Agenda item

Helena Stephenson, Head of Housing Partnerships on behalf of Paul Byers introduced the report which provided a 12 month update on the Committee’s review of services for vulnerable people and the following points were highlighted:

·         A suggestion that the definition of the meaning of vulnerable resident should be extended to include elderly and frail persons was noted.

·         A request for details including the cost to the Council about the recent judicial case that was settled in favour of a vulnerable resident which involved Now Medical was noted. The Executive Member for Housing indicated that the Council will be reviewing its relationship with Now Medical in the future.

·         In response to a question on whether blind residents would able to access the services available for vulnerable people published on the website, Members were invited to review the web page and provide feedback.

·         On the issue of domestic abuse victims, meeting was advised that in comparison to other authorities, Islington has good practice in place to ensure that domestic abuse victims are protected and are not encouraged to relinquish their tenancies, however where safety is an issue, the Council will re house them away from their perpetrators.

·         Members welcomed the efforts of Housing Services in keeping staff trained on how best to support tenants with additional needs as staff awareness and knowledge will have a practical impact on their work and how they interact with residents.

·         Housing Services recognises the value of a skilled workforce to manage service users with different needs and has recently reviewed how staff are recruited as it is important that its staff have a more holistic approach when dealing with vulnerable residents. Officers were reminded that as part of its staff training that the Council’s Equalities strategy is taken on board. 

·         With regards to recommendation 8, Housing Services will be developing a resilience matrix which ensures that it is able to recognise crises and life changing events which could mean more people needing more extra support. Members were reminded that with the council children’s services using resilience matrixes in their services, there is good practice in place available to learn from and build on. A suggestion that the resilience matrix should not be made available to all council tenants and not only vulnerable residents was noted.

·         With regards to the essential information provided in welcome packs for vulnerable residents, Housing officers were advised that the Housing Disability Panel views should be taken on board as they will have a better insight on experiences of vulnerable residents.

·         Members welcomed the Homes and Communities locality-focused pilot in the Tollington area which aims to bring key partners together to improve the range and quality of community services.

·         In terms of recommendation 12, setting clear expectations for contractors working with disabled and vulnerable tenants, a suggestion that officers need to specify the level of training required from contractors right from the onset especially when the bid goes out was noted by the Assistant Director of Housing. Members agreed that compliance should be enforceable and regularly monitored to ensure that contractors are compliant with relevant disability legislation.

·         On concerns about re housing homeless people discharged from hospital without proof of residency or proper identification, the meeting was informed that although not a requirement, the Council still has a duty to re house homeless people, however there will be instances where identification will be required and that each case is considered on its merits.

RESOLVED:

1.      That the report be noted.

2.      An officer update be scheduled in the work programme for 2019/20 Municipal year.