Agenda item

In accordance with Standing Orders, the following motions have been received for consideration:

(1) Homelessness and Rough Sleeping

To be moved by Councillor Loraine Rossati

Council welcomes:

1. The Government’s National Plan to End Homelessness, with its increased focus on prevention and ambition to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament and ultimately end homelessness and rough sleeping.
2. The Government’s new £442 million Rough Sleeping Programme, taking planned national investment in homelessness and rough sleeping to more than £4 billion over three years, and its commitment that everyone sleeping rough who needs help should be offered a route off the streets this winter.

Council notes:

1. That rough sleeping and homelessness are distinct but connected issues, requiring different but coordinated responses.
2. That demand for homelessness advice and prevention in Stevenage remains high, with more than 1,300 approaches in each of the last three years; with common reasons including family exclusion, domestic abuse, loss of private rented accommodation, relationship breakdown, rough sleeping and ‘sofa surfing’.
3. That Stevenage’s Homelessness Prevention Action Plan already prioritises early intervention, trauma-informed and person-centred support, and partnership working, including work to strengthen housing pathways for people leaving hospital or prison.
4. That some groups face particular risks or barriers, including women experiencing hidden homelessness, families with children, those who have served in the Armed Forces, care-experienced people, older people, and people leaving prison or with a history of offending; and that women sleeping rough are particularly likely to be missed because they often do not feel safe sleeping visibly.

Council believes:

1. With the Prime Minister, that “no one should be forced to sleep rough on our streets”, and that everyone should have access to a safe and secure home. Where someone is not ready or able to accept an offer of accommodation, support and engagement should continue without judgement.
2. That the Government’s shift towards prevention, early identification and assessment based on need provides an opportunity to reach people who may previously have been missed, and to better recognise and respond to the different experiences and barriers faced by women, care-experienced people, people who have served in the Armed Forces and others at greater risk of homelessness.
3. That preventing homelessness requires public services to work together, and that housing, health, social care, Probation and other services should identify people at risk early rather than waiting until they reach crisis.

Council resolves:

1. To review Stevenage’s Homelessness Prevention Action Plan in light of the Government’s National Plan, strengthening early identification and prevention, aligning our approach with the new national framework and making best use of the additional national investment.
2. To better identify and support women experiencing rough sleeping and hidden homelessness, including participating in the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census, using the Government’s new tools and guidance to develop safe, gender-informed support, and exploring local need for women-only temporary accommodation.
3. To build on existing work to strengthen early identification and homelessness prevention for people who have served in the Armed Forces, working with local Armed Forces organisations to support those at risk and connecting them, where appropriate, to the specialist housing and support services being expanded by Government.
4. To review the Council's housing allocation and homelessness policies to ensure that the Council's recognition of care experience as lifelong is properly reflected in the support available to care-experienced adults of all ages; and to request that the Cabinet Member for Housing write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government calling for changes to national legislation and policy to recognise care experience beyond the age of 25 within homelessness prevention and housing policy.
5. To work with the NHS and Hertfordshire County Council (including Public Health) to strengthen local prevention and support for people who are homeless or sleeping rough, including access to physical and mental healthcare, substance misuse services, and effective hospital discharge pathways; and to champion the Government's proposed new duty on public services to collaborate in preventing homelessness.

(2)  Thameslink and Great Northern services – First Class Carriages

To be moved by Councillor Tom Wren

The Council Notes That:

• ?Overcrowding on peak-time Thameslink and Great Northern services remains a major issue for commuters boarding trains at Stevenage.
• ?The network has transitioned into public ownership under DfT Operator Limited, meaning the government now directly runs the service rather than a private franchise.
• ?First-class areas typically restrict access to 26 seats that frequently sit empty while standard-class commuters stand in overcrowded trains.

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The Council Believes That:

• ?Retaining any restricted premium sections on an intensive, government-run commuter route is an inefficient use of train capacity.
• ?Fully declassifying first class would immediately open up extra standard-class seats, as well as additional standing room, with little impact on revenue.
• ?Across the morning and evening peak windows alone, this simple operational change could provide an estimated 400 to 500 extra available seats daily for commuters using these services.

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The Council Resolves To:

1. Write to the Secretary of State for Transport, urging them to use the government's direct operational control of the network to immediately declassify all remaining First Class areas on Thameslink and Great Northern services.
2. Write to the local MP for Stevenage, requesting their support for this proposal.