HHE: Quarter 4 Performance Report

Key to performance ratings

Performance Summary

·         75% (3 of 4) the targetable quarterly key performance indicators (KPIs) reportable to this Committee achieved their Quarter 4 (Q4) target¹.

·         Compared to last quarter (Q3 2022/23), performance for 33.3% (4 of 12) KPIs have improved, and for 66.7% (8 of 12) KPIs have declined¹.  

• Compared to last year (Q4 2021/22), performance for 50% (6 of 12) KPIs have improved, and for 50% (6 of 12) KPIs have declined¹.

Homes & Communities

The “Percentage of successful Relief Duty outcomes” indicator outcome achieved a result of 38.41%, which has declined against last quarter (45.79%), however has improved against Q4 2021/22 (37.74%). The indicator missed its target by 21.6%.

As previously reported, this target is ambitious and significantly higher than national figures on the percentages of homelessness being successfully relieved. The target has been revised for 2023/24.

The performance of 38.41% of homelessness relieved in the quarter demonstrates average performance and is on par with the national average of homelessness relieved for the quarter of 38.2%, taken from the detailed Local Authority tables for statutory homelessness. It is also much higher than the Kent average of 33.8%.

Part B – HHE: 2022/2023 End-of-Year Outturn

Key to performance ratings

NOTE: Direction of travel for targeted performance indicators shows if performance has improved or declined. For Data Only performance indicators, the direction of travel shows if there has been an increase or decrease

in volume.

Annual Performance Summary

Homes & Communities

Notes

·         Where KPIs are providing data “as at the end of the month”, the annual outturn is provided as an average figure, taken from the quarterly performance, for the 2022/23 year.

·         Data for the KPI “Affordable homes as a percentage of all new homes” is not available at the time of writing this report. As with previous years, the data is derived from surveys and subsequent analysis which take place from April, with results being available by August 2023.

·         Direction of travel for targeted performance indicators shows if performance has improved or declined. For data only performance indicators direction of travel shows if there has been an increase or decrease in volume.

Summary of 2022/23 year

Head of Housing & Regulatory Services Comments:

The financial year 2022/23 was exceptionally busy with 2,568 approaches for advice about housing matters. Of these, 1,287 households were either homeless or threatened with homelessness requiring a homeless application to be taken and enquiries made. The breakdown of these applications saw 57% approaching at the threatened with homelessness (56 days) stage whilst 43% presented at the point of being homeless – our highest on record. We had a total of 57.7% of initial applications made at threat of homelessness stage

We were successful in preventing homelessness for 86% of applicants who approached at the threatened with homelessness stage. This represents top quartile performance nationally and stresses the importance of being able to engage with households at an early stage.  To emphasise this point, only 14% of households became homeless where we had the opportunity to intervene (e.g. through the use of data analytics) - far lower than pre-pandemic levels which represents some excellent work across the service.

In line with the national and regional experience, temporary accommodation use has risen over the year. Two main causes can be attributed to the need to make temporary accommodation placements; these were the removal of restrictions around ending tenancies in the private rented sector (following the pandemic), and domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse became the single most significant factor, with 181 approaches this year. Whilst the quantum of approaches has remained similar to previous years, the Domestic Abuse Act widened the categories of persons who are owed a duty to secure accommodation to include single households. This significantly contributed to the number of persons in temporary accommodation.

Those helped at the ‘Relief stage’ (those who approached as homeless on the day) has a success rate of 43%, which is slightly better than the national average. This figure largely depends on the availability of move on accommodation and unfortunately, we experienced a reduction in the number of vacant properties becoming available from our Housing Association partners. During 2022/23 we successfully nominated 555 households, which is the lowest number of lettings since 2008/09.

The Housing Register has grown significantly since the pandemic, with 1,102 live applications. We received, on average, 270 new applications each month during 2022/23 making a total of 3,243 over the year. 

Part C - HHE: 2023/24 Key Performance Indicators