Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies received.

There were no declarations.

Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2015 are attached for approval.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Housing and Social Care Scrutiny Panel held on 16 January 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the chair.

Officers from Housing Options, the Young Persons Support Team and public health will be present to speak to the panel regarding their services' involvement in providing services for young people aged 16-25 living in isolation.

The chair welcomed both guests to the meeting and introductions were made around the table before evidence was given.

a)  The panel heard from Elaine Bastable, the Housing Options Manager.

Elaine explained that family breakdown is the biggest issue. This could be relationship issues often around teenage behaviour but it could also be property related such as overcrowding. The welfare benefit system and how it works for young people can also have an effect. The housing benefit rules state that young people under the age of 35 can only go into shared accommodation, a bed-sit or a single room. Rent is often required in advance which is a barrier. Young people are often evicted from hostels because they do not adhere to the requirements of residency, i.e. going into training so therefore the job seekers allowance stops and they then get into arrears. It is about trying to motivate young people to keep them in accommodation and help them to prepare for future life.  Drug use in our hostels is also an issue. Portsmouth does have a high level of accommodation for young people compared to other areas. There are approximately 90 bed spaces for under25s, mainly accommodating those in the 16-21year old bracket. The council does try to encourage these young people to follow a pathway, hostel accommodation>training>addressing identified support needs>leading to more suitable long term housing solutions. When placements are failing, a panel of experts will look at every possible alternative to prevent evicting  a young person. Unfortunately we cannot prevent every single eviction.

Elaine explained that overcrowding in accommodation is a big issue in the city. The council does not have enough three-four bedroom properties. Peoples' expectations are also a battle. The council has a large amount of stock which in under occupied. Some families do not want to move from social housing into privately rented accommodation/areas despite the fact that this would immediately alleviate overcrowding issues and/or relationship issues. Social housing offers more security. In the private sector rents could be higher, properties often have a garden and are bigger but they are not offered long term lets. Landlords, understandably, are not keen to offer anything other than a six-month term tenancy initially to a new tenant, due to possible risks. Although most private sector landlords are looking for long term tenants, tenants are naturally concerned about the lack of known security. There is an affordability issue too, with private rents being higher than social rents, although the new affordable rents are not much lower than the private sector rents. Higher rents increase the risk of living in poverty.

Elaine continued to explain that it is often the case that a teenager is 'just being' a teenager but that the parents cannot tolerate that kind of behaviour. The parents do not know how to deal with the young person so relationships break down in the family unit. We have had cases where the family have actually upped and left the young person in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The next meeting of the panel has tentatively been arranged for Friday 27 February at 9.30am in the executive meeting room in the Guildhall and members will continue to receive evidence from witnesses.

RESOLVED that the next meeting of the panel be held on Friday 27^th February 2015 at 9.30am and the panel would continue to hear from witnesses as listed on the scoping document.