City Council : Housing options and Homelessness

The request was successful.

Dear Aberdeen City Council,

I am requesting the following information:

1.How many people are under Council’s waiting list at present ?
Would you please specify the age group, gender and the number of minorities,BME community.

2. Would you please give specify how many people have applied for one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom, four bedroom,Five bedroom in year 2012-2013?

3.Please provide number of how many people you have accommodated following the statutory duty under housing act who have been declared themselves as homeless and sissified the homelessness assessment process. Please give number by year starting from January 2012 to December 2013.Please also specify their gender,age group and if possible ethnic identity.

4.Please provide number the people who are in current city council waiting list who are homeless.

5.Please share what are the present council policy to address homelessness in the city. And how council is allocating budget for that.

6.Please share the total number of council house and please specify the type of the house and number and area and how many are current empty.

7.Please provide how much council had spent yearly since January 2012 to December 2013,to build new council house/flat.

8.According to the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002) all Local Authorities must have a Homelessness Strategy in place What are the homelessness strategy of the City Council council.Please share the yearly the yearly of starting from January 2012 to December 2013.

10. Under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002) City Council has certain responsibilities towards people who are homeless or threatened with
homelessness. Would you please provide number, age,gender to whom you provided service following the specific law.

11.How long you take to process housing benefit claim. How many housing benefit claim has been process by the City council since January 2012 to December 2013. Please provide number of each year.

12. How much council had spent to pay the employee who are working on homeless issues in council.Please give yearly details starting from January 2012 to December 2013.

13. How many people were successfully prosecuted for housing benefit fraud.

14.Did council appointed and third party to find out or tackle benefit fraud. If yes, Who is the company and how much council has paid them for the service.

Yours faithfully,

William Gomes

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Gomes,

 

Thank you for your request for information, made under Section 1(1) of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA), and received on 15 January
2014.

 

We would like to ask you to clarify your request so that we can identify
and locate the information which you have requested. Under Section 1(3) of
the FOISA, we do not have to supply you with the requested information
until you have provided us with more detail in this respect.

 

1.How many people are under Council’s waiting list at present ?

 

We would be extremely grateful if you could clarify what waiting list you
are interested in.  The theme of your request suggests you are interested
in housing but question 1 does not specify the waiting list you are
interested in.

 

Clarifying these points will help us to be sure we are providing, where
possible, the information you are interested in.  Please note we will keep
your request on file for 20 working days whilst we await your
clarification.  It can often be helpful to discuss your request with a
member of our team who may be able to help you frame your request or
explain more about how ACC holds its information; if this is something you
feel may be helpful please do call us, and we will be happy to assist you.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Tomina Egbuson

Information Compliance Assistant

 

Information Compliance Team
Customer Service and Performance
Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
Lower Ground North (Hub 2)
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[1][Aberdeen City Council request email]
01224 523827/523430/522875/523602

Why not visit our Disclosure Log at:
[2]http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/disclosur...

Tel 08456 08 09 10
[3]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

 

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References

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Dear Foi Enquiries,
Thanks for your response.
I am clarifying the question one.

1. How many people are under Council’s Housing waiting list at present ?
Would you please specify the age group, gender and the number of minorities,BME community who are in the council's housing waiting list.

Yours sincerely,

William Gomes

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Gomes,

 

Information enquiry reference FOI-14-0057 - Housing and Homelessness.

 

Many thanks for your recent clarification of your information request,
which we received on 17 January 2014. 

 

The scheduled date for our response to your request for information is on
or before 14 February 2014.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any queries in the
meantime.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Tomina Egbuson

Information Compliance Assistant

 

Information Compliance Team
Customer Service and Performance
Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
Lower Ground North (Hub 2)
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[1][Aberdeen City Council request email]
01224 523827/523430/522875/523602

Why not visit our Disclosure Log at:
[2]http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/disclosur...

Tel 08456 08 09 10
[3]www.aberdeencity.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is confidential, protected by 
copyright and may be privileged.  The information contained in it should be used for its intended 
purposes only. If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email, delete the 
received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it. Whilst we take reasonable precautions to 
ensure that our emails are free from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted 
with this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own virus checking 
procedures.  Unless related to Council business, the opinions expressed in this email are those of 
the sender and they do not necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we 
expressly say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its attachments 
create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral obligation. Aberdeen City 
Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]
2. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/disclosur...
3. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/

Foi Enquiries, Aberdeen City Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Gomes,

 

Thank you for your clarified information request of 17 January 2014. 
Aberdeen City Council (ACC) has completed the necessary search for the
information requested.

 

1.       How many people are under Council’s Housing waiting list at
present? Would you please specify the age group, gender and the number of
minorities, BME community who are in the council's housing waiting list

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|AGE | 16/17 | 18 - 24 | 25 -59 | 60+ |
|--------------+-------------+---------------+--------------+------------|
|NUMBER | 58 | 863 | 4250 | 1205 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|GENDER | Male | Female | Not Given |
|------------------+---------------+-----------------+-------------------|
|NUMBER | 2932 | 3431 | 13 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ETHNIC ORIGIN | BME |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------------|
|NUMBER | 243 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

2.       Would you please give specify how many people have applied for
one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom, four bedroom, Five bedroom in
year 2012-2013?

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|No BEDS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|--------------+------------+------------+-----------+----------+--------|
|NUMBER | 2276 | 1211 | 393 | 60 | 3 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

3.       Please provide number of how many people you have accommodated
following the statutory duty under housing act who have been declared
themselves as homeless and sissified the homelessness assessment process.
Please give number by year starting from January 2012 to December
2013.Please also specify their gender, age group and if possible ethnic
identity.

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|AGE | 16/17 | 18 - 24 | 25 -59 | 60+ |
|--------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+-----------|
|NUMBER | 54 | 442 | 841 | 29 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|GENDER | Male | Female | Not Given |
|-----------------+---------------+-----------------+--------------------|
|NUMBER | 707 | 652 | 7 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ETHNICITY | NUMBER |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Asian Scottish/Brit Bangladeshi | 2 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Asian Scottish/Brit Chinese | 2 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Asian Scottish/Brit Indian | 7 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Asian Scottish/Brit Other | 2 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Asian Scottish/Brit Pakistani | 1 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Black Scottish / Brit Caribbean | 2 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Black Scottish / Brit African | 3 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Black Scottish / Brit Other | 1 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Mixed | 5 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Other | 25 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|White Irish | 3 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|White Other | 211 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|White British | 72 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|White Scottish | 1002 |
|--------------------------------------------+---------------------------|
|Not Known | 28 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

4.       Please provide number the people who are in current city council
waiting list who are homeless.

As at 31^st February 2014 there are 595 applicants placed on the homeless
persons register that have been assessed or are waiting to be assessed
under homelessness legislation.

 

5.       Please share what are the present council policy to address
homelessness in the city. And how council is allocating budget for that.

Aberdeen City Council is committed to preventing and alleviating
homelessness. The service have dedicated staff teams to work with clients
to prevent the loss of accommodation by providing early intervention and
advice to improve access to a wider range of housing options in different
tenures and provide appropriate support to reduce the risk of repeat
homelessness. The service have access to suitable temporary and
sustainable permanent accommodation. There are joint working initiatives
within Council services and across all agencies in the City that are
working to achieve seamless referral and information sharing protocols. By
pooling resources, expertise and energy we will meet the needs of those at
risk or homeless in the City.

In addition to providing suitable temporary and sustainable permanent
accommodation there is a provision of appropriate support and supported
accommodation. There is an allocated budget to provide these services.

 

6.       Please share the total number of council house and please specify
the type of the house and number and area and how many are current empty.

Please see the attached document – FOI-14-0057 – No of Council House.pdf

 

7.       Please provide how much council had spent yearly since January
2012 to December 2013, to build new council house/flat.

·         2012 £1.2M

·         2013 £866K

 

8.       According to the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness
Act 2002) all Local Authorities must have a Homelessness Strategy in place
What are the homelessness strategy of the City Council. Please share the
yearly the yearly of starting from January 2012 to December 2013.

 

As the homelessness strategy of Aberdeen City Council is otherwise
accessible as part of the Aberdeen Local Housing Strategy 2012 – 2017
available from
[1]http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/housing/c...
it is exempt from disclosure.  In order to comply with its obligations
under the terms of Section 16 of the FOISA, ACC hereby gives notice that
we are refusing your request under the terms of Section 25(1) -
Information Otherwise Accessible - of the FOISA

 

The Aberdeen City Council have a Homelessness Strategy Working Group. This
group is chaired by the housing and environment convenor, other attendees
consist of councillors, key Homelessness service staff, representatives
from NHS Grampian, voluntary agencies, Police and Housing association
representatives. This group meets quarterly and reviews the work achieved
by the Homelessness Strategy Operational group.

 

The Homelessness Strategy Operational group meet monthly. The
representatives consist of a range of partner agencies in the city 
including Homelessness service staff, other Aberdeen City Council
colleagues e.g. social work and community safety, representatives from NHS
Grampian, voluntary agencies, Police and Housing association
representatives. The remit of the group is currently being reviewed.

 

9.       Under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the
Homelessness Act 2002) City Council has certain responsibilities towards
people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. Would you please
provide number, age, gender to whom you provided service following the
specific law.

 

ACC is unable to provide you with information relating to  the Housing Act
1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002) as it is not held by ACC. 
The Homelessness Act 2002 is relevant to England & Wales, not Scotland. 
Homelessness legislation in Scotland is governed primarily by the Housing
(Scotland) Act 1987 and the Homelessness ETC (Scotland) Act 2003.  There
is a wealth of data held centrally by the Scottish Government and
published on a quarterly and annual basis in relation to homelessness
statistics for further details go to;
[2]http://scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics....
In order to comply with its obligations under the terms of Section 17 of
the FOISA, ACC hereby gives notice that this information is not held by
it.

 

10.   How long you take to process housing benefit claim. How many housing
benefit claim has been process by the City council since January 2012 to
December 2013. Please provide number of each year.

36.54 days to process New Claims      21.49 days to process changes in
circumstances

 

Jan 2012 – March 2012 : 2,008 New claims; 6,437 changes in circumstances

April 2012 – March 2013 : 7,380 New claims; 31,267 changes in
circumstances

April 2013 – December 2013 : 4,644 New claims; 18,379 changes in
circumstances

 

11.   How much council had spent to pay the employee who are working on
homeless issues in council. Please give yearly details starting from
January 2012 to December 2013.

·         2012 £2.509M

·         2013 £2.495M

The above figures includes those employed in the Hostels.

 

12.   How many people were successfully prosecuted for housing benefit
fraud. 

ACC is unable to provide you with information on How many people were
successfully prosecuted for housing benefit fraud as it is not held by
ACC.  ACC is not always advised when a case is heard so ACC cannot supply
this figure. In order to comply with its obligations under the terms of
Section 17 of the FOISA, ACC hereby gives notice that this information is
not held by it.

 

Under our duty to provide advice and assistance, we can inform you that
for the period January 2012 to December 2013, 20 cases have been submitted
to the Procurator Fiscal.

 

13.   Did council appointed and third party to find out or tackle benefit
fraud. If yes, Who is the company and how much council has paid them for
the service.

No

 

We hope this helps with your request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Tomina Egbuson

Acting Information Compliance Officer

 

INFORMATION ABOUT THE HANDLING OF YOUR REQUEST

 

ACC handled your request for information in accordance with the provisions
of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Please refer to the
attached PDF for more information about your rights under FOISA.

 

Access to Information Compliance Team
Customer Service and Performance
Corporate Governance
Aberdeen City Council
Lower Ground North (Hub 2)
Marischal College
Broad Street
ABERDEEN AB10 1AQ

[3][Aberdeen City Council request email]
01224 523827/523430/523602/522252

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  This e-mail (including any attachment to it) is confidential, protected by 
copyright and may be privileged.  The information contained in it should be used for its intended 
purposes only. If you receive this email in error, notify the sender by reply email, delete the 
received email and do not make use of, disclose or copy it. Whilst we take reasonable precautions to 
ensure that our emails are free from viruses, we cannot be responsible for any viruses transmitted 
with this email and recommend that you subject any incoming email to your own virus checking 
procedures.  Unless related to Council business, the opinions expressed in this email are those of 
the sender and they do not necessarily constitute those of Aberdeen City Council. Unless we 
expressly say otherwise in this email or its attachments, neither this email nor its attachments 
create, form part of or vary any contractual or unilateral obligation. Aberdeen City 
Council's incoming and outgoing email is subject to regular monitoring.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/housing/c...
2. http://scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics...
3. mailto:[Aberdeen City Council request email]