Agenda item - Public Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by members of the public:

(a)      Petitions: to receive any petitions presented by members of the public to the full Council or as notified for presentation at the meeting by the due date of 15 March 2018;

1.    Open Brighton’s Homeless Shelters 365 days a year

Presented to the Council meeting held on 1 February 2018

                        Lead petitioner Mr John Hadman, 5500 signatures.

Extract of Minutes from Council 1 February 2018 (copy attached)

(b)      Written Questions: to receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 23 March 2018

(c)      Deputations: to receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 23 March 2018

111.1  Referred petition:

Open Brighton’s Homeless Shelters 365 Days a Year

Petition from Mr J Hadman referred from the Council meeting held on 1 February 2018, (5500 signatures).

The petition stated:

We the undersigned petition Brighton & Hove City Council to open homeless night shelters all year round (365 days).

In the meantime, we urge the council to conform to central government directions on opening SWEP shelters (Severe Weather Emergency Protocol). We understand this government requirement is not being met, with approximately £90,000 left unspent from previous years of SWEP budget.

Lead Petitioner – John Hadman

Additional Information:

Why is this important?

Rough sleeping has almost doubled in the last year, but, the number of supported beds for homeless people has plummeted. There is also not enough affordable accommodation for people to move on to, making matters worse. As a result, despite the goal of no second night out, rough sleepers are waiting an average of 12 weeks before some form of accommodation is provided. We therefore urge BHCC to fund resources to expand the amount of support accommodation available for homeless people all year round, not just when temperatures hit 0c and ensure that the existing budget available is spent.

The Chair gave the following response:

Brighton & Hove City Council operates its SWEP policy in line with guidance issued by Homeless Link and is fully compliant with this.  SWEP is triggered when the temperature is predicted to fall to 0 degrees or below for two consecutive nights, for Amber weather warnings and at other times of extreme weather taking into account issues such as wind chill.  The Brighton & Hove SWEP provision exceeds provision in many local authority areas across the UK according to the yearly survey conducted by Homeless link.

The city council is aware that some local authorities including London have, or are considering, moving to a one night at zero trigger and a couple of others have gone beyond this.  SWEP provision in other areas of the UK is being examined as part of a review which is currently ongoing with a view to a tender of SWEP provision later in the year. In terms of the budget, SWEP has a budget of £40,000.00 per annum and how much of this is spent is dependent on the weather, we have spent less than the allocated budget in the last few years due to mild winters however this financial year we have exceeded the allocated budget.  The budget underspend does not carry over year on year neither does the overspend. The city council is currently in the process of reviewing the winter night shelter and its operation with a view to examining what provision should be put in place for next winter.

I propose that we agree to note the petition and receive a report to a future meeting.

111.2  RESOLVED: That the Committee agreed to note the petition and receive a report at a future meeting.