Homelessness Reduction Bill

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT GENERAL COMMITTEES Public Bill Committee HOMELESSNESS REDUCTION BILL Second Sitting Wednesday 30 November 2016 CONTENTS Sittings motion amended. CLAUSE 2 agreed to. CLAUSE 3 under consideration when the Committee adjourned till Wednesday 7 December at half-past Nine o’clock. PBC (Bill 007) 2016 - 2017 No proofs can be supplied. Corrections that Members suggest for the final version of the report should be clearly marked in a copy of the report—not telephoned—and must be received in the Editor’s Room, House of Commons, not later than Sunday 4 December 2016 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2016 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 7 Public Bill Committee 30 NOVEMBER 2016 Homelessness Reduction Bill 8 The Committee consisted of the following Members: Chair: MR CHRISTOPHER CHOPE † Betts, Mr Clive (Sheffield South East) (Lab) † Monaghan, Dr Paul (Caithness, Sutherland and † Blackman, Bob (Harrow East) (Con) Easter Ross) (SNP) Buck, Ms Karen (Westminster North) (Lab) Pow, Rebecca (Taunton Deane) (Con) † Burrowes, Mr David (Enfield, Southgate) (Con) † Quince, Will (Colchester) (Con) † Donelan, Michelle (Chippenham) (Con) † Slaughter, Andy (Hammersmith) (Lab) † Thewliss, Alison (Glasgow Central) (SNP) Drummond, Mrs Flick (Portsmouth South) (Con) † Tomlinson, Michael (Mid Dorset and North Poole) † Hayes, Helen (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab) (Con) † Jones, Mr Marcus (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) Glenn McKee, Committee Clerk † Mackintosh, David (Northampton South) (Con) † Matheson, Christian (City of Chester) (Lab) † attended the Committee 9 Public Bill Committee HOUSE OF COMMONS Homelessness Reduction Bill 10 non-priority need homeless people. Clearly there are Public Bill Committee local authorities that do provide such services, and we do not want to hamper their ability to do so. Wednesday 30 November 2016 The measure ensures that everyone has access to a similar type of help in the first instance. People who face the terrible crisis of being threatened with homelessness [MR CHRISTOPHER CHOPE in the Chair] or, worse still, have suffered homelessness will get help and advice; they will not just be shown the door by a Homelessness Reduction Bill local authority. It is quite clear that the existing law does not specify the type or quality of advice and 9.30 am information that must be provided on homelessness and Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con): I beg to move, its prevention, and nor does it require that advice to be tailored to the needs of local people, particularly the That the Order of the Committee of 23 November 2016 be needs of certain groups. Evidence that we secured through amended, by inserting at the end— the Select Committee process suggested that some local “except on 14 December when the Committee will meet at 10.00 am.” authorities provide minimal or, even worse, out-of-date Let me explain, for the benefit of the Committee, that information. The measure means that, for the first time, we intend to proceed as much as possible by consensus. local authorities will have to provide that service to I have had a request on behalf of three members of the people in this terrible position. Committee who will be visiting Berlin with the Communities and Local Government Committee. They will be travelling Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole) back that day, so we will meet slightly later to allow (Con): Will my hon. Friend clarify how he envisages the them to attend this Committee and play a full part in interplay between this local authority advisory service proceedings. and charitable organisations such as Routes to Roots, Question put and agreed to. which is just outside my constituency but within Poole? Clause 2 Bob Blackman: I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. Local authorities will clearly have to design DUTY TO PROVIDE ADVISORY SERVICES the service with local needs in mind. We cannot prescribe every single way in which they can choose to provide the Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the help and advice that individuals in their area will need, Bill. because to do so would hamper their creativity. The whole idea behind the Bill is to turn on its head the Bob Blackman: In many ways, this substantive clause, attitude, which has existed in some local authorities, on which we have been given notice of no amendments, that they will not help someone unless they are in goes to the very heart of the Bill. The current position is priority need. Local authorities would now be required that advisory services are provided by local authorities to provide help and advice to anyone and everyone from to priority need households, but not to non-priority their local areas who is threatened with homelessness. need ones. The measure will require each local authority For example, my hon. Friend’s local authority may to provide advisory services on all local housing authorities choose to outsource its role to a charity or another third for all applicants. Authorities will have to provide party; that is its choice and we do not want to hamper information and advice to any person who goes to them it. What matters is that the individuals receive the help from their area. The advice must cover: the provision of and advice they need to guide them in the right direction. preventing and relieving homelessness; the rights of homeless people or those threatened with homelessness; Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab): I am not the duties of the authority; the help available from the a member of the Select Committee. What would drive a local housing authority and other agencies; and how to council not to want to provide that service? What kinds access the available help. of factors would influence them to have such a negative The idea is that each local authority should design its attitude? own service. We do not want to take away the flexibility of local authorities to design their help and advice Bob Blackman: One of the clear ways, which we service, but clearly they should design such a service covered in some detail on Second Reading, is the fact with certain listed vulnerable groups in mind—for example, that for 40 years, thanks to legislation, we as Members care leavers, who are covered in the Bill for the first of Parliament have encouraged local authorities to time, and victims of domestic abuse. The Bill allows concentrate all their resources on priority need households local housing authorities to outsource the advisory and not to provide help and assistance to single homeless services, if they so choose, to a third party such as a people or non-priority need households. The idea behind contractor or a specialist agency. the Bill is literally to turn that on its head so that The measure has been included in the Bill to ensure everyone will get help and advice. The key issue is that that local housing authorities provide detailed advice local authorities have funding pressures and so must and information to all households in their area, including concentrate on what they have to do to meet a statutory those that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, need, rather than necessarily on what they would like to so that households can be empowered to seek support do. For 40 years local authorities have rationed the help and solutions to their current situation. That is a far cry and advice given to individuals threatened with this from what goes on at the moment. Currently, many situation. When this Bill, hopefully, becomes law, local local authorities, as we discovered through the Select authorities will be planning for how they will meet that Committee process, do not provide such services to particular need. 11 Public Bill Committee 30 NOVEMBER 2016 Homelessness Reduction Bill 12 Will Quince (Colchester) (Con): An amendment will authority to bid for it and to start thinking about be considered later relating to other advice that might creative ways to help people threatened with homelessness. go alongside the advice on homelessness and housing. We want to prevent those individuals from becoming Might citizens advice bureaux, which exist in many homeless in the first place. Local authorities can now towns up and down the country, be commissioned to do get their thinking caps on, get creative and bid for that that, on the basis that they can offer advice not only on fund. I understand that up to 20 local authorities might homelessness reduction, but on other areas that a local be successful in this bidding round. I hope that it is authority homelessness adviser might not be able to oversubscribed, so that the Minister will have to find advise on? extra money to support that initiative in the run-up to the Bill hopefully becoming law,with every local authority Bob Blackman: When an individual threatened with in the country having to provide that service. homelessness approaches a local authority for help and The advice given will be different depending on the advice, one of the pieces of advice that they might be needs of the individual, the family or the sets of individuals given is to go to a citizens advice bureau. Citizens who are applying. The idea is that the advisory service advice bureaux are not resourced to provide that service should be designed to meet the needs of particularly at the moment. Under the Bill, however,if local authorities at-risk groups, such as care leavers or victims of domestic choose to outsource it, they will need to fund it as part abuse—those are two examples, but there are many and parcel of the process.

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