Purpose

Cabinet considered a report
providing details of the City of Sanctuary following a Notice of
Motion debated at full council on 9 October 2025. The report
recommended that the Council join the City of Sanctuary Local
Authority Network and commit to working towards the City of
Sanctuary Local Authority Award.

Decision

Cabinet agreed to:
 
1. 
Join the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network
and commit to working towards the City of Sanctuary Local Authority
Award, by incorporating a new City of Sanctuary Framework within
the Thanet Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy when
it is next reviewed later in 2026. The adoption of the new Thanet
Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy will be a matter
for the Full Council;
 
2. 
Lobby central government to permanently extend the
notice period to leave Home Office Accommodation to 56 days
following the granting of leave to remain.

Reasons for the decision

The decision supported the
proposals set out in the motion presented to full council on 9
October 2025 and provided a mechanism for embedding the vision and
aims of the City of Sanctuary across the Council.
 
A 56
day notice period for people granted leave to remain to
leave their home office accommodation would enable more time for
the Council to provide meaningful homelessness prevention support.
It would also better align with the Council’s duties under
the Homelessness Reduction Act 2027.

Alternative options considered

Cabinet considered not
supporting the recommendation to join the City of Sanctuary Local
Authority Network. Agreeing to join the network was considered to
be in line with the intention of the Notice of Motion that was
discussed at the meeting of full Council on 9 October
2026.
 
Separately, the Cabinet also
considered not supporting the recommendation to lobby the
government to permanently extend the notice period to leave Home
Office Accommodation to 56 days following the granting of leave to
remain. This was rejected as a 56 day
notice period would enable more time for the Council to provide
meaningful homelessness prevention support and be better aligned
with the Council’s duties under the Homelessness Reduction
Act 2027.