MD3135:No Second Night Out, additional off-the-streets accommodation, rough-sleeping grants

1.1.    A total of 10,053 people were seen sleeping rough in London during 2022-23. This is a 21 per cent increase compared to 2021-22. Of these, 64 per cent were new to the streets; 51 per cent were non-UK nationals; and 30 per cent were from the European Economic Area European countries. Additionally, 71 per cent had support needs, of which 51 per cent related to mental health; 31 per cent to alcohol; and 32 per cent to drugs. 

1.2.    In his 2018 London Housing Strategy, the Mayor set out his aim for 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 must 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 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 forming the GLA Rough Sleeping programme – are for people with experience, 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 either niche or pan-London/multi-borough in their remit. Since 2016, the GLA Rough Sleeping programme has supported over 13,500 people to leave the streets for good.

1.4.    From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mayor’s rough-sleeping services, as well as those commissioned by councils in London, helped more people than ever before. The 2021-22 annual statistics from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) suggested that significant progress had been made in reducing rough sleeping in London. However, despite record numbers of people being supported off the streets, in 2022-23, the number of people seen sleeping rough in London increased by 21 per cent from the previous year, in part due to the winding-down of initiatives first implemented during the pandemic. 

1.5.    The GLA Rough Sleeping programme is funded from core GLA budget, supplemented by various government grants, such as the Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI). The following Mayoral Decisions (MDs) pertain to this programme: 
•    MD2559 (March 2020) approved receipt and expenditure of £4.67m in government funding to expand various core services and to develop initiatives for non-UK national rough sleepers.
•    MD2789 (March 2021) approved expenditure of £13.69m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget to extend various core services up to March 2025; and £1.36m to continue to grant-fund various projects. It also approved receipt and expenditure of £6.66m in government funding, which included the continuation of several RSI projects.
•    MD2853 (August 2021) approved receipt and expenditure of £24.55m in government funding, and expenditure of £0.17m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects.
•    MD2957 (March 2022) approved receipt and expenditure of £3.65m in government funding, and expenditure of £3.85m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects.
•    MD2993 (June 2022) approved the receipt and expenditure of £30.38m from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC’s) RSI.
•    MD3043 (December 2022) approved the receipt and expenditure of £0.54m in government funding and expenditure of £1.25m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects.
•    MD3089 (March 2023) approved the receipt and expenditure of £0.2m from DLUHC’s RSI, and expenditure of £0.1m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects. 

1.6.    Some of the services and interventions that are the subject of this decision form part of the GLA Rough Sleeping programme; and are extensions, expansions or continuations of services previously approved by the above MDs.

Life off the Streets programme
1.7.    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. In addition, £13.69m was approved in March 2021 (see MD2789) to enable some core services to operate for another year; and to allow No Second Night Out (NSNO) and Routes Home to operate for an additional two years, to March 2023. A further £19.49m was approved in June 2022 (MD2993) to procure the Routes Home and Rapid Response services. In 2023-24 an additional priority investment of £2.1m was allocated to the Rough Sleeping programme budget.

1.8.    There are currently seven Life off the Streets services under contract. New contracts for Migrant Accommodation Pathways Support (formerly Routes Home) and the Rapid Response Outreach Team (RROT) were recently awarded. These contracts began on 1 April 2023, following a successful procurement process approved by MD2993. 

1.9.    As set out in MD2789, the previous exercise of the contractual option to extend NSNO 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. The further extension of the NSNO contract for one year, to March 2024, allowed the continuation of the existing service while piloting various new developments to the service. A full recommissioning exercise will take place during 2023-24, with a new contract commencing on 1 April 2024.

1.10.    The NSNO service is pivotal to the Mayor’s Life off the Streets programme. The recommissioning provides an opportunity to make sure it is best designed to service the changing characteristics of rough sleeping in London, and modelled around current best practice.

1.11.    Authority to approve the exercise of any options to extend the contract beyond the initial term 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 2023.

Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25
1.12.    The government launched the RSI fund in 2018-19, coinciding with the Homelessness Reduction Act coming into force. Funding was 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; it has received funding in each subsequent RSI allocation.

1.13.    Whilst many of the Mayor’s Life off the Streets services are funded by the GLA’s Rough Sleeping programme budget, in recent years some have been introduced, enhanced or expanded as a result of RSI funding. 

1.14.    In 2021-22, RSI funding enabled the GLA to move to the recovery phase of its COVID-19 Rough Sleeping Response (see MD2853). Receipt and expenditure of a further £3.5m of RSI funding was approved in MD2957; this continued support for both the above-mentioned recovery phase, and the continuation and expansion of several of Life off the Streets services (detailed in section 1.13 of MD2957).

1.15.    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 RSI 2022-25 in partnership with London Councils, and a successful 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. Receipt and expenditure of the remaining £30.38m was approved by MD2993 in June 2022.

Activity and funding profile
1.16.    This decision approves funding for multiple elements of the GLA Rough Sleeping programme.

1.17.    The newly approved expenditure will be as follows:

1.18.    Details of the services/projects in the above table, and a more detailed breakdown of the funding mechanisms and budget, are set out in section 2. 

2.1.    The GLA Rough Sleeping 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 2021, and to be achieved by working with boroughs and partners. These priorities are:
•    to prevent people from sleeping rough 
•    to provide an immediate route off the streets 
•    to deliver sustainable accommodation and solutions for those leaving rough sleeping
•    to ensure people have the support which they need to rebuild their lives. 
2.2.    A key performance indicator (KPI) for the GLA is that at least 85 per cent of rough sleepers who are supported by the GLA’s rough-sleeping services do not return to the streets.
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 in reducing rough-sleeping numbers in London, while monitoring the overall London-wide target through the 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 sleeping rough in London. 
2.4.    Further details of individual services and projects for which approval is being sought under this MD are set out below.

Life off the Streets rough-sleeping services – variation of contracts 
Rapid Response Outreach Team
2.5.    The primary aim of the RROT is to rapidly respond to StreetLink referrals across 26 London boroughs; and offer an immediate route away from the streets to people found bedding down. The RROT also works in partnership with Transport for London (TfL) to respond to referrals of people sleeping rough on the night-transport network. 
2.6.    Following an open, competitive procurement process to identify the provider, in compliance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code (the Code), the RROT contract was awarded to Thames Reach and entered into on 1 April 2023. The initial RROT contract value was £3.75m over three years (£1.25m per annum) and approved in MD2993. 
2.7.    The new funding being approved will expand the RROT with three additional staff members dedicated to the TfL element of its remit. It will also enhance off-the-streets accommodation options available to people sleeping rough on the TfL network, via a dedicated emergency accommodation fund. 
2.8.    This MD therefore seeks approval for a variation of the GLA’s contract with Thames Reach via an exemption from the requirements of the Code; and expenditure of £0.2m to expand the RROT between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. 
2.9.    The proposed variation to the Thames Reach contract does not fall within the ambit of the options allowed for in that contract. As such, this decision seeks an exemption from the requirements of the Code. Section 10.1 of the Code allows for an exemption to standard procurement processes where the service provider has previous involvement in a specific current project or the proposed services comprise the continuation of existing work that cannot be separated from the new project/work. The services that are the subject of the variation cannot be separated from the existing work being carried out by Thames Reach, and any competitive procurement process would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs to the GLA. As the proposed variation is a continuation of existing work on terms which were originally the subject of a competitive procurement, it will provide a similar level of value for money as the GLA achieved following the procurement of the original RROT contract.
2.10.    Subject to approval of the above, the total value of the contract will increase to £3.95m.

Tenancy Sustainment Teams
2.11.    The Clearing House housing stock comprises circa 4,000 homes ring-fenced primarily for people who have slept rough in London, and women leaving domestic violence refuges. People in Clearing House accommodation receive support from a Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST), of which there are currently two: one in north London, and one in south London. Since April 2022, the TSTs have been provided by Single Homeless Project (SHP) (TST North) and Thames Reach (TST South).
2.12.    Following an open, competitive procurement process to identify the provider, in compliance with the Code, the TST contracts were awarded to SHP and Thames Reach and entered into in April 2022. 
2.13.    The initial TST North (SHP) contract value was £5.16m over three years. MD2993 approved £1.15m to expand the service to people in private rented accommodation from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2025. MD3043 approved £0.14m to exercise an option in the TST North (SHP) contract for the private rented sector (PRS) floating support element. MD2783 delegated authority to the Executive Director, Housing and Land, to approve individual funding allocations within the overall allocation of £17.9m revenue for the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (RSAP) 2021-24; and £0.06m was allocated to expand the service to provide support to 10 additional RSAP units for clients with high support needs. This brought the total contract value to £6.51m.
2.14.    The initial TST South (Thames Reach) contract value was £4.33m over three years. MD2957 approved £0.09m to expand the service to people in private rented accommodation from 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022. MD2993 approved £0.93m to exercise an option in the TST South (Thames Reach) contract for PRS floating support from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2025. MD2783 delegated authority to the Executive Director, Housing and Land, to approve individual funding allocations within the overall allocation of £17.9m revenue for RSAP 2021-24; and £0.05m was allocated to expand the service to provide support to five additional RSAP units for clients with high support needs. This brought the total contract value to £5.4m.
2.15.    This one-year project will employ additional staff within each existing TST, to reconcile and review tenancies within Clearing House housing stock. This will involve auditing the circa 4,000 units of accommodation; and contacting all tenants who no longer receive support (around 2,000) to ensure they are still resident, and ascertain whether a move to more appropriate accommodation would be possible. The aim is to free up valuable Clearing House units for moves off the street and out of homeless hostels. This additional element of the TST service falls within the scope of the original contract.
2.16.    This MD therefore seeks approval for a variation of the GLA’s contracts with SHP and Thames Reach via an exemption from the requirements of the Code; and expenditure of £0.09m to expand the TSTs between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.
2.17.    Subject to approval of the above, the total value of the TST North (SHP) contract will increase to £6.55m. The total value of the TST South (Thames Reach) contract will increase to £5.45m.
2.18.    This proposed variation to the Thames Reach and SHP contracts do not fall within the ambit of the options allowed for in those contracts. As such, this decision seeks an exemption from the requirements of the Code. Section 10.1 of the Code allows for an exemption to standard procurement processes where the service provider has previous involvement in a specific current project or the proposed services comprise the continuation of existing work that cannot be separated from the new project/work. The services that are the subject of the variations cannot be separated from the existing work being carried out by the providers, Thames Reach and SHP, and any competitive procurement process would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs to the GLA. As the proposed variation is a continuation of existing work on term which were originally the subject of a competitive procurement, it will provide a similar level of value for money as the GLA achieved following the procurement of the original TST contracts. 

Life off the Streets rough-sleeping services – exercise of contract options
Training programme for the homelessness and migrant sectors 
2.19.    The training programme on supporting non-UK nationals aims to upskill the homelessness and migrant sectors to better support non-UK nationals sleeping rough in London. The training programme, delivered by Homeless Link via its subcontractor Praxis Community Projects, seeks to increase understanding on the needs and rights of this group, the tools, opportunities and barriers in the system to support them and improve the level of collaboration between the migrant and homelessness sectors. The project includes online training and workshops, some personalised sessions, second tier advice and facilitating a community of learners.
2.20.    The service is funded through the Controlling Migration Fund (CMF) until June 2023. MD2559 approved the delegation of authority to the Executive Director, Housing and Land, 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.
2.21.    In addition to the £1.9m CMF funding approved by MD2559, the GLA secured £0.06m in 2022-23 from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) to fund a migrant health and substance misuse project. This includes the provision of training, aimed at frontline staff, on eligibility for drug and alcohol services for people with unclear or limited entitlements. MD3089 approved the expenditure of £7,361 of 2022-23 OHID funding to exercise an option in the Homeless Link training contract to deliver additional training in 2022-23.
2.22.    The current value of the Homeless Link contract is £60,806. This contract set out an option to extend for an additional term of up to two years in clear, precise and unequivocal review clauses. The requested exercise of the option complies with those clauses.
2.23.    The CMF funding is allocated for specialist services and initiatives for non-UK nationals sleeping rough. The DLUHC confirmed that it has no objection to any plans for diverting or carrying forward the CMF funding to future financial years. Two CMF-funded services (the Roma Rough Sleeping Service and the Holistic Assessment Service) had a lower-than-expected spend in 2022-23. This MD seeks approval to repurpose this remaining budget to extend the training programme for an additional 18 months.
2.24.    This MD therefore seeks approval for expenditure of £0.05m of CMF funding to exercise an option in the Homeless Link contract to extend the training programme for 18 months, from 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2024.
2.25.    Subject to approval of the above, the total value of the contract will increase to £0.11m.

Life off the Streets rough-sleeping services – reprocurement 
No Second Night Out
2.26.    NSNO supports people who are seen sleeping rough for the first time, or for whom a clear route off the streets hasn’t yet been identified. The NSNO team assesses people’s situation and makes offers of help, based on their specific circumstances and need; and supports them to take up that offer. This is complemented by self-contained interim accommodation where people can stay until their move-on offer is available. Between July and December 2022, the service successfully accommodated or reconnected 618 people.
2.27.    The service will be procured during 2023-24, with a new contract to commence on 1 April 2024. In compliance with the Code, this will be an open, competitive procurement process. 
2.28.    The service will be procured for an initial period of three years, with an option to extend for up to a further two years (at one-year intervals). The initial contract value will be £17.27m. This will include up to £3.53m from the government’s RSI 2022-25 programme in 2024-25, including £0.07m reallocated to NSNO from the RSI-funded Subregional Immigration Advice Service, receipt and expenditure of which was approved in MD2993 for NSNO. The remaining £13.74m will be funded through the Rough Sleeping Core Budget, subject to annual budget approval. 
2.29.    The total possible contract value in the initial three years of the service, including additional contractual options to expand it, will be up to £28.76m (up to £9.59m in each of the three years 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27). The total possible contract value over five years, if the contract was extended for a further two years and all contractual options to expand the service were exercised, will be up to £47.93m (up to £9.59m in each of the five years 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29.) 
2.30.    As there is currently no GLA budget set beyond March 2024, 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.
2.31.    Since April 2017 St Mungo’s has been delivering the NSNO contract, which it was awarded following an OJEU procurement exercise to identify the provider. The initial NSNO contract value was £14.72m over four years (£3.68m per annum) and was approved under MD2031. The contract was extended and expanded several times, which included extending and remodelling the service to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. MD2993 extended the service until March 2024, with a total contract value of £41.9m.
2.32.    Approval is sought for the procurement of NSNO. The authority to approve the exercise of any options to extend the contract beyond the initial term (for up to a further two 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 the contracts to be awarded towards the end of 2023.
2.33.    This MD therefore seeks approval for the procurement of NSNO contract; and for the expenditure £17.27m for this contract from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2027.

Grant-funded services for people sleeping rough

StreetLink
2.34.    Since 2013, StreetLink has existed as a digital and phone service for England and Wales. It enables people to send an alert when they see someone sleeping rough. This alert will connect that person to local support services that can help to end their homelessness.
2.35.    The Mayor has been contributing grant funding to the national StreetLink service since 2016 (MD1532), recognising the additional and high-volume work to which the StreetLink service is required to respond in London, given the high levels of rough sleeping compared to other parts of the country. Historically, other funders have included the DLUHC, the Welsh government and Homeless Link; and, more recently, London Councils and Bloomberg Associates. 
2.36.    The Mayor’s RROT is primarily responsible for responding to StreetLink alerts of people sleeping rough across 26 boroughs in London. In the remaining boroughs, locally commissioned outreach teams respond to the alerts. Therefore, a StreetLink service that quickly and accurately processes referrals from members of the public, and increasingly self-referrals from people currently sleeping rough, is essential to the ecosystem of rough-sleeping services in London and to reducing the amount of time people spend sleeping on the streets.
2.37.    In 2022, the DLUHC announced it was procuring a new contract for the national StreetLink service, under a revised service model. The new service is due to commence in October 2023.
2.38.    The specification indicates that the new StreetLink service will have significantly reduced capacity to triage referrals in London, a function that ensures only actionable referrals are sent to outreach teams for a response. Last year StreetLink filtered out over 13,000 referrals in London – around 30 per cent of all those it received. Additionally, the service will become digital-only, with the removal of the phoneline, and will only be available to members of the public; there will apparently be no option for people sleeping rough to refer themselves for support. The service currently receives around 2,000 phoneline self-referrals in London every quarter.
2.39.    In light of the DLUHC’s decision to remove funding for enhanced elements of the StreetLink service that meet the needs of London, and to reduce costs, the service has combined the Mayoral-funded StreetLink London Advice Line and StreetLink service into one team.
2.40.    In order to retain the enhanced service required in London to triage referrals, operate a phone line and respond to self-referrals, it is necessary for the GLA to increase its contribution to the StreetLink budget in 2023-24. The GLA Rough Sleeping team, in conjunction with London Councils, plans to conduct a consultation with the sector to ascertain what model of service is required in future years, taking of account of the new Government Digital Service once it is operational (mid-2023 onwards).
2.41.    This MD therefore seeks approval for expenditure of £0.43m to grant-fund the StreetLink service in 2023-24. 

Homeless Health Peer Advocacy
2.42.    The Homeless Health Peer Advocacy (HHPA) service enables people to address health issues by making services more accessible through the support of volunteers with experience of homelessness. Groundswell has supported people experiencing homelessness in London to attend over 3,000 health appointments in 2022-23; and has expanded its delivery over the past 11 years across central London. To develop the HHPA service further, Groundswell is working on a Health Promotion In-reach programme that aims to offer health information and relevant services to people (in-person and onsite) at their hostel or day centre. This will reach more people who need support; increase awareness of health issues and the available services; and encourage people to identify their own health priorities and work to address these.
2.43.    This grant funding will enable the HHPA to develop its in-person Health Promotion In-reach programme.
2.44.    This MD therefore seeks approval for expenditure of £0.05m to fund HHPA project between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Veterans Aid’s Welfare to Wellbeing service
2.45.    Veterans Aid’s Welfare to Wellbeing service offers an immediate route off the streets for every UK veteran in need; and a bespoke, structured pathway into independent living. It specifically targets UK veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. 
2.46.    In 2022-23, the GLA provided £0.06m grant funding to Veterans Aid for Welfare to Wellbeing. The service supported 128 ex-servicemen and women to access appropriate accommodation; 89 per cent of these sustained their accommodation for at least six months. 
2.47.    The MD seeks approval for expenditure of £0.08m to continue grant funding this project during 2023-24.

LGBTQ+ shelter
2.48.    The Outside Project will provide a seven-bed house in multiple occupation for members of the LGBTIQA+ community who are experiencing homelessness. The Outside Project’s shelter has occupied premises in the London Borough of Islington since February 2023, and will receive grant funding for revenue support costs. Residents will receive specialist identity-responsive support during their stay of three to six months, and be supported to move on to independent housing.
2.49.    The Outside Project was grant funded £0.05m in the second round of the Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund (MD2089). It was subsequently awarded grant funding of £0.1m in 2020-21 (DD2381) and 2021-22 (MD2789) for its work in partnership with Stonewall Housing. The Outside Project has been delivered independently of Stonewall Housing by LGBTIQ+ Outside CIC since 2022-23, when it received £0.1m (MD2957).
2.50.    This MD therefore seeks approval for expenditure of £0.1m to fund the Outside Project between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Enabling Assessment Service London
2.51.    In London, 51 per cent of people seen sleeping rough (according to CHAIN 2022-23) have a mental health support need. However, their circumstances, and the uneven distribution of specialist mental health services across the capital, mean it can be challenging for outreach workers to access appropriate mental health support for the people they work with. The Enabling Assessment Service London (EASL) has experienced mental health practitioners working in conjunction with outreach teams, to help people with mental health needs who are sleeping rough to access the support, treatment and accommodation they need. This grant would enable the EASL to continue its work in the five London boroughs (Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Lewisham and Islington) that don’t have a specialist mental health team.
2.52.    The service is funded by RSI 2022-25 funding until September 2023. MD2993 approved funding for the EASL (£207,966.93) to continue its project while two new Rough Sleeping and Mental Health Programme teams and pathways are designed and implemented in South London.
2.53.    This MD seeks approval for expenditure of £93,750 grant funding to enable the EASL to provide mental health assessments and facilitate access to local services in London.
2.54.    This MD therefore seeks approval for expenditure of £0.09m to fund the EASL between 1 October 2023 and 31 August 2024.

London Homelessness Awards
2.55.    The annual London Homelessness Awards aim to recognise and highlight innovative practice in the homelessness sector. They are open to all projects in London working in the field of homelessness. Sponsors include the Mayor of London, London Councils, London Housing Federation, Shelter and Crisis. This funding is a contribution to the London Housing Federation’s costs of coordinating and delivering the 2023 London Homelessness Awards.
2.56.    This MD therefore seeks approval for expenditure of £0.01m to fund the London Homelessness Awards between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Additional off-the-streets accommodation and emergency winter provision
2.57.    During the COVID-19 pandemic, 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. Over 3,000 people were provided with accommodation and support in GLA-procured hotels. Whilst the last of the Everyone In accommodation closed during 2022-23, public health advice still holds that large-scale communal sleeping presents an unacceptable risk whilst COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses remain in circulation at significant levels. Therefore, it is currently not possible for the GLA’s rough-sleeping provision to use communal sleeping models as it did prior to the pandemic. These restrictions on the type of accommodation that can be used come in the context of rising homelessness, as the cost-of-living crisis has contributed to a significant increase in the number of new rough sleepers. 
2.58.    To ensure that the Mayor’s Life off the Streets programme can provide a swift route off the street for as many people as possible, and safeguard those sleeping rough during the cold winter weather, the GLA will secure additional single-occupancy accommodation, provided with accompanied support, for people who are sleeping rough. Firstly, this will include self-contained hotel accommodation for people currently sleeping rough who have no other immediate route off 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 their needs and circumstances are comprehensively assessed, and work to find a longer-term route off the street can commence. 
2.59.    Secondly, Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) bedspaces will be funded. SWEP is an emergency humanitarian response enacted when temperatures drop to freezing, with the primary aim of preserving life. Every year, the GLA provides SWEP overflow provision to ensure sufficient capacity, at a pan-London level, to meet demand when borough local provision reaches capacity. The GLA will provide additional self-contained pan-London bedspaces to support people off the streets during freezing temperatures. This additional capacity will ensure that the most vulnerable people sleeping rough in London are safeguarded during winter. This SWEP accommodation will be provided with accompanying support onsite, and operate under the In for Good principle. This means no one is asked to leave until there is a support plan in place to end their rough sleeping, regardless of whether temperatures have risen. Through this support, the emergency accommodation is often a catalyst for ending people’s homelessness for good, as well as a humanitarian response during severe weather. The amount of additional SWEP accommodation provided will be matched to the level of need projected in London as the winter approaches, taking into account the number of people sleeping rough and the number of local SWEP spaces being provided by London boroughs. 
2.60.    This MD therefore seeks approval to spend up to £1.66m of the GLA’s Rough Sleeping programme budget on:
•    off-the-streets accommodation in hotels, providing an immediate route off the streets for people sleeping rough, between 1 June 2023 and 31 March 2024
•    further additional SWEP accommodation to safeguard people sleeping rough during cold weather, between 1 December 2023 and 31 March 2024.
2.61.    In both cases, the expenditure will also provide relevant related services for those accommodated, including food, laundry and accompanying support to identify a longer-term route off the streets.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as public authorities, the Mayor and the GLA are subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty, and must have “due regard” of 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).
3.3.    Objective 3 of the Mayor’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy, Inclusive London, is:
“To address the specific barriers that prevent some rough sleepers exiting rough sleeping and rebuilding their lives.”
The funding in this decision will help to tackle the inequalities experienced by certain groups of Londoners most affected by homelessness and rough sleeping.
3.4.    Of those seen sleeping rough in 2022-23:
•    51 per cent were non-UK nationals
•    19 per cent were Black or Black British
•    5 per cent were Roma
•    51 per cent had a mental health need
•    17 per cent were female
•    58 per cent were aged 26-45 
•    8 per cent were under 26 
•    12 per cent were over 55.
3.5.    Homelessness in London, and specifically rough sleeping, disproportionately affects people with certain protected characteristics. Increasing the provision of rough-sleeping services will help to achieve positive impacts in line with the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
3.6.    The allocation of funding in this decision is aimed at implementing the Mayor’s policies set out in the London Housing Strategy. In May 2018 the GLA published an equality impact assessment (EIA) of that strategy. Policies related to tackling homelessness and helping rough sleepers, to which this service will contribute, were included in that assessment. The EIA concluded that measures to support people sleeping rough off the streets, and to help them avoid returning, means rough sleepers will be removed from the acute risk and social isolation that sleeping rough creates. This will benefit those with certain characteristics whom the baseline for the EIA identified as disproportionately more likely to be seen sleeping on London’s streets.
3.7.    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.
3.8.    The GLA values EDI in its procurement process. As this MD seeks to approve the procurement of services, scoring and assessment of bids will consider the value added from positive supplier approaches to EDI. Suppliers will be asked to provide relevant organisational policies, and will be assessed on their commitment to improving EDI in relation to the service being procured. 
 

Key risks and issues
4.1.    The key risks and issues for the GLA Rough Sleeping 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.

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

Subsidy control
4.5.    In regard to the grants awarded under this MD that meet or may meet the subsidy control threshold, there is an equity rationale for these as, taken together, they will mean hundreds of people will be supported to find a longer-term solution to their homelessness and to address mental and physical health issues, rather than remaining on or returning to the streets, as would otherwise have been the case. The funding to be granted is specifically to achieve these objectives and is commensurate with the resources they require for this purpose. Without this subsidy, it is clear that the policy objectives would not be achieved, as these projects would not otherwise be funded. It is only with this additional funding that the providers can deliver these projects. The GLA will closely monitor the grants to ensure that they are spent as agreed; and that they deliver the stated policy objectives of supporting people to secure a longer-term route away from rough sleeping and to address mental and physical health issues.
4.6.    It is not considered possible that any less distortive means can achieve these policy objectives. It would not be feasible to achieve the same outcome through introducing ex ante competition for contracted services or via a different funding mechanism (e.g. a loan). The people accommodated or supported by these services are homeless Londoners, who would not otherwise be able to pay, on a market basis, for the services provided by the project. The low risk of any impact on competition is far outweighed by the benefits of supporting these people (many whom will have been sleeping rough for long periods) to find a longer-term solution to their homelessness and to address mental and physical health issues. 

5.1.    Mayoral approval is sought for expenditure of up to £20.02m, of which £16.36m is proposed to be funded from the GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget; £3.61m is the DLUHC’s RSI 2022-25 funding; and £0.05m is the DLUHC’s CMF funding. Details of this expenditure are provided above and in the table under paragraph 1.17. 
5.2.    £2.73m of the expenditure is estimated to be spent in 2023-24; the remaining £17.29m is to be spent across 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27. The table below shows the profile and funding of the expenditure outlined in paragraph 1.17:

5.3.    2023-24 GLA Core Rough Sleeping programme budget which includes £2.09m Homelessness budget has been approved as part of the 2023-24 budget process. Budget for 2024-25 and 2025-26 is in the 2023-24 indicative planned budget, however future years’ budget is subject to future budget setting processes and therefore break clauses should be included in contracts, in case funding is not available in future years. 
5.4.    The Rough Sleeping team, within the Specialist Housing and Services unit of Housing and Land, will manage these contracts.
 

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 GLA 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 GLA’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 to 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.
Procurement
6.3.    Decisions 1 and 3, above, seek approval for £20.02m of expenditure on various projects, and £47.94m on the procurement of the NSNO contract. The officers are reminded to ensure that they comply with the Code and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the Regulations) when procuring the same. Furthermore, the officers are reminded to ensure that a written agreement be put in place between the GLA and the relevant service provider.
Contract variations and exemption from the Contracts and Funding Code
6.4.    Decision 1b, above, seeks approval of: the variation of the GLA’s contract with Thames Reach for the Rapid Response service to allow for the procurement of a further £0.2m worth of services; and the variation of the GLA’s contracts with SHP and Thames Reach for the TSTs to allow for the procurement of a further £0.09m worth of services. Regulation 72(1)(b) provides that a variation may be made to a contract during its term where additional services have become necessary, where a change of contractor cannot be made for technical reasons, and would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs to the GLA. Regulation 72(1)(b) may only be relied upon where the value of the services that are the subject of the variation do not exceed 50 per cent of the contract’s original value. In each case, the proposed variation falls below the 50 per cent threshold.
6.5.    In addition to the variation, the officers have asked for an exemption from the requirements of the Code on the basis that Thames Reach and SHP have had previous involvement in the respective current projects; and the services that are the subject of the variations cannot be separated from the existing work being carried out by them. Officers have set out at paragraphs 2.5 to 2.18 above how the requested variation falls within both regulation 72(1)(b) of the Regulations and section 10 of the Code.
6.6.    Subject to the approval of the variation, officers are reminded of the need to publish contract notices advising of the variation to the Rapid Response and both of the TST contracts.
Exercise of existing contractual options
6.7.    Regulation 72(1) of the Regulations allows contracting authorities to modify contracts during their term, where the modifications have been provided for in the initial procurement documents, in clear, precise and unequivocal review clauses, including options. Decision 1c, above, seeks approval for the exercise by the GLA of its existing contractual option to require its service provider, Homeless Link, to extend the contract. Officers have explained at paragraphs 2.19 to 2.25 that the option was set out in the initial procurement documents, in clear, precise and unequivocal review clauses; and that the requested exercise of the option complies with those clauses.
Provision of grant funding and subsidy control 
6.8.    Decision 1d requests approval of grant funding to St Mungo’s, Groundswell, Veterans Aid, the Outside Project, and the London Housing Foundation. Section 12 of the Code sets out the requirements for the award of grant funding by the GLA. Officers have set out at paragraphs 2.34 to 2.60 how they have met these requirements.
6.9.    The Subsidy Control Act 2022 requires that grant funding comply with its subsidy control principles. Officers have set out at paragraphs 4.5 to 4.6, above, how the proposed grant complies with those principles. Finally, where the proposed grants either exceed £0.1m themselves or are variations to existing grant agreements, which variations increase the total value of the grant above £0.1m, officers are reminded to register the grant on the Department for Business and Trade’s Transparency Database.
Delegations
6.10.    Any function exercisable by the Mayor on behalf of the GLA may also be exercised by a member of the GLA’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.
 

No appendices or supporting papers.