Why we are engaging with City of Edinburgh Council (City of Edinburgh)
We are engaging with City of Edinburgh about its services for people who are homeless.
COVID-19 has significantly impacted the services provided by social landlords in 2020 and will continue to influence how services are provided in 2021. We will continue to monitor, assess and report upon how each landlord is responding and we will keep our regulatory engagement under review so that we can continue to respond to the challenges of COVID-19.
We have reviewed the information on homelessness in the COVID-19 monthly returns. We will discuss with City of Edinburgh the impact of the pandemic on outcomes for people who are threatened with, or are experiencing, homelessness, how it is working with its Registered Social Landlord partners to provide accommodation, and review our engagement.
City of Edinburgh reported that in the year 2019/20 it did not offer temporary accommodation to homeless people in all cases when it had a statutory duty to do so. It has also breached the Unsuitable Accommodation Order on around 375 occasions.
What City of Edinburgh must do
City of Edinburgh must provide us with the information we may require on key aspects of its homelessness service.
What we will do
We will:
- meet with City of Edinburgh monthly to discuss its homelessness service and decide whether we require any additional assurance; and
- update our published engagement plan in light of any material change to our planned engagement with City of Edinburgh.
Regulatory returns
City of Edinburgh must provide us with the following annual regulatory returns and alert us to notifiable events as appropriate:
- Annual Assurance Statement; and
- Annual Return on the Charter.
It should also notify us of any material changes to its Annual Assurance Statement, and any tenant and resident safety matter which has been reported to or is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive or reports from regulatory or statutory authorities or insurance providers, relating to safety concerns.