FOI request (FOIR-153489796)

homelessness / temporary accommodation

Requested Tue 29 October 2019
Responded  Wed 27 November 2019

Response

Q1 = Please provide the total number of households to whom the local authority accepted a duty to accommodate under sections 188, 190, 193 or 200 of the Housing Act 1996 in the period(s)

Answer = This information is available on government website at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness

1 = Which local authority areas were the recipients of the individuals/families? :

Answer = • Worthing • Bexhill • Flimwell • Rochester • Isle of Grain • Sheerness • Dover • Gillingham • Seaford • Eastbourne • Chatham • Dartford • Folkestone • Maidstone • Rye

2 = How many these included families with children? 

Answer =

2014/15 - none

2015/16 - none

2016/17 - 11

2017/18 - 29

2018/19 (to date) - 75

As at 07/11/2019, we currently do not have any families placed outside of the area.

3 = Where any of the people housed out of area subject to any checks on criminal background? 

Answer = Our providers may carry out their own checks on criminal background, but we do not hold this information.

Q2 = Please provide a copy of your authority's policy or policies in respect of the relocation of homeless households with temporary accommodation both inside and outside of the borough.

Answer = We purchase accommodation on a night by night basis from providers. When households are placed outside the area we will bring them back to Hastings as soon as a vacancy is available. We only 'temporarily' place households outside of the area, we do not 'relocate' them.

Q3. Please provide a copy of your authority's policy on the procurement of temporary accommodation in respect of your homelessness duties.

Answer = We purchase accommodation on a night by night basis from providers. When households are placed outside the area we will bring them back to Hastings as soon as a vacancy is available. The council is acquiring its own units of accommodation, but these are open market purchases.

Q4 = Please provide details, including name, address and contact details, of any organisation that you use in either the actual relocation, or assistance in the relocation of, homeless households outside of borough.

Answer = We only 'temporarily' place households outside of the area, we do not 'relocate' them.

Additional question: In relation to the number of households to whom the local authority accepted a duty to accommodate under the Housing Act 1996 in the periods below, how many people were placed in local authority area other than your own? This is in relation to:

Answer = To provide this information we would need to manually check spreadsheets @ 2 x spreadsheets a week, approx. Approx 100 spreadsheets for each year. This would exceed the 18 hours and be refused under Section12 of the Freedom of Information Act. 

However, we can provide the following information:

2014/15 - as at 30 March 2015 - no households was placed outside of the area

2015/16 - as at 24 March 2016 - 1 single household was placed outside of the area

2016/17 - as at 30 March 2017 - 10 households were placed outside of the area

2017/18 - as at 29 March 2018 - 16 households were placed outside of the area

2018/19 (to date) - as at 04/11/2019 there are 17 single households placed outside of the area.