Decision details

Councillor Tamoor Tariq, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Care, presented the report which sought approval for the review of two lots of housing related support provision in Neighbourhood Housing Support services, namely Adullam Homes- Bury Bridges- Complex Needs Accommodation, and Calico Enterprise- Bury Gateway- Floating Support/Dispersed Accommodation.

There was a potential to bring both services together into more effective commissioning that provides a one service approach to housing related to support for people and households that are homeless or at risk of losing their tenancies but, as contract end dates do not align, this report proposed the extension of one service to bring them into line before a full review is carried out.

In response to a Member’s query regarding timescales for the review, it was noted that soft market testing had begun, and co-production with both Adullam and Calico would begin upon approval tonight to ensure the review was completed early in the summer in order to meet September timescales.

Decision:

Cabinet:

1.    Agreed to extend contractual arrangements of Calico Enterprise from the 1st July 2024 to 30^th September 2024 to align with the end of contractual arrangements of Adullam at a cost of £151,233;

2.    Agreed the review both services;

3.    Agreed to the procurement of the services to a specification informed by the review; and

4.    Noted that a further report setting out recommendations as to preferred bidders and costs would come to a future meeting.

Reasons for the decision:

There has been a significant increase of single people that require tenancy related service and households that requires interventions to sustain their tenancies. Rough sleeping has increased locally, due numerous factors which include:

·         Increase in the number of people with complex needs (mental health, substance misuse and offending behaviours)

·         Expensive housing market in the borough contributing to lack of access to the private rented sector and finite support of social housing.

·         Regional and local challenges regarding providing accommodation to increased asylum and refugee presentations due to government policy and leave to remain cases.

·         Cost of living has increased which has meant that more households are struggling to sustain their tenancies.

There needs to be a review to ensure that supported accommodation for single people and floating support for households reflects these challenges. Services must be fit for purpose, to prevent people from failing in their tenancies and provide housing solutions that develop independent living skills and improve quality of life in the community.

Other options considered and rejected:

Procurement rules do not allow any further extensions to contractual arrangements. Therefore, it provides an opportunity to review the current services and housing and homelessness pressures in Bury.