Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

a)  To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting held on the 18^th of July 2024

b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 18^th July 2024 were agreed and signed as a true record.

Further to recommendation 3) of Minute 3/24, headed ‘Water Quality’, the Board agreed that for their scheduled meeting on 5th December 2024 they would visit and hold their meeting at Severn Trent Water Finham Sewage Treatment Works.

Briefing Note of the Head of Housing and Homelessness

The Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4) received a presentation and briefing note of the Head of Housing and Homelessness on the Draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029, the purpose of which was to consult the Board as part of the current consultation regarding the identified priorities and themes. The Draft Strategy and the Homelessness Review 2024 were attached as appendices to the briefing note.

All Councils in England and Wales had a statutory duty to undertake a periodic review of homelessness and to publish a Homelessness Strategy. The current Strategy, published in 2019 and ran to 2024, was aimed at providing a high-level plan setting out the main priorities for the Council and its partners for the life of the Strategy, to guide the allocation of resources and investment, and provide a framework to inform project development, to achieve the vision that Coventry Citizens would be able to access a suitable, affordable, and decent home, with the support they needed to sustain their housing.

In 2019 when the Strategy was developed the previous Homelessness Strategy and Housing Strategy were combined into one document. The rationale was for this was recognition that activities to prevent and relieve homelessness were to a degree dependent on the availability of permanent housing. Coventry published its first Rough Sleeping Strategy in December 2019, in line with a requirement by the Government for all areas to have a Strategy to prevent and tackle rough sleeping. The successful delivery of the Rough Sleeping Strategy and Action Plan was not in the Council's power alone therefore a One Coventry partnership approach was adopted to ensure successful realisation of the vision by supporting and delivering the Strategy through effective collaboration and partnership working.

The Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019-2024 and its Action Plan were reflective of and intrinsically linked to the Council’s Housing and Homelessness Strategy and the two strategies needed to be considered and delivered in tandem. The Housing and Homelessness Strategy set the vison for housing in the city and the Council’s priorities therefore a separate Housing Strategy would be developed for the city which would align with the Local Plan review that was currently being undertaken. The Homelessness element of the Strategy would be combined with the Rough Sleeping Strategy, creating a new Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy. The new Strategy, which would run from 2024 to 2029, would focus on what actions were being taken to prevent people from becoming homeless, what was being done when people found themselves homeless and how they were supported to end their homelessness. There would be a focus on partnership working alongside how to ensure that life chances and health outcomes for those affected by homelessness were improving through early intervention and prevention; crisis and targeted support; moving on and tenancy sustainment and assessing the health inequalities impact through National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidance.

In considering the presentation and briefing note, the Board questioned officers, received responses and discussed matters as summarised below:

·  The impact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Briefing Note of the Director of Law and Governance

The Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4) received a report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator that detailed issues on the Board’s Work Programme for meetings of the Board for 2024/25.

RESOLVED that the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4) notes the issues on the Board’s Work Programme for 2024/25, and  requests that ‘Parking Permit Fees’ be added to the Programme.

There were no other items of public business.