Decision details

This report seeks approval to utilise the clause within a current contract for dispersed supported housing service for young people for a period of up to one year from 2^nd February 2018 to 1^st February 2019. 

The current contract provides support accommodation in a range of properties dispersed across the City. The current contract price is £485,000.

The current contract was let in 2015 for three years plus the ability to extend for a further two years, one year at a time. 

The Council wishes to extend the contract for up to a year until 1^st February 2019. A wider review of all our young people’s housing related support contracts is underway and a new commissioning plan will be completed by the end of spring 2018. The Commissioning Plan will seek to recommission all supported accommodation for young people

Extending this contract for up to a year will allow this service to continue whilst the commissioning plan is approved and all new supported accommodation services for young people are procured and service models implemented.

The current contract has provision for:

• 6 young people in young parents dispersed accommodation,
• 10 young parents in  transitional landlord provision,
• 96 young people in dispersed accommodation
• 35 people in resettlement at any one time. 

The Council has identified ways in which the provision can be used in a more cost effective way, which involves:

·         increasing supported accommodation for young parents

·         reducing the overall number of  properties  by taking out those of low quality or in areas of high concentration of supported housing and swopping some units of accommodation to widen location of supported housing

·         reducing the resettlement role to retain funding of support in supported accommodation.

·         reducing the contract fee by £30,000.

The future contract will have provision for:

• 14 young parents in a transitional landlord provision
• 81 units of dispersed accommodation for young parents and single people, to be used flexibly but with an increase of young parent provision to current provision
• Resettlement support to young parents and young people moving on from support

That the contract held by Depaul UK, be extended for one up to one year (from 2nd February 2018 to 1st February 2019) at a reduced contract price of £455,000 (a £30,000 reduction) and a reduction of 7 supported accommodation units.

The Council remains committed to the provision of housing related support for young people and approval of the extension of the current contract will allow time to conclude a considered review and remodelling of services, including the agreeing the process of commissioning new services.  Government policy on austerity and welfare reform are having negative impacts on vulnerable people and current plans for changing housing benefits will have particular impacts on young people.  It is important that we are able to consider all these impacts together in our overall plans for young people.

This service is included within the budget for services commissioned by the Housing Independence Service for 2017-18 and within the budget forecast for 2018-19.

Depaul UK has been running the young persons’ dispersed supported housing service for nearly 3 years since winning the contract through an open tender process in 2014. On the back of this contract DePaul have also fund raised and brought a Night Stop Service into Sheffield to fill a service gap.  The current contract which expires on 1st February 2018 includes the option to extend the contract twice for periods of up to 12 months.  We have negotiated some changes to the contract which includes a contract price reduction and the Contract continues to represent value for money. 

The alternative options are:

•           Further reductions in units of supported accommodation.  However, it was felt that this would have a negative impact on young homeless people and would be premature to make significant changes outside of the newly developing commissioning strategy.

•           To terminate the contract and decommission the services.  This would leave up to 204 young homeless and vulnerable people a year, including young parents, without access to supported accommodation and ongoing resettlement.  This may lead to a downward spiral in the health and wellbeing of these young people and a rise in antisocial behaviour, medical admissions and offending. It would certainly lead to pressures on the Council’s Homeless Services and Children and Young People’s Services as some of the service users will be care leavers.

•           To go out to tender for one year while the review of the services take place.  This would be unnecessary and costly in terms of capacity and resources in all teams and will not be the most efficient way of meeting value for money.  The current contract terms were drawn up with the intention of utilising the extension clause to prevent unnecessary expenditure.  We have recently negotiated value for money changes.