Decisions

This Report seeks approval to accept a grant of £192,560 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG). This funding has been granted by MCHLG to fund additional staff recruitment to the Private Housing Standards (PHS) team, primarily to focus on intelligence-led work in the East of the city where poor housing conditions are believed to be linked to recent migration in to the area.

This Report also seeks approval for the above funding to be rolled over from 2018/19 into 2019/20, due the award of funding being made late in Q4 of the 2018/19 financial year.

The Council accepts £192,560 grant funding from the Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government’s Controlling Migration Fund to be utilised in line with this report.

The report seeks agreement for the site of the former Wisewood School caretaker house to be declared surplus as it is no longer required by the portfolio for the delivery of services.

That the vacant former Wisewood School caretaker house at 2 Rural Lane, be declared surplus to requirements of the people portfolio.

The report seeks agreement for the site of the former Birley Secondary School caretaker house to be declared surplus as it is no longer required by the portfolio for the delivery of services.

That the site of the former caretaker’s house at Birley Secondary School be declared surplus as it is no longer part of Birley Secondary School and is not required by the portfolio for the delivery of other services.

The report seeks agreement for the site of the former Hazelbarrow Primary School to be declared surplus as it is no longer required by the portfolio for the delivery of services.

That the site of the former Hazelbarrow Primary School be declared surplus as it is no longer required by the portfolio for the delivery of services.

Award of 8 contracts for the provision of accommodation and support services for young people.

The contracts will be awarded for 18 months to include provision for breaking early and some level of flexibility in terms of wider strategic needs of the services.

It has been decided to award 18 month contracts from 1^st april 2019 to 30^th September 2020 (the contracts include provision for breaking early and some level of extension to provide flexibility in terms of the wider strategic needs of the service).  The contracts will be awarded to:

1.    Guinness Care for the provision of accommodation and support to young people with low-medium needs at a cost of £237,200 per annum for 18 months;

2.    Cherrytree Support Services Ltd for the provision of accommodation and support to young people with medium-high needs at a cost of £313,030.98 per annum for 18 months;

3.    Roundabout Ltd for the provision of accommodation and support to young people with medium-high needs at a cost of £270,422 per annum for 18 months;

4.    YWCA Yorkshire for the provision of accommodation and support to young women with medium-high needs at a cost of £160,000 per annum for 18 months;

5.    Young Women’s Housing Project for the provision of accommodation and support to young women with medium-high needs at a cost of £154,869 per annum for 18 months;

6.    Roundabout Ltd for the provision of a mediation service at a cost of £29,004 annual for 18 months;

7.    DePaul UK for the provision of a supported lodgings service at a cost of £26,225 core costs over 18 months plus up to six placement fees at a cost per placement being the difference between Housing Benefit allowance and £150 per week.  De Paul will be required to claim the maximum housing benefit per young person.  Any services required beyond six will be spot purchased at a cost of £112.49 per week at the discretion of the Council and within the resources available, to a maximum of £86,000; and

8.    Roundabout Ltd for the provision of a floating support service at a cost of £225,818 per annum for 18 months.

Sheffield and Rotherham have been identified by the Government in its National Air Quality Plan as areas of exceedance for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) gas concentrations.

In order to comply with the European health based limits, the Joint Air Quality Unit (‘JAQU’) which is a setup of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (‘DEFRA’) and the Department for Transport (‘DfT’) has directed Local Authorities to lower the limits.

The Clean Air Zone (‘CAZ’) Feasibility Study covers Sheffield and Rotherham and the Council is leading the Study on behalf of both Local Authorities.

The JAQU has already paid Sheffield City Council (‘SCC’) a total grant of £550,000 (£450,000 in addition to the initial grant award of £100,000) in order to support the Feasibility Study Proposal to explore a range of measures to improve air quality within the city.

This report is to accept a further grant of £650,000 from the JAQU in order to complete our Feasibility Study Proposal.

The JAQU has been working closely with SCC and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (‘RMBC’) to submit the Feasibility Study by specified deadlines, as detailed in this report.

This Report is for SCC to accept and spend the additional £650,000 grant, noting that further grant funding may be made available by the JAQU in 2019 / 2020.

1.    To approve the additional Clean Air Zone (‘CAZ’) Feasibility Study Grant of £650,000 from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department for Transport; and

a)     to note the approval of the Executive Director of Resources for the Council to be the accountable body to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council;

b) to note the previous approval of delegation (Clean Air for Sheffield 21.11.2018) to the Executive Director, Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport and Development and the Director of Finance and Commercial Services to commence procurement for any necessary infrastructure, goods and services to implement the Clean Air Zone; and

2.   To delegate authority to the Executive Director, Place, and the Director of Financial and Commercial Services to agree contract terms and approve contract awards in accordance with all relevant provisions of the Council’s Constitution including Contracts Standing Orders and all applicable Procurement rules and the Leader’s Scheme of Delegations.

The report seeks permission to tender a support service for people who have an offending history and risky behaviours.

The service will provide around 110 units of supported accommodation with a short period of move on support into independent tenancies.  Support would be provided for individual service users for 6 to 12 months, depending on need.  During this time they will be provided with a holistic support package to support their recovery and develop the skills and resilience to move on to a sustainable lifestyle in permanent accommodation.

The service will ensure that the needs of women are catered for, and couples where one or both meet its eligibility criteria.

The annual expenditure on this contract will be up to £445,000 per year initially.  This anticipates a reduction of around £35,000 from the current contract price.

In addition, there will be a 1% annual reduction built into the contract from May 2020.  This service will be commissioned as detailed in the report and in line with the delegations agreed by Cabinet in the Delegated Decisions for Housing Related Support Commissioning Strategy and Budget Plan 2016 – 2020.

That the Director, Commissioning, Inclusion and Learning, as delegated through the 17^th February 2016 Cabinet decision ‘Delegated Decisions for Housing Related Support Commissioning Strategy and Budget Plan 2016 to 2020’:

(a)  Awards the contract for the provision of accommodation and support services for adults at the risk of offending to Target Housing.

The contract period is for 5 years with a break clause after 3 years for flexibility.  Beginning on 1^st May 2019, the contract will provide 116 units of supported accommodation at a cost of £1,886,846.00 over 5 years.