Issue - meetings

Consider report by Service Director Customer and Communities.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Customer and Communities seeking approval for the initial Scottish Borders Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP) for the period 2019/20 – 2023/24, which set out how Scottish Borders Council and its partners would seek to address homelessness in the Scottish Borders by moving to a Rapid Rehousing and Housing First model over the next 5 years.  The report explained that the Scottish Government was committed to making “radical changes to end homelessness in Scotland” and sees “Rapid Rehousing by default” as a cornerstone of this commitment.  Rapid Rehousing was a key element of a whole-system approach whereby the responsibility for tackling homelessness lay not just with Local Authorities but with housing providers, Health and Social Care Partnerships and the broad range of organisations that provided support.  The Scottish Government had requested that all Local Authorities submit a 5-year RRTP for the period 2019/20 – 2023/24.  A ‘first iteration’ RRTP was required to be submitted to the Scottish Government by 31 December 2018 and a finalised RRTP completed and submitted by the end of March 2019, ready for commencing implementation from April 2019.  Development of the Scottish Borders RRTP had been led by the Borders Homelessness and Health Strategic Partnership and had included consultation with key partners including the Borders Housing Alliance and the Health and Social Care Integration Strategic Planning Group.  As required, a ‘first iteration’ RRTP was submitted to the Scottish Government in December 2018’ and further work had since been done to complete the RRTP for submission to the Scottish Government this month.  The Scottish Borders Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan partners believed they could make significant progress towards achieving the vision for Rapid Rehousing from within existing resources.  However, as described in the Resource Plan of the RRTP, contained in Appendix 1 to the report, it was clear that without securing additional resources from, for example, the Scottish Government’s ‘Ending Homelessness Together Fund’, it would not be possible to achieve Rapid Rehousing in full.   Members welcomed this new policy but acknowledged that additional resources would be required.

DECISION

AGREED to:-

(a)     approve the Scottish Borders Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24 and related Action Plan, as contained in Appendices 1 and 2 to the report; and

(b)     note that delivery of the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan in full would require securing significant additional resources from, for example, the Scottish Government’s Ending Homelessness Together Fund.