A public consultation on the draft Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy for 2023-28 during a period of 6 weeks, starting 26th November and ending 8th December 2022. This was a statutory consultation – all local authorities have to consult on their draft homelessness and rough sleeping strategy before this is finalised and implemented.
The focus of the consultation was to hear if we had set out the right commitments and plans to achieve the priorities we have established for the strategy.
The consultation was available to the public on the Council’s consultation website. The online survey was promoted widely, primarily through social media, but also through the Council’s Tenants in Touch magazine, on our Choice Based Lettings website, press releases and through sharing information directly with a wide range of community groups and partner organisations.
In addition to the online survey, we sought views from the community through other means, including attending community events, holding a session with individuals who have lived experience of homelessness, held a session with the Council’s Tenants Ambassadors. We also engaged with key partners, holding five stakeholder workshops to seek their views on our commitments and how we plan to achieve these.
We received a good response to the consultation, receiving 103 online responses along with 4 written responses and 60 individuals attended the stakeholder events representing 27 different organisations.
We had a positive response to the consultation with between 74% and 85% of respondents to the online survey agreeing or strongly agreeing with what we had set out to do under each priority. This sentiment was echoed through the other consultation activities, with most individuals and organisations agreeing with our commitments. Overall, the good response rate and positive feedback confirmed that we were on the right track with what we have set out to do over the next 5 years.
Through all consultation activities, we also asked respondents to tell us if they had other comments and if there is anything in particular that they think is particularly important for us to deliver under the different priorities. We received a good number of comments, the majority of which reflected our commitments and plans set out in the draft strategy but we have further developed the strategy and made amendments, including:
The consultation and the subsequent refinements of the strategy itself, has enabled us to develop a comprehensive action plan. This action plan outlines details on how we will implement the ambitions and plans set out in the strategy, incorporates feedback we received through the consultation, and includes:
The action plan will be updated yearly to ensure it remains relevant and responsive to changing context, and progress will be closely monitored and reported on. A full review of the action plan and progress made will be completed on an annual basis. Revisions to the action plan will be presented to Cabinet for approval. In line with the normal process this report will also be available to the Council’s Scrutiny Committee, and sub committees, to consider and provide recommendations to Cabinet, in line with the Council’s constitution.
The strategy and accompanying action plan are published on the Council’s website.
We want to hear your views on our plans to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis in Oxford.
Our draft Housing, Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy for Oxford 2023-28 sets out the Council’s plans and commitments to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis in the city.
The strategy has been developed over the last year and is based on the findings of a comprehensive homelessness review and strategy evidence base that we carried out in spring 2021.
We consulted on the review and evidence base, as well as our draft vision and emerging priorities during summer 2021. The views and feedback we received through that consultation has also contributed to the shaping of our new strategy.
You can view the full strategy document here, and you can view 5 short videos telling you about the priorities of our strategy here. You can also find the strategy and videos at the bottom of this page, along with the updated review and evidence base.
We want to hear what you think about our direction, commitments and plans outlined in our new strategy.
Following this consultation, we will update the strategy based on the feedback we have received. Your feedback will also help us develop the right actions for the action plan that will sit alongside the strategy.
The updated strategy and action plan will be presented to the Council’s Cabinet in 2023 for approval and it will then be implemented.
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