Content

To facilitate a partnership
between the Ferry project and YMCA Trinity for properties at
Octavia View in Wisbech, that will create a Housing Benefit
complaint way to enable FDC to recover more Housing Benefit subsidy
than we currently do for license agreements signed by residents at
Octavia View in need of Supported Housing.
 
To
enable this the Council is required to enter into 2
agreements:
1.   
YMCA Trinity and FDC (Confidential Appendix 1) -
Deed of Indemnity agreement - to indemnify the risk of a future a
change in assessment regarding national regulations that leaves
cost not being fully recovered again and that cost falling on YMCA
to find the gap in finance. Reasonably YMCA require the protection
to their financial strategy against this risk recognising the
financial benefit for the arrangement between YMCA and Ferry will
be for FDC’s medium term financial strategy.
2.   
Ferry Project and FDC (confidential Appendix 2)
– A bad debt agreement – to protect the Ferry project
from the new arrangement from paying YMCA for bad debt (for example
housing benefit over payment) which would be something they do not
have to do under the current arrangement. FDC will pay that bad
debt with close monitoring as to those payments being made. In
recent years this amount has been between £10k and
£30k.
 
Decision:
To
approve entering into 2 agreements:

·        
Indemnity Agreement between YMCA and FDC
(confidential Appendix 1)

·        
Bad Debt Agreement between Ferry Project and FDC
(confidential Appendix 2)
to support sustaining the
Council’s legal requirements for meeting Homelessness
duties.
 

Reasons for the decision

The benefit subsidy impact on
FDC budgets at Octavia View is circa £350k per annum. The
partnership between the Ferry and the YMCA enables that subsidy to
be recovered. Neither the Ferry nor YMCA could enter into this
partnership without the protection of the 2 agreements.

Alternative options considered

To not undertake the agreement
which would mean status quo and lead the Council to continue to
have the impact of loss of Housing Benefit subsidy which places
significant financial strain on our Medium-Term Financial
Strategy.