MD2853 Rough sleeping – COVID-19 Recovery Phase, RSI 4 extensions

1.1 During 2020-21, 11,018 people were seen sleeping rough in London – more than double the number in 2010-11. Of these, 68 per cent were new to the streets, 50 per cent were non-UK nationals, and 22 per cent were from Central and Eastern European countries. Around two-thirds had support needs, of which 44 per cent related to mental health, 29 per cent to alcohol, and 31 per cent to drugs.

1.2 Since 2016, the Mayor has coordinated efforts through his Life off the Streets taskforce to identify, implement, lobby for and monitor the effectiveness of interventions to tackle rough sleeping. In his London Housing Strategy, published in 2018, the Mayor set out his aim that there should be a sustainable route off the streets for every rough sleeper in London. In June 2018, he published his Rough Sleeping Plan of Action which outlines the steps that need to be taken by City Hall, the government and others to achieve this.

1.3 Since taking office, the Mayor has been expanding the pan-London rough-sleeping services that the GLA funds and commissions. These services collectively form his Life off the Streets programme. They are services for people with experience or at risk of sleeping rough, 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.

1.4 In March 2020, the GLA, in partnership with London boroughs, charities, the NHS and businesses, pioneered Everyone In – the initiative to ensure that rough sleepers at risk of COVID-19 were safely accommodated during the pandemic. To date, around 10,000 rough sleepers have been provided with emergency accommodation and support across London, including over 2,600 in GLA-procured hotels. At the peak, the GLA had 14 hotels with capacity for around 1,400 people.

1.5 This rapid and comprehensive response has kept the rates of COVID-19 infection among London’s rough sleepers far below that seen in other world cities. It is estimated to have prevented many infections, hospital admissions and deaths (see section 2.4, below).

1.6 As the first period of lockdown eased, the phase of the operation to secure and move people at risk into hotels scaled down, and the GLA and boroughs moved into the next-steps phase. This meant implementing the Mayor’s In For Good principle – providing an offer of support to everyone accommodated in the hotels, so that no one needs to return to rough sleeping when they leave; and winding down some of the hotels. As at 30 June 2021, 4,857 people in the capital had positively moved on, including 1,267 from the GLA-procured hotels.

1.7 However, the continuing pandemic, the impending winter and the lack of move-on options for many of those currently in the hotels mean that accommodation will still be needed for many months to come. As at 30 June 2021, 2,512 rough sleepers were accommodated in hotels and other emergency accommodation in the capital, including just under 500 in GLA-procured hotels.

1.8 As outlined in MD2789, the response of the Mayor’s rough-sleeping services, described above, was necessary in order to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon rough sleepers. The urgent focus of this response delayed the planned procurement of new contracts for the GLA’s rough-sleeping services. The contract variations, which are subject to this decision form, are a continuation of that response.

1.9 The expenditure of £24.72m, for which approval is sought through this MD, will further expand the Mayor’s services, and assist the transition away from an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic into a recovery phase. It will create a balance between ensuring none of the 500 people currently accommodated in GLA-procured hotels are forced to return to the streets, and reinstating pre-pandemic services so those new to the streets can access support. £24.55m of the funding has been secured from the government’s RSI, and the remaining £0.17m from GLA internal budget.

1.10 The budget will be spent as follows:

• NSNO – two staging posts and a specialist PRS Access team (£1.11m)

• Routes Home – support for non-UK nationals include two members of staff, and three bed spaces to accommodate non-UK nationals while this support is being delivered (£0.17m)

• TSTs – two teams delivering floating support, and a separate referral administration team for up to 500 people moving into the PRS (£0.8m)

• Rapid Response outreach – a contribution to the Rapid Response service delivered by Thames Reach, which provides outreach responses to StreetLink referrals within 24 hours to help people access accommodation and funding an evaluation of the service (£0.47m)

• mental health support – specialist mental health workers (2.5 FTE) provided by EASL, working with outreach teams and people using night shelters and other services (£0.15m)

• ESP – up to six navigator posts within Housing Justice to support a small grants programme (£0.3m)

• supported housing service – a service to provide medium-term accommodation and on-site support to people exiting rough sleeping (£0.01m)

• peer-led outreach – an outreach team consisting of nine people with lived experience of rough sleeping, supporting longer-term rough sleepers on the streets who other services have not successfully engaged with, and those struggling to maintain accommodation (£0.09m)

• GLA staff resources – continuation of a post to monitor an aspect of the MHCLG-funded services (£0.05m)

• Target Thousand – continuation of the London Navigator Team, which delivers the complex case-management needs of the Target Thousand multiple, complex support needs rough-sleeper cohort (£0.41m)

• CHAIN – two additional staff to increase the service’s capacity to provide responsive support to its expanding user base and undertake a delayed system review (£0.17m)

• LSR – accommodation for up to 120 rough sleepers under the Immediate Route of the Streets expansion, for people who would otherwise remain on the streets (£0.1m)

• pan-London accommodation, recovery phase – to provide more than 500 bed spaces for a mix of those new to the streets, and step-down accommodation for those currently in GLA-procured hotels, including 150 beds in new hotel-based NSNO accommodation (£20.72m)

• TST North – to provide additional staff capacity and to continue delivery of specialist support to non-UK nationals living in Clearing House units (£0.17m).

Everyone In

1.11 The Mayor has so far approved £53.45m of funding for the GLA’s Everyone In COVID-19 rough-sleeping response. This comprises:

• £10.55m (via MD2627): £9m from the first tranche of the government’s COVID-19 emergency funding for local authorities; plus £1.05m of reprioritised GLA funding diverted from existing budgets, and £0.5m of MHCLG funding diverted from other GLA rough-sleeping services

• £18.18m (via MD2671): £7.18m from the second tranche of the government’s COVID-19 emergency funding for local authorities, an initial allocation of £9m from the government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP), £1m of MHCLG funding received by the GLA from the RSI fund, and £1m of reprioritised GLA funding diverted from existing budgets

• £14.81m (via MD2740): a further allocation of £10m from NSAP, £4.2m from the Protect Programme, £0.14m from the government’s Cold Weather Fund, and £0.47m from the government’s Suspension of the Derogation fund

• £9.91m (via MD2789): £5.02m is from the government RSI funding, and the remaining £4.89m is funding previously received from the MHCLG for the RSI (and approved via MD2481 and MD2657), the Rapid Rehousing Pathway (approved via MD2515) and COVID-19 response (approved MD2740).

1.12 The additional funding of £20.72m, for which approval is sought, will enable the GLA to continue providing step-down accommodation for rough sleepers brought into GLA-procured hotels as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response, until the end of March 2022. The services provided will enable individuals to access settled accommodation and support needed to help them exit rough sleeping permanently.

1.13 This decision would delegate authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Land to approve the allocation of monies within the £20.72m expenditure on hotels and related services for the COVID-19 rough-sleeping response for 2021-22.

Funding profile

1.14 The table below sets out the proposed spend for which approval is being sought.

1.15 Details of the services and initiatives in the above table are set out in section 2.

2.1 The Mayor’s Life off the Streets programme focuses on achieving the Mayor’s vision for everyone sleeping rough to have a sustainable route away from the streets. The programme is underpinned by the overarching priorities set out in the pan-London Rough Sleeping Commissioning Framework 2017, to work with boroughs and partners:

• to minimise the flow of new rough sleepers onto the streets

• to ensure that no one new to the streets sleeps rough for a second night

• to ensure that no one lives on the streets of London

• to ensure that no one returns to the streets of London.

2.2 A key performance indicator for the Mayor’s Life off the Streets services is that at least 85 per cent of rough sleepers who are supported do not return to the street.

2.3 The key objective of the Mayor’s Everyone In rough-sleeping COVID-19 response is to protect those at risk of COVID-19, thus reducing infections, hospital admissions and deaths. With as many as 7,000 infections, 90 deaths, 390 hospital admissions and 115 ICU admissions avoided in London as a result of Everyone In measures, the proposals in this paper will enable the GLA to support at least 7,000 rough sleepers between 1 July 2021 and 30 March 2022. This will enable them to access self-contained accommodation immediately from the streets, and to move on and rebuild their lives.

2.4 As at 16 June 2021, 1,267 of the circa 2,600 rough sleepers accommodated in the GLA-procured hotels since March 2020 have been supported to positively move on. The Mayor’s charity partners working with hotel guests will continue to apply the In For Good principle in all the hotels, supporting people to positively move on. However, options for some non-UK nationals, who form a large proportion of those currently in the hotels, are very limited. With additional casework support, there is potential for some of these individuals to establish their right to welfare support, or to gain employment, and thereby move on positively into independent accommodation. The majority, though, are ineligible for welfare support, including help with housing costs. The Mayor is continuing to lobby the government for the policy changes and funding needed to increase the options for this group. In the absence of these options, many still require emergency accommodation, and further government funding secured by the Mayor and the associated spending, for which approval is sought, will help ensure that they do not return to the streets.

2.5 Further details of individual Life off the Streets services and initiatives are set out below.

Core Life off the Streets services

NSNO

2.6 NSNO supports people who are seen sleeping rough for the first time. They are supported to access the service by outreach teams. Once at an NSNO turnaround ‘hub’ – of which there will initially be two, before expanding to three hubs in total – individuals spend time with specialist staff who will quickly establish their current situation and the best options available to them. Despite the easing of national restrictions on 19 July, due to the vulnerability of the cohort there is a continued need to make these hubs COVID-safe. Therefore the number of people able to access these spaces will be drastically reduced from the previous NSNO model. The NSNO team makes people an offer of help based on their specific circumstances and needs, as well as supporting them to take up that offer. The hubs will be complemented by a self-contained hotel assessment beds, more medium term staging post-type accommodation, or appropriate move-on arrangements within London boroughs. This model will allow an immediate, off-the-streets assessment service for rough sleepers that is COVID-safe.

2.7 The NSNO contract was awarded to St Mungo’s and entered into following an OJEU procurement exercise to identify the provider. The contract began in April 2017. The initial NSNO contract value was £14.72m over four years (£3.68m per annum) and approved by MD2031. MD2620 approved expenditure of £7.36m for the GLA to exercise its contractual option to extend the contract for its stipulated final two years, to 31 March 2021 (already accounted for in the original contract value). MD2481 approved an inflationary uplift for this service, the provision of Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP beds) and government Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) funded enhancements to the service at a cost of £2.04m. MD2125 approved variations totalling £2.97m for further government funded enhancements to the service in 2019/20. MD2657 approved a number of variations to the contract with expenditure of £2.21m, funded from the government’s RSI, to 31 March 2021. MD2789 approved to extend the contract for a further two years until March 2023, provision of emergency severe weather accommodation and extension certain enhancements for the first quarter of 2021-22, at a total expenditure of £8.47m. The cumulative total of the contract to date for NSNO, including all extensions and variations, is £31.75m.

2.8 In 2019-20 and 2020-21, the GLA used funding secured from the government to expand the NSNO service to include a floating hub, two additional staging posts and a PRS access team. These variations to the NSNO service fell within the scope of the original contract, and as such the continuation of these variations which are the subject of this decision also fall within the scope of the original contract.

2.9 The two additional staging posts have provided extra places to stay for those people who had visited NSNO and were awaiting a longer-term offer. During the COVID-19 emergency response, they have also provided vital additional accommodation for people for whom a stay in a hotel was not suitable.

2.10 The PRS access service works with people from NSNO hubs and staging posts, and also people referred by outreach teams, for whom PRS accommodation is their most suitable route out of rough sleeping. The team also provides pre-tenancy training and support to people moving into PRS accommodation, to help set up their home. During the pandemic, in addition to working with NSNO, the team has supported many people from the COVID-19 response hotels to move into PRS accommodation.

2.11 These services were extended for the first quarter of 2020-21 through MD2789 whilst we awaited confirmation of our RSI4 allocation.

2.12 There is a clear case for extending these enhancements to the service further, and this MD seeks approval of £1.11m expenditure for NSNO to 31 March 2022, to:

• continue to the additional staging posts between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022, at a cost of £0.85m, providing 24 bed spaces for people who have slept rough

• continue the specialist PRS Access team between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022, at a cost of £0.26m.

2.13 The new total value of the contract assuming the above is approved will be £32.86m.

Routes Home

2.14 Routes Home assists non-UK national rough sleepers with support needs to find a route away from the streets. It helps them to access necessary advice (such as immigration advice), establish their status and entitlements, and access accommodation and work in the UK. If, following advice and support, the individual decides voluntarily to return to their home country, they are supported in accessing accommodation and support there. The service provides a minimum of 12 bed spaces as part of its core contract.

2.15 The Routes Home contract was entered following an OJEU procurement exercise to identify a provider. The contract began in April 2016. Its initial contract value was £3m over five years (£0.6m a year) plus the option to extend for a further period of two years year. MD2333 and MD241 approved RSI funded enhancements to the service in 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively. MD2620 approved expenditure of £0.6m for the GLA to exercise its contractual option to extend the contract for one year, to 31 March 2021. MD2657 approved a number of variations to the contract, funded from the government’s RSI, to 31 March 2021 MD2740 approved further variations in 2020-21 funded by the government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme. MD2789 approved expenditure of £0.06m to extend the contract for 2021-22. The cumulative total of the contract to date for Routes Home, including all extensions and variations, is £5.46m.

2.16 In 2019-20 and 2020-21, the GLA used funding secured from the government to expand the Routes Home staffing team, and the level of immigration advice and accommodation options, including the provision of two additional bed spaces. These variations to the Routes Home service fell within the scope of the original contract, and as such the continuation of these variations which are the subject of this decision also fall within the scope of the original contract.

2.17 This MD seeks approval of £0.17m expenditure to continue this work from 1 July 2021 to 31 March 2022, to fund:

• two members of staff to work in and alongside the NSNO hubs with European Economic Area (EEA) nationals who need assistance to access their entitlements, or want to return to their home country

• two additional bed spaces to accommodate non-UK nationals whilst this support is being delivered

• work with non-UK nationals who need support and advice regarding immigration.

2.18 The new total value of the contract assuming the above is approved will be £5.63m.

LSR

2.19 LSR is an outreach service helping people sleeping on the streets in London boroughs where there are no locally commissioned outreach services. LSR outreach workers typically go out at night alongside volunteers to make contact with people sleeping rough. They carry out casework and advocacy during the day.

2.20 The GLA’s LSR contract with Thames Reach was entered following an OJEU procurement exercise to identify a provider. The contract began in April 2016. Its original value was £3.194m over five years. MD2620 approved expenditure of £0.64m for the GLA to exercise its contractual option to extend the contract for one year, to 31 March 2021, and to extend a variation to the contract, also to 31 March 2021, for the night transport outreach team, at a cost of £0.25m. MD2789 approved expenditure of £0.79m to extend the contract, including the night transport outreach variation, for a further year to 31 March 2022. The cumulative total of the contract to date for LSR, including all extensions and variations, is £5.48m.

2.21 In 2019-20 the GLA secured £0.05m from the government’s Cold Weather Fund to support EEA rough sleepers during the suspension of the EU derogation, and for LSR to provide emergency accommodation as an ‘immediate route off the streets’ for these individuals. More than 50 people were accommodated as a result of this funding. The GLA has secured additional funding from the MHCLG for this accommodation and agreed it can now be used to support up to 120 people, including UK and non-UK nationals. This variation to the LSR service fell within the scope of the original contract. The variation which is the subject of this decision also falls within the scope of the original contract.

2.22 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.1m for the GLA to continue and expand LSR’s Immediate Route off the Streets accommodation to 31 March 2022.

2.23 The new total value of the contract, assuming the above is approved, will be £5.58m.

Clearing House

2.24 The Clearing House stock comprises over 3,700 homes ring-fenced for people who have slept rough in London. There is a turnover of approximately 250 tenancies in the stock each year, with new tenants coming predominately from hostels or directly from the streets. People are referred to these properties via the Clearing House team, which processes referrals and allocates the properties.

2.25 The Clearing House contract with St Mungo’s was entered into following an OJEU procurement exercise. The contract began in April 2016 for an initial period of three years, with an option for the GLA to extend by up to a further two years, resulting in a maximum potential length of five years. The initial contract value for Clearing House was £1.05m over five years (£0.21m per annum). MD2620 approved expenditure of £0.21m for the GLA to exercise its contractual option to extend the contract to 31 March 2021. MD2789 approved expenditure of £0.02m to extend the contract for the first quarter of 2021-22 to support the TST PRS service (see below). The cumulative total of the contract to date for Clearing House, including all extensions and variations, is £2.57m.

2.26 In 2019-20 and 2020-2021, the GLA used funding secured from the government to expand the Clearing House service to support the TST PRS service (see below). This involves managing and processing referrals, data collection and reporting for the TST PRS service. As the TST PRS service continued during the first quarter of 2021-22, the support of the Clearing House service is also required to continue. These variations to the Clearing House service fell within the scope of the original contract, and as such the continuation of these variations, which are the subject of this decision, also fall within the scope of the original contract.

2.27 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for continuation of Clearing House management and processing of referrals for the TST PRS service between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022, at a cost of £0.07m. The new total value of the contract assuming the above is approved will be £2.64m.

TST PRS

2.28 People in Clearing House accommodation receive support from TSTs, of which there are currently two: one in north London, and the other in south London. Since April 2016, the TSTs have been provided by St Mungo’s (TST North) and Thames Reach (TST South). The current providers have the technical expertise to provide this support.

2.29 The TST contracts were entered following an OJEU procurement process and commenced on 1 April 2016. For TST North (St Mungo’s), the initial contract value was £6.05m over five years (£1.21m a year) and for TST South (Thames Reach) £6m over five years (£1.2m a year). Each contract included an option that allowed the GLA to extend the contract for a further period of one year. MD2620 approved expenditure of £1.21m for the GLA to exercise its existing contractual options to extend the contracts with St Mungo’s and Thames Reach for one year, to 31 March 2021. It also approved expenditure of £0.144m (£0.129m for St Mungo’s TST North and £0.015m for Thames Reach TST South) to expand the work of the TSTs for 12 months, to 31 March 2021, to enable support to non-UK nationals living in Clearing House homes. MD2657 approved a number of variations to the contract, funded from the government’s RSI, to 31 March 2021. MD2789 approved expenditure of £2.64m to extend the St Mungo’s and Thames Reach contracts (£1.33m for St Mungo’s (TST North) and £1.31m for Thames Reach (TST South)), for a further year until 31 March 2022, including the TST PRS variation until 30 June 2021 (see below). The cumulative total of the contracts to date for TST North (St Mungo’s), including all extensions and variations, is £8.56m; and for TST South (Thames Reach) it is £8.2m.

2.30 In 2019-20 and 2020-21, the GLA used funding secured from the government to expand the work of the TSTs to support former rough sleepers in PRS accommodation.

2.31 The support that people in Clearing House accommodation receive is not generally available to former rough sleepers who move into the PRS or some other types of accommodation. There is clearly a gap in this provision – one that has increased in recent years as councils have had to decommission floating support services as a result of budget cuts. This is why the work of the TSTs was expanded. These variations to the TST service fell within the scope of the original contract, and as such the continuation of these variations, which are the subject of this decision, also fall within the scope of the original contract.

2.32 There is a clear case for extending the support for people in PRS accommodation.

2.33 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for continuation of the TST PRS expansion between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022 at a cost of £0.73m (£0.44m for TST North and £0.29m for TST South). The new total value of the TST North (St Mungo’s) contract, assuming the above is approved, will be £9.17m, and the TST South (Thames Reach) contract will be £8.49m.

TST North

2.34 The TST North contract specifies that the provider will support a caseload of up to 825 people. However, due to the increase in supported Clearing House units over the contract period, the provider is delivering support to approximately 1,000 people.

2.35 In addition to supporting a greater number of people overall, this funding will also facilitate continued delivery of specialist support to non-UK nationals living in Clearing House units, as was funded in previous years. The variation, which is the subject of this decision, falls within the scope of the original contract.

2.36 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval of £0.17m from the main GLA Rough Sleeping budget for the TST North expansion between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. The new total value of the TST North (St Mungo’s) contract assuming the above is approved will be £9.34m.

CHAIN

2.37 The CHAIN database collects and contains data on those who are found sleeping rough in London. It enables the providers of rough-sleeping services to record interventions and monitor outcomes. It represents the most detailed and comprehensive source of information about rough sleeping in London.

2.38 The GLA’s CHAIN contract with St Mungo’s was entered following an OJEU procurement process and commenced on 1 April 2016. The initial contract value was £1.1m over five years (£0.21m per year) plus an option to extend the contract for a further period of one year. MD2620 approved expenditure of £0.21m for the GLA to exercise its contractual option to extend the contract for one year, to 31 March 2021. It also approved expenditure of £0.172m to expand CHAIN in 2019-20 and 2020-21. This expansion enhanced CHAIN with additional staffing to support maintenance and development of the CHAIN database, and analysis of data associated with the other expanded Life off the Streets services. MD2627 approved a number of variations to the contract, funded from the government’s RSI, to 31 March 2021. MD2789 approved expenditure of £0.29m to extend the contract, including for a further year to 31 March 2022. The cumulative total of the contract to date for CHAIN, including all extensions and variations, is £1.54m.

2.39 Increased demands resulting from the RSI over the past three years have required the CHAIN team to postpone plans to review and update their system to ensure it is robust, accessible and fit for purpose in the future. RSI funding has been secured to create two additional posts to allow the CHAIN team to carry out this delayed system review. The funding will also enhance the CHAIN team's ability to provide responsive support to its expanding user base, and in light of the evolving nature of service delivery post-pandemic. The variation, which is the subject of this decision, falls within the scope of the original contract.

2.40 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.17m for the GLA to expand the CHAIN team (St Mungo’s) by two additional posts to 31 March 2022. The new total value of the contract, assuming the above is approved, will be £1.61m.

Grant-funded services

Rapid Response Team – Thames Reach

2.41 The Rapid Response Team has been operating since 2019-20 to pilot an outreach response across London to respond to all StreetLink referrals. By focusing on StreetLink referrals, this service frees up local outreach teams and the Mayor’s LSR service to focus on those living on the streets. It operates across 24 London boroughs and was able to provide an immediate route away from the street for over 1,100 people in 2020-21.

2.42 During the COVID-19 pandemic and also during Severe Weather Emergency Protocol periods, Rapid Response has been an essential pan-London outreach service, increasing capacity in areas where rough sleeping is spiking, helping people access emergency accommodation, and responding to the large recent increase in StreetLink referrals. Additional funding has been secured from the RSI to contribute towards an evaluation of the service, which will help inform its commissioning in the coming year.

2.43 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.47m to continue grant-funding this service, to 31 March 2022. £0.02m of this funding will be spent on undertaking an evaluation of the service to date.

ESP – Housing Justice

2.44 The ESP has been operating since 2018-19. The project, delivered by Housing Justice, works with, and supports, faith and community-based winter night shelters in London. The aims of the service have been: to increase the capacity of the shelter network; to improve the quality and consistency of service provided; to improve data collection; and to increase positive outcomes for guests of the shelters.

2.45 During 2020-21 the work of the ESP team changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The service was instrumental in the GLA’s work to decant all shared rough-sleeper accommodation spaces in London during March and April 2020. Since that time, the ESP has supported shelter projects to adapt and continue to provide vital support to people sleeping rough in a COVID-secure manner.

2.46 The need for ongoing engagement with, and support of, faith and community-based shelter projects will continue during 2021-22 as further COVID-19 developments emerge, and the flow of new people to the streets continues. Additional funding has been secured through the RSI to add 50 additional beds through grant funding, likely relieving 100 people from rough sleeping.

2.47 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.3m to grant-fund this service between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022.

Pan-London accommodation – recovery phase

2.48 In March 2020, the GLA, in partnership with boroughs, charities, the NHS and businesses, pioneered Everyone In – the initiative to ensure that rough sleepers at risk of COVID-19 were safely accommodated during the pandemic. To date 2,600 people have been accommodated in GLA-procured hotels. At its peak, the GLA had 14 hotels with capacity for around 1,400 people.

2.49 As the first period of lockdown eased, the phase of the operation to secure and move people at risk into hotels scaled down, and the GLA and boroughs moved into the next phase. This meant implementing the Mayor’s In For Good principle – providing an offer of support to everyone in the hotels, so that no one needs to return to rough sleeping when they leave; and winding down some of the hotels. As at 16 June, 1,267 people had positively moved on from the GLA-procured hotels.

2.50 With the pandemic continuing, the onset of winter and the lack of move-on options for many of those currently in the hotels, this means accommodation will still be needed for many months to come. As at 18 June, 500 rough sleepers were accommodated in GLA-procured hotels. Therefore, there is an urgent need to transition away from an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic into a recovery phase. This funding will create a balance between ensuring none of the 500 people already accommodated in GLA-procured hotels is forced to return to the streets, and recovering pre-pandemic services so those new to the streets have an immediate offer.

2.51 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £20.72m for the pan-London accommodation recovery phase, to fund:

• the new-model NSNO hotel for people currently sleeping rough, from 1 July 2021 to 31 March 2022, at a cost of £2.79m

• the continuation of three further hotels providing ongoing casework, staging post-type placements, and the provision of step-down accommodation, for various periods between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022, at a cost of £17.93m.

EASL – mental health support

2.52 Half of people seen sleeping rough in London have a mental health support need. However, their circumstances, and the uneven distribution of specialist mental health services across the capital, mean that it is often challenging for outreach workers to access appropriate mental health support for the people they work with.

2.53 In 2019-20, the GLA secured funding from government to provide mental health support via EASL, which continued throughout 2020-21. This service’s experienced mental health practitioners worked in conjunction with outreach teams to help people sleeping rough who have mental health needs to access the support, treatment, and accommodation they need. In the past two years, the service has provided assessment, advice, and guidance to over 800 people sleeping rough in the capital.

2.54 During the COVID-19 pandemic EASL has worked in GLA-procured hotels, adapting to changing restrictions to deliver hundreds of mental health support sessions, helping clients access the support they need in order to stabilise and then positively move on from the hotels. In the year ahead, the service will continue the work alongside outreach teams, whilst also providing additional input to people using night shelters and other services, ensuring better support and outcomes for rough sleepers in other settings.

2.55 To continue this project for a further year, this Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.15m to provide one year’s grant funding to EASL for expert multi-disciplinary mental health support.

Target Thousand – London Navigator Team

2.56 MD2740 approved grant funding to St Mungo’s for a new initiative to target support at a cohort of London’s most entrenched rough sleepers, known as the Target Thousand. The MHCLG worked with local authorities and the GLA to identify this cohort of individuals who, based on their rough-sleeping history, are likely to require additional, specialist support to secure or maintain suitable accommodation.

2.57 The GLA London Navigator Team provides this specialist support to 70 individuals who meet the criteria for Target Thousand, but who are not being supported by a local authority through their local Target Thousand list. The service also monitors progress across the entire Target Thousand cohort, including coordinating the collection and sharing of learning and best practice.

2.58 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.41m to continue grant-funding St Mungo’s for a further year to 31 March 2022.

Peer-led outreach

2.59 The majority of people who sleep rough in London are not on the streets for a long time. Supported by services such as Rapid Response and NSNO, 72 per cent of people who sleep rough in the capital are only seen by outreach teams to be sleeping rough on one occasion. However, a significant number of people are out on the streets for much longer than this. In 2020-21, there were almost 2,126 people who were sleeping rough in London for a second consecutive year.

2.60 In 2020-21, the GLA grant-funded Riverside to expand the work of their Street Buddies outreach services to four additional London boroughs, as approved in MD2657. This peer-led outreach team worked with 53 long-term rough sleepers who other outreach teams had failed to support off the streets. It is now seen as essential to successfully supporting some of the most entrenched rough sleepers in London.

2.61 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, relationships with some London local authorities that the service was due to expand into have only recently been established. Therefore, a hybrid model to engage some long-term rough sleepers who are now in accommodation, but who are not engaging and are at risk of returning to the streets, will be taken forward in the year ahead.

2.62 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.09m to continue grant-funding Riverside for a further year to 31 March 2022.

Supported housing service

2.63 Accommodation options for people sleeping rough, as well as those in services such as NSNO and the GLA-procured hotels, are acutely limited for people with mental health, drug or alcohol support needs. Furthermore, the GLA has very little direct access to suitable accommodation for such individuals, which requires both onsite support and flexible lengths of stay.

2.64 In 2020-21 the GLA secured funding to source a number of small, supported housing sites, in order to increase supply of, and access to, affordable, supported accommodation for people moving on from pan-London services, and for those moving off the streets. The model of supported housing would be based around longer stays of six to nine months, giving people time to begin to address their support needs, and to move on positively into longer-term accommodation.

2.65 Grant funding for up to three new supported housing sites was approved in MD2657. However, due to delays and restrictions on shared accommodation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, only two of these sites were able to open. The GLA has since secured funding for one additional site for a further year.

2.66 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.01m to grant-fund Sanctuary Housing to enable the opening of one supported housing service, supporting up to 24 people to 31 March 2022.

Staff resource

2.67 In the past two years the GLA has secured funding from the government for an additional Senior Project Officer role within the Rough Sleeping Team, to lead on the implementation and monitoring of a number of the services in the Mayor’s expanded Life off the Streets Programme.

2.68 This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for expenditure of £0.05m to continue to fund this post in 2021-22.

2.69 The staff member remains in post (approved under HOPS 0311) and they will continue to oversee the delivery of rough sleeping and lead on partnership work with boroughs in one of London’s housing partnership sub-regions.

3.1 Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as public authorities, the Mayor and the GLA are subject to a public-sector equality duty and must have “due regard” to the need to (i) eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; (ii) advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and (iii) foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status (all except the last being “relevant” protected characteristics).

3.2 Of those seen sleeping rough in 2020-21:

• 50 per cent were non-UK nationals

• 4 per cent were from Gypsy/Romany/Traveller communities

• 44 per cent had a mental health need

• 16 per cent were women

• most (59 per cent) were in the 26-45 age group

• 10 per cent were under 26 years old

• 10 per cent were over 55

• seven persons were under 18.

3.3 Those with protected characteristics of race and disability are over-represented among rough sleepers. As the client group for these services is people with a history of sleeping rough, the proposals in this paper are likely to have positive impacts on Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners, and those with disabilities. As the majority of people sleeping rough are men, more men than women are likely to access these services. However, the services will provide personalised, specialist support for women and non-binary people that meets the needs of these groups.

Key risks and issues

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.1 The GLA played a significant role in the COVID-19 London response, which led to the Everyone In initiative. This work continues as we move into the recovery phase, ensuring that all those new to the streets have an immediate route off the streets. See paragraph 1.4 above.

Impact assessments and consultations

4.2 The bids for the proposed new services and project were developed in partnership with the Mayor’s Life Off the Streets taskforce, and informed by in-depth consultation with stakeholders from London boroughs, voluntary-sector providers and the wider homelessness sector.

4.3 The GLA is working in close partnership with London boroughs, the health service, charities and the government on its and London’s wider rough-sleeping COVID-19 emergency response, including through the multi-agency Rough Sleeping Strategic Group.

Conflicts of interest

4.4 There are no known conflicts of interest for those involved in the drafting or clearance of this report.

5.1 This decision requests approval to receive funding of £24.55m of government funding from the RSI – £1.65m of pre-allocation, and £22.9m for continuation emergency funding, for the COVID-19 response and the RSI-funded projects.

5.2 This decision also requests approval to expend funding of £24.72m, of which £24.55m is from the RSI funding and £0.17m is from the main GLA Rough Sleeping budget, between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022, as listed below:

5.3 The expenditure will be incurred in 2021-22 from Housing and Land RSI funding.

5.4 Funding in future years will be subject to the annual budget-setting process.

Powers to undertake the requested actions

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 that 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:

• pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people

• 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

• 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.

Variation of existing contracts

6.4 As was explained in MD2789, the response, which was required to deal with the effects of COVID-19 on rough sleepers, interrupted procurements of new contracts for the GLA’s rough-sleeping services. The variations that are the subject of this decision form are a continuation of that response. In light of this, decision 2a seeks approval of the variation of the following contracts between the Authority and St Mungo’s: CHAIN; NSNO; Routes Home; TST North; and Clearing House; and the following contracts between the Authority and Thames Reach: LSR and TST South. The variations will allow the services to continue to run, whilst procurements of new contracts are undertaken.

6.5 Each contract was procured in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the “Regulations”). Therefore, modifications of each contract must be undertaken in accordance with the Regulations. Regulation 72(1)(c) allows for the modification of contracts where the need for the modification was brought about by circumstances that a diligent public authority could not have seen; the modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract; and any increase in price does not exceed 50 percent of the original contract.

6.6 The continuing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic may be viewed as an event that the Authority could not have reasonably foreseen. Furthermore, as set out at paragraphs 2.6 to 2.40, above, in the case of each contract, the services to be provided during the proposed extensions fall within the scope of the original contract. Accordingly, they do not alter the overall nature of the services to be provided under each contract. Finally, in each case, the value of the extension is less than 50 percent of the original contract. In light of this, the proposed extensions may be viewed as falling within the Regulations. The officers are reminded of the need for the Authority to publish a contract modification notice in relation to each of the contracts listed at paragraph 6.4 above.

6.7 In decision 3, officers have requested exemptions from the contracts and funding code in respect of each of the extensions to the contracts listed in paragraph 6.4 above. Section 10 of the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code (the “Code”) provides that an exemption may be granted in the case of an unforeseen situation. The COVID-19 pandemic may be viewed as just such a situation. It exerted unprecedented pressure on the Authority’s rough-sleeping services and caused corresponding delays to the Authority’s rough-sleeping procurement programme. In light of this, the Mayor may approve the exemption in the case of each contract in decision 3 if he be so minded.

Receipt by the Authority of funding

6.8 Decision 1 seeks approval for the Authority to receive funds from the MHCLG’s Rough Sleeper Initiative funding stream. Officers are reminded to ensure that the Authority comply with any conditions imposed upon the expenditure of the funding.

Hotel accommodation for rough sleepers

6.9 Decision 2i seeks approval to incur expenditure in relation to the provision of hotel accommodation and related services to rough sleepers. Officers are reminded to follow the Code when procuring the said accommodation and services and to ensure that an appropriate contract be put in place between the Authority and the relevant service providers, before the commencement of the services.

Funding from the Authority to third parties

6.10 Decisions 2b to 2g request approval for the provision by the Authority of grant funding to third parties. Section 12 of the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code sets out the requirements governing the Authority’s provision of grants to third parties. Officers have set out at paragraphs 2.41 to 2.69 how they propose to meet those requirements in relation to each of the grants. Finally, the officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement be put in place between the Authority and the grant recipients before any part of the funding be paid over; and, in the case of existing grant agreements, that appropriate variations be put in place.

Delegation of authority

6.11 Any functions exercisable by the Mayor on behalf of the Authority may also be exercised by a member of the Authority’s staff, albeit subject to any conditions that the Mayor sees fit to impose. To this end, the Mayor may make the requested delegation to the Executive Director of Housing and Land if he so chooses.

Staff resources

6.12 Decision 2h seeks authority to incur expenditure in relation to staff resources. If any posts within the GLA’s establishment require creation or extension as a result of this additional funding, such extension will need to be approved by the Head of Paid Service in accordance with the GLA Act 1999 and the GLA’s Staffing Protocol.