Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 Preparing for the Duty to Refer Kent Housing Group HRA Workshop 28th September 2018

Homelessness Reduction Act – strengthening statutory duties to improve prevention and relief of homelessness Code of Guidance MHCLG support for implementation of the Act Reforming data systems Secondary Legislation

The role of HAST Supporting the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act; including having a particular focus on improving outcomes for single people and rough sleepers Supporting areas to develop their homelessness strategies and governance with a focus on preventing homelessness through collaboration across public services Providing targeted challenge and support to help struggling areas to improve their practice and performance Supporting the development and sharing of effective practice, working alongside our Trailblazer areas Providing intelligence from local areas to inform on-going policy development.

HRA Duty to Refer Duty to Refer - from 1st October 2018 certain public bodies will have a new ‘Duty to Refer’ with consent, their service users who are homeless or threatened with homelessness to a local authority of their choice. To ensure that services are working together effectively Working together to intervene earlier to prevent homelessness Specified public bodies but others can still make a referral Homelessness Code of Guidance Chapter Four Commitment to Refer for housing associations Central and local arrangements

Duty to Refer Public Bodies with Duty to Refer from October 1st 2018 are: (a) prisons; (b) youth offender institutions; (c) secure training centres; (d) secure colleges; (e) youth offending teams; (f) probation services (including community rehabilitation companies); (g) Jobcentre Plus; (h) social service authorities; (i) emergency departments; (j) urgent treatment centres; and, (k) hospitals in their function of providing inpatient care. (l) Secretary of State for defence in relation to members of the armed forces Local authorities and partners are encouraged to build referral protocols and procedures with ALL service providers that can help identify and support people threatened with homelessness

Working towards a voluntary Duty to Refer or a ‘commitment’ to refer For those agencies not subject to the duty to refer it is still possible and helpful to refer early to prevent homelessness. National Housing Federation – a ‘commitment to refer’ for housing associations. See :  http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/doc.housing.org.uk/Commitment_to_refer_QA_final.pdf An example is West Midlands Housing Associations Partnership (WMHAP), with a commitment in principle given to: Support West Midlands to be an exemplar region in implementation of Homelessness Reduction Act Voluntary commitment to collaborate to prevent homelessness and relieve Ambition to work towards no-one being made homeless from social housing Task group set up within WMHAP to develop the above further

Local arrangements under the Duty to Refer Local authorities and the public sector partners locally which are subject to the Duty to Refer may wish to consider: Whether a cross-authority referral form could be developed How to enable easy access to agencies to the form Training and briefings with local agencies so there is shared understanding of the new legislation, the legal duty and importance of early referrals, the legal requirement for consent and how to address any issues/problems The revising of existing protocols or creation of new ones (example hospital discharge) Duty to Refer email address list for all local housing authorities Guidance for public bodies now published https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-duty-to-refer

MHCLG news A Ministerial Taskforce will bring together ministers from key departments to provide a cross-Government approach to rough sleeping and homelessness prevention A Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel made up of homelessness experts, charities and local government, will support the Ministerial Taskforce A national strategy, as part of its commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027 Rough Sleeping Initiative with funding for 83 areas, £11m RSI money unallocated, Trailblazer programmes and Rough Sleeping Grants Housing First pilot Areas London Training Academy spaces offered to high demand areas in South East and East of England Further funding – PRS Access Fund soon, Move on Fund out now, Local Digital Fund out now Expanded HAST team

Contact email for enquiries Hast@communities.gsi.gov.uk ANY QUESTIONS? Contact email for enquiries Hast@communities.gsi.gov.uk