Housing Homelessness and Fair Work Committee – The NEN

How Edinburgh’s Family and Household Support Service works to ‘get it right for everyone’

Edinburgh’s Family and Household Support Service has prevented at least 350 households from becoming homeless, a council report has revealed.

At a meeting of the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee this week, councillors heard how the service is providing a citywide approach to ‘getting it right for everyone’ – with the aim of helping vulnerable residents before it’s too late.

Through referrals from sources such as teachers, housing officers and social workers to police officers and politicians, it has been possible to intervene early in many cases to help households in Edinburgh access the right advice and support.

Around £300,000 in welfare has been sourced to support families referred to the service, alongside advice on issues as varied as parenting, addiction, employment and health and wellbeing, according to the council report.

Working directly with teams which handle antisocial behaviour complaints and neighbourly disputes, the service is also working to prevent repeat instances of antisocial behaviour by working holistically with those involved to assess any support needs.

The Committee also heard how the service is successfully helping tenants sustain their tenancy once they move into a new home. Edinburgh’s ‘Keys and a Kit’ programme as it has been dubbed features sessions on finances, health and local community resources and activities to help new tenants settle in, which can be particularly important following a long period of homelessness.

By making the best use of limited resources by working collaboratively with charities and others, it is also estimated that this preventative approach has provided a saving to the council of close to £6m since 1 April 2022.

Councillor Jane Meagher, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “Every day, our tenants are interacting with council services – be it for health care, school, or welfare. These services need to be joined up so that we can better support the whole life of a tenant and it’s great to see the difference this ‘getting it right for everyone’ approach is making.

“Thanks to early intervention from council workers and from our partners, we’ve prevented homelessness for hundreds of households. Families entitled to benefits have been helped and tenants moving into new homes have been supported.

“Plus an extra advantage of this has been £4.5m of costs associated with homelessness avoided in the last year alone, at a time when our finances are under immense pressure.

“I hope to see us build on this even further now that the Family and Household Support Service reports into the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee.

“I’m confident that we’ll be able to draw this work together even more and build in other measures, such as noticing when a tenant’s home may be suffering from damp or is in need of an essential repair.”

Help for Edinburgh’s young people to access education and employment opportunities

A budget of over £3million is being committed to support more young people into training, education or workplace opportunities over the next year.

This is being done by the City of Edinburgh Council, as part of the Young Person’s Guarantee (YPG) funding from the Scottish Government, as Scotland’s Capital looks to build a stronger, fairer and more sustainable economy.

At yesterday’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work (HHFW) committee (24 March) councillors were given an update on the diverse range of projects and programmes, both new and existing, across the city. These will help to support young people aged between 16-24 years old, from a wide variety of backgrounds and stages of their training or career journeys.

The help that young people can expect to receive through these programmes will include mental health support, early skills training, practical skills training, as well as in-work support and mentoring as they progress into employment. In particular, young people who find it difficult to access opportunities will be targeted to help them to either prepare or give them the tools to find work.

As part of the initiatives, a further small grant opportunity for third-party employability programmes will be opening in April on the Joined Up for Jobs website.

YPG funding will also go to the NHS to run a new programme for care experienced young people who are looking for work experience, as well as a Job Creation Scheme to support progression from current YPG paid placements. This will offer funding to support the first year of up to 20 Modern or Graduate Apprenticeships within the Council and third sector organisations who are currently providing work placements.

The city’s five Activity Agreement Hubs will also benefit from additional funding. The Hubs work with young people who have left school without a positive destination, or who drop out of college, training or their first job, to gain the skills they need to move into education or employment.

In addition, in a separate report to HHFW, it was agreed that funding from the Scottish Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee will be used to support a new pilot programme that will look to enhance Employer Recruitment Incentives (ERIs) by offering an uplift to match the Real Living Wage where the employee is from a disadvantaged household and starting a Modern Apprenticeship or gaining a recognised qualification.

The funding is being delivered through the city’s own Edinburgh Guarantee, which last year expanded to help people of all ages access fair work, training and employment.

Councillor Kate Campbell, Convener of the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee said: “Thanks to this funding, we are able to continue supporting existing programmes, as well as new projects, that are having a real impact for young people.

“There are so many good ideas and new, innovative programmes by organisations across the city that will help get people’s education and career goals back on track after what’s been a very disrupting time.

“We’re particularly mindful of the impact the pandemic has had on young people and people facing additional barriers. That’s why we also want to make sure that we continue to reach every area of the city by making sure the programmes we fund cover every community.

“The Young Person’s Guarantee grant programme will help to increase those opportunities and will complement the already extensive support provided across the city.”

Councillor Mandy Watt, Vice Convener of the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee, said: “Our Edinburgh Guarantee promises that no one will be left behind.

“Through the continuation of this small grant programme for another year we hope to make sure those who need our help will be given the opportunity to access the support they need – whether that’s for training or career aspirations – to reach their goals. We also want to make sure that this is spread out across the city and that those experiencing the greatest barriers get the most help from these grant programmes.”

Helping young people into work being placed at the forefront of Council’s economic recovery drive

The City of Edinburgh Council is channelling crucial Young Person’s Guarantee funding into 14 employability programmes to help as many young people as possible get into work.

As Scotland’s Capital looks to build a stronger, fairer and more sustainable economy, councillors at the Council’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee this week were given an update on the diverse range of projects and programmes, both new and existing across the city, that will receive grant money.

These programmes will further help young people, aged between 16-24 years old, to prepare or give them the tools to find work.

They are open to all young people, regardless of background or experience, but will also specifically help and support young people who have additional barriers to securing a job. The help that young people can expect to receive will include mental health support, early skills training, practical skills training, as well as in-work support and mentoring as they progress into employment.

The funding supports projects and activities running between October 2021 and March 2022.

The successful providers and their programmes that young people can access are as follows (in no particular order):

Cyrenians “Key to Potential – Key to College” and “Getting Together”

Citadel “Futureheads”

Impact Arts “Impact Arts (Projects) Ltd”

Access to Industry “EdinMe Project” and “Access Mechanics”

Street League “Connected”

RUTS “Inspire”

Young Enterprise Scotland “Bridge 2 Business – Edinburgh”

Move On “Move On Employability Pathway”

ENABLE Scotland “Breaking Barriers (Edinburgh Napier University)”

Articulture Cultural Trust “Creative Potentials”

Adoption UK Scotland

Barnardos “Drive2Work”

The funding is being delivered through the city’s own Edinburgh Guarantee, which earlier this year expanded to help people of all ages access fair work, training and employment, and has been provided by the Scottish Government, through its Young Persons Guarantee ambition.

Councillor Kate Campbell, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “We’re really pleased that there were so many good ideas and new, innovative programmes put forward by organisations across the city. The pandemic, and then Brexit, have caused so much disruption to people’s working lives and livelihoods, but we’re particularly mindful of the impact on young people and people facing additional barriers.

“We want to make sure that everyone, but especially those at the early stages of their working life or people who already face disadvantage, get fair access to education, training, skills development and good quality jobs.

“The Young Person’s Guarantee grant programme will help to increase those opportunities and will complement the already extensive support provided across the city.

“As a council we spend almost £5million a year supporting people who need a bit of extra help to find work and build skills and confidence. It’s never been more needed.

“Alongside, we’re making Edinburgh a Living Wage City, so that we’re not just helping people to access jobs, but good quality jobs. As we move through to economic recovery it’s vital that everyone can share in Edinburgh’s success, so making sure that work is fair, and people can earn a living wage, is a top priority.”

Councillor Mandy Watt, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Vice Convener, said: “Our Edinburgh Guarantee promises that no one will be left behind. Through this small grant programme we hope to make sure those who need our help will be given the opportunity to access the support they need so they are ready for whatever training or career aspirations they have their sights on.

“We also want to make sure that this is spread out across the city and that those experiencing the greatest barriers get the most help from these grant programmes.

It is hoped that YPG funding from the Scottish Government will be available in 2022/23 so work with providers to continue projects where the uptake and impact on young person accessing those programmes has been positive.

For anyone looking for more information about the Edinburgh Guarantee they can get in touch by emailing edinburghguarantee@edinburgh.gov.uk

City council prevents more than 300 households falling into homelessness

In just over a year, more than 300 households living in the private rented sector have been prevented from becoming homeless thanks to city council’s Crisis-run Private Rented Service Team (PRS).

Established in November 2019 in response to a growing number of homeless presentations from the private rented sector, the Private Rented Service (PRS) Team has assisted 324 households since March 2020. This has been done by helping them to keep their existing tenancy or to move to either a new private or mid-market rent secure tenancy.

Edinburgh Help to Rent, which is a service the Council contracts Crisis to deliver, does this by providing rent deposit guarantee bonds. It has provided 50 households with a bond to access properties in the private rented sector since February 2020.

This comes as part of a wider update on the City of Edinburgh Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP), a comprehensive strategy to tackle and eradicate homelessness across the city over the next five years, that was presented at the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee this month.

The Council has made significant investment, complemented by Scottish Government funding, to deliver the Plan, which is focused on providing:

suitable temporary accommodation for the needs of households;

supporting people into settled accommodation as quickly as possible;

reducing the number of people sleeping rough on our streets; and overall preventing homelessness in the first place.

The RRPT sets out all the different approaches that are key to tackling a wide range of issues faced by people across the Capital.

Alongside the PRS Team, a team has been set up to provide a ‘multi-disciplinary response’ pilot for Council tenants who are struggling to maintain their tenancy or who are falling into rent arrears.

This multi-agency approach across the Council aims to reach out to our tenants who may not engage with their locality Housing Officer, to offer joined-up support and enhanced engagement to help keep the tenant in their home and so avoiding homelessness.

Learning from a similar successful innovative programme by Newcastle City Council, this brings together representatives from key Council services including housing, homelessness, advice services, family & household support, adult protection and children and families social work services into one cross-Council response group.

Established as recently as February 2021, since March this year the team has positively engaged 16 (84%) of 19 tenants referred to the team. A further 14 have since been referred and attempts are being made to contact them and offer support.

The Homelessness Transformational Prevention Programme complements the RRTP. Through this programme the Council has recruited 28 additional officers to trial new ways of working that will prevent homelessness in the first place.

When a permanent home can’t be found immediately, the team will continue helping people to access settled housing more quickly, thereby reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation. Through joint funding by the Council and Scottish Government, the RRTP has made this investment possible.

Councillor Kate Campbell, Convener of Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee said: “With the severe pressure on housing in Edinburgh, we need to take every possible step we can to tackle homelessness in our city.

“That includes stepping up work on prevention, improving temporary accommodation, making sure that there is support in place for anyone experiencing homelessness, ending rough sleeping and finding as many ways as possible to help people resolve homelessness. The Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan sets out all the different initiatives we’ve put in place to do that.

“This has to start with preventing homelessness wherever possible, so I’m glad that both the PRS Team and the multi-disciplinary response team are working so well. Preventing 300 households from becoming homeless in a year is phenomenal and it shows the real value of the RRTP supporting innovation and new ways of working. This funding from the Scottish Government allows us to try out new services, and where they are successful we can continue, and look to expand them.

“This is more important than ever as we start to see the economic repercussions from the pandemic and expect an increase in homeless presentations.

“The RRTP is a comprehensive plan that sets out all of these new services and innovative ways that we are supporting people to create better outcomes for individuals, and work towards ending homelessness in our city.”

Councillor Mandy Watt, Vice Convener of Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee said: “Being homeless can be a horrible experience for people and finding better ways to prevent it is an incredibly important part of the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan.

“Working with registered social landlords and partner organisations like Crisis has already made a big difference to the numbers of people ending up homeless.

“As we come out of the Covid-19 emergency measures, the need for this service is likely to increase significantly and we’ll be relying on our dedicated prevention team to play an even bigger role in our efforts to end homelessness in Edinburgh.”

Independent local support is available if you are experiencing housing/debt problems. Contact Granton Information Centre by email at info@gic.org.uk or telephone 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458.

£2.8m for Edinburgh business support: first come, first served

Eligible Edinburgh businesses can apply for new Discretionary Fund payments from Wednesday

Applications for £2,000 business grant payments will be open on the City of Edinburgh Council’s website from Wednesday 3 February.

This follows the approval of a recommended fund framework at Friday’s specially-convened Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee.

The framework will guide the Council in distributing £2,796,150 from the Scottish Government for discretionary business grant funding.

To date, the Council has provided financial support to over 15,000 Edinburgh businesses in response to COVID-19, with funding in excess of £156 million since March 2020.

This newly approved ‘Discretionary Grant Fund’ will aim to assist businesses that have been without financial support since the introduction of Brake Restrictions and latterly Strategic Framework Restrictions in October and November 2020. Businesses will receive one off payment of £2,000. This will equate to approximately 1,400 businesses being supported.

Applications to the fund will open on a first come, first served basis on Wednesday 3 February 2021 at 8am.

The eligibility criteria have been designed to especially support applications from suppliers to those businesses that have been forced to close, businesses operating without rateable premises, and businesses that are deemed essential but who have lost their customers due to the restrictions imposed since October 2020.

Businesses can review the required here: full eligibility criteria and mandatory evidence . Due to the limited funding available, applications will be handled on a strictly first come, first served basis.

The fund will close when 1,500 applications have been received and reopen (with advance notice) once those applications have been assessed, assuming that they do not all meet the eligibility criteria.

Councillor Kate Campbell, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “We know how important this fund is to businesses – in many instances it will be lifeline and as a committee we take that responsibility very seriously.

“It’s a finite pot of money so we’ve worked hard to make sure we get this right – targeting the fund towards the businesses that need it the most and trying to reach as many as possible.

“The fund is aimed at businesses who have been ineligible for other Scottish Government support and who’ve suffered significant losses as a result of restrictions brought in since October.

“We’ve consulted with partners like the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Chamber of Commerce who have been amazing at helping us to sense check our approach.

“They’ve shared their valuable knowledge and understanding of their members’ experiences to help us draft the best framework we think is possible in the circumstances. And we’ve had very useful consultations and input from other elected members.

Councillor Mandy Watt, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Vice Convener said: “We’ve taken this report to a special committee so that we can start supporting those businesses in need as soon as possible. Sadly, there will still be small enterprises facing hardship who won’t get one of these grants.

“Further government discretionary grant funding for businesses, as announced yesterday by the Finance Secretary, should be released as quickly as possible so we can give them the assistance that they desperately need.”

“From Wednesday 3 February, businesses that fit the criteria agreed today can start to apply and we hope to be able to start making the first payments within a few days of that. We must stress that businesses will be allocated funding on a first come, first served basis.”