Written evidence submitted by Bristol Road Neighbourhood Watch [EXA 022]

We are an association of residents from Selly OAK. Our Neighbourhood Watch covers about 200 houses and goes back at least 40 years during which we have witnessed many changes.

              We recognise the need for Exempt Accommodation as long as they are well managed by the provider and inspected and monitored by the Local Authorities.

              A balance has to be struck between the transient population in exempt accommodations and HMOs against permanent residents which includes families and older people. This is necessary in order to preserve the integrity of the neighbourhood as a secure and safe place for everyone to live.

              There has been evidence in our local area of a badly run E A which caused numerous serious problems to local residents over a number of years which impacted on the health and well-being of those directly affected. This particular EA was eventually closed down after a lot of hard work by

our residents group, the Police and our Ward Councillors.

              In contrast, in another local EA there have been multiple occasions where residents felt threatened by other tenants and it was only the swift intervention by the managers that the problems were resolved  to the benefit of all, including immediate neighbours.

Because of lack of oversight as to how and to whom funding is being given it is possible for

unscrupulous providers to access public funding.

Reports are that Birmingham provides a large amount of this type of provision to referrals from outside the area as a result of over supply.  This means that the people who have been relocated are potentially without family or friendship group support which, in some case,     could hinder their rehabilitation. Admittedly this is not always the case.

There are a large number of Wards in Birmingham which are having significant problems with anti-social behaviour, violence and drug abuse as a result of a large concentration of EAs.

We feel strongly that EA should always be scrutinized and under constant review to ensure that standards of support and safety for residents are established and maintained.  This is

likely to be expensive This is likely to be expensive but early and effective intervention could mean that money is saved through clients being helped into a lifestyle that doesn't rely so much on funding from the public purse. For example, coming clean from drugs, being coached in life skills such as money management and being helped into the job market. Scrutiny should also be in place at the time an EA is set up.

We support moves by our Local Authority to regulate EA using planning law and, as has been proposed, multi-disciplinary team to address this particular area specifically.

Local Authorities should be given more power to deal with local problems. An accessible  complaints system for tenants should be developed and used by the Local Authority.

We feel there has been insufficient information about EA and the impact a concentration of this type of accommodation can have on a neighbourhood.

It is only through national and local media that the public have become more aware of the growing problems and this has alerted residents in areas such as ours.

              We have looked at this issue from the perspective of a group representing local residents and reflects the impact the whole issue of EA has on our neighbourhood.

January 2022