MD2993 Rough Sleeping – RSI 2022-25 and Life off the Streets procurement

1.1.    During 2020-21, 11,018 people were seen sleeping rough in London; this is more than double the number in 2010-11. Of those seen rough sleeping, 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.    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 aim. In 2021, the Mayor refreshed his Rough Sleeping Commissioning Framework, which sets out the overarching and cross-cutting priorities that will underpin the GLA’s commissioning activities over the three years from 2021 to 2024.
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 the Life off the Streets programme. The services are for people with experience of, or at risk of, sleeping rough. They are 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. Since 2016, the Mayor’s Life Off the Streets rough-sleeping services have supported over 12,000 people to leave the streets for good. 
1.4.    In March 2020, the GLA – in partnership with London boroughs, charities, the NHS and businesses – pioneered Everyone In, an 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 3,000 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 difficult to ascertain a precise figure, but evidence suggests this will have prevented significant numbers of people suffering infection, hospital admissions or death as a result of COVID-19.
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 operational phase. This meant implementing the Mayor’s In For Good principle, which is to provide an offer of support to everyone accommodated in the hotels, so that no one needs to return to rough sleeping when they leave. This also meant winding down some of the hotels. By March 2022, over 6,300 people in the capital had positively moved on into accommodation, including 1,794 from the GLA-procured hotels. 
1.7.    Accommodation is still needed, as: the pandemic is ongoing and still presents serious risks to those with clinical vulnerabilities; there are capacity pressures during periods of severe cold weather; and there remains a lack of move-on options for many of those currently in hotels. As at 27 April 2022, around 2,200 rough sleepers were accommodated in hotels and other emergency accommodation in the capital, including 345 in GLA-procured provision. 
1.8.    As outlined in Mayoral Decision (MD) 2853, 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 on rough sleepers. The urgent focus of this response delayed the planned procurement of new contracts for some of the GLA’s rough-sleeping services. MD2957 approved contract variations for No Second Night Out (NSNO) and Routes Homes in continuation of that response. 

Life off the Streets programme
1.9.    A budget of £33.8m for the services that form the Mayor’s Life off the Streets programme was approved for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2020 (see MD1532). A further £8.275m was approved in October 2020 (MD2620) to enable the core services to operate for a further year, to 31 March 2021; and a further £13.69m was approved in March 2021 (see MD2789) to enable some core services to operate for a further year, and to allow NSNO and Routes Home to operate for an additional two years to March 2023.
1.10.    There are currently seven services under contract, with values ranging from £1.2m to £5.1m. New contracts for CHAIN, Clearing House, TST North and TST South were recently awarded and began on 1 April 2022 following a successful procurement process that was approved by MD2789.
1.11.    As set out in MD2789, the previous exercise of the contractual options to extend NSNO and Routes Home for two years was necessary as both services have needed a major review of their delivery model, in light of COVID-19 and the likely long-term need to avoid communal sleeping spaces. These factors were a feature of both services, though both have had temporary adaptations during the pandemic to ensure they are COVID-safe. Moreover, the recommissioning of the Routes Home service will also need to respond to the post-Brexit environment and the new immigration system. The impact of these changes on rough sleeping are still only now becoming clear. These two services will be recommissioned in 2022-23 with new contracts commencing on 1 April 2023. A procurement exercise will be undertaken to ensure that the new contracts deliver value for money and high-quality service provision.
1.12.    One of the current core Life off the Streets services, London Street Rescue (LSR) is being decommissioned in 2022-23. This follows discussions and agreement between the GLA, the DLUHC and London Councils that the service is no longer required. LSR is an outreach service helping people sleeping on the streets in London boroughs where there are no locally commissioned outreach service. However, an increasing number of boroughs now do, or will shortly, commission their own outreach services, so there is no gap for a pan-London provision to fill. Instead, the GLA plans to use this freed-up budget to continue and enhance the Rapid Response Outreach Team (RROT) service until March 2025. This service works across 25 London boroughs to respond quickly to referrals from StreetLink, and provided an immediate route off the streets for 1,100 people in 2020-21. Local authorities, via feedback, have welcomed the work of RROT as it frees up local services to focus on more entrenched rough sleepers and complex cases. RROT has been run by Thames Reach and is currently grant-funded. The GLA intends to newly procure this service from 1 April 2023 with a procurement exercise undertaken to ensure that the new contracts deliver value for money and high-quality service provision.
1.13.    These services are pivotal to the Mayor’s Life off the Streets programme. The recommissioning provides an opportunity to make sure they are best designed to service the changing characteristics of rough sleeping in London, and modelled around current best practice.
1.14.    Authority to award the contracts for the above services following the procurement exercise, and to approve the exercise of any options to extend the contracts beyond the initial term, is delegated to the Executive Director of Housing and Land, in consultation with the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development. The current aim is for contracts to be awarded towards the end of 2022-23.

Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25
1.15.    The government launched the Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) fund in 2018-19, coinciding with the Homelessness Reduction Act coming into force, with funding targeted at local authorities and areas with high levels of rough sleeping. The GLA was allocated £3.3m in June 2018 as part of the first round of RSI funding, and has received funding in each of the subsequent annual programmes.
1.16.    Whilst many of the Mayor’s Life Off the Streets services are funded by the GLA’s core rough-sleeping budget, in recent years some have been introduced, enhanced or expanded as a result of funding from the RSI. In 2021-22, funding from the RSI also enabled the GLA to move to the recovery phase of its COVID-19 Rough Sleeping Response (see MD2853).
1.17.    Receipt and expenditure of a further £3.5m of RSI funding was approved in MD2957, which will continue to support both the recovery phase of the GLA’s COVID-19 Rough Sleeping Response and the continuation and expansion of several of the Mayor’s Life off the Streets services (detailed in section 1.13 of MD2957).
1.18.    Earlier in 2021-22, the DLUHC opened a new round of bidding for the RSI, with funding available to projects for up to three years from April 2022 to March 2025 (RSI 2022-25). In February 2022, the GLA submitted a bid for the RSI 2022-25 in partnership with London Councils, and an allocation of £33.87m was awarded on 19 May 2022. MD2957 approved the receipt of £3.49m of this allocation for projects and services in Q1 2022-23 only, leaving a further £30.38m, receipt of which is the subject of this decision form.

Activity and funding profile
1.19.    The newly approved expenditure will be spent as follows:

1.20.    Details of the services and initiatives in the above table are set out in section 2, and a more detailed breakdown of the sources of funding, funding mechanisms and budget is included as Appendix 1.

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. These priorities are:
•    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.    RSI 2022-25 funding from the DLUHC follows the government’s stated objective of ending rough sleeping by the end of the current Parliament, with a three-year commitment to enable bidders to build, grow and improve their rough-sleeping provision. The aim of the GLA services funded through the RSI 2022-25 is to support individual boroughs towards reducing rough-sleeping numbers in London, while monitoring the overall London-wide target through the new Life off the Streets governance structures. The GLA will deploy pan-London resources as appropriate (in partnership with London Councils, the DLUHC and other agencies) to help reduce the numbers of those rough sleeping in London. 
2.4.    This forms part of the GLA’s commitment to newly developed success measures of rough sleeping being rare, brief and non-recurrent.
2.5.    Further details of individual Life off the Streets services and other individual initiatives for which approval is being sought under this MD are set out below.

Core Life off the Streets Services – variation of contracts and procurement
No Second Night Out – variation of contract
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 are three – individuals spend time with specialist staff who will quickly establish their current situation and the best options available to them. The NSNO team makes people offers of help based on their specific circumstances and needs, and supports them to take up that offer. The hubs are complemented by 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-street 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 was approved under MD2031. MD2333 approved expenditure of £1.54m for provision of one additional assessment hub, and two additional staging posts funded by a central government grant in 2018-19. MD2481 approved an inflationary uplift for this service; the provision of Severe Weather Emergency Provision beds, for rough sleepers when temperatures drop below freezing; and government RSI-funded enhancements to the service, at a cost of £2.04m. MD2125 approved variations totalling £2.63m for further government-funded enhancements to the service in 2019-20. MD2657 approved a number of variations to the contract, totalling £1.42m and funded from the government’s RSI, to 31 March 2021. MD2789 approved the extension of the contract for a further two years until March 2023, and the provision of emergency severe weather accommodation and continuation of certain enhancements by variation for the first quarter of 2021-22, at a total expenditure of £8.49m. MD2853 then extended these enhancements for the remainder of 2021-22; and MD2957 further expanded them until 30 June 2022. The total cost of these latter two variations was £1.41m. The cumulative total of the contract to date for NSNO, including all extensions and variations, is £32.31m.
2.8.    In 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, the GLA used funding secured from the government to expand the NSNO service to include a floating hub, two additional staging posts and a private rented sector (PRS) access team. These variations to the NSNO service fell within the scope of the original contract; 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, the staging posts have also provided vital additional accommodation where a stay in a hotel was not suitable.
2.10.    The PRS access service works with people from NSNO hubs and staging posts, and people referred by outreach teams, for whom PRS accommodation is a suitable route out of rough sleeping. The team provides elective pre-tenancy training and support to help those moving into PRS accommodation to 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. However, in consultation with partners, the GLA has come to understand that many boroughs and/or sub-regions are planning, and in many cases already operating, their own PRS access services. As such, it is felt that although Routes to Renting (R2R) has proved to be a valuable service and continues to meet its objectives, by mid-2022 it is very likely that local services will be fulfilling demand for PRS access previously met by R2R. The PRS access service will be wound down in a planned way through 2022, to ensure adequate time to move anybody on the current caseload into accommodation.
2.11.    The GLA has secured RSI 2022-25 funding to provide a more complete and larger-capacity pathway from the streets into stable accommodation, as NSNO is heavily relied upon by most outreach teams in London as the main option for on-the-night accommodation. Funding has also been secured to continue the PRS access service until Q2 2022-23.
2.12.    As well as funding beds in staging posts, the funding will provide up to 150 assessment beds, providing accommodation directly off the streets and a safe place to identify people’s needs and options. In 2022-23, the GLA is funding pilots of further NSNO enhancements focused on improving access, removing service barriers and extending preventative work, the RSI bid includes funding for 2023-24 and 2024-25 to all London boroughs once the pilots have been proven.
2.13.    This MD therefore seeks approval of £1.39m expenditure of RSI 2022-25 funding for NSNO between 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, by contract variation, to:
•    retain the additional staging posts between 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, at a cost of £1.25m, providing 52 bed spaces for people who have slept rough
•    continue the specialist PRS Access team between 1 July 2022 and 30 September 2022, at a cost of £0.09m
•    £0.05m to provide expert immigration advice to people supported by NSNO.
2.14.    Subject to approval of the above, the total value of the contract will increase to £33.7m.

Contract extension and exemption from the Contracts and Funding Code
No Second Night Out
2.15.    As outlined in paragraph 1.11, above, the contract for the NSNO service will be extended for one year, from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, through a single-source procurement with St Mungo’s, the current service provider. An exemption from the funding and contracts code is sought to allow the continuation of the existing service, alongside piloting various new developments to the service following the learning from the COVID-19 work and the move away from communal sleeping sites. The service will continue to be tightly performance-managed during this extension, with targets and milestones set for all aspects of the service. The costs for both this and the assessment centre aspect of the NSNO service have been benchmarked against similar services; and the additional RSI elements (which are included in this extension) have been through a formal evaluation process and approved by the DLUHC. 
2.16.    The contract extension will be for one year, with a full recommissioning exercise to take place during 2023-24, once the developments to the service model following COVID-19 have been fully evaluated. The total annual budget for the service in 2023-24 will be up to £7.77m, including additional RSI-funded elements of up to £3.53m. 

Routes Home 
2.17.    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.
2.18.    The Routes Home contract was awarded to St Mungo’s and entered following an OJEU procurement exercise to identify a provider. The contract began in April 2016. Its initial contract value was £1.8m over three years (£0.6m a year) plus the option to extend for a further two years which were exercised. MD2333 and MD2481 approved RSI-funded enhancements to the service in 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively for a total of £0.35m. MD2559 approved expenditure of £0.98m under the government’s Controlling Migration Fund (CMF) from 2018 to 2020. MD2620 approved expenditure for the GLA to exercise its contractual option to extend the contract within the five-year period to 31 March 2021. MD2657 approved a number of variations to the contract, funded from the government’s RSI, to 31 March 2021 for £0.22m. MD2740 approved further variations in 2020-21 funded by the government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme and the Suspension of Derogation, for £0.25m in total. MD2789 approved expenditure of £0.6m in 2021-22, and £0.6m in 2022-23, for the GLA to exercise its contractual option to extend the contract, as well an additional £0.06 under the RSI. MD2853 approved further variations to the contract in 2021-22 amounting to £0.17m. MD2957 approved a further £0.06m funding to extend the service to 30 June 2022, and an exemption to the Contracts and Funding Code to extend the core contract (£0.06m) for 2022-23. The cumulative total of the contract to date for Routes Home, including all extensions and variations, is £6.28m.
2.19.    Since 2018-19, RSI funding has provided the service with three additional beds for people with high needs, and funding from the CMF has also provided an additional three beds.
2.20.    The GLA has secured RSI 2022-25 funding to retain all additional beds in 2022-23, as well as contingency for B&B accommodation for individuals decanted from hotels, receiving immigration advice, or waiting for a complex international reconnection.
2.21.    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 three additional bed spaces. These variations to the Routes Home service fell within the scope of the original contract; as such, the continuation of these variations which are the subject of this decision also fall within the scope of the original contract.
2.22.    This MD therefore seeks approval of £0.19m expenditure of RSI 2022-25 funding for Routes Home between 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, by contract variation, in addition to the £0.05m RSI funding approved for 1 April to 30 June 2022 under MD2957, to provide a total of £0.24m of RSI-funded enhancements in order to:
•    retain six additional bedspaces for high needs individuals at a cost of £0.22m
•    provide B&B contingency accommodation at a cost of £0.02m. 
2.23.    These further services fall in line with the type of services set out in the scope of the original contract. 
2.24.    The new total value of the contract with St Mungo’s, assuming the above is approved, will be £5.88m.

Procurement 
2.25.    As outlined in paragraph 1.11 above, the Routes Home service will be procured during 2022-23, with a new contract to commence on 1 April 2023. In compliance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code, this will be an open, competitive procurement process.
2.26.    The service will be procured for an initial period of two years, with an option to extend for up to a further three years (at one-year intervals). The total annual budget for the service in 2023-24 will be up to £1.14m, including additional RSI-funded elements of up to £0.24m.
2.27.    As there is currently no GLA budget set beyond March 2023, the contracts will include a unilateral right of early termination, which will allow the GLA to end these agreements at any time during their term and without any financial penalty. The possibility of early termination will be clearly outlined in the tender documents and throughout the procurement process.
2.28.    The model of the new service, which is the subject of planned procurement, will differ from that which was previously commissioned in 2016 as a result of the post-Brexit environment and changes to the immigration system. MD2957 also funded an evaluation of the current service which will inform the procurement specification and new service model.
2.29.    Authority to award the contract for the service following the competitive procurement exercise, and to approve the exercise of any options to extend the contract beyond the initial term (for up to a further three years), is delegated to the Executive Director – Housing and Land, in consultation with the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development. The current aim is for contracts to be awarded towards the end of 2022-23.

PRS Floating Support Service
2.30.    People in Clearing House accommodation (which is another Life off the Streets service) receive support from tenancy sustainment teams (TSTs), of which there are currently two: one in North London, and the other in South London. In 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 (up to 31 March 2022) the GLA used funding secured from the government to expand the work of the TSTs and Clearing House to support former rough sleepers in PRS accommodation.
2.31.    To date, the two TST services have supported 740 people to maintain their tenancies in their PRS accommodation. The service provides targeted support to people moving from hostels or assessment centres, or directly from the street; and takes referrals from all relevant London services. The Clearing House service has supported this work with administration of referrals.
2.32.    Since April 2022, the TSTs have been provided by SHP (TST North) and Thames Reach (TST South); and Clearing House by St Mungo’s. The contracts were entered following a competitive procurement process that took place during 2021-22 and commenced on 1 April 2022. For TST North (SHP), the initial contract value is £5.16m over three years; for TST South (Thames Reach) £4.33m over three years; and for Clearing House (St Mungo’s) £1.31m over three years.
2.33.    The previous TST North contract (with St Mungo’s) was varied to continue to support people in private rented accommodation from 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022. MD2957 approved this contract variation. 
2.34.    The current TST South contract includes an option to expand the service to support people in private rented accommodation. MD2957 approved the exercise of this option to enable the service provider to support people in PRS accommodation from 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022, at a cost of £0.1m. This brought the total value of the TST South contract with Thames Reach to £4.43m.
2.35.    The current TST North (SHP) contract includes an option to expand the service to support people in private rented accommodation.
2.36.    The Clearing House contract includes an option to expand the service to support the TSTs’ provision of support to people in private rented accommodation. MD2957 approved the exercise of this option to enable the service provider to support people in PRS accommodation from 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022, at a cost of £0.02m. This brought the total value of the Clearing House contract with St Mungo’s to £1.33m.
2.37.    With this RSI 2022-25 funding, the service will continue to focus on providing time-limited and focused resettlement support for the majority of referrals. In addition, it will be able to support a small number of referrals for people with higher and more complex needs for a longer period (up to two years).
2.38.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £2.32m to fund the PRS Floating Support Service between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2025. This expenditure breaks down as follows:
•    £0.93m to exercise the option in the TST South contract to continue delivery of the service between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2025
•    £1.15m to exercise the option in the TST North contract to deliver the service from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2025
•    £0.24m to exercise the option in the Clearing House contract to deliver the service from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2025.

COVID-19 recovery phase and ongoing emergency accommodation
2.39.    The GLA’s work in providing an emergency response for people sleeping rough during the COVID-19 pandemic is detailed in paragraphs 1.4 to 1.7, above. Whilst the GLA, at one time, had 14 hotels accommodating rough sleepers as part of this work, most have now closed. Two of the three remaining COVID-19 response hotels will close by the end of June 2022. 
2.40.    St Mungo’s, which is responsible for the casework at these sites, has been working intensively to secure longer-term move-on options for guests in the hotels by the closure dates. However, there are some people for whom, due to the complexity of their case, a move-on in time will not be possible. In the majority of these instances, it has been recognised that a longer-term route of homelessness could be achieved with an additional time-limited period of accommodation and ongoing casework. 
2.41.    To minimise the number of people who leave the GLA’s COVID-response accommodation without a planned move having taken place, RSI funding has been secured to deliver a programme of alternative emergency accommodation, with accompanying support, for a time-limited period of no more than six months. This will mitigate the risk of large numbers of people returning to rough sleeping; and ensure that the significant progress made on obtaining longer-term options for many people in the hotels with the most complex cases is not lost. 
2.42.    RSI funding of £0.95m will be used to deliver this programme of alternative emergency accommodation with accompanying support (including immigration casework) for a timebound period, when two of the three remaining emergency hotels close by the end of June 2022. Through this work, at least 100 people will be provided with ongoing temporary accommodation, and the support that they need to secure a longer-term route out of homelessness, by the end of this three-month period. 
2.43.    In addition to the above, there are also a significant number of people in the remaining three pandemic response hotels who are unlikely to move on before the end of June, but still require 24/7 support. This is because they have a high level of support needs; in most cases, this is combined with unclear entitlements to, or eligibility for, support in the UK, which means these cases take a particularly long time to resolve. Often, the high level of support needs that someone has would also put them at particular risk if they were to return to rough sleeping. To ensure that no one with these vulnerabilities returns to the streets, the GLA has secured RSI funding to retain one hotel site beyond June 2022. With the funding secured, this hotel will remain open until March 2023. 
2.44.    Alongside providing ongoing accommodation and support for some of the most vulnerable people accommodated during the pandemic response, the retention of hotel accommodation at one site will deliver additional emergency accommodation, with intensive support onsite, for people currently sleeping rough who have no other immediate route of the streets. Where this is the case, the Mayor’s NSNO service will be able to place people at the hotel, providing safe, settled emergency accommodation whilst someone’s needs and circumstances are comprehensively assessed, and work to find a longer-term route off the street can commence. 
2.45.    RSI funding of £3.65m will be used to retain 155 beds of emergency accommodation, including associated services and intensive onsite support, at one hotel site from 1 July 2022 until March 2023. During this time, many of the most vulnerable people accommodated during the pandemic response and currently sleeping rough in London, who require 24/7 support, would be helped to secure longer-term options which will enable them to leave homelessness for good. This is in addition to funding approved for Q1 2022-23 by MD2957.
2.46.    This decision would delegate authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Land to approve the allocation of monies within the £4.6m expenditure on hotels, other emergency accommodation and related services for 2022-23.

RSI 2022-25 grant-funded projects and services
2.47.    In total, the GLA has secured £33.87m from the DLUHC in its successful RSI 2022-25 bid, for services running between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2025. £30.38m of that amount is newly received RSI 2022-25 funding for which this document seeks Mayoral approval, in addition to the £3.5m already approved by MD2957.
2.48.    Some of the newly approved £30.38 will be expended on the contracted NSNO, Routes Home, RROT, PRS Floating Support, and emergency accommodation projects and services as detailed above. The remainder will be used to fund the projects and services listed below.

Rapid Response Outreach Team
2.49.    The RROT is a pan-London outreach service that focuses on rapidly responding to StreetLink referrals for people sleeping rough, and providing a consistent response across London to find people as quickly as possible when they need support. It was launched in 2019.
2.50.    The team receives StreetLink alerts and has a target to respond within a short timeframe. The service undertakes on-street assessment with those people it meets; and, wherever possible, seeks to find an immediate route off the street for that person, providing the necessary transport. Where immediate accommodation isn’t available, referrals are passed to the local team responsible for outreach in that borough.
2.51.    The RROT is currently responsible for responding to outreach referrals in 25 London boroughs. In other London boroughs, the local outreach team retains responsibility for this work. 
2.52.    In the first two years of the service, the RROT responded to 37,731 StreetLink referrals and found 10,772 people who were sleeping rough. In 5,034 of these cases, it was the first time the person had been found bedded down by an outreach team in London. In around a third of cases, the RROT was able to offer an immediate route off the streets on the night, with the remainder passed to the local team for follow-up. Of all people found by the RROT, the average time taken to reach them after the StreetLink referral was 0.84 days, compared to an average of 4.2 days by local outreach teams in the year prior to the launch of the service.
2.53.    In addition to the RROT’s core work of swiftly responding to StreetLink referrals, the service will be assuming responsibility for undertaking the pan-London outreach function covering London’s night bus and tube network. 
2.54.    MD2957 approved expenditure of £1.1m to continue grant-funding this service to 31 March 2023. This MD seeks approval for expenditure of a further £0.06m to fully fund the service until 31 March 2023, including enabling it to assume the additional responsibility around responding to referrals for people sleeping rough on the night transport network. 

Procurement 
2.55.    In partnership with London local authorities and the DLUHC, the GLA is planning to cease provision of the LSR service from later in 2022-23. This service is currently provided by Thames Reach and funded from a mixture of GLA budget and different government funding streams. This will free up GLA budget to fully fund RROT without the need for match-funding from the RSI (which has only been sought in part for 2022-23).
2.56.    To ensure the continued successful provision of this service, this MD seeks approval to newly procure the RROT service, rather than grant-fund it, during 2022-23, with a new contract to commence on 1 April 2023. In compliance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code, this will be an open, competitive procurement process.
2.57.    The service will be procured for a three-year contract, with an option to extend for up to a further three years (at one-year intervals). The core annual budget for the service is up to £1.25m, meaning expenditure of up to £3.75m over the initial three-year contract period.
2.58.    As there is currently no GLA budget set beyond March 2023, the contracts will include a unilateral right of early termination. This will allow the GLA to end these agreements at any time during their term, and without any financial penalty. The possibility of early termination will be clearly outlined in the tender documents and throughout the procurement process.
2.59.    Authority to award the contract for the service following the competitive procurement exercise, and to approve the exercise of any options to extend the contract beyond the initial term (for up to a further three years), is delegated to the Executive Director – Housing and Land, in consultation with the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development. The current aim is for contracts to be awarded towards the end of 2022-23.

Equipping Shelters Project
2.60.    The Equipping Shelters Project (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 project consists of the Housing Justice Catalyst team of staff and an annual small grants programme delivered to shelter organisations. The aims of the project 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.
2.61.    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.
2.62.    The need for ongoing engagement with, and support of, faith and community-based shelter projects continued during 2021-22 as further COVID-19 developments emerged, and the flow of new people to the streets continued. Additional funding was secured, and MD2957 approved £0.01m grant-funding through the RSI to extend the programme between April and June 2022 to aid the closure of winter night shelters and the move-on of guests.
2.63.    RSI 2022-25 funding of £0.76m (of which £0.01m was approved by MD2957) has been secured to continue the work of the Housing Justice Catalyst team to support faith and community groups in addressing local rough-sleeping needs from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2025. This will fund 5.6FTE staff to focus on: preventing projects reverting to shared sleeping space models and promoting self-contained models; continuing to build and support relationships between faith and community groups and local authorities/their commissioned services; and developing and perpetuating best practice and minimum standards (to minimise returns to the street). This will be jointly funded with £0.25m from the annual GLA rough-sleeping budget for each of the three years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
2.64.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £1.49m to grant-fund this service between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2025, in addition to the £0.01m approved by MD2957, bringing the total approved funding for this project to £1.5m.

Mental health system change
2.65.    The GLA successfully piloted the Rough Sleeping and Mental Health Programme (RAMHP) in four London mental health trusts over two years. The programme helps people with mental health needs who are sleeping rough, or who have recently slept rough, to take a vital step towards a better quality of life by supporting access to mental health services. The pilot ended in March 2022, and the four projects have successfully secured support and funding from their local NHS systems. 
2.66.    There are now specialist mental health teams working with people who sleep rough in the majority of London boroughs. However, there are still two significant gaps in the south of London: the South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust area (Kingston, Sutton, Wandsworth, Richmond and Merton); and the Oxleas Trust area (Greenwich, Bromley and Bexley).
2.67.    The GLA has secured RSI 2022-25 funding to expand RAMHP into these two Trust areas. The RAMHP model is for multidisciplinary teams based within the Trust to provide assertive outreach, working closely with local partners including outreach teams and local authorities. A specialist consultant with expertise in the health sector will be contracted to support the trusts and their partners in developing these services. 
2.68.    Funding in the first year would allow the Enabling Assessment Service London (EASL) to continue to provide mental health assessments and facilitate access to local services, whilst the RAMHP teams and pathways are designed and implemented. Service delivery of the RAMHP teams would commence in April 2023 and be delivered for two years. This is an investment in system change, with the expectation that the local NHS Trusts funds these services past March 2025 – as proven in other areas.
2.69.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £1.34m by grant, and £0.07m by contract, to fund this service between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2025.

Target Thousand casework and Housing First
2.70.    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 (T1000) during 2020-21. MD2853 approved a continuation of this service during 2021-22. The DLUHC and London Councils worked with London boroughs 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 settled accommodation. At the end of Q2 2021-22, the team had reduced the number of people who were sleeping rough or living in emergency and temporary accommodation from 52 per cent of the caseload to 23 per cent.
2.71.    The London Navigator Team (LNT) previously worked with up to 80 people from the T1000 cohort. This increased in January 2022 to 200 people who meet the criteria for T1000, but who are not being supported by a local authority through their local T1000 list. The team has expanded accordingly to maintain caseload ratios and quality of support. The LNT works with people with the most extensive rough-sleeping histories, supporting them to access and maintain appropriate accommodation. 
2.72.    The GLA has secured RSI 2022-25 funding to further enhance the LNT model by supporting up to 30 people from the cohort to access Housing First over three years. Clearing House will offer 15 units in year one; 10 units in year two; and five units in year three. This means that the accommodation is provided at no additional cost to the RSI budget, with the LNT providing tenancy sustainment support.
2.73.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £3.19m to grant-fund this service between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2025. £1.15m of this grant will be awarded to St Mungo’s in 2022-23.

Peer-led outreach
2.74.    The majority of people who sleep rough in London are not on the streets for a long time. Supported by services such as RROT and NSNO, as at Q3 2021-22, 75 per cent of people who sleep rough in the capital were seen on the streets by outreach teams on one occasion only. 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.
2.75.    The GLA grant-funded Riverside to expand the work of their Street Buddies outreach services to four additional London boroughs, as approved for 2021-22 in MD2853. This peer-led outreach team works with long-term rough sleepers who other outreach teams had failed to support off the streets. It is now seen as vital to successfully supporting some of the most entrenched rough sleepers in London. MD2957 approved £0.06m to continue grant-funding Riverside for a further three months to 30 June 2022.
2.76.    The GLA has secured RSI 2022-25 funding for an additional quarter up to 30 September 2022. The RSI 2022-25 bid had requested three years of funding, with the intention to expand the service to a total of 12 inner-London boroughs. Should alternative funding sources not be identified, the service will wind down in Q1 and Q2 2022-23 in the four existing boroughs. During this time, where existing relationships have been built, Street Buddies will continue to support long-term rough sleepers to access accommodation and/or support services. Focused work with local authorities to showcase best practice, and to support mainstreaming of lived experience, in outreach teams will also be encouraged. 
2.77.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £0.06m to grant-fund this service between 1 July 2022 and 31 September 2022, in addition to the £0.06m approved by MD2957. This brings the total approved funding for this project to £0.12m.

Youth Hub
2.78.    Rough-sleeping data from CHAIN suggests that around one in 12 people seen rough sleeping by outreach services in London are aged 25 or under; however, prior to the opening of the Youth Hub in 2021, there was no specific, direct-access accommodation for young people sleeping rough. Initially piloted in partnership with New Horizon Youth Centre and Depaul, the success of the Youth Hub was built on providing accommodation that is more appropriate for young people than all-age accommodation, as well as support tailored to this age group. In its first 12 months, the service supported 185 young people. Only two young people who have stayed at the Hub have been recorded as, or seen, sleeping rough since leaving the service. 
2.79.    As a result of this gap in provision and the Youth Hub pilot’s success, the GLA has sought and secured RSI 2022-25 funding for a pan-London service for 18-24 year olds, to provide age-appropriate, emergency accommodation with 24-hour on-site support for a range of levels and types of needs. This will include tailored assessment and move-on planning. The total costs of the scheme are higher than the funding received, as more than 50 per cent of total costs are to be met through fundraising by delivery partners New Horizon Youth Centre and Depaul. This match-funding would not be available without the RSI 2022-25 funding.
2.80.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £1.33m to grant-fund this service between 1 August 2022 and 31 March 2025.

Roma Rough Sleeping Team
2.81.    The Roma Rough Sleeping Team (RRST) is a specialist mediator service for Roma rough sleepers and mainstream services. The RRST, delivered by St Mungo’s, supports Roma rough sleepers to understand and access their entitlements; and supports local authorities and service providers to better understand the specific needs of Roma clients and adopt relevant best practice to meet these needs. The RRST provides added value through the team’s Romanes and Romanian language skills; understanding of Roma culture; and ability to work flexibly across London to support members of this group, who sometimes move between boroughs.
2.82.    This service is currently funded through the CMF until June 2023. MD2559 approved the delegation of authority to the Executive Director of the Housing and Land Directorate, in consultation with the relevant Deputy Mayor, to approve funding allocations for additional specialist services and initiatives for non-UK nationals sleeping rough, up to a total of £1.9m.
2.83.    In addition to the £1.9m CMF funding approved by MD2559, the GLA bid for further funding through the RSI 2022-25 and was allocated £0.7m to continue delivery of this service until March 2025.
2.84.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £0.7m for this service between July 2023 and the fourth quarter of financial year 2024-25.

Move-on Programme support
2.85.    MD2052 approved £50m for a Move-On Programme to develop homes for people moving on from homelessness hostels and refuges. In 2017-18, the Mayor successfully lobbied the government to convert £3.125m of the £5m into revenue funding to be spent on support for people moving into the move-on homes, and MD2467 approved the arrangements for spending that revenue funding. Subsequently, approval from the government was received to increase the total revenue funding to £4.685m. Funding is available to projects that provide self-contained accommodation for rough sleepers and survivors of domestic abuse.
2.86.    To date, £31.34m capital and £4.26m revenue have been allocated from the Move-on Programme, with more than 210 individuals supported into units funded.
2.87.    These units of accommodation represent significant capital investment, and some are secured in perpetuity for the client group. Providers received up to three years of revenue funding to provide sustainment support and aid move-on to independent living, using a variety of models. The initial support funding is due to start running out in 2022-23 (the three years of funding started when each unit completed, so there is an increasing number of units needing support throughout the three years of the RSI 2022-25 funding period). Without support funding, individuals with support needs could not be placed into these properties.
2.88.    The GLA has secured £0.6m in RSI 2022-25 funding to extend the support offer specifically for units for rough sleepers, thereby ensuring the units continue to be made available to the target client group. Referrals will be made from both outreach – providing a direct route off the street – and hostels – providing move-on accommodation and freeing up higher-support and immediate off-the-street accommodation. All units to which additional support funding would be made available are currently tenanted, but the emphasis on move-on means that voids will continue to become available.
2.89.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £0.6m to grant-fund this programme between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2025.

GLA staffing contribution
2.90.    To contract, deliver and monitor the services funded through the RSI, the GLA has secured RSI funding in previous years to resource staffing in the Rough Sleeping team. Additional funding was secured, and MD2957 approved £0.02m towards staff costs in Q1 2022-23.
2.91.    The GLA has secured £0.3m RSI 2022-25 funding (of which £0.02m was approved by MD2957) to contribute towards the cost of a member of staff in the GLA Rough Sleeping team for the duration of this round of RSI funding, to 31 March 2025.
2.92.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £0.28m for staffing resource in the GLA Rough Sleeping team between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2025.

London Councils: sub-regional immigration advice services
2.93.    The GLA submitted its RSI 2022-25 bid in partnership with London Councils. The GLA, London Councils and individual local authorities have always worked closely together to address rough sleeping in London, and ensure that services are provided at the right level – whether pan-London, sub-regionally or locally. The new Life off the Streets governance framework, implemented in 2021, has given greater structure to these relationships, and the joint RSI bid has also sought to address some gaps in sub-regional rough-sleeping provision.
2.94.    The GLA and London Councils have secured RSI 2022-25 funding for four specialist sub-regional immigration advice services in London (south west; south east; north west; and north east, except Newham) for rough sleepers, and those at risk of rough sleeping, who need specialist support to clarify and/or regularise their immigration status. The services will support rough sleepers to assess their immigration options and, when relevant, to obtain leave to remain and/or access to public funds so they can obtain the accommodation and support they need to exit rough sleeping. The proposed capacity in each sub-regional service has been estimated using data from providers, boroughs and CHAIN; and will provide access to providers, boroughs and NSNO hubs in each sub-region. Funding will be received by the GLA and paid on to London Councils.
2.95.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £4.93m (£1.23m in 2022-23, £1.91m in 2023-24 and £1.79m in 2024-25) to grant-fund London Councils to run a grant programme for these services between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2025.

London Councils: T-1000 personalisation fund
2.96.    The GLA and London Councils have secured £0.05m RSI funding for a personalisation fund. This personalisation fund will be grant-funded to London Councils, who will manage a small grants programme to London boroughs for targeted, personalised interventions that will overcome financial barriers to housing faced by people assigned to the borough lists of the T1000 cohort. 
2.97.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £0.05m to grant-fund London Councils to run this project from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023.

London Councils staffing
2.98.    To properly staff, run and manage the above sub-regional services, funding has also been secured through the RSI 2022-25 to fund additional staff posts at London Councils.
2.99.    Funding has been secured for four staffing posts (including a Rough Sleeping Director, a Policy Officer and two Project Managers) and project costs. Funding will be received by the GLA and paid on to London Councils.
2.100.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £1.07m to grant-fund London Councils for these positions between 1 July 2022 and 31 March 2025.

Other GLA-funded services
Off-the-street flexible surge accommodation and support
2.101.    In recent years, COVID-19, severe weather, the recent extension of Crisis at Christmas, and other sudden peaks in need have shown that a flexible pan-London resource, which can respond quickly to emergency demand, is a valuable and vital resource (this includes both accommodation and expert staffing).
2.102.    The GLA will use £0.99m from GLA rough-sleeping budget reserves to provide a flexible ‘surge’ accommodation offer in emergency situations, such as severe weather or a new variant of COVID-19. This would be for moves directly off the street, with referrals coming from outreach services, and would include expert support to progress casework and ensure rapid move-on. This surge accommodation will be operated under the ‘In For Good’ principle to minimise returns to the street.
2.103.    Funding will provide up to 116 beds of surge capacity, and has been costed for up to 120 days per annum, including 24/7 staffing and ancillary services. These beds will offer immediate access off the streets, with referrals primarily from borough outreach teams. Much like other immediate access assessment spaces, move-on routes out will be dependent on individual assessments of need and options, but may include local supported pathways, independent PRS accommodation and Clearing House, as well as a range of other options.
2.104.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of up to £0.99m from GLA rough-sleeping budget reserves on hotels, other emergency accommodation and related services between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.

Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (OHID)
2.105.    The GLA has secured £0.06m from OHID to fund a new pan-London Migrant Health and Substance Misuse Lead post. This will be a 12-month fixed-term post hosted in the Rough Sleeping team at the GLA.
2.106.    This post would be part of a pan-London Substance Misuse Programme for people who sleep rough, a programme that is being coordinated by City of London, OHID (London) and the GLA. The post will focus on improving access and engagement for people with unclear or limited entitlements with the relevant substance misuse and health services for which they are eligible. This will be done by working with national and regional partners to share best practice and expertise. 
2.107.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £0.06m for staffing resource in the GLA Rough Sleeping team for a 12-month fixed-term post starting in 2022-23. 

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:
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. 
3.2.    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). The equalities comments should specifically relate to the decision.
3.3.    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
•    8 per cent had a physical or learning disability
•    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.
3.4.    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. Several of the services for which funding approval is sought specifically target marginalised groups, such as the RRST (see 2.81, above).
3.5.    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
4.1.    The key risks and issues for the Life off the Streets programme are outlined in the table below. 

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.2.    The projects and services for which this MD seeks approval will help meet Policy 7.2, “Supporting Rough Sleepers off the Streets”, of the Mayor’s London Housing Strategy. This will occur through a range of actions to help meet the stated central aim of the Mayor “to ensure there is a route off the streets for every single rough sleeper in London”. The GLA Rough Sleeping team works closely with partners in local authorities, London Councils, the DLUHC and the charity sector to support rough sleepers off the streets, and provides pan-London leadership and coordination. The services and projects funded form part of proposal B of the same policy, which states: 
“The Mayor will fund and commission a range of pan-London services and other initiatives to complement those provided by local councils. These will focus on identifying rough sleepers and intervening rapidly to support them off the streets, providing specialist support for particular groups, and helping rough sleepers stay off the street.”
4.3.    The projects and services funded through this MD will also help meet the objectives of the London Health Inequalities Strategy. Addressing homelessness and rough sleeping is one of the seven objectives set by the Mayor to achieve the aim that all Londoners benefit from an environment and an economy that together promote good mental and physical health.
4.4.    As 44 per cent of individuals seen sleeping rough in London in 2020-21 had a mental health need, supporting rough sleepers through the services and projects funded via this MD will additionally meet Aim Two, “Healthy Minds”, of the London Health Inequalities Strategy, including one project that will fund a system change in local NHS mental health services in London (see paragraphs 2.65 to 2.69, above).
4.5.    The GLA played a significant role in the COVID-19 rough-sleeping response in London, 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. The projects and services in this paper form a key part of this, and link to the several of the nine recovery missions that are part of the Mayor’s COVID-19 London Recovery Programme. By helping excluded and marginalised groups, which are highly represented in London’s rough sleeper population (see 3.2, above), and working in partnerships with local authorities, charities, faith and community groups, these projects will help meet the “A Robust Safety Net” aim, and several of the projects will support the “Mental Health and Wellbeing” and “Building Strong Communities” recovery missions.

Impact assessments and consultations
4.6.    The bids for the proposed new services and projects have been 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.
4.7.    Consultations are being, or will be, undertaken as part of the procurement of the core Life off the Streets services, as detailed in paragraphs 2.1 to 2.29, above. As part of the procurement of the new Routes Home service, Homeless Link has been appointed and funded to carry out an evaluation of the service.
4.8.    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
4.9.    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:
•     £30.38m from the DLUHC’s RSI 2022-25 
•    £0.06m from OHID. 
5.2.    This decision requests approval to expend funding of £42.62m in 2022-23 as listed below. This includes £12.18m funded from the internal GLA rough-sleeping budget, and breaks down as follows:
a.    Up to £3.89m on contracted services to organisations listed from paragraph 2.6 onwards:
i.    up to £1.57m for NSNO and Routes Home by contract variation
ii.    up to £2.32m for TSTs and Clearing House by exercise of existing contractual options
b.    Up to £17.92m on contracted services in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26, subject to procurement
c.    £13.61m on RSI 2022-25 grant-funded initiatives in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, listed from paragraph 2.45; this is in addition to the expenditure on RSI 2022-25 grant-funded initiatives approved in MD2957 for Q1 2022-23 only
d.    £1.55m on grant-funding the RROT in 2022-23 and the ESP in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, from both RSI 2022-25 and GLA budget monies
e.    £5.59m on hotels and related services in 2022-23 for the COVID-19 recovery, and for new off-the-streets flexible surge accommodation services to meet emergency demand in 2022-23
f.    expenditure of £0.06m from OHID for a new pan-London Migrant Health and Substance Misuse Lead fixed-term post hosted in the Rough Sleeping team at the GLA.
 

Powers to undertake the requested decisions
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; to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation) 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.

    Receipt of funding
6.3.    Decisions 1 and 2 seek approval for the receipt of £30.38m funding from the DLUHC and £0.06m funding from OHID. To the extent that the DLUHC or OHID has placed conditions upon the use of the said funding by the Authority, the officers are reminded to ensure the Authority’s compliance with such conditions.

    Variation of contracts
6.4.    Decision 3.a.i seeks approval for the variation of the NSNO and the Routes Home contracts between the Authority and St Mungo’s.
6.5.    The legal comments in MD2789 in relation to the variation of the NSNO contract apply also to this variation of the NSNO contract.
6.6.    Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the Regulations) provides that a contract may be modified to allow for the provision of additional services, which have become necessary and which were not included in the original contract, where a change in contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons, and where such change cause inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs. This is provided that the change does not exceed the original value of the contract. Officers have set out at paragraphs 2.17 to 2.24, above, how they have complied with these requirements in relation to the Routes Home contract. Officers are reminded of the obligation to publish a contract variation notice on Find a Tender in relation to this variation.
6.7.    The Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code (the Code) requires that services above £10,000 be either procured competitively or called off from an accessible framework. Decision 6 seeks approval of an exemption from this requirement in respect of the variation of the NSNO and the Routes Home contracts. Section 10.1 of the Code provides that an exemption may be justified on the basis that the service provider’s existing work cannot be separated from the new work. Officers have set out at paragraphs 2.15 to 2.24, above, the reasons the procurement of St Mungo’s for the NSNO and Routes Home contracts falls within the said exemption. Accordingly, the Mayor may approve the exemption, if he be so minded.

    Exercise of existing contractual options
6.8.    Decision 3.a.ii of this decision form seeks approval for the exercise of contractual options relating to the following contracts: the Authority’s TST South contract with Thames Reach; its TST North contract with SHP; and its Clearing House contract with St Mungo’s. Regulation 72(1)(a) of the Regulations allows for the modification of a contract during its term by means of a clear, precise and unequivocal review clauses, which may include options, so long as the review clauses state the scope and nature of possible modifications and do not alter the overall nature of the contract. The officers have set out at paragraphs 2.30 to 2.38 how these requirements have been met.

Fixed-term post
6.9.    It should be noted that this decision is only to secure budget for expenditure on a fixed-term post. Any posts created as a result of this decision must be created by the Head of Paid Service in accordance with the GLA Head of Paid Service Staffing Protocol and Scheme of Delegation.

Funding
6.10.    Decisions 3c and d seek approval of budget for the provision of funding by the Authority to various organisations. Section 12 of the Code states that the award of grant funding should generally be made on the basis of a transparent, competitive application process. The officers have set out at paragraphs 2.47 to 2.104 how they have complied with this requirement.
Procurement of future rough-sleeping contracts, and of hotels and related services
6.11.    Decisions 3.e and 5 seek approval of various procurements of rough-sleeping-related services, hotels and related services. The officers are reminded to ensure that all of these procurements comply with the Code and, where relevant, the Regulations. 

Delegations
6.12.    Any function 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 delegations to the Executive Director – Housing and Land, if he so chooses.

Appendix 1: Detailed funding breakdown