Brighton Working To Reduce Eastbourne Placements of Formerly Homeless People

Brighton and Hove City Council hopes to bring its out-of-city homeless placements back to “pre-covid” levels, Eastbourne councillors have heard.  

On Wednesday (March 24), Eastbourne Borough Council’s scrutiny committee grilled senior officers from Brighton and Hove City Council about its use of the town’s seafront hotels as emergency accommodation.

The meeting comes after Eastbourne councillors unanimously backed a motion last month calling on the city council to “immediately desist” from making any new placements in the town. 

At the meeting, Cllr David Gibson, chairman of Brighton and Hove’s housing committee, told councillors that his authority wanted to return to pre-covid levels and was working to reduce its current numbers.

He said:

“I think people have recognised there has been significant improvement over the last few weeks.

“Brighton has always used Eastbourne [for housing placements] and historically there is a level of placements, which was around about 75 and clearly it would be nice to return to that. 

“But I think all of us recognise that there is a lot of uncertainty both around the pandemic and the impact in terms of homelessness and unemployment, so while that makes sense as a goal, achieving it will be challenging.”

He added:

“There will always be circumstances where there is not accommodation in Brighton and Hove and placements have to be made out-of-city. 

“If under those circumstances placements are made for vulnerable people, I think we all need to work together to ensure, as far as possible, that they can be brought back to the city as fast as possible.

“There is a plan, but I think that plan recognises that we are still not fully operational in terms of our prevention services and until we can become fully operational we are still housing people who are at risk of rough sleeping. 

“All other things being equal, things should steadily improve in terms of numbers, but the numbers have gone from 500 to 800 in terms of emergency accommodation [places needed].”

The committee heard that the number of placements from Brighton to Eastbourne had fallen in recent weeks – from a height of more 200 people to around 130 at present.

While the reduction was welcomed, committee members called for a timescale on when this work would be completed.

Cllr Robin Maxted (Lib Dem, Old Town) said:

“It’s good to hear what Brighton and Hove are doing and it is really good to hear that the numbers accommodated in Eastbourne are being reduced. 

“There are always going to be people placed out of area by every council, but what I have not heard tonight is when this is going to happen.”

In response from Rachel Sharpe, Brighton and Hove’s executive director housing, neighbourhoods and communities, said:

“We are moving in the right direction.

"The figures in your town have come down by 70 in the past six weeks, so if we can continue that trajectory we absolutely will do. 

“That is what we are doing our best to do at the moment as we get our services back opened up.

"I do think June 21 is a significant date we should have all our services fully opened before then, so we will be able to do much more intervention, which we hope will have a real impact on demand.

“The issue for us is not just the existing people who we’ve housed, but the continuing demand in the city.” 

One of the major criticisms levelled against Brighton and Hove prior to the meeting was that it had not informed Eastbourne of its placements in the town.

However, Brighton officers denied this was the case saying it had made notifications. 

Another key criticism from Eastbourne was that many of those being placed in the town had ‘multiple complex needs’ and, as a result, were effectively being cut-off from their support services by being placed out of the city. 

On this point, Ms Sharpe said:

“Wherever possible we absolutely do not place people with complex needs in your town and where that has happened it has been in an emergency situation and we have worked very hard to bring those people much closer back into Brighton and Hove, if that is where they have got connections and that is where their support networks are. 

“But I think it is also worth remembering that some of the support services to them are county-wide and they are not just based in Brighton and Hove.”

During the meeting, the committee also heard from several parties which were concerned around the placements.

These included Christina Ewbank of Eastbourne unLtd, the town’s chamber of commerce. 

Mrs Ewbank said:

“Without wishing to be dramatic, we see this current situation with the Brighton and Hove placements and the anti-social behaviour in Eastbourne as probably the most damaging to our economy since World War Two. 

“Let me explain why; I was going to go through a list of all the activity that had happened in the last week in and around the hotels where these placements have been place, but suffice it to say that the police reported that they were seeing an increase in anti-social behaviour in the town centre.”

She added:

“This whole situation is affecting our members, local businesses, residents and it is putting jobs at risk.”

The committee also heard that Brighton and Hove was not the only authority placing people into accommodation in Eastbourne during this period, with other housing authorities, East Sussex County Council, the probation service and the Home Office all using the town.

However, no other authority had placed residents at the same rate as Brighton and Hove, officers said.

According to Tim Whelan, director of service delivery for Eastbourne and Lewes, the Home Office had initially approached the council seeking to place as many as 300 people in the town, but agreed to a cap of 50 after discussion with officers.

Mr Whelan said:

“The Home Office, despite being under immense pressure, could understand the impact of that level of placement on the town. 

“For me that is a really interesting benchmark we need to aim for.”