Here is a summary of the scheduled discussions for the People Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting. The meeting will focus on the city's approach to homelessness and housing-related hate incidents. The committee will review the draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025-2030, and the Housing Hate Incident Policy.

Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025 to 2030

The committee will be asked to review the findings of the review of homelessness 2025, and to comment on the proposed priorities and commitments outlined in the draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025 to 2030. The council is required to have a homelessness strategy based on a review of all forms of homelessness in their district under the Homelessness Act 2002. The strategy must be renewed every five years.

The draft strategy identifies three main priorities:

1. Increasing the effectiveness in preventing homelessness and rough sleeping through early intervention and support.
2. Improving temporary accommodation pathways and experiences, including move-on support and accommodation quality.
3. Providing joined-up support with partners for those who most need help, including those with multiple compound needs¹ and those experiencing rough sleeping.

The report pack notes that Shelter's analysis in 2024 indicated that homelessness affects around 1 in 77 people in Brighton & Hove.

Analysis by Shelter in 2024 indicated that homelessness affects around 1 in 77 people in the city (3,580 people or 1.3% of the city's population). They estimated that at the end of June 2024 there were 3,528 people experiencing homelessness and living in temporary accommodation.

The report pack also notes that rough sleeping is rising in the city, and that more people are approaching council services with significant and complex needs. The cost of temporary accommodation is described as unsustainable, with rising prices and increasing demand. The report pack states that the draft strategy puts strong emphasis on partnership working with the public, voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors, and with people who have experience of homelessness.

The report pack also notes that a new national homelessness strategy was announced by the incoming government in 2024, with an anticipated publication date to coincide with the 2025 Spending Review.

Housing Hate Incident Policy

The committee will be asked to review and comment on the draft Housing Hate Incident Policy, and note the consultation report. The council's social landlord duties cover 12,145 rented properties and 2,210 leasehold properties. The Social Housing Regulation Act 2023 places a duty on social landlords to consult and publish a Hate Incident Policy. The draft policy is intended to support the council's compliance with the act, and meets the expectations of the Regulator of Social Housing. The policy is also intended to align with the council's Anti-Racism Strategy, Equality Act 2010 obligations, the Housing Strategy 2024 – 2029, and the Council Plan 2023 – 2027.

The report pack describes a hate incident as:

any action that is perceived by the victim, or by any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on an individual's perceived personal characteristics. These characteristics include disability, race or ethnic identity, religion or belief, gender or gender identity, and sexual orientation.

The policy is intended to extend to victims and witnesses who reside in or visit council-managed properties, as well as those in other tenures who are affected by hate-motivated behaviour of residents or visitors in the locality of these homes, and perpetrators, whether they live in council housing, visit council properties, or are external individuals whose hate-motivated behaviour impacts the council's housing management responsibilities.

The report pack notes that an 11-week formal consultation with residents on the draft policy was carried out, using the council's online consultation portal 'Your Voice'. 57 responses to the main online consultation survey on the draft policy were received, and nine responses to a supplementary survey from residents with experience of reporting hate incidents to Housing. The report pack notes that agreement with each of the proposals by respondents to the consultation ranged from 53.4% to 73.4%. However, just 31.6% of respondents agreed that the council is doing enough to promote awareness of action Housing can take in response to hate incidents, and a sizeable minority (21.1%) felt that it wasn't clear on how to report hate incidents. The report pack also notes that feedback from the lived experience survey raised important issues in relation to staff training, communication, and lack of action, and indicated that many victims did not feel supported.