FOI003536 FOI Housing

Local housing authorities have a duty under section 179(1) of the Housing Act to make
homelessness advice and assistance service available to the public at large, and to design
that service to meet the needs of people in their district. We are interested in all
information and documents relating to the way in which your authority’s homelessness
advice and assistance service is, and has been, made available to applicants – in
particular, to those who present in person, whether because (i) they need to be seen
urgently on the day or (ii) for example, they are unable to complete an online application
or manage a telephone call. We are also interested in any changes to the provision of
homelessness advice and assistance services over time, including the impact of any
changes on applicants, any effect of those changes on other third party or local authority
services, and any steps taken to address that impact.
Questions:
1. Please provide copies of any policy and practice documents currently used or relied
upon by your housing officers to manage the initial approach of homeless
applicants and how they are required to make their homelessness application.
Such documents could include, but not be limited to:
(a) guidance notes;
(b) briefings;
(c) training materials or records;
(d) reports;
(e) recent reviews of your homelessness service; and/or
(f) internal policy/practice documents.
2. Please confirm the different methods by which you currently assist homeless
applicants who approach the council to make a homelessness application under
the provisions of the Housing Act. In particular, please confirm whether services
are provided via:
(a) online application form;
(b) email;
(c) telephone booking;
(d) in-person appointments; and/or
(e) other (please specify).
3. For each of the methods at 2(a) to (e) above, are they available on an on-demand
basis or are they restricted to appointment only?
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4. Do you publicly advertise each of the above methods?
(a) If so, where and in what format is the information about how to access
these services provided?
5. What in-person services do you offer to people who need to make a homelessness
application and in what circumstances?
(a) Where you are not meeting applicants face-to-face, what methods do you
have in place to ensure that you have sufficient information about the
applicants to process homelessness applications and prioritise available
housing?
6. How do you triage someone who presents in person seeking homelessness
assistance? What information do you provide to that person, and in what format?
7. If services are restricted to appointment only (i.e. walk-ins are not
accommodated):
(a) how can those appointments be booked?
(b) what are the current wait times for securing an initial appointment?
(c) what criteria are applied in prioritising the order in which appointments are
offered?
8. Have the methods for accessing homelessness services in 2(a) to (e) above
changed in the last 6 years?
(a) If so, please explain the changes and when they were implemented.
(b) At the time any of these changes were being contemplated or implemented,
did you conduct any impact assessment on those who might be adversely
affected by the relevant change? If so, what were the results of those
impact assessments?
(c) Since the relevant change, have you observed any changes in:
(i) the number of homeless applicants;
(ii) the profile of homeless applicants; or
(iii) the method via which they have accessed homelessness services or
made an homeless application?
9. How many homelessness applications have you received each year for the past 6
years?
(a) In each of those years, how many applications have been received via each
of the methods at 2(a) to (d) above?
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(b) Do you track statistics on the profile of applicants and whether they may
face difficulties in accessing services via the different methods above,
including, but not limited to:
(i) illiteracy or low literacy;
(ii) individuals who are digitally excluded;
(iii) people with disabilities;
(iv) elderly people; and/or
(v) non-English speakers.
(c) What assistance and/or special provisions do you make for any individuals
who may face difficulties in accessing services?
(i) Are any of these restricted in any way? For example, is an applicant
required to demonstrate a specific disability in order to be offered
certain types of support?
10. How many in-person appointments do you provide daily?
(a) On which days of the week, during what hours and at which locations are
in-person appointments available?
(b) Of the total number of daily in-person appointments you offer to
constituents generally, how many are available for homelessness
applicants?
(c) On average across the past 6 years, how many people that have presented
for in-person appointments each day were offered appointments?
11. How do you receive and deal with urgent homelessness applications?
12. Do you offer emergency walk-in slots daily? If yes:
(a) How many emergency slots are available each day and on which days of
the week?
(b) Are these slots solely for homelessness appointments or are they for a
range of council services?
13. Do you rely on, or direct applicants to, other third party or local authority services
for assistance in making a homelessness application? If so:
(a) Please specify the service providers.
(b) Do you train those service providers on how to assist?
(c) For each of these service providers:
(i) What are their hours of operation?
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(ii) Are there any access restrictions in place? In particular, are they
available on a walk-in basis or do they need to be booked in
advance? If booking is required, what is the process?
14. Have you received any complaints:
(a) in relation to the process for accessing homelessness support;
(b) from anyone who has struggled to access homelessness support due to the
closure of, or restrictions on, face-to-face homelessness services you
provide; or
(c) from other service providers as a result of the closure of, or restrictions on,
face-to-face homelessness services you provide?
Please share the above information/documents from your authority’s housing
department, excluding any information which could be considered personal information
under the Data Protection Act 2018.