1. Please complete the following questions below about the cost of exempt provision in your local authority in 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21.
a) How much did you spend on the provision of “exempt accommodation”?
b) How many HB claims did you receive under the exempt rules?
At the moment we are receiving 30ish new claims a month.

We would then need to run the monthly new claims report for the last 3 years so this could throw up easily 1080 results each of these claims would then need to have their records checked to see if they fell into the exempt category. we think realistically this could take at least 5 mins per record so we could be looking at up 90 hours. Therefore this exceeds the appropriate limit of the Act.

2. Please complete the following questions below about the providers of exempt accommodation in your local authority for each of the following years: 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21.

a) Total number of providers who received exempt HB funding

Of which were:
i. Registered Providers (registered with the Regulator of Social Housing).
ii. Registered Charities (Organisations registered with Charity Commission but not with Regulator for Social Housing)
iii. Community Interest Companies (registered as a CIC on the Companies House register, but not registered with the Regulator of Social Housing or the Charity Commission).
iv. Local Authority (including those where the Authority is also registered with the Regulator of Social Housing).
v. Other
See answer to question 1.

b) Total number of units provided that received exempt HB funding for each of the following years: 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21, of which were provided by:
i. Registered Providers (registered with the Regulator of Social Housing).
ii. Registered Charities (Organisations registered with Charity Commission but not with Regulator for Social Housing)
iii. Community Interest Companies (registered as a CIC on the Companies House register, but not registered with the Regulator of Social Housing or the Charity Commission).
iv. Local Authority (including those where the Authority is also registered with the Regulator of Social Housing).
v. Other
See answer to question 1.

3. Please can you provide links to or copies of any policy/procedure or guide for the following:
a) Strategic document setting out the Authority’s position on exempt HB housing
b) Registration of provider/property for exempt HB claims
c) Periodic revalidation of provider/property for exempt HB claims
d) Initial assessment of claims made by claimants for HB under the exempt rules.
e) Validation of exempt HB claims in payment
f) Ending an exempt HB claims by the Authority due to a concern.
Information that we hold is available on the Councils website.

4. Please provide information as to the cost to the Authority for each of the following years: 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21.
a) Overall spend on Administration of Exempt HB
b) Of which was administering exempt HB Claims
c) Of which was administering provider or property
d) Of which was enforcement activity associated with exempt HB
Wokingham Borough Council receives a grant to cover all the administration of benefits and no record is kept as to what proportion covers the assessment of particular claim types.

5. Thinking about complaints or action taken on complaints:
a) How many complaints did you receive regarding properties registered for exempt provision in each of the following years: 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21?
b) How many properties have you removed from your register in each of the following years: 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21?
See answer to question 1.

6. What was the housing solution for Homeless people who presented to the Authority (or its referral agencies) in each of the following years: 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21?
a) Number housed in exempt accommodation
2018/2019: 15
2019/2020: 22
2020/2021: 9

b) Number housed in Temporary Social Housing
2018/2019
End of Q1: 58
End of Q2: 60
End of Q3: 64
End of Q4: 65

2019/2020
End of Q1: 47
End of Q2: 41
End of Q3: 37
End of Q4: 49

2020/2021
End of Q1: 47
End of Q2: 41
End of Q3: 60
End of Q4: 40

c) Number Housed in specialist commissioned services
2018/2019: 0
2019/2020: 0
2020/2021: 0

d) Number housed in social housing
2018/2019: 47
2019/2020: 93
2020/2021: 62

e) Number housed in PRS
2018/2019: 21
2019/2020: 39
2020/2021: 83

f) Number housed in other
2018/2019: 8
2019/2020: 4
2020/2021: 12

7. What is the primary need for Homeless People housed in exempt Accommodation in each of the following years: 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21?
a) Ex-offender
2018/2019: 0
2019/2020: 0
2020/2021: 0

b) Substance misuse
2018/2019: 0
2019/2020: 3
2020/2021: 0

c) Care Leaver
2018/2019: 0
2019/2020: 1
2020/2021: 1

d) Young Person
2018/2019: 0
2019/2020: 1
2020/2021: 1

e) Mental Health
2018/2019: 3
2019/2020: 5
2020/2021: 1

f) Domestic Violence
2018/2019: 0
2019/2020: 4
2020/2021: 0

g) Refugee Status
2018/2019: 0
2019/2020: 1
2020/2021: 0