Key information
Executive summary
The GLA currently commissions and funds a major programme of pan-London rough sleeping services and projects. It is proposed that we complement the major services that we commission by earmarking part of our core rough sleeping budget for a new Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund that will support small-scale and innovative approaches to tackling rough sleeping. This Fund will help grow the currently limited marketplace of providers of rough sleeping services, and its priorities will reflect those set out in the pan-London Rough Sleeping Commissioning Framework.
It is also proposed to earmark part of the budget to support the Mayor’s No Nights Sleeping Rough (NNSR) taskforce and its sub-groups. This funding would enable the taskforce and its sub-groups to commission research and analysis, to fund specialist posts, and to support pilot projects.
Decision
That the Mayor approves:
• a new Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund (RSIF) of up to £1m in total, to run from 13 March 2017 to 31 March 2020;
• support for the No Nights Sleeping Rough taskforce of £300,000 (£100,000 a year) to run from April 2017 to 31 March 2020.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
1.1 Rough sleeping is a growing and persistent issue in the capital. 8,096 people were seen sleeping rough in London in 2015/16 (seven per cent more than in 2014/15). 61 per cent were new to the street, almost a quarter (23 per cent) were long term rough sleepers (that is, were seen rough sleeping in both 2014/15 and 2015/16), 59 per cent were non-UK nationals and 47 per cent were from EU countries. Around three quarters had at least one support need (46 per cent mental health, 43 per cent alcohol and 31 per cent drugs).
1.2 The Mayor has committed to tackling the ‘scourge of homelessness’ and in particular has noted that the rise in rough sleeping over recent years is a growing source of shame that we have a ‘moral imperative’ to stop. The Mayor has set up a ‘No Nights Sleeping Rough’ taskforce to oversee the implementation of his rough sleeping work and funding priorities. Chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, it brings together partners key to tackling rough sleeping in London (including boroughs, voluntary organisations and central government).
1.3 The Mayor has responsibility for funding and commissioning a range of pan-London rough sleeping services. These are services for rough sleepers, or initiatives to tackle rough sleeping, that cannot or would not be provided at a London borough level, as they are pan-London or multi-borough in their remit. A budget of £33.8m for these services was approved for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2020 granted through MD1532.
1.4 Most of this budget is spent on major contracted services, such as No Second Night Out and London Street Rescue. However, we also fund smaller services, such as the Female Hidden Homeless Project which the Mayor announced towards the end of 2016. The support of the GLA has enabled various relatively small organisations to develop new, highly successful services which have then gone on to expand and attract funding from alternative sources.
1.5 The GLA has recently successfully bid for over £4.2m of Government funding for a number of additional rough sleeping services and initiatives, which will be launched during 2017:
• a Social Impact Bond (SIB) for entrenched rough sleepers (£2m from DCLG plus £1m from the GLA)
• a Safe Connections service (£1.875m from DCLG)
• a Hostels Clearing House (£340,000 from DCLG).
1.6 Our current and new services will significantly improve outcomes. However, there is potential to develop new innovative initiatives through funding smaller scale projects, to increase the pace of progress and tackle a wider range of issues. The aim is that these will focus on the priorities set out in the pan-London Rough Sleeping Commissioning Framework:
i. Overarching priorities
ii. To work with boroughs and partners:
1. to minimise the flow of new rough sleepers onto the streets
2. to ensure that no-one new to the streets sleep rough for a second night
3. to ensure that no-one lives on the streets of London
4. to ensure that no-one returns to the streets of London
iii. Cross-cutting priorities
To work with boroughs and partners:
5. to tackle rough sleeping by non-UK nationals
6. to improve partnership working around enforcement
7. to tackle hidden or mobile rough sleeping
8. to meet the physical and mental health needs of rough sleepers
9. to help ensure the availability of appropriate accommodation, including emergency accommodation
10. to enhance the service offer from faith and community based organisations
11. to maintain and improve the collection of data about rough sleeping
Rationale
Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund
1.7 By bringing in organisations far beyond the very limited market geared up to deliver our major services, we expect to see greater innovation in the design and delivery of rough sleeping services. We also hope that our intervention will help to grow the market and provide opportunities for smaller organisations to be involved in the provision of GLA services in the future. We intend to encourage partnership bids between local authorities and providers, and a diverse range of organisations and charities to apply.
1.8 The GLA’s grant-funding to date has been relatively ad hoc. For this new Fund, we propose a more transparent application process and decision-making structure. This will be based on the priorities in the pan-London Rough Sleeping Commissioning Framework, with an additional focus on issues that are identified at the time as needing a response (for example, addressing the needs of hard-to-reach rough sleepers and those under-represented within current provision).
Support for the No Nights Sleeping Rough taskforce
1.9 The taskforce brings together key partners to tackling rough sleeping in London, in order to:
• identify interventions that will contribute to tackling rough sleeping in the capital, building on and complementing existing work to do so;
• where possible, implement the interventions identified;
• where necessary, lobby for the interventions identified; and
• monitor the effectiveness of interventions in tackling rough sleeping.
1.10 The taskforce has now been formed, the first meeting has taken place (on 6 October) and terms of reference have been agreed (see Appendix 2). At this meeting, it was agreed that the group should set up a range of thematic sub-groups to work on, and generate solutions to, different issues.
The following sub-groups are currently being set up:
• data analysis and improving recording
• hostels
• mental health
• Rough Sleepers Initiative clearing house units.
1.11 It is likely that additional groups will be set up over the coming months and years, as the taskforce identifies and seeks solutions to new and emerging issues.
1.12 Access to funding will enhance the ability of the taskforce and its sub-groups to actively and rapidly drive change and improve outcomes. It is anticipated that the funding will be used for a range of purposes, from commissioning research and analysis through to piloting new approaches. It is anticipated that any funding approved will need to have a practical application and clear outputs and outcomes.
Process – finance and priority areas
Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund
1.13 The total budget proposed for the RSIF is £250,000 for the first year (2017/18) and then a minimum of £100,000, and a maximum of £375,000, in 2018/19 and 2019/20. The funding for this programme will come from the existing approved budget of £33.8m for the rough sleeping programme. The decision on whether to make additional funds above £100,000 available for 2018/19 and 2019/20 would be made on a year by year basis, informed by the rough sleeping landscape and priorities at the time.
1.14 We anticipate funding around seven projects during the first year, ranging in size from £10,000 to £80,000.
1.15 Informed by consultation with our key partners and analysis of data, we have identified the following areas on which our programme could focus, at least during the first year:
1.16 We are proposing to advertise the first wave of the new Innovation Fund in March 2017, with the first round of projects commencing on 1 May 2017. It will be a fair, competitive process, with organisations being given four weeks to respond and bids assessed within a structured framework. We are likely to prioritise bids that include match-funding, to stretch our funding as far as possible. To ensure that we receive bids from a range of organisations and covering a range of priorities, we also intend to warm up the market, by engaging informally with smaller providers.
1.17 The GLA will monitor the projects on a quarterly basis to ensure performance against targets. As with the commissioned services, the performance of the programme will be reported to the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development each quarter at the Rough Sleeping Internal Governance Group.
Supporting the No Nights Sleeping Rough taskforce
1.18 It is proposed that a total budget of £300,000 should be earmarked for the taskforce until 31 March 2020 (£100,000 a year). It will be available to support the work of the taskforce and its sub-groups. It could be used for a range of purposes, including research and analysis, specialist posts in the sector and pilot projects. The taskforce will set the priorities and develop the criteria for the use of the funding, but we would expect these to fall within those set out in the Commissioning Framework.
1.19 As with the Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund, there will be close monitoring of this funding against outcomes – as set out paragraph 1.17 above.
2.1 The objectives of the Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund are:
• to encourage greater innovation in the design and delivery of rough sleeping services;
• to help to grow the market and provide opportunities for smaller organisations to be involved in the provision of GLA services in the future;
• to improve outcomes for rough sleepers, particularly those who are under-provided for by current services and may be hard to reach.
2.2 The objective of the supporting the taskforce is to to enhance the ability of it and its sub-groups to actively and rapidly drive change and improve outcomes for rough sleepers.
2.3 We will require bidders to the Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund and, in where relevant members of the taskforce, to outline specific outcomes for their proposed projects or services.
3.1 Of those seen rough sleeping in 2015/16:
• 59 per cent were non-UK nationals
• 46 per cent had a mental health need
• 15 per cent were women
• most of those seen rough sleeping (58 per cent) were in the 26-45 age group
• 10 per cent were under 26 years old
• 11 per cent were over 55
• four people were under 18.
3.2 As rough sleepers are over-represented among those with the protected characteristics of race and disability, the proposals in this paper are likely to have positive impacts on these groups.
3.3 An EQIA was carried out on the commissioning framework which provides the priorities for RSIF and an EQIA will be carried on each grant funded.
a) Key risks and issues
b) Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
See paragraphs 1.2 and 1.3 above.
c) Impact assessments and consultations
The priorities areas for the Rough Sleeping Innovation fund for the first year have been informed by consultation with our key partners and analysis of data.
5.1 This decision requests an approval to expend up to £1m for a Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund, as well as £300,000 (£100,000 a year) to support the Mayor’s ‘No Nights Sleeping Rough’ taskforce. Both projects will be run between April 2017 and March 2020.
5.2 The proposed funds will be expended from Rough Sleeping Commissioning budget (MD1532), which has been allocated a four year indicative Budget of up-to £33.8m (£8.450m per/year).
6.1 The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor fall within the statutory powers of the Authority to promote and/or to do anything which is facilitative of or conducive or incidental to the promotion of social development in Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
(a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
(b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
(c) consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2 In taking the decisions requested of him, the mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.3 In accordance with the requirements of paragraph 6.4 of the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code (the “Code”), the officers must ensure that the funding the subject of NNSRIF and NNSRTF be distributed fairly, transparently and in accordance with the GLA’s obligations regarding equality of opportunities.
6.4 Section 38(1) of the Greater London Authority Act (1999) provides that any function exercisable on behalf of the GLA by the mayor shall also be exercisable on behalf of the GLA by any member of staff of the GLA if or to the extent that the mayor so authorises, whether generally or specially, and subject to any conditions imposed by the mayor.
6.5 In the instant case, the officers are seeking a delegation of mayoral authority to the executive director housing and land for the purposes of making all further decisions regarding the fund and executing grant agreements relating to the monies the subject of the fund. The executive director housing and land is a member of GLA staff and accordingly the mayor may make the requested delegation, if he be so minded.
7.1 Key milestones for the first wave of the Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund are as follows.
Signed decision document
MD2089 Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund (signed) PDF