Homelessness Strategy
2008 –2013

Contents

Foreword - Councillor John Taylor

Executive Summary - Brief Outline of the Strategy 

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - Achievements

Chapter 3 - Overview of Homelessness

Chapter 4  - Strategic Context

Chapter 5 - Homelessness Review

Chapter 6 - Strategic Priorities

Chapter 7 - Developing the Housing Options Centre

Chapter 8 - Reducing the use of Temporary Accommodation

Chapter 9 - Prevention of Homelessness Against the Main Causes

Chapter 10 - Reducing Homelessness Amongst Young People

Chapter 11 - Service User Involvement

Chapter 12 - Increasing Access to a Choice of Settled Homes

Chapter 13 - Action Plan

Foreword

Since the production of the 2003-2008 Homelessness Strategy, significant policy changes have impacted on the homelessness arena at the national, regional and local levels. This is the second Homelessness Strategy for Tameside and will seek to build upon the achievements of the first strategy and highlight what the key challenges are going to be over the next five years.

Over the last five years we have been working together with our key partner RSL’s, voluntary agencies and the wider communities to improve the services received by households experiencing or at risk of becoming homeless.

This strategy has been developed after full consultation with our partners together with the following mission statement:

“In 2013 we will provide a network of comprehensive housing information, advice & options services available across Tameside. This will prioritise a person centred homelessness prevention approach based on early intervention and exploring all possible housing options available to service users.”

The action plan that accompanies this strategy will be the key document in ensuring that the objectives are successfully achieved. The multi agency Strategic Homelessness Group will be tasked with ensuring that the action plan is implemented and reporting progress in turn to Tameside Housing Partnership. The action plan will be updated annually to ensure that our priorities are still relevant and to allow stakeholders the opportunity to put forward new priorities that the Council should focus its attention on.

We hope that you find this document informative and clear to understand and welcome any comments or suggestions from our stakeholders about improvements we can make.

Councillor John Taylor
Cabinet Member for Personal Services
Tameside MBC

Executive Summary

Since the implementation of the Homelessness Act 2002, Tameside MBC and its partners have made substantial improvements in how homelessness is tackled in the borough. Tameside’s first 5 year Homelessness Strategy published in 2003 was aimed at creating a multi-agency response to breaking the cycle of homelessness, developing good quality advice and a range of accommodation and support services.

As a council we are firmly committed to building upon the successes already achieved over the past 5 years, some of which are outlined in section 2 of this strategy.

Together with our partners we now need to respond to the current trends in homelessness and seek to develop further initiatives and developments that help to both reduce and alleviate the problem.

The strategic objectives contained within this strategy have been identified following extensive consultation and joint working with a range of stakeholders.

Part of this process was to develop a joint vision on what the service would look like in five years time at the end of this strategy. The following mission statement was agreed:

This mission statement was endorsed at Tameside’s first Homelessness Conference in October 2007 and will underpin all the work that is undertaken in implementing this strategy.

Sections 3 & 4 provide an overview of homelessness at local, regional and national level and then identifies some of the other strategic initiatives that need to be reflected within this strategy so that areas of future co-operation can be pursued.

Under the heading of Homelessness Review, Section 5 describes the different pieces of work that have been carried out over the past 18 months to help us identify the strategic priorities that needed to be addressed in this strategy.

Section 6 outlines the following 6 key strategic priorities around which the strategy will be implemented:

• Developing the Housing Options Service
• Reducing the use of temporary accommodation
• Prevention of homelessness against the main causes
• Reducing homelessness amongst young people
• Service user involvement
• Increasing access to a choice of settled homes

Sections 7-12 addresses each of these strategic priorities in turn and can be linked to the action plan where specific targets, resources and lead professionals are identified.

Chapter 1 - Introduction

This is Tameside MBC’s second Homelessness Strategy following the implementation of the Homelessness Act 2002.

The first Homelessness Strategy in the borough was aimed at creating a multi-agency response to breaking the cycle of homelessness, developing good quality advice and a range of accommodation and support services.

This strategy will build upon the successes achieved through the lifetime of the first strategy 2003-2008 and seek to develop further initiatives and developments in response to the current trends in homelessness.

Two of the key homelessness services in the borough will continue to be contracted out over the lifetime of this strategy. The Housing Options Centre which has been delivered by New Charter Housing Trust  since 2000 was put out for tender in March 2008.

Tameside’s Housing Register has been managed by Accent Group  since 2005 and that contract has likewise been put out to tender in March 2008.

Announcements on which organisations will be delivering these contracts on behalf of the local authority will be made before the end of June 2008.

The key to implementing this strategy successfully will be to maintain the excellent partnerships we already have with the organisations delivering these 2 key services alongside a range of other stakeholders.

The Strategic Homelessness Group has multi-agency representation and will be responsible for the implementation of the strategy. Progress on achieving the targets in the action plan will also be reported to Tameside’s Homelessness Forum that has wide representation including from service users who will need to have an ongoing input into the strategy.

The Strategic Homelessness Group report quarterly to Tameside Housing Partnership the key strategic body responsible for ensuring the housing sector is playing its part in achieving corporate objectives.

Chapter 2 - Achievements

Since the publication of the first homelessness strategy in July 2003 there have been many significant achievements signalling an improvement in how homelessness is tackled in Tameside. As a local authority we have worked with a wide range of agencies in improving services for homeless people in the borough. The most significant of these has been New Charter Housing Trust  who are the largest stockholder of social housing in the borough and deliver homelessness service on behalf of the council. New Charter have been instrumental in developing a new purpose built Housing Options Centre located in Ashton town centre and have also reconfigured the service offered to concentrate on homelessness prevention.

Here are some of the other achievements secured by the council and its partners:

• Developed a highly effective Housing Register that helps people move efficiently through supported housing provision.
• Worked in close partnership with the councils Community Safety team, New Charter Housing Trust and the police to develop a Sanctuary Scheme for households fleeing from domestic violence.
• Prevented homelessness for 166 households since the start of the Sanctuary Scheme in May 2005 and achieved a 61% increase in the level of referrals during 2007/08. 
• Developed two new supported housing projects for young homeless people.
• Introduced a Homelessness Prevention Fund.
• Expanded the Rent Deposit Scheme as a homelessness prevention tool with 65 new bonds issued during 2007/08.
• Reduced homelessness acceptances every year since 2004/05 with an overall decrease up to the end of 2007/08 of 79%.
• Prevented homelessness for 516 households during the 2007/08 financial year.
• Created a specialist Debt Advisor post based at the Housing Options Centre. Since September 2007 the Debt Advisor has assisted 37 households in dealing with debts of over £140,000.
• Delivered against a challenging PSA target by successfully avoiding having to place young people in a bed and breakfast for over a week.
• Developed a Joint Protocol with Children’s Services, Connexions and the YOT for the assessment and support of homeless 16 & 17 year olds.
• Reorganised the way we used our temporary accommodation thereby avoiding having to place homeless families in bed and breakfast accommodation.
• Piloted a Peer Education Project for young homeless people. Nacro  have since been awarded 3 years funding to carry on with this project.
• New Charter Housing Trust successfully launch “Your Choice Your Move” a needs based choice based lettings scheme in April 2007.
• Carried out regular consultation and arts based participation events with service users including the production of an awareness raising DVD and two drama productions.
• Developed Cornerstone, the Family Intervention Project to work with households at risk of losing their tenancies.
• Held the first Tameside Homelessness Conference in October 2007 attended by over 100 delegates.
• Reconfigured an existing floating support service to allow it to focus its work on ex-offenders.
• Developed an Independent Living Skills course aimed at people in supported housing and tenants in danger of being made homeless.
• Expanded the floating support project for teenage parents and created a new floating support project for the Black and Ethnic Minority Community.
• Reconfigured Stamford Villa the male supported housing project to provide extra units for 16 & 17 year olds.
• 1.2 million investment into the refurbishment of Gibson Terrace supported housing project for homeless families.
• Developed an innovative childrens playscheme for the families accommodated at Gibson Terrace.
  

Chapter 3 - Overview Of Homelessness

On a national basis the numbers of homeless acceptances have risen from a low of 102,430 in 1997/98 to a peak of 135,430 households in 2003/04. This rise of approximately 32% was reflected in the North West region where over the same period a rise of 38% was recorded, from 13,030 households to 18,030 households.

2004/05 saw a much greater emphasis on homelessness prevention and as a consequence there was a reduction in the number of homelessness acceptances to 120,860 households, a fall of 10.7% followed a year later by a further 22% fall to 93,980.

The situation within the North West region and Tameside reflected the national picture with homeless acceptances in the borough falling by 20% in 2004/05 and a further 72% reduction in 2005/06.

Table 1 – Homelessness Acceptances across Greater Manchester Boroughs

During 2006/07 homelessness acceptances in Tameside fell by a further 13.5% and 173 cases of homelessness prevention were recorded.

The main causes of homelessness in Tameside have been consistent over the past five years and broadly reflect the national trends. The main reasons for homelessness in 2006/07 in Tameside are:

• Asked to leave by parents
• Termination of assured short-hold tenancy
• Domestic Violence
• Asked to leave by friends of family
• Relationship Breakdown
• Non violent breakdown of relationship with partner

Figure 1

Government's Priorities

At a national level the Homelessness Act 2002 began the shift from dealing with households when they had already reached crisis to one where a greater emphasis is placed upon preventing homelessness. The Government’s Homelessness Strategy “Sustainable Communities: Settled Homes Changing Lives” (2005)  set all local authorities a challenging target of reducing by 50% their use of temporary accommodation by the year 2010.

They also identified the following key areas of work:

• Preventing homelessness
• Providing support for vulnerable people
• Tackling the wider causes and symptoms of homelessness
• Helping more people move away from rough sleeping
• Providing more settled homes

Chapter 4 - Strategic Context

There are a number of other key national and local strategies and activities that this strategy can contribute to and can benefit from in terms of partnership working.

The prevention of homelessness is one of the local targets included in Tameside’s Local Area Agreement  alongside the range of other national indicators that can complement and be supported by this strategy.

At a regional level this strategy will need to reflect and develop links with initiatives that are being pursued under the Regional Homelessness Strategy and the Regional Supported Housing Strategy.

The table below illustrates some of these strategies and highlights some of the linkages that will need to be made and developed.

Table 2 – Links to other Agendas

Strategy or Activity	Key Issues
Reducing re-offending Cutting Crime-a new partnership: Crime Strategy 2008-2011.	Having access to appropriate accommodation is recognised as very important aspect of preventing re-offending. The Home Office has suggested that finding accommodation for ex-offenders could reduce re-offending by 20%. As part of Tameside’s Reducing Re-offending Strategy an Accommodation Pathway sub-group to tackle these issues.
Tackling Drugs to build a better Britain	Community Safety Partnerships are now expected to work with housing and Supporting People teams to build strategies for addressing housing need, and are required to report on progress on meeting housing needs for people in treatment.
Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy	At a national level half of the people who were homeless had alcohol problems. Tameside’s new Alcohol Strategy has set a target of identifying to what extent alcohol misuse contributes to homelessness in the borough.
Tackling Social Exclusion	An action plan for tackling social exclusion, Reaching Out (Cabinet Office, 1996)  identified a number of target groups for whom homelessness is often experienced, notably young people, particularly with experience of care, mental health or substance misuse problems; and adults with complex needs.
Respect – addressing anti-social behaviour	The Respect Standard for Housing Management recognises the importance of early intervention and the key role Registered Social Landlords have in tackling anti-social behaviour. With the move towards a more robust approach towards dealing with anti-social behaviour it is essential that this work is integrated with the wider homelessness prevention agenda and initiatives such as the Family Intervention Project and education work in schools.
Breaking the barriers – a new vision for addressing mental health	In common with the trends in homelessness services there is a recognition in the mental health field that earlier intervention and joint working can greatly assist problems becoming exacerbated later on. Assertive outreach work and hospital discharge protocols are two such initiatives which may help many people with mental health problems avoid becoming homeless.
	A mental health accommodation strategy has been developed in Tameside and there will be a need to identify how partnerships can be strengthened to help deliver joint outcomes.
Every Child Matters	Working Together to Safeguard Children sets out how individuals and organisations should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. With the introduction of the Common Assessment Framework and further initiatives outlined in the Targeted Youth Services report there will be greater scope for agencies to work together to prevent young people from becoming homeless.
Safety and Justice, and the National Delivery Plan on Domestic Violence	Domestic violence remains one of the biggest causes of homelessness at a national, regional and local level. The national plan looks to the homelessness field to achieve some key objectives which include improving the chances of early identification and widening the range of housing options for women suffering from domestic abuse.
Ends and Means: The Future of Social Housing in England (the Hills Review, 2007)	The Hills Review in its analysis of social housing identified some key challenges that need to be faced in the near future. Notable amongst these is how to create genuinely mixed communities and the issue of the low levels of economic activity amongst social housing tenants at present.
Independence and Opportunity, our strategy for Supporting People (2007)	The Supporting People programme provides support to some of the most vulnerable and excluded households and through its floating support services has a substantial contribution to make towards homelessness prevention.
Tackling Homelessness, The Housing Corporation Strategy (2006)	In this strategy the Housing Corporation focuses its expectations upon housing providers to engage with and support local authorities in the tackling of homelessness and have policies and practices that actively contributed towards the prevention of the problem in the first place.
National Strategy for housing in an ageing population (2007)	It is recognised that the scale of demographic change will mean that the current housing and service levels are not sustainable for the future. This strategy sets out a change of approach with the aim of meeting need and avoiding crisis in health and care. The needs of older homeless people at risk of homelessness need to be addressed through this strategy.
National Strategy to tackle financial exclusion: Promoting financial inclusion, (2004)	Poverty and struggling with debt are a major contributor towards homelessness. The barriers people on low incomes face in accessing mainstream financial services can often exacerbate what is already a difficult situation. There is a gap in our knowledge with regard to how close the link is between debt and homelessness that needs to be addressed.

Chapter 5 - Homelessness Review 2007

In 2007 a series of reviews, consultations and participation activities have been held regarding services that are used by homeless people in Tameside. The first of these was an independent review of the homelessness and housing options service. In June, Tameside’s Supporting People programme underwent an inspection from the Audit Inspection the outcomes of which will have relevance to the objectives identified in this strategy. Over the later part of 2007 more extensive consultation has been carried out amongst our partners and with a range of both past and current service users and this work has also considerably helped us to identify the priorities that need to be addressed through this strategy.

Review of the Homelessness and Housing Options Service

In April 2007 Tameside MBC commissioned an independent review of their Homelessness and Housing Options service. The review used Audit Commission methods and concentrated on the role of the Housing Options Centre, the Housing Register provided by Accent Group  and the strategic function provided by the council.

The following areas of strength were identified:

• The review found that following a reorganisation in 2005 the Housing Options Centre had been successful in addressing the prevention agenda and changing the balance between prevention and homelessness assessment.
  
• Good supported housing and floating support provision which have helped Tameside meet its targets of reducing the use of bed and breakfasts and addressing the needs of 16/17 year olds.
  
• An effectively managed Housing Register that has achieved significant improvements in the speed at which homeless households nominated to RSL’s can be re-housed.
  
• A successful Rent Deposit Scheme that is continuing to grow and is making a significant difference as a homelessness prevention tool.
  
• An effective joint agency protocol that has significantly improved inter-agency co-ordination around meeting the accommodation and support needs of 16 & 17 year olds.

The following weaknesses were identified as being the highest priority:

• There was a need to further develop the prevention of homelessness through a proactive policy of creating multi-agency agreements and the council identified as the body responsible for taking the strategic lead on this task.
  
• There was a lack of written information available about the services including not having on display service standards or information on how to make a complaint. Publicity in general was considered to be poor.
  
• The Housing Options Centre had no policies in place on how it should involve customers in helping to identity the service improvements that needed to be made, nor any systems for recording general customer feedback, either positive or negative.
  
• There was insufficient emphasis placed upon equality and diversity and lack of analysis on the groups within the community who might face barriers in accessing the service.
  
• The service needs to be far more proactive in working with partner organisations in developing homelessness prevention initiatives.
  
• The Housing Options Centre needs to be more responsive to individual need and develop specialist services like debt advice, home visiting and mediation that can start to meet that need.
  

Supporting People Inspection

In June 2007 the Audit Commission carried out an inspection of Tameside Council’s Supporting Programme. Their conclusion was that the council was delivering an excellent Supporting People programme with excellent prospects for continued improvement. The Audit Commission inspectors found that Supporting People funding had made a significant difference to the lives of some of the borough’s most vulnerable people and that there was a strong political commitment behind this achievement.

There were three critical priorities identified in the Supporting People five-year strategy and it was found that they had all been fully or partially met. The first two to be fully met were:

More accommodation available for homeless 16 & 17 year olds as a result of reconfiguring an existing service and the development of a new specialist young person’s project.

More accommodation available for homeless families as a result of extending an existing service to provide 15 more units of self contained accommodation.

The third priority was to provide a specialist service to teenage parents and it was felt that a newly commissioned floating support service was meeting this need.

Strategic Stakeholder Visioning Exercise

Through the use of future basing exercises looking forward to 2013 and the completion of this strategy, a wide range of partners including our service users developed the following vision statement:

“In 2013 we will provide a network of comprehensive housing information, advice & options services available across Tameside. This will prioritise a person centred homelessness prevention approach based on early intervention and exploring all possible housing options available to service users.”

This vision statement was subsequently endorsed at the first Tameside Homelessness Conference in October where a wider range of partners were present including over 40 service users.

Tameside Homelessness Conference

It was decided in 2007 that the first Tameside Homelessness Conference should be arranged to establish the council’s vision for homelessness and secure the support of our partners for the future strategy. It was also agreed that one of our key partners should be the people who use homelessness services in Tameside and, with this in mind community consultants, Box of Frogs were commissioned to help us achieve this objective. 

The conference identified the following strategic priorities they felt should be addressed through the Homelessness Strategy:

• Improved publicity for the homelessness services including an easily remembered telephone number and material that can be distributed and displayed in doctor’s surgeries, schools, hospitals, council offices and other public access points.
  
• Increased commitment towards partnership working including where necessary the development of formal protocols between sectors to ensure good communication is maintained and common goals identified and worked towards.
  
• Training in homelessness awareness to be delivered to a range of partners to ensure they are providing correct and up to date information to their service users.
  
• Widen the range of options available to people at both a preventative level and in terms of the accommodation that is available to homeless households.
  
• A day centre provision which offers a greater range of preventative services under one roof and provides the essential support and facilities for people who find themselves with nowhere to live.
  
• That the level of service user involvement in the assessment and delivery of homelessness services should be increased and promoted through the use of volunteer opportunities, mystery shopping and the development of a dedicated User Involvement post.

Strategic Homelessness Group

The Strategic Homelessness Group is a multi-agency group consisting of a wide range of partners responsible for providing both specialist and generic services to homeless people in Tameside. This group who will be responsible for the implementation of this strategy met soon after the Homelessness Conference to consider the recommendations that had been made. The group gave their support to pursuing the priorities identified and commissioned a series of short life focus groups to be formed to allow some analysis of the key issues to be made and further actions agreed. Multi-agency focus groups meetings have been held under the following headings:

• Domestic Violence
  
• Young People
  
• Debt and Money Advice
  
• Reduction in the use of Temporary Accommodation
  
• Mental Health and Homelessness
  
• Ex-Offenders

Chapter 6 - Strategic Priorities

To put in place services which are more effective in preventing homelessness working in partnership will be absolutely essential to the success of this strategy. The priorities contained in the strategy have been identified through close consultation with our existing partners and service users and this work needs to be maintained. There is also a need to further develop closer links with specific service areas so a broader range of partners can sign up to the strategy and become actively involved in the delivery of the action plan. 

The review of homelessness services carried out with partners and service users combined with the government’s priorities have led to the identification of the following six strategic priorities underpinning this strategy:

• Developing the Housing Options Service
  
• Reducing the use of temporary accommodation
  
• Prevention of homelessness against the main causes
  
• Reducing homelessness amongst young people
  
• Increasing access to a choice of settled homes
  
• Developing an increased level of service user consultation and involvement in improving service delivery.

Chapter 7 - Developing The Housing Options Centre

The council took the decision to contract out its homelessness service in 2000 under the stock transfer agreement with New Charter Housing Trust . The contract with New Charter Housing Trust was renewed in 2003 and is being re-tendered during 2008 and a new contract will be in place by October 2008.

The Department for Communities & local Government strategy for tackling homelessness has been set out in the policy documents Sustainable Communities: Settled Homes; changing lives (2005) . The document outlines how Communities and Local Government (CLG) expect local authorities to deliver these aims, by working alongside partner agencies to develop the following areas:

• Encouraging homelessness prevention
• Providing support for vulnerable people
• Tackling the wider causes and symptoms of homelessness
• Helping more people move away from rough sleeping; and
• Providing more settled homes.

Since the Government signalled its’ commitment to tackling homelessness and especially since the passing into law of the Homelessness Act 2002 Tameside has been busy re-modelling their homelessness and housing advice services so that they are better placed to tackle homelessness.

Coupled with the increased demand for the dwindling stock of social housing and new legal measures designed by government to stop the inappropriate use of B&B, we have been shifting the focus of services away from the traditional homelessness application route to initiatives and schemes that look to prevent homelessness and/or provide viable alternative accommodation and support options.

During 2004-05 the council and New Charter carried out an extensive staffing restructure of the existing Housing Options Staff Team, to allow for the introduction of the new roles and job descriptions that were required to introduce the prevention service. This process started in October 2004 and was completed in June 2005.

The independent review undertaken by the council highlighted that we have come a considerable way in introducing a homelessness prevention ethos and initiatives and we are determined to maintain this approach. Often the key to successful homelessness prevention is early intervention, whatever the problem and whatever the person’s status in the home. It is plain common sense that, if a problem can be tackled before it escalates; there is a better chance of it being resolved. If left to fester, homelessness intervention may come too late for homelessness to be averted.

The Homelessness Key Lines of Enquiry recommends that a range of creative prevention initiatives should be developed and monitored to support the delivery of the Government’s homelessness prevention agenda at a local level.

To achieve this the Council’s and it's partners are working through information captured in current homelessness data (P1E’s) to understand in greater detail the causes and effects of homelessness in Tameside. This will allow us to develop prevention services to meet local needs.

Making best use of this information means that the new service can understand where the front line in prevention actually is. In most cases this will not be at the Housing Options Centre, but instead prevention needs to start with private landlords, Housing Associations and in the family home.

Investing in prevention services provides a far more efficient way of financing and delivering services for homeless households, where placing a household in B&B accommodation is the only other alternative. For example, prevention will not only deal with the immediate problem facing a family threatened with homelessness, but it will also re-enforce what will happen if a family does not comply with the terms of their tenancy agreement and the eventual outcomes as a result. It also provides social advantages whereby families can remain in the community and enjoy the benefits such as retaining schooling for their children, maintaining jobs or remaining on doctor’s lists.

A citizens survey carried out by the council in the autumn of 2006 to test the publics knowledge on homelessness found that there was a low level of awareness regarding the Housing Options Centre and its role. Part of the prevention agenda will be to start an awareness raising campaign to raise the profile of the service internally within the council, with partners and the wider public. The council also needs to improve public information directing people towards the Housing Options Centre and to clarify the relationship it has with the service provider.

The independent review of homelessness services raised some issues with regard to equality and access that will need to be a priority addressed through this strategy. Currently the service is provided solely in Ashton Town centre along with some outreach work in supported housing projects. Further research will be carried out to establish the need for housing advice surgeries in other towns in the borough.

There was a gap identified in the service for an experienced debt advice specialist to help households threatened with homelessness due to multiple debts including rent arrears. Since September 2007 the council has funded a post to provide this service seconded from the Welfare Rights team. It is envisaged that this post will continue and will provide us with the expertise to help households avoid homelessness many of whom are likely to be in mortgage arrears predicted to be on the increase. Alongside this service we intend to improve the quality of publicity regarding services that will support people facing debt problems and improve the quality of management information that we collect on the incidences of debt and actual and/or potential homelessness.

Alongside the move towards more proactive homelessness prevention, Tameside Council are keen to see an Enhanced Housing Options Approach as outlined in John Hill’s review of the future roles of social housing in England. This review suggested that the excellent work already being carried out by local authorities around homelessness prevention could form the baseline for a more holistic housing advice service, offered to a wider audience.

The Hills review pointed out that the stability and sub market rents afforded by social housing should help people make a transition into work, yet 50% of social tenants are workless, this suggests that this is not happening. One solution to this is to join up services more effectively by integrating employment, skills finance and health advice with housing advice & options.

This more sophisticated approach would be more focused on achieving early interventions and helping to plan ahead to meet peoples aspirations. This approach is something that Tameside MBC will be looking to explore in the near future.

In April 2008 the Council will open up a “one stop” service for young people. This involves organizations such as Connexions, the Leaving Care Team, Youth Offending Team and Branching Out operating from a town centre base. The Housing Strategy Team is currently negotiating with the Council’s Services for Children & Young People to identify if it is appropriate to link the statutory responsibilities around homelessness for this client group to this new project. The objective being to provide a seamless and joined up approach between all of the agencies mentioned to prevent and resolve homelessness amongst vulnerable young people.

What we will do to improve and develop the Housing Options Centre

1. Develop an awareness raising training on homelessness and supported housing package for all key agencies offering services to people at risk of homelessness.
   
2. Raise awareness amongst schools and other services working with young people on the role of the Housing Options Centre.
   
3. Develop a range of information leaflets outlining the range of services available at the Housing Options Centre.
   
4. To have established protocols in place with all RSL's in cases of rent arrears to ensure Ground 8 is no longer used in possession proceedings.
   
5. Raise the awareness of the Housing Options Centre amongst local media and general public.
   
6. Ensure that the council's website is kept updated regarding information on housing options and homelessness.
   
7. Develop a range of methods to allow service users to be consulted and involved in identifying areas of service improvement.
   
8. Develop an annual training programme for Housing Options staff including customer service, dealing with challenging behaviour and casework.
   
9. Ensure that the service provided by the Housing Options Centre is accessible to residents living in all areas of the borough.
   
10. Raise awareness of the Housing Options Centre amongst the Black and Ethnic communities in Tameside including refugee and economic migrant groups.
    
11. Develop an enhanced housing options service offering users of the service support with employment, training and financial advice.

Chapter 8 - Reducing the Use of Temporary Accomodation

The government requires local authorities to reduce their dependence on temporary accommodation for households in priority need with a target of halving the use of temporary accommodation by the year 2010. 

Ending placements of homeless families in Bed and Breakfast accommodation is an established government priority. Since the 2002/03 the government have expected local authorities to stop placing families with children or with pregnant women in Bed and Breakfast accommodation except in cases of emergency where it should not be for more than six weeks.

Current Situation in Tameside

Tameside Council’s baseline figure for the temporary accommodation target is 64 households. The council therefore needs to reduce the number of households living in temporary accommodation to 32 or less by March 2010. 

Figure 2

During the 2004/05 Tameside Council had to place 51 young people (16 & 17 year olds) in Bed and Breakfast accommodation for over a week. This was a decrease from 58 the previous year. In response to this situation over 2005/06 Tameside Council took on a challenging Public Services Agreement (PSA) target to no longer place 16 & 17 year olds in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than 7 nights. With the full support from a wide range of partners this target was achieved over the relevant 12-month period and has been maintained since April 2007.

The majority of the temporary accommodation for priority need households in Tameside is managed by New Charter Housing Trust . Gibson Terrace is the main provision, having been fully refurbished over 2004. It now offers high quality self-contained accommodation with a staff presence on the project at all times. In addition there are also dispersed self contained satellite units also managed by New Charter at Lyne View in Hyde and Waterton Lane in Mossley.

At April 2008, the latest snapshot figure for households in temporary accommodation was 59. To reduce this figure further and to meet the temporary accommodation target it will be necessary to develop further the prevention initiatives and build upon the partnership arrangements that we have in place with New Charter Housing Trust and the other Registered Social Landlords working in the borough.

Any plans to reduce the numbers of temporary accommodation units would also have to be linked to the Supporting People Plan and the developing Regional Supported Housing Strategy.

An important component of our action plan to reduce the use of temporary accommodation will be ensuring that the best possible use is made of the private rented sector. As the demand for housing in many parts of the country outstrips supply, good quality private rented housing is increasingly necessary to meet the nation's immediate housing needs.

Sharp rises in house prices mean that home ownership is now unaffordable for an increasing number of households. The rapid reduction in good quality public housing, caused by inadequate capital investment and the right to buy, means that it is unavailable to an increasing number of households.

Some of the actions being put forward in this strategy to improve the use of the private rented sector are outlined in more detail in section 12 under increasing access to a choice of settled home.

What we will do to reduce the use of temporary accommodation

1. Reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation by 50% by 2010.
   
2. Develop a case management approach for households placed in temporary accommodation to assist them to access permanent housing as quickly as possible.
   
3. Establish targets to ensure that households remaining in temporary accommodation for more than 6 months are kept to a minimum.
   
4. Develop a business plan to identify how the temporary accommodation available after 2010 and be made available and managed.
   
5. Maximise the accessibility of floating support available to households in temporary accommodation likely to have ongoing support needs after being resettled.
   
6. Identify and remove any existing barriers preventing households from on from temporary accommodation.
   
7. Reduce the amount of time households spend on the Tameside Housing Register waiting to be rehoused.
   
8. Ensure that households placed in temporary accommodation are aware of their responsibility to assist in their own resettlement process by engaging with the relevant services.

Chapter 9 - Prevention of Homelessness Against the Main Causes

The decline in homelessness acceptances described in chapter 3 has been brought about by the cultural shift in traditional homelessness services that has occurred across the country. This has meant that the prevention of homelessness has become a key statutory requirement that has to be measured and the ways services are delivered have had to be reorganised accordingly.

Whilst numbers of homelessness presentations and acceptances have reduced over the past two years the numbers of households seen be the Housing Options Centre remains high. During 2007/08 there have 2156 households seeking advice and 144 cases of homelessness prevention.

The main cause of homelessness in Tameside is people fleeing domestic violence which recent figures suggest constitutes 36% of the total homelessness acceptances. These figures are higher than both the national and regional average. Over the past eighteen months our records show that of the total cases accepted as priority homeless due to domestic violence, 35% of households were originally from outside the borough. A protocol has recently been developed between the Women’s Refuge, the Housing Options Centre and the Housing Register that allows a quicker referral route onto the supported housing register as the means to getting resettled. This protocol was run as pilot for a three month period running up to April 2008 and was found to be an effective way of dealing with households fleeing domestic violence who needed to be rehoused.

The Housing Strategy team intends to carry on its partnership work with Community Safety in providing match funding for the Sanctuary Scheme which was developed in conjunction with the Domestic Violence Forum and the police.

The service was set up in June 2005 by New Charter Housing Trust  and was initially piloted for New Charter’s own tenants who have been threatened with violence from outside the home. The scheme works by providing security measures to prevent families from leaving their home and having to present themselves as homeless either in Tameside or one our neighbouring boroughs.

The scheme has now been extended to all Registered Social Landlords, private sector tenants and owner-occupiers. The initial figures regarding referral routes in the service are encouraging and over the last quarter of 2007 over 30% of referrals were not living in a New Charter property. We intend to carry on the work already started with our partners by broadening the access routes into the service and encouraging flexible policies that meet the needs of this client group.

The Service Level Agreement with NCHT will demonstrate the social and economic benefits of this service in identifying potential victims of domestic violence and look to developing similar protocols with a wider range of RSL’s working in Tameside.

Table 3 – The Sanctuary Scheme

The second biggest cause of homelessness is the termination of assured shorthold tenancies comprising 10% of all acceptances in 2006/07. This figure reflects a similar pattern across the region and we intend to look at best practice in this area with regard to the dissemination of good practice guidance to private landlords in the identification of vulnerable households. We also intend to promote good practice amongst private landlords with regard to the issuing of legal notices and take firmer action against those who we suspect of illegally harassing their tenants and thereby putting them at risk of homelessness.

The next biggest cause of homelessness in 2006/07 was relatives and friends asking a person to leave closely followed by parental evictions. The Housing Options Centre have recently introduced home visits and it is expected that this will prove beneficial in helping households find other solutions rather than taking a homelessness route. Dealing with parental evictions is going to be a major priority for this strategy and there is a need for close partnership working to assist in the earlier identification of families at risk and the development of preventative initiatives. Young people themselves have helped us identify some of the potential solutions to this problem and this is discussed in more detail in Chapter 10.

The lack of good quality debt advice has been identified as a significant problem in the borough contributing towards increasing the risk of homelessness amongst vulnerable households. The creation of a specialist debt advice post based at the Housing Options Centre since September 2007 has already been mentioned. We intend to supplement this post with some other specific initiatives including a dedicated telephone advice line and the development of a directory of debt services. It has also been recognised that we need to improve the quality of information we collect relating to debt and its relationship to actual and potential homelessness in Tameside.

In the first four months of the Debt Advice Worker post at the Housing Options Centre 24 cases were opened with a level of overall debt totalling £66,050. The biggest single type of debt was rent arrears confirming the view that this is a major cause of homelessness in the borough. Through partnership working with the Registered Social Landlords we aim to build a better picture of the extent of debt in possession proceedings and to develop joint protocols that promote homelessness prevention.

Alongside working on solutions that address the main causes of homelessness we are also aware of groups in our community who can be at a greater risk of experiencing homelessness. People who are being discharged from mental health wards, ex offenders and people with substance misuse problems anecdotal evidence suggests are at increased risk. We intend to continue to build upon the partnership links we have with other agencies in these fields to look for joint working opportunities that improve outcomes for our service users.

Following on from the Tameside Homelessness Conference and the wishes expressed by service users, we also intend to explore the feasibility of establishing a Day Resource Centre that can address some of the support needs many homeless people require including their employment and training needs.

What we will do to ensure that homelessness is prevented against the main causes

1. Increase the prevention of homelessness by 10% for each year of this strategy
   
2. Offer the option of a home visit to all people presenting at the Housing Options Centre threatened with exclusion by parents other family or friends.
   
3. Improve the management information available on the level of potential homelessness due to debt and anti-social behaviour.
   
4. Increase the number of cases seen by the Debt Advice Worker to promote an early intervention approach to cases of debt at the Housing Options Centre and across all housing providers.
   
5. Establish a telephone advice line to provide "fast track" advice to households who are experiencing problems with debt.
   
6. Ensure that all the key RSL's operating in the borough have protocols in place that outline how cases of domestic violence are dealt with and homelessness prevented.
   
7. Secure partnership funding to enable the continued delivery and development of the Sanctuary Scheme.
   
8. Continue to develop the accessibility of the Sanctuary Scheme across all tenure types including owner-occupiers and the private rented sector.
   
9. Increase the number of refuge places in the borough in line with government requirements.
   
10. Increase the awareness of the Sanctuary Scheme across all RSL’s and different types of tenure.
    
11. Increase the number of refuge places in the borough in line with government requirements.
    
12. Develop a joint protocol with key partners on how to tackle cases of illegal eviction and harassment.
    
13. Continue to implement and review the young persons joint protocol through regular meetings of the Young Persons Support and Accommodation Panel.
    
14. Implement a hospital discharge protocol to prevent patients being discharged from mental health wards.
    
15. Promote the use of Discretionary Housing Benefit as a homelessness prevention tool.
    
16. Review and re-launch the "Going into Custody" booklet aimed at people about to start a custodial sentence.
    
17. Explore the potential of establishing a video link between prisons and local probation offices to facilitate resettlement work.
    
18. Explore the feasibility of developing a Day Resource Centre that helps people at the point of homelessness engage with services that meets their needs in terms of housing, health and employment.

Chapter 10 - Reducing Homelessness Amongst Young People

Tackling youth homelessness is a key government priority and in November 2007 the CLG announced a range of initiatives to help the following targets to be achieved:

• By 2010, no 16 or 17 year olds should be placed in bed and breakfast accommodation under the homelessness legislation, except in an emergency
• Improving access to homelessness and family mediation for young people
• Establishing supported lodgings schemes across the country

One of the key initiatives launched is the development of a CLG funded National Youth Homelessness Scheme complemented by the creation of a Specialist Advisor post. Both these initiatives aim to disseminate good practice and act as critical friends to local authorities when services are being developed.

As part of the consultation work that has gone into the development of this strategy a group of 9 young people who had experience of homelessness attended a development day alongside a group of officers to help us identify the strategic priorities. The young people in their discussions agreed the following priorities:

• We need better information about housing and support for young people in Tameside. Young people need someone to talk through information booklets as they understand better when things are explained.
  
• When young people need help to stop them becoming homeless they should get it.
  
• Young service users should teach other young people on life skills, the risks of homelessness and about where to get help if they are homeless.
  
• All young people should get taught independent living skills at school so they know how to manage in the future with issues like shopping, budgeting, confidence building, self esteem and job guidance.
  
• Services should work together as one big team to help young people.
  
• Teachers and other staff working in schools need to know more about homelessness prevention and the other services available.
  
• We need more mixed (gender) hostels and supported housing.
  
• Services should be fair, non-judgemental and friendly and service users should have a say on how they are run.
  
• Services that work with young people who are homeless should get training to make sure they do a good job of helping young people.
  
• The out of hours housing options centre should have an easy to remember freefone telephone number which young people can use.
  
• There should be a Drop-in centre open 24/7 for homeless young people to go and stay until Housing Options opens.

The need to develop improved links with services for children and young people has been identified as crucial at both a strategic and frontline level. Young people have told us themselves that improved information about housing issues needs to be made available in situations where parents may be telling their son or daughter that they have to leave home. They have also told us that the best way for information to be communicated is by a worker that they are familiar and comfortable with. One of the key recommendations therefore from this strategy is that we embark upon a programme of awareness raising sessions for all key staff working with young people especially those deemed to be at risk of homelessness.

What we will do to develop services and reducing homelessness amongst young people

1. Develop an information strategy targeted at young people aiming to minimise their risk of becoming homeless in the future.
   
2. Develop and deliver homelessness awareness training to key staff in schools and other services working with young people.
   
3. Develop an integrated young persons service implementing Common Assessment Framework and minimising the risks to young people facing homelessness.
   
4. Explore the feasibility of developing a mediation scheme for young people threatened with eviction from their family home.
   
5. Provide young people with the training and opportunities to deliver peer education sessions to other young people through the PEP Presents project.
   
6. Deliver tailored "lifeskills" training to groups of identified young people deemed to be at greater risk of homelessness or other form of exclusion.
   
7. Increase the level of support and accommodation available to young people with complex needs.

Chapter 11 - Service User Involvement

Since the last Homelessness Strategy was written in 2003 we have improved considerably in the ways we consult with, and involve our service users in assessing the quality of services they receive and in identifying key strategic priorities. Here are some of the activities that users of homelessness services have been invited to be involved in over the past 3 years:

• “Peckin me Shed” a drama production created and staged by homeless young people directed by Cardboard Citizens and funded by New Charter .
• “Home Sweet Home” a young persons peer education project delivering homeless awareness raising sessions in local schools funded from CLG prevention grant.
• Tameside Homelessness Forum Participation Day attended by over 50 service users taking part in a range of activities that included video box, graffiti art, cooking, household maintenance workshops and dance.
• Peer Review training developed by the Supporting People team to enable service users to carry out reviews on supporting people funded projects.
• “Homeless in Tameside” DVD where a group of 8 service users were recruited to make a short documentary regarding how homelessness was being tackled in Tameside.
• Creative Day held in September 2007 which was a day of arts based participation leading up the Homelessness Conference a month later.
• The Homelessness Conference in October 2007 attended by over 100 delegates including 40 service users.
• Housing Options Centre trained up 2 young people from Chapel St to conduct customer satisfaction surveys on people who had used the service.

The issue of service user involvement was discussed as an issue in its own right at the Homelessness Conference in October and whether or not enough consideration was given to the view of service users in Tameside. The conference audience was asked “to what extent do you think services users views influence homelessness services in Tameside?”

In response 44% of respondents felt that service users were consulted a reasonable amount and 9% thought they were consulted a lot.

When asked whether Tameside should increase the level of service user involvement in the assessment and delivery of homelessness services; 39% felt there should be more involvement on an ongoing basis and 26% felt that there should be a lot more involvement in every aspect and at every level.

Shortly after the conference an action planning workshop with young people organised by the Supporting People endorsed the view that service users should have a more ongoing involvement in how services could be improved. One of the practical suggestions emerging from this workshop was the production of a good practice charter identifying the way young people (and other service users) would like to be treated by staff in housing projects and other services used by homeless people. There will be a need to act upon this suggestion and to convene a group of service users to get involved in this process.

Over the past two years Tameside Homelessness Forum has put service user involvement as a standing item on its agenda its individual member agencies have been hugely helpful in contributing towards the achievements outlined above. The forum wish to continue this commitment towards service user involvement and will be continuing to promote good practice both within their individual agencies and at a wider strategic level. With the support of the Tameside Users Forum based at the Drug Intervention Programme some limited progress has been made towards forming a service user forum.

The Supporting People Peer Review Programme and the Nacro led Peer Education project will continue to develop and provide service users with opportunities to directly improve services received by other homeless people.

What we will do to develop an increased level of service user involvement in the implementation of this strategy

1. Ensure services users are allowed to participate and influence the design and delivery of key homelessness services in the borough.
2. Establish a register of existing and ex-service users willing to take part in involvement and consultation activities.
3. Develop and ratify a policy on rewards and recognition for service user involvement.
4. Design and produce publicity material for the PEP Presents Project targeted at potential young people interested in volunteering and delivering peer education sessions.
5. Work with service users to produce a good practice charter on quality of services that should be expected from services.
6. Assess the feasibility of developing volunteering and training placement opportunities at the Housing Options Centre.
7. Explore the feasibility of developing a peer mentoring project targeted at people who have had experience of being homeless.
8. Establish regular meetings of the Service User Homelessness Forum.

Chapter 12 - Increase Access to a Choice of Settled Homes

The approach towards housing supply at the national level was outlined by the Government in July 2007 in the Housing Green Paper – ‘Homes for the future: more affordable, more sustainable’. 

Within the overall targets set for new housing to be built affordable housing features strongly within the green paper with proposals to increase affordable homes by 70,000 per year up to 2010/11, of which 45,000 will be social rented units. In Tameside between 2004/05 to 2006/07 the comparison between new affordable housing being built and loss of stock through the Right to Buy amounts to a net deficit of 501 units. This contributed to a 29% fall in Housing Association lettings in the three years running up to 2006 and a demand for social housing that outstripped the supply by over three times.

The strategic housing team has commissioned consultants to carry out a local Housing Market Assessment for Tameside, which will provide detailed information for the 9 sub-housing market areas. The final report is expected to be complete by July 2008 and will provide some robust data on which to develop an Affordable Housing Policy for the borough.

The development of Tameside’s Housing Register, managed by Accent Group  since 2005 has been a significant achievement. The two Advocacy Officers working on the Register have developed a good working relationship with all supported housing providers and an effective referral system is in place that helps people move onto their own home at a time that is right for them.

The effectiveness of this system is evident in the Supporting People KPI 2 (% of planned moves) which is 87% in quarter 3 of 2007/08, compared to the upper quartile figure of 72%.

The Tameside Supported Housing Register makes a significant contribution to this achievement. The Audit Commission identified the register as an example of Positive Practice in their inspection of the Supporting People programme in 2007. In 2006/7 the Housing Register re-housed 94 households from supported housing schemes; this represents 67% of all tenancy commencements achieved by the Housing Register. These included:

• Women’s refuge
• Services for ex-offenders
• Young people
• Drug users
• Homeless men and women

Despite these positive developments in getting vulnerable households re-housed there is a recognition that further improvements can still be made. Homeless Link with the support of the CLG has developed the Move-on Plans Protocol (MOPP) toolkit which aims to assess the need for move-on from temporary and supported accommodation and then develop plans to address the gaps. Tameside’s Supporting People team are to due review this toolkit and assess whether there are improvements that can be introduced into the systems we have in Tameside.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that groups such as ex offenders and people with substance misuse problems may face extra barriers in getting re-housed. Improved information on the extent of this problem needs to be gathered before effective action can be planned. Some of this evidence may be gleaned from analysing the data on the Housing Register and we will also need to work closely with our partners in probation, substance misuse services and community safety to identify the barriers faced by their clients who cannot access this route to getting rehoused.

The Housing and Support Needs in Tameside (2007) snapshot survey carried out last year found that the two most common factors affecting clients housing needs were mental health problems and substance misuse issues. Having access to a floating support service can substantially increase these household’s chances of sustaining their tenancies and avoid becoming homeless. During 2007/08 the provision of floating support services has been increased by 28%. There is a commitment from the council and its partners on the Supporting People Joint Commissioning Group to continue the trend and commission further non-accommodation based support services.

Historically, the private rented sector has been a little used resettlement resource for homeless people. Concerns about landlords, affordability and security of tenure in the private rented sector, coupled with the expectation of securing permanent, low-cost social housing, have meant that the private rented sector has often been perceived as not only an unattractive, but an untenable option.

However, insufficient supply of permanent social housing, and the consequent silt-up of temporary supported accommodation, means that we have to find ways of making the private rented sector a viable and attractive option for homeless people.

Tameside’s Rent Deposit Schemes has helped increase the access to private rented housing for many low-income households and in the process prevent potential cases of homelessness.

During 2007/08 the rent deposit scheme has issued 65 new bonds to households in housing need, many of whom would otherwise have had to continue over-occupying properties with friends or family, stay in temporary accommodation or sleep rough. The Housing Corporation’s strategy recommends that much greater use is made of the private sector and that new initiatives should be looked for to see how homelessness could be tackled using this underused resource.

A key priority identified in the update of Tameside’s Housing Strategy is the establishment of a Landlord’s Forum. This will facilitate the development of a Landlord Accreditation Scheme. This will be an important aspect of improving the overall standards of private rented accommodation in Tameside and opening channels of communication with an increasingly important sector of the housing market.

We intend to start introducing the accreditation standard with landlords who presently use the rent deposit scheme and in conjunction with the landlord forum use these initiatives to raise awareness amongst landlords and their tenants on housing rights in the private rented sector.

With the increased reliance on the private rented properties in tackling homelessness there is anecdotal evidence that there are a greater number of vulnerable households accommodated in this sector. The floating support schemes in the borough do have some of their caseload capacity allocated to tenants renting privately and we need to find out to what extent there remains an unmet need for support in this sector and an increased risk of homelessness as a consequence.

The process of improving our knowledge base of private rented tenants will start with an analysis of the support needs of the households who have currently been issued bonds by the rent deposit scheme. This information once gathered can then be fed into the Supporting People commissioning process when future floating support provision is being planned.

Over the past two years Tameside Council in partnership with Tameside College and the Housing Partnership have developed an Independent Living Skills course aimed at providing the key skills households need to sustain a tenancy. The course was initially targeted at existing service users within supported housing projects but has now been extended to include tenants who already have their own home where a risk of homelessness has been identified. The course has now been formally accredited with AQA  an independent awarding body and it is our intention to continue to develop this service and make it an established step towards achieving successful move-on into permanent accommodation.

In order to tackle homelessness and housing need effectively it will be essential that new and innovative ways are found to make optimum use of all the housing stock in the borough including the private sector. One such development is the introduction of a choice based lettings scheme by New Charter Housing Trust  who own over 70% of the social housing stock in the borough. Since the introduction of choice based lettings in April 2007, New Charter have received over 63,000 bids for properties being let and have re-housed 1,243 households in the 12 month period.

As part of the move towards an enhanced housing options service there will be a drive to look at ways of expanding choices available to those in need. In partnership with our RSL partners the council intend to look closely at some of the ideas outlined in the “Tackling homelessness: The Housing Corporation strategy (November 2006)”  regarding making better use of existing stock. At a national level there are an estimated 400,000 households who are under-occupying properties. There are opportunities for innovative solutions here to free up some of these larger type of properties and local RSL’s have approached us expressing interest in working together on this.

What we will do to increase access to a choice of settled homes

1. Produce an affordable housing policy based on data gathered from the Strategic Housing Market, Assessment, Needs and Demand study.
   
2. Review Homeless Link’s Move On Plans Protocol and assess what lessons can be learnt for Tameside.
   
3. Improve our understanding of the barriers people with complex needs face in accessing housing and identify solutions to remedy.
   
4. Develop a Landlords Accreditation scheme to improve standards and image of the private rented sector.
   
5. Gain a better understanding of the support and accommodation needs of tenants who are in the private rented sector.
   
6. Explore the possibility of commissioning a tenancy support and compliance service for high-risk offenders who face problems accessing housing through existing pathways.
   
7. Commission more floating support services to meet identified gaps in provision delaying or stopping the resettlement process.
   
8. To explore creative solutions towards making better use of existing stock for housing homeless and/or vulnerable households.
   
9. Secure longer term funding for the Independent Living Skills course.

Chapter 13 - Action Plan

1. Developing The Housing Options Service

2. Reducing the Need For Temporary Accommodation

#	Objectvies	Milestones and Actions	Lead Responsibility	Monitoring and Progress	Target Date
1	To reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation by 50% by 2010.	55 by December 08 45 by December 08 35 by December 09 32 by March 2010 Undertake a mapping exercise to identify the projected future demand for temporary accommodation based on current service provision by December 2008	John Hughes Housing Strategy team Housing Options Centre	Strategic Homelessness Group Tameside Local Strategic Partnership	March 10
2	To develop a case management approach for households placed in temporary accommodation to assist them to access permanent housing as quickly as possible.	Develop a written policy outlining how households will be worked with to help them access permanent housing. December 2009.	Howard Lomas Housing Options Centre Housing Register	Housing Strategy Team	December 09
3	To decrease the overall length of stay families are remaining in temporary accommodation	Carry out case conferences with all households who are remaining in temporary accommodation after 3 months. Develop an action plan template. January 2009.	Howard Lomas Housing Options Centre	Housing Strategy Team	March 09
4	To ensure that households remain no longer than 6 months in temporary accommodation.	Establish baseline for current levels of stay in temporary accommodation. Set milestones for reducing stays of over 6 months to zero. By December 2008.	John Hughes Housing Strategy team	Strategic Homelessness Group	December 08
5	To formulate a plan on how the temporary accommodation units will be made available and managed after March 2010.	Carry out a review of current temporary accommodation provision. Develop list of options on how temporary accommodation provision can be reduced in line with milestones. By September 2008.	John Hughes Housing Strategy team	Strategic Homelessness Group	December 09
6	Maximise the accessibility of floating support available to households in temporary accommodation likely to have ongoing support needs after being resettled.	Carry out a gap analysis on the need and availability of floating support services for households in temporary accommodation by March 2009.	Diane Barkley Supporting People	Strategic Homelessness Group SP Commissioning Group	March 09
7	To identify and remove any existing barriers preventing households moving on from temporary accommodation.	Develop joint protocol with key RSL's on working together to resettle households excluded due to rent arrears and/or anti-social behaviour.	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy Tameside Housing Register	Strategic Homelessness Group	March 09
8	To reduce the amount of time households are on the Housing Register waiting to be rehoused.	Carry out an analysis on the current position of rehousing households through the Housing Register. October 2008 Agree targets for improving outcomes. Develop a quarterly quota system of nominating properties onto the Housing Register matching demand with individual RSL supply.	Housing Register	Housing Strategy Team	July 09
9	To ensure households are aware of their responsibility to assist to their own resettlement and engage with the relevant services.	Provide an information pack to all new households placed in temporary accommodation covering the key issues including access to education, health and support services and an outline of the rehousing process. Start process by October 2008.	Howard Lomas Housing Options Centre	Strategic Homelessness Group	March 09

3. Prevention of Homelessness Against The Main Causes

#	Objectives	Milestones and Actions	Lead Responsibility	Monitoring and Progress	Target Date
1	To increase the prevention of homelessness by 10% for each year of this strategy.	521 households by 2009 527 households by 2010 532 households by 2011 537 households by 2012 543 households by 2013	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy	Strategic Homelessness Group	April 09
2	To offer the option of a home visit to all people presenting at the Housing Options Centre threatened with exclusion by parents other family or friends.	Carry out a review on the demand for services at the Housing Options Centre. Benchmark against comparable homelessness service in the region. Set future targets on the levels of home visits to be achieved. by March 2009	Howard Lomas Housing Options Centre	Housing Strategy team	June 09
3	To improve the management information available on the level of potential homelessness due to debt and anti-social behaviour.	Monitoring exercise to be carried out of the County Court desk relating to representation being provided for social housing tenants in possession hearings. Present report to the Strategic Homelessness Group by December 2008.	Alan Franco Welfare Rights Service	Strategic Homelessness Group	December 09
4	To increase the number of cases seen by Debt Advice Worker to promote an early intervention approach in cases of debt at the Housing Options Centre and across all housing providers.	Debt Advice Worker to develop a caseload of 94 cases opened every year.	Janine Yates Welfare Rights Service	Housing Strategy team	April 09
5	To establish a telephone advice line to provide "fast track" advice to households who are experiencing problems with debt.	Establish a baseline figure for number of households accepted as homeless where debt has been a significant issue.	Janine Yates Welfare Rights team	Strategic Homelessness Group	April 09
6	To ensure that all the key RSL's operating in the borough have protocols in place that outline how cases of domestic violence are dealt with and homelessness prevented.	Hold meeting with key RSL's to share good practice Agree process on establishing joint protocol on dealing with cases of domestic violence by September 2009.	John Hughes Housing Strategy	Strategic Homelessness Group Domestic Violence Forum RSL Forum	September 09
7	To develop a joint protocol with key partners on how to tackle cases of illegal eviction and harassment.	Commence discussions with Housing Standards team regarding the development of a protocol to tackle cases illegal eviction and harassment. Start November 2008.	Howard Lomas Housing Options Centre	Strategic Homelessness Group	April 09
8	To secure partnership funding to enable the continued delivery and development of the Sanctuary Scheme.	Hold discussions with RSL partners and Community Safety to discuss future funding options for the Sanctuary Scheme. By September 2008.	John Hughes Housing Strategy team	Strategic Homelessness Group Domestic Violence Forum	April 09
9	To increase the awareness of the Sanctuary Scheme across all RSL's and types of tenure.	Monitor level of referrals from RSL's and different tenures and set targets by April 2009. Hold annual feedback session for partners. May 2009	New Charter Housing Trust	Strategic Homelessness Group Domestic Violence Forum	June 09
10	To increase the number of refuge places in the borough in line with government requirements.	Continue discussions with RSL's to highlight need to increase refuge places and request support. By September 2008. 35 refuge places by December 2008. 38 refuge places by April 09.	John Hughes Housing Strategy Team Tracey Austin Community Safety	Strategic Homelessness Group	Six extra refuge places to be secured across the borough. April 2009
11	Produce good practice guidance for private landlords regarding the prevention of homelessness.	Attend Landlords Forum to present background information. Secure support for further action on reducing homelessness through loss of tenancy. April 2009	Howard Lomas Housing Options Centre	Strategic Homelessness Group	July 09
12	To implement a pilot hospital discharge policy to prevent patients being discharged from mental health wards with nowhere to stay.	Establish Hospital Discharge Steering Group. Feedback to steering group progress made on Homeless Link's regional protocol. Develop and agree local Discharge Protocol. Implement discharge protocol in Tameside. By December 2009	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy team	Strategic Homelessness Group	December 09
13	Maximise the use of Discretionary Housing Payments to bridge gaps between rent and Housing Benefit payments.	Ensure information leaflets on Discretionary Housing Benefit are easily available to vulnerable households. Work with the Housing Benefit department on monitoring the level of take up for DHP. January 2009	John Hughes Housing Strategy team	Tameside Homelessness Forum	March 09
14	Prevent ex-offenders from becoming homeless on being released from custodial sentences. September 2008.	Review the "Going into Custody" booklet Relaunch the booklet amongst all partner agencies and service users. Carry out 5 cases studies on ex-offenders access to housing. Develop action plan to overcome exclusions and barriers to housing faced by ex-offenders.	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy team	Strategic Homelessness Group Tameside Users Forum (DIP) Reducing Reoffending - Accommodation Pathways Group	December 08
15	To explore the potential of establishing a video link between prisons and local probation offices to facilitate resettlement work.	Hold discussion with Community Safety and Probation Service to explore options and resource implications by September 2009	Lisa Lees Community Safety	Strategic Homelessness Group	September 09
16	To explore the feasibility of developing a Day Resource Centre that assists people at the point of homelessness to engage with the key services that address their needs in terms of housing, health and employment.	Produce information leaflet on where to get help in Tameside if faced with homelessness. July 2009	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy team	Strategic Homelessness Group	March 13

4. Reducing Homelessness Amongst Young People

#	Objectives	Milestones and Actions	Lead Responsibility	Monitoring and Progress	Target Date
1	To develop an information strategy targeted at young people aiming to minimise their risk of becoming homeless.	Set up a young peoples working group. Develop an information leaflet targeted at young people by August 2008.	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy team	Strategic Homelessness Group	December 08
2	To improve the level of homelessness awareness amongst key staff in schools and other services working with young people.	Report twice a year to the Achieving Economic Wellbeing Group. Hold an awareness raising workshop across key services working with young at risk of homelessness. March 2009	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy Scott Winstanley Housing Options Centre	Strategic Homelessness Group	September 09
3	Work with Services for Children and Young People to develop an integrated service for all young people at risk of becoming homeless.	Ensure all staff working at the Housing Options Centre have completed training in using the Common Assessment Framework. June 2009 Deliver 2 briefing sessions on the work of the Housing Options Centre to key staff working with vulnerable young people. Carry out an options appraisal on the strategic position of homelessness services for young people.	Howard Lomas Housing Options Centre Andrew Leah Housing Strategy	Strategic Homelessness Group	September 09
4	To explore the feasibility of establishing a mediation scheme for young people threatened with eviction from the family home.	Map current services for mediation and parenting support. Communicate with Services for Children and Young People. Carry out an options appraisal on potential sources of funding and commissioning possibilities.	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy Team	Strategic Homelessness Group	September 09
5	Deliver peer education sessions on homelessness to secondary schools and education projects in the borough.	Produce publicity information of the "PEP Presents" peer education project. September 2008 Identify 2 key schools in Tameside to carry out intensive peer education and homelessness prevention work. November 2008	Carol Flynn/Tom Taylor Nacro Community Enterprises	Strategic Homelessness Group	May 09
6	Deliver tailored "lifeskills" training to groups of young people deemed to be at greater risk of homelessness or other form of exclusion.	Map current provision of "lifeskills" training. May 2009 Discuss with education providers potential gaps in current provision. Deliver 2 specific sessions on housing and independent living. December 2009.	Colm O'Brien	Strategic Homelessness Group	December 09
7	Reduce the percentage of young people in supported housing who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).	Establish baseline % figure for number of NEET under 19's in supported housing. September 2008. Identify the training needs of key workers in supported accommodation with regard to benefits for young people. December 2008. Develop agreements with 5 supported accommodation projects on how young people will be supported to address NEET status. April 2009 Deliver 2 sessions to key workers in supported accommodation. May 2009.	Jo Brown Connexions  Supporting People Team	Strategic Homelessness Group	August 09
8	Increase the level of support and accommodation available to young people with complex needs.	Report completed on Accommodation Pathways Workshop held in June 2008. By July 2008. Recommendations made to key strategic groups by October 2008.	Gill Leng HQN Consultancy  Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy Team Christine Gerrard Leaving Care Team	Strategic Homelessness Group Childrens and Young Peoples Strategic Partnership	March 13
9	To continue to implement and review the young persons joint protocol through the regular meetings of the Young Persons Support and Accommodation Panel (YPSAP)	Hold 30 meetings of the Young Persons Support and Accommodation Panel by April 2009.	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy team	Strategic Homelessness Group	April 09

5. Service User Involvement

#	Objectives	Milestones and Actions	Lead Responsibility	Monitoring and Progress	Target Date
1	Ensure services users are allowed to participate and influence the design and delivery of key homelessness services in the borough.	Invite service user(s) to become part of the selection panel assessing the bids for the Housing Options Centre contract. May 2008	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy Team	Strategic Homelessness Group	May 08
2	Establish a register of existing and ex-service users willing to take part in involvement and consultation activities.	Start to develop a registration process to allow service users to put themselves forward for future involvement work. July 2008	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy Team	Tameside Homelessness Forum	October 08
3	To develop an agreed policy towards the rewards and recognition for service user involvement.	Write draft policy and ratify at the Homelessness Forum by July 2008.	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy Team	Tameside Homelessness Forum	September 08
4	Design and produce publicity material for the PEP Presents Project targeted at potential young people interested in volunteering and delivering peer education sessions.	Recruit ten young people to undertake the peer education training. May 2009	Nacro Community Enterprises	Strategic Homelessness Group Tameside Homelessness Forum	May 09
5	To develop a good practice charter to be put on display in all supported housing projects and other key services used by homeless people.	Hold a follow up workshop together with young people and agree the content and wording of a good practice charter. By August 2008	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy Team	Strategic Homelessness Group	September 08
6	To explore the feasibility of developing volunteering and training placement opportunities at the Housing Options Centre.	Housing Options Centre to carry out scoping exercise on potential placements looking at good practice from other areas. By April 2009	Howard Lomas Housing Options Centre	Strategic Homelessness Group	April 09
7	Explore the feasibility of developing a peer mentoring project targeted at people who have had experience of being homeless.	Initiate discussions with Tameside Volunteer Centre  on options available to develop a specialist peer support project for homeless people. June 2009	Colm O'Brien Housing Strategy	Strategic Homelessness Group	March 11
8	To establish regular meetings of the Service User Homelessness Forum.	Agree a timetable of meetings for 12 month period and identify key people in a position to support the group.	Colm O'Brien Homelessness Forum	Tameside Homelessness Forum	April 09

6. Increasing Access to a Choice of Settled Homes