Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director of Adult Care and Housing

Cabinet Member:     Councillor Roche

Commissioner:         Ney (in advisory role)

Recommendations:

1.    That approval be given to the remodeling of the existing externally commissioned housing related support offer in Rotherham to deliver four Pathways of support to vulnerable people who are at risk of homelessness or are homeless as outlined in sections 4.0 to 4.2. The four pathways are;

·         Vulnerable Adults

·         Complex Need

·         Domestic Abuse

·         Young People and Young Parents

2.    That approval be given to the redefinition of the existing offender, single homeless, homeless families, and mental health client groups as Vulnerable Adults to better meet multiple needs and redefine the age range across Vulnerable Adults’ contracts to 21+ to prevent duplication of service.

3.    That approval be given to further efficiencies within the Vulnerable Adults pathway through the merger of 3 floating support services, currently providing 205 units in total, into one service providing 220 units.

4.    That approval be given to the creation of a pathway for people with Complex Needs based on a Housing First model to support 20 – 30 people with complex needs.  To achieve this, it is proposed that the Council renegotiate existing contracts of dispersed accommodation. As outlined in sections 4.18 to 4.22.

5.    That approval be given to the Domestic Abuse Pathway as a priority and that current funding will be protected, at this stage, as outlined in sections 4.23 to 4.34 and to extend the Rotherham Rise refuge contract for 18 months under an exemption from Contract Procedure Rules.

6.    That the joint commissioning of the Young People Pathway with the designated lead for Children and Young People and designated Adult Care and Housing commissioning lead be approved, as outlined in section 4.35 to 4.40 and the YWCA Yorkshire Fleming Gardens contract be extended for 18 months under an exemption from Contract Procedure Rules.

7.    That subject to the remaining efficiencies from the Vulnerable Adults Pathway being forthcoming an exemption from Contract Procedure Rules be granted for up to 18 months for the contracts currently provided by South Yorkshire Housing Association at Browning Court and Action Housing & Support Ltd at Elliott House. Further information relating to this approach is outlined in section 4.7 and Table 7.

8.    That the proposal to transfer the governance and ownership of the Learning Disabilities contract with KeyRing to the remit of the Head of Service for Learning Disabilities, following conclusion of recommended savings activity as outlined in section 5.1, be approved.

9.    That the existing Outcomes Framework for Housing Related Support be adapted as outlined in section 6 to better reflect the nature of the Pathways.

Consideration was given to a report which outlined review recommendations for the future commissioning of externally provided Housing Related Support Services in Rotherham. Housing Related Support services delivered positive outcomes with the vulnerable people they supported, preventing and dealing with emergency homelessness and averting the need for other costlier forms of service provision. Though Housing Related Support services sat within the Adult Care and Housing Directorate portfolio, the preventative element provided whole system benefits.

Homelessness and the risk of homelessness was the focus for all Housing Related Support services. Through the Rotherham Side by Side programme the Council had worked closely with existing providers, service users and wider stakeholders to co-produce the future model of externally commissioned Housing Related Support.

The review was undertaken to remodel the provision, to meet changing demand, and offer better value for money in addition to delivering the savings required for 2018/19.

Further information was provided on the high quality preventative services to vulnerable people of all ages (16+) across the many client groups, cost/benefit and social return on investment and the service user profile.

The report set out in detail the recent changes, including three services for young being redesigned, HRS tender outcomes, the case for change and the breakdown of savings.

Cabinet Members welcomed the priority given to the Domestic Abuse Pathway and the protection afforded to the current funding.  Whilst some areas had closed their refuges Rotherham still remained part of the National Refuge Network.

The Council had 23 HRS services with external providers, including accommodation based and floating support for service users, including ethnic and minority groups.  The contracts were outcome focused based on a number of service level outcomes which would be closely monitored and any issues reported to Elected Members and through the scrutiny process.

This report had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as part of the pre-scrutiny process who were in support of the recommendations as long as a post-implementation review was submitted to the Board subject to further discussion with officers about timescales.

Resolved:-   (1)  That the remodeling of the existing externally commissioned housing related support offer in Rotherham to deliver four Pathways of support to vulnerable people who are at risk of homelessness or are homeless as outlined in sections 4.0 to 4.2 of the report be approved. The four pathways were:-

·                Vulnerable Adults

·                Complex Need

·                Domestic Abuse

·                Young People and Young Parents

(2)  That the redefinition of the existing offender, single homeless, homeless families, and mental health client groups as Vulnerable Adults to better meet multiple needs and redefine the age range across Vulnerable Adults’ contracts to 21+ to prevent duplication of service be approved.

(3)  That further efficiencies within the Vulnerable Adults pathway through the merger of 3 floating support services, currently providing 205 units in total, into one service providing 220 units, be approved.

(4)  That the creation of a pathway for people with Complex Needs based on a Housing First model to support 20 – 30 people with complex needs be approved.  To achieve this, it was proposed that the Council renegotiate existing contracts ofdispersed accommodation. As outlined in sections 4.18 to 4.22 of the report.

(5)  That the Domestic Abuse Pathway be approved as a priority and that current funding be protected, at this stage, as outlined in sections 4.23 to 4.34 of the report and to extend the Rotherham Rise refuge contract for 18 months under an exemption from Contract Procedure Rules.

(6)  That the joint commissioning of the Young People Pathway with the designated lead for Children and Young People and designated Adult Care and Housing commissioning lead be approved, as outlined in section 4.35 to 4.40 of the report and the YWCA Yorkshire Fleming Gardens contract be extended for 18 months under an exemption from Contract Procedure Rules.

(7)  That subject to the remaining efficiencies from the Vulnerable Adults Pathway being forthcoming an exemption from Contract Procedure Rules be granted for up to 18 months for the contracts currently provided by South Yorkshire Housing Association at Browning Court and Action Housing & Support Ltd at Elliott House. Further information relating to this approach was outlined in section 4.7 and Table 7 of the report.

(8)  That the proposal to transfer the governance and ownership of the Learning Disabilities contract with KeyRing to the remit of the Head of Service for Learning Disabilities, following conclusion of recommended savings activity as outlined in Section 5.1 of the report, be approved.

(9)  That the existing Outcomes Framework for Housing Related Support be adapted as outlined in Section 6 of the report to better reflect the nature of the Pathways.

(10)  That a post-implementation review be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, subject to further discussions with officers about timescales.