with intervention; support services and removing barriers to employment. This Strategy will aim to remove those barriers and target trauma-informed support services to support those in need.
This Strategy will also develop key messages for key partners and ensure that they play a part in the prevention and ending of homelessness. This is ‘everyone’s’ business, it is not just a housing issue.
There are currently a range of political initiatives that have either been introduced or are under development that will influence the future provision, direction and delivery of housing related support services for vulnerable people across North Wales, particularly the imminent removal of priority need.
This Act sets out to improve the supply, quality and standards of housing in Wales. It includes a strengthened duty on local authorities to prevent homelessness. The Housing Support Grant makes a significant contribution to the implementation of Part 2 of this Act, which is focused on homeless prevention. It also reduces or prevents the need for often more costly intervention from other public services.
Part 2 of the Housing Wales Act places a statutory duty on each local authority in Wales to carry out a homeless review and formulate a homelessness strategy. This Strategy’s targeted prevention priority aims to support Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 to ensure people who approach the local authority who are at risk of homelessness are abl to get help at the earliest opportunity to try to maintain their accommodation. This will be done with advice and support where required.
This Act aims to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales, by placing the sustainable development principle at the heart of all decision making. One key element of the sustainable development principle is a focus on prevention, which aligns closely with the central aims of the Housing Support Grant.
This Act requires authorities to think about the long-term impact of its decisions, work better with people, communities and each other and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change.
The Act requires public bodies by law to do what they do in a more sustainable way. It requires them to think more about the long term, work better with people and communities and each other, look to prevent problems and take a more joined-up approach. Public bodies need to make sure that when making their decisions they take into account the impact they could have on people living their lives in Wales in the future.
This Act will make it simpler and easier to rent a home, replacing various and complex pieces of existing legislation with one clear legal framework.
People who find themselves in difficult circumstances will also benefit from the Act. It will help to prevent current homelessness situations where a joint tenant leaves the tenancy, thereby ending the tenancy for everyone else. Inequalities in how someone can succeed to a tenancy are also addressed, with a new succession right for carers created.
By developing a dedicated prevention team we aim to support those who find themselves in difficult situations which could result in them losing their accommodation.
These Regulations make provision for which persons from abroad will be eligible or ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation under Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996 (“the Act”) and for housing assistance under Part 7 of the Act.
This Code is Guidance issued by the Welsh Ministers. Local Authorities must have regard to this Code when exercising their functions in connection with allocations and homelessness. The Code comes in two parts. Part 1 relates to the allocation of accommodation in accordance with Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996 and, although updated to reflect changes in the law and relevant case law, largely follows the same format as the 2012 edition of the Code.
Part 2 of the Code covers Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) 2014 Act, which amends and consolidates all previous homelessness legislation. It explains the new legislation, and places it in the context of current Welsh Government policy.
This document sets out the pathway for meeting the housing needs of children, young people and adults held in custody and who will be resettling in Wales.
A Positive Pathway to Adulthood supports young people on their journey to economic independence and success through housing advice, options and homelessness prevention.
Part 1 specifies additional matters which authorities must take into account. Part 2 specifies when B&B and shared accommodation are not suitable to be used for temporary accommodation. Part 3 specifies suitability of private rented sector accommodation for ending the section 75 duty to homeless applicants.
The action plan aims to direct the work required by the Welsh Government and its partners to end homelessness in Wales.
The Mental Health Act came into effect on 1 July 2014. It sets out a framework intended to promote recovery - oriented practice, minimise compulsory treatment and protect and support the rights of people living with mental illness.
Aims to improve the wellbeing of people who need care and support, and carers who need support.
Part 9 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (“the Act”) requires local authorities to make arrangements to promote co-operation with their relevant partners and others, in relation to adults with needs for care and support, carers and children. It places a duty on relevant partners to co-operate with, and provide information to, the local authorities for the purpose of their social services functions. Part 9 of the Act also provides for partnership arrangements between local authorities and Local Health Boards (Local Health Boards) for the discharge of their functions. It also provides Welsh Ministers with regulation making powers in relation to formal partnership arrangements, resources for partnership arrangements (including pooled funds) and partnership boards.
The Act requires local authorities and local health boards to jointly undertake population assessment of care and support needs for adults, children and carers. More information on the population assessment can be accessed via North Wales Population Assessment. Any services commissioned as part of the Council’s priorities would aim to improve the lives of those who receive the services. We work regionally to jointly commission where it is appropriate to do so. These would be monitored via our reviewing procedures.
This Act aims to improve the response within the public sector in Wales to all forms of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. It places a responsibility on public bodies to improve arrangements to promote awareness of, and prevent, protect and support victims of gender-based violence, domestic abuse, sexual violence and modern slavery.
Any services commissioned are discussed with the Regional VAWDASV Team which in turn supports the Action Plan which reflects the VAWDASV (Wales) Act 2015.
An equality impact assessment was undertaken to identify any potential inequalities arising from the development and delivery of this plan.
The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 replaced the Welsh Language Act 1993 and as part of the new legislation, in Wales the Welsh language has equal legal status with English and must not be treated less favourably. In turn, the Welsh Language Standards 2015 replaced the Council’s Welsh Language Scheme.
As part of the Welsh Language Standards, local authorities in Wales must produce a Welsh Language Strategy that sets out how they will promote the use of the Welsh language and increase the number of Welsh speakers in their area.
Any services commissioned by the Council must meet these standards. These will monitored via Conwy’s reviewing procedures. We also ask what language the people we work with would prefer to communicate in.
The Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the basic rights we all have because we are human. They help protect people by giving public services, including health and social care services, a legal duty to treat people with fairness, equality, dignity, respect and autonomy.
Any services we commission would have the Human Rights Act at the core of delivery. This will be monitored through Conwy’s reviewing processes which would also take into account the views of those who are receiving services.
The Housing Support Grant Guidance was published in April 2020. HSG (Housing Support Grant) is an amalgamation of three existing grants; Supporting People Programme, Homeless Prevention Grant and Rent Smart Wales Enforcement Grant. The grant is distributed to local authorities to deliver, administer and to commission services to meet the vision and core purpose of the grant.
HSG is an early intervention grant programme to support activity, which prevents people from becoming homeless, stabilises their housing situation, or helps potentially homeless people to find and keep accommodation.
HSG supports vulnerable people to address the, sometimes, multiple, problems they face, such as debt, employment, tenancy management, substance misuse, violent against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, and mental health issues.
The following section gives details on how different policies and groups have influenced Conwy's HSP Strategy both regionally and locally.
The purpose of this plan is to present Conwy County Borough Council’s Priorities for the next five years, 2017 to 2022. The priorities are the areas the Council wants to focus special attention on in order to support the achievement of the citizen outcomes that people want for the county. The Council has other plans which go into more detail about the specific tasks listed under each Outcome. The Corporate Plan can’t list everything we do, but that does not mean that services which are not listed are not important. The focus areas are supported by service plans which set out the broader ‘business as usual’ work which the Authority will continue to deliver alongside the priorities.
Outcome 3 - People in Conwy have access to affordable, appropriate, good quality accommodation that enhances the quality of their lives.
We want our residents to live in accommodation that supports their positive health and well-being.
The Future: by focusing on a strategic approach, we are aiming to have the right mix of accommodation in the right areas so that people will live in communities they are proud to call home.
The Local Housing Strategy is a five year plan that sets out what needs to done to respond to local housing need, and achieve Conwy’s housing vision.
The vision is for people in Conwy to have access to affordable, appropriate and good quality accommodation that enhances their quality of life.
The strategy is developed and implemented in partnership with key stakeholders and monitored by Conwy’s Strategic Housing Partnership.
The Housing Support Grant Team work with the Housing Strategy Team to look at accommodation requirements for services and priorities are outlined in the Prospectus for supported housing.
The North Wales Regional Housing Support Collaborative Group acts as the overarching group that brings key stakeholders together to provide a forum for regional collaborative working in relation to the Housing Support Grant (HSG).
The RHSCG is responsible for producing an annual statement, this is the work plan for the RHSCG outlining the regional priorities for that year. The RHSCG has a key sub group; the HSG Regional Leads Group, which has the responsibility of progressing the priorities outlined in the annual statement, supported via the Regional Development Coordinator.
Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 places a statutory duty on each local authority in Wales to carry out a homelessness review and formulate a homelessness strategy. The Regional Homelessness Group in June 2017 together with the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru undertook a commitment to develop a regional homelessness strategy which was published December 2018 with actions until 2022. Much of the key issues outlined within this 2018-22 strategy; youth homelessness, complex needs, prison leavers and rough sleepers, remain a high priority. We have worked extremely hard in the pandemic to ensure everyone was provided with accommodation, therefore though our numbers of people who are sleeping rough may not be as high, the priority is to ensure we can support them out of emergency accommodation and into supported accommodation.
Prevention and Intervention is at the heart of the Regional Homelessness Strategy and is a key underpinning component within our local strategy.
Improved access to accommodation and alternative delivery models are highlighted in the Regional Homelessness Strategy.
The Regional Homelessness Strategy has focused its resources this year on highlighting the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on our Housing and Homelessness services.
There are four Public Service Boards in North Wales established by the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The purpose of the Public Service Boards is to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being in their area by strengthening joint working across all public services in North Wales. Each PSB prepared a well-being assessment in parallel with the population assessment for the RPB. More information is available on the PSB websites.
The purpose of the Vulnerability and Exploitation Board in North Wales is to provide leadership, governance and strategic direction to meet nationally and regionally driven priorities relating to vulnerability and exploitation. It ensures the effective delivery of national, regional and local priorities for protecting and preventing vulnerability and exploitation.
This Board also seeks to identify opportunities to align activity with other partnership arrangements across North Wales in order to provide a joint approach to the efficient use of resources and effective delivery of priorities. Regionally via the Housing Support Grant Leads Group the HSG programme provides regional funding as a contribution towards the IDVA service.
The Joint Commissioning Group reports to this Board. We work together locally and regionally to commission services; share good practice and updates on work going on in North Wales. The Joint Commissioning Group membership consists of the Regional VAWDASV Team; Providers of VAWDASV Services; HSG Representatives; Community Safety; North Wales Fire & Rescue Service; North Wales Police
Conwy also has a Domestic Abuse Forum that meets bi-monthly to discuss any opportunities for joint commissioning; shares good practice and updates from all members.
The Board acts as a forum bringing together all agencies involved in the planning, commissioning and delivery of substance misuse issues at a regional level. It provides a regional decision making framework to assess need across all communities, pool expertise and resources, monitor the impact of the national strategy and improve and strengthen planning, commissioning and performance management of substance misuse.
The Housing Support Grant contributes to assisting people with substance misuse issues in North Wales through the provision of supported housing schemes and floating support services. Regionally through the Housing Support Grant leads group the grant provides funding for the Area Planning Board’s Assertive Outreach Project.
Conwy’s vision for homeless prevention and housing related support services is:
“We will work together to take a proactive approach to the early intervention and prevention of homelessness. Where homelessness cannot be prevented, we will ensure that support and/or accommodation is available to help people regain their place in the community of their choice; maintain their accommodation and remain independent.”
The following are the key principles which will deliver our vision:
- We will ensure that in the first instance those who are threatened with homelessness have access to specialist advice and assistance with options available to them to remain in their accommodation.
- We will ensure that if someone is unable to remain in their accommodation that all our supported and temporary accommodation is of a high standard.
- Housing related support services will be commissioned to help people to move towards independent living and remain in the community of their choice. This will be done collaboratively where possible.
- If homelessness is not preventable we aim to make it rare; brief and non-repeated.
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