Purpose

This report seeks approval to proceed with the
implementation and incremental deployment of an innovative
occupancy checker for households placed by the Council into
temporary accommodation under statutory duties and powers pursuant
to Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness
Reduction Act 2017).

Decision

A) Grant approval to proceed
with the implementation and incremental deployment of an innovative
`digital occupancy checker’ for households placed by the
Council into temporary accommodation under statutory duties and
powers pursuant to Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by
the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017); and
B) In order to fund the
additional staff to carry out the work on an initial two-year
period, approve a positive General Fund budget variation of
£163,000 in 2025/26, £280,000 in 2026/27 and
£117,000 in 2027/28.