MD3331 Rough sleeping funding and services 2024-25 to 2027-28

1.1    A total of 11,993 people were seen sleeping rough in London during 2023-24. This is a 19 per cent increase compared to 2022-23. Of these, 66 per cent were new to the streets, an increase of 25 per cent on the previous year. UK nationals accounted for 45 per cent, compared to 49 per cent in 2022-23. People from the ‘rest of the world’ outnumbered people from Europe (excluding the UK) for the first time in 2023-24: they made up 30 per cent of the whole, compared to 25 per cent from Europe.
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 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 18,000 people to leave the streets for good. 
1.4    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:
o    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
o    receipt and expenditure of £6.66m in government funding, which included the continuation of several RSI projects
•    MD2853 (August 2021) approved:
o    receipt and expenditure of £24.55m in government funding
o    expenditure of £0.17m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects
•    MD2957 (March 2022) approved: 
o    receipt and expenditure of £3.65m in government funding
o    expenditure of £3.85m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects
•    MD2993 (June 2022) approved receipt and expenditure of £30.38m from the then Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC’s) RSI
•    MD3043 (December 2022) approved:
o    receipt and expenditure of £0.54m in government funding
o    expenditure of £1.25m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects
•    MD3089 (March 2023) approved
o    receipt and expenditure of £0.2m from DLUHC’s RSI
o    expenditure of £0.1m of GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects
•    MD3135 (June 2023) approved:
o    receipt and expenditure of £3.61m from DLUHC’s RSI, £0.05m from DLUHC’s Controlling Migration Fund
o    expenditure of £16.36m form the GLA’s Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund core services and various projects
•    M3161 (August 2023) approved
o    receipt and expenditure of £1.16m from DLUHC’s RSI, £0.14m from London Councils
o    expenditure of £0.1m from the GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget, to fund various projects
•    MD3204 (December 2023) approved receipt and expenditure of £0.33m from the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Redbridge, to fund various projects
•    MD3241 (February 2024) approved receipt and expenditure of £1.5m from DLUHC’s Winter Pressures funding, to fund various projects
•    MD3266 (June 2024) approved the receipt and expenditure of £0.1m from the London Borough of Redbridge, to fund various projects.
1.5    Some of the services and interventions that are the subject of this decision form part of the GLA Rough Sleeping programme; and extend, expand or continue services previously approved by the above MDs. 
Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) 2022-25 
1.6    The government launched the RSI in 2018-19, to coincide 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. 
1.7    Whilst many of the Mayor’s 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. 
1.8    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 core rough-sleeping services (detailed in paragraph 1.13 of MD2957). 
1.9    In 2021-22, 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. 
1.10    In 2023, DLUHC opened a round of bidding for RSI additional targeted funding, with funding available for projects for the remaining duration of the RSI 2022-25 period, until March 2025. The GLA again submitted a bid in partnership with London Councils for this additional targeted funding round and a successful allocation of £1.16m was awarded on in June 2023. 
Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant (RSPARG) 2025-26
1.11    In 2025-26 the RSPARG replaced MHCLG’s previous RSI funding programme.
1.12    The purpose of the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant is to enable local and regional authorities to continue vital rough-sleeping services previously funded under RSI, to support individuals sleeping rough, at risk of sleeping rough, or at risk of returning to rough sleeping. It provides flexibility to determine the most effective services, driven by local need, to be delivered in line with national priorities.
1.13    RSPARG funding allocations to local and regional authorities for 2025-26 were announced by MHCLG on 18 December 2024, and the GLA was allocated £10,630,681.
Life off the Streets (GLA Rough Sleeping) programme 
1.14    A budget of £33.8m for the services that form the Mayor’s Life off the Streets (LotS) 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. 
1.15    There are currently seven LotS services under contract. New contracts for Migrant Accommodation Pathways Support (MAPS) (formerly Routes Home) and the Rapid Response Outreach Team (RROT) were the most recently awarded. These contracts began on 1 April 2023, following a successful procurement process approved by MD2993. New contracts for Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN), Clearing House, and the Tenancy Sustainment Teams North and South commenced in April 2022, following procurement approved in MD2789. 
1.16    Procurement of the NSNO service was approved by MD3135, with the new contract commencing on 1 April 2024. MD3135 also approved the expansion of the RROT service with additional staff members until 31 March 2024. 
Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (RSAP)
1.17    RSAP is a national programme to fund and deliver accommodation and associated support for former rough sleepers. In London the funding for, and delivery of, RSAP is devolved to the GLA.
1.18    In September 2020, MD2687 approved receipt and expenditure of £93.4m in capital and revenue funding for the delivery of RSAP in London.
1.19    In March 2021, MD2783 approved an additional £66.2m in capital and revenue funding for further delivery of RSAP in London.
1.20    Most RSAP-funded projects received initial revenue allocations, to fund support services, lasting for either three or four years. The revenue funding for the majority of these projects is due to end in March 2025.
1.21    The revenue funding to be received under this decision is intended to continue those RSAP projects for a further year, to the end of 2025-26.
1.22    The approval of this decision will ensure that the support, and linked accommodation, provided to approximately 1,500 people with rough-sleeping histories, will continue beyond March 2025, meeting a significant need for supported accommodation for this client group.
Winter pressures
1.23    In Winter 2023-24, the Crisis at Christmas extension augmented the efforts to support people out of rough sleeping during the winter period. The 2023-24 criteria focused on rough-sleeping individuals who were particularly hard to reach and service-resistant, including those in the Target 1000 (T1000) cohort. The T1000 group is a cohort of individuals with extensive rough-sleeping histories – some with 10 years or more – and, often, with multiple complex needs. During the extension period, 196 people were accommodated and offered a thorough assessment. Of these, 83 made up the service-resistant cohort, and had not accepted an offer of accommodation in the six months prior. Of those not in the service-resistant cohort, 45 per cent of people had a positive move-on from the service, with a further 27 per cent entering Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) accommodation.
1.24    SWEP is an emergency humanitarian response enacted when temperatures drop to freezing, with the primary aim of preserving life. In previous years, the GLA has provided additional pan-London bedspaces to support people off the streets during freezing temperatures. This additional capacity ensures that the most vulnerable people sleeping rough in London are safeguarded during winter. GLA SWEP accommodation is provided with accompanying onsite support from St Mungo’s and operates 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.
1.25    There were significant challenges relating to the cost and availability of emergency accommodation, and three separate periods (14 days total) of freezing temperatures in winter 2023-24. Despite this, London Councils, DLUHC, the GLA, the London Communities Emergencies Partnership, and London’s boroughs worked in partnership to deliver a comprehensive winter response. There were 1,400 SWEP stays on CHAIN over the winter (1,150 in local provision and 250 in pan-London overflow); the true total is likely significantly higher. 
1.26    In Winter 2023-24, the GLA continued to apply the ‘In for Good’ principle in pan-London overflow SWEP, and boroughs were encouraged to do the same. Of those recorded as being accommodated in a SWEP bedspace over the winter, 61 per cent had not been sleeping rough again as of 1 April 2024. For overflow SWEP, this figure is 73 per cent.
1.27    The approval of this MD will ensure that funding is used to relieve the winter pressure on rough sleeping in London.
Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant (RSDATG)
1.28    Since the government launched its RSDATG programme (running 2022-25), the GLA has been working with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (London), and the City of London Corporation, to coordinate a pan-London programme of work to improve access to drug and alcohol services for people who are sleeping rough. The GLA Rough Sleeping Team has led pan-London work on rough sleeping, migration, and drug and alcohol treatment needs during this period. This includes commissioning training and guidance materials on eligibility for drug and alcohol treatment services for homeless non-UK nationals. 
1.29    Most recently, ADD2734 approved receipt of £58,783 from the RSDATG programme, awarded in 2024-25; and the reallocation of £5,217. It also approved expenditure of this funding to commission research on drug and alcohol treatment needs of homeless migrants, and barriers to accessing services; and to grant-fund the development of culturally informed foreign-language resources for specific client groups, where language is a barrier to accessing drug and alcohol treatment.
1.30    The revenue funding to be received under this decision is intended to continue pan-London work on rough sleeping, migration, and drug and alcohol treatment for a further year, to the end of 2025-26. 
Activity and funding profile
1.31    The newly approved expenditure will be as follows:

1.32    The delivery profile will be as follows:

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 they need to rebuild their lives. 
2.2    A key performance indicator 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    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 – exercise of contract options
No Second Night Out 
2.4    NSNO supports people who are seen sleeping rough for the first time, or for whom a clear route off the streets has not yet been identified. The NSNO team assesses people’s situations, 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. 
2.5    In 2023-24 the service was 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 is £17.27m. This includes 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 is funded through the Rough Sleeping Core Budget, subject to annual budget approval. 
2.6    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). 
2.7    Since April 2017 St Mungo’s has been delivering the NSNO contract, which it was awarded following a publicly advertised 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. 
2.8    MD3135 approved the NSNO three-year contract, which is delivered by St Mungo’s and began in April 2024. There are two specific optional services within the contract to extend or expand the service provision; one of these specific optional services is for delivery of SWEP.
Severe Weather Emergency Protocol
2.9    Every year, the GLA funds SWEP overflow provision to ensure sufficient capacity in emergency accommodation systems, at a pan-London level, to meet demand. The amount of additional SWEP accommodation provided each year is matched to the level of need – taking into account the number of people sleeping rough, and the number of local SWEP spaces being provided by London boroughs. 
2.10    This MD seeks approval to spend, via exercise of a specific option in the NSNO contract with St Mungo’s, up to £0.192m from the GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget on SWEP accommodation to safeguard people sleeping rough during cold weather, between 1 December 2024 and 31 March 2025. 
2.11    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. The services that are the subject of the proposed option fall within the original contract and that the option will be exercised in accordance with the requirements of the contract.
Combined Homelessness and Information Network 
2.12    CHAIN is the most complete source of data on a rough-sleeping population within the UK. Commissioned by the GLA, and provided by Homeless Link since 1 April 2022, the CHAIN system is the main recording tool for all street-outreach services across London. It plays an important role in monitoring the work of on-street services; and the needs and outcomes for people they work with. CHAIN also produces regular published reports for the homelessness sector and the public.
2.13    Following an open, competitive procurement process to identify the provider, in compliance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code, the CHAIN contract was awarded to Homeless Link and entered into on 1 April 2022. The contract had an initial term of three years, plus three optional extensions of one year each. The value of the contract over the initial three years was £1.199m. The contract was approved by MD2789. To date, £486,766 of further contractual options – in relation to additional services – have been exercised with a total value up to £1,686,147.73.
2.14    Additional capacity in the CHAIN team is required for development to the system to improve user experience and data recording, and provide better outputs (such as dashboards and reports). This will support the Mayor’s Plan of Action development and implementation, providing enhanced and bespoke training, and expanding the scope of the service to include preventative rough-sleeping work. Additional funding would enable more support staff; more specialist staff and management; more user licences; and external development costs, all to deliver the above. 
2.15    This MD seeks approval to spend, via exercise of pre-existing options in the CHAIN contract with Homeless Link, up to £736k from the GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget to expand and enhance the capacity of the CHAIN team, between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2028. The services that are the subject of the proposed option fall within the original contract; and the option will be exercised in accordance with the requirements of the contract.
Life off the Streets rough-sleeping services – grant funding 
Housing Justice Equipping Shelters Project 
2.16    The Night Shelter Network in London (and England and Wales) is supported and represented by Housing Justice. This is an organisation that provides resources, guidance and expertise to local night shelters to deliver their services and develop the offer to guests.
2.17    The Equipping Shelters Project (ESP) is delivered by Housing Justice in London.
2.18    Via the ESP, Housing Justice provides a staff team that supports shelters and other grassroots groups. It does so by helping them to build capacity; and, therefore, to improve their practice, and facilitate productive and collaborative relationships with local authorities.
2.19    The Night Shelter network is a vital provider of bedspaces for those unable to access formal pathway accommodation options, particularly those with limited or no entitlement to benefits, or with insecure leave status. Delivered by non-commissioned organisations, and staffed predominantly by volunteers, most shelter projects are not subject to, or overseen by, the usual governance structures of local authorities and so Housing Justice offers a structured framework to ensure provision is safe and effective. This also provides alignment and integration with local pathway provision.
2.20    This grant will align to the aims of the RSPARG funding, by improving the partnership working with local authorities to enhance their prevention response; and by ensuring that emergency responses (e.g. SWEP) are more integrated and collaborative. 
2.21    Housing Justice is the representative body for faith groups, providing shelter services for people experiencing homelessness in England and Wales. It occupies a unique position, as the only organisation working across night shelters, formal commissioned services and local authorities. As such, there are no comparable providers of such services, and no competitive market. Additionally, the short timescales between funding decisions and project mobilisation also make the competitive procurement process impossible in this context.
2.22    The GLA has previously grant-funded Housing Justice to support its various programmes of expansion and enhancement of night shelters in London between 2022 and 2025 (MD2789). This MD seeks approval to spend, via grant to Housing Justice, up to £300,000 from the GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget to support and develop the network of night shelters in London; and provide services to them, or their guests, between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. 
Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25 targeted additional funding – grant funding 
Crisis at Christmas 
2.23    Since 2021-22, the GLA has worked in partnership with MHCLG and St Mungo’s to support the charity Crisis in extending its Crisis at Christmas initiative beyond its usual Christmas and New Year opening. 
2.24    The purpose of the extension is to find longer-term move-on options for Crisis at Christmas guests, and to minimise the number of people returning to the street. The intervention has proved successful – in 2021-22, 160 people who would have otherwise returned to the street were prevented from doing so; and in 2022-23, 85 per cent of guests of the extension period had not been seen sleeping rough one month following closure. 
2.25    For Winter 2022-23, DLUHC provided funding to the GLA to enable the delivery of this project. MD3043 approved receipt and expenditure of £0.54m of funding from central government. The expenditure in 2022-23 comprised £0.39m by grant to Crisis; £0.14m by grant to St Mungo’s for a team of move-on support staff; and £0.01m for GLA staffing. 
2.26    In 2023-24 partners took the decision to target a service-resistant client group. It is understood that people in this group refuse support from mainstream and commissioned homelessness services, but may take up the unique offer of Crisis at Christmas. It was found that only 18 per cent of those accessing the extension period were found rough sleeping in January 2024. Given the successes, the same approach to target a service-resistant client group is again being used in 2024-25.
2.27    For Winter 2023-24, DLUHC again provided funding to the GLA to enable the delivery of this project. MD3161 approved receipt and expenditure of £440k of funding from central government. The expenditure in 2023-24 comprised £320k by grant to Crisis; £120k by grant to St Mungo’s for a team of move-on support staff.
2.28    For Winter 2024-25, the GLA has received an allocation £299k from MHCLG to again fund the Crisis at Christmas extension, through the government’s RSI 2022-25 additional targeted funding 2023-25. This funding will be used to enable Crisis to extend one of the Crisis at Christmas hotels (177 beds) for a longer period and fund specialist move-on support from St Mungo’s for guests at this site, to ensure that as many people as possible are found a longer-term route off the street before it closes.
2.29    This MD seeks approval of expenditure of £299k of funding from MHCLG’s RSI programme. Of this, £200k will be grant-funded to Crisis and £99k to St Mungo’s, for the provision of hotel accommodation and specialist move-on support to people sleeping rough in December 2024. 
Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant – receipt and delegation of allocations
2.30    This MD seeks approval to receive £10,630,681 of revenue funding from MHCLG’s RSPARG 2025-26.
2.31    This MD also seeks delegated authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Land to approve individual allocations of this funding to various projects that meet MHCLG’s grant requirements.
Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme – receipt and delegation of allocations
2.32    This MD seeks approval to receive up to £8,100,000 and expend up to £9,535,613 of revenue funding from MHCLG’s RSAP 2025-26 programme.
2.33    This MD also seeks delegated authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Land to approve individual allocations of this funding to various projects within the RSAP programme.
Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant – receipt and delegation of allocations
2.34    The RSDATG has been awarded to the GLA to help improve access to drug and alcohol services for non-UK nationals who are sleeping rough, and in particular those with unclear or limited entitlements. 
2.35    In 2023-24, 28 per cent of people sleeping rough were recorded as having a support need related to alcohol; and 29 per cent had a support need relating to drugs. 55 per cent of people seen sleeping rough were non-UK nationals. Feedback from the voluntary sector suggests that many migrant rough sleepers who have a drug or alcohol need are not engaged with treatment services; and that they often face additional barriers to accessing services, including cultural and language barriers. There are also restrictions on eligibility for some drug and alcohol treatment options, which will affect some people with unclear or limited entitlements. 
2.36    In 2024-25 GLA commissioned research on drug and alcohol treatment needs of homeless migrants, and barriers to accessing services. This is due to be completed in March 2025 (ADD2734). The recommendations from this research will inform the projects and commissioning plan for 2025-26. 
2.37    This MD seeks approval to receive up to £60,823 of revenue funding from MHCLG’s RSDATG 2025-26 programme.
2.38    This MD also seeks delegated authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Land to approve individual allocations of this funding to various projects that meet MHCLG’s grant requirements. 
 

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 believe, 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 strategy, Inclusive London, is to “address the specific barriers that prevent some rough sleepers exiting rough sleeping and rebuilding their lives”.
3.4    The funding referenced in this decision will help to tackle the inequalities experienced by certain groups of Londoners most affected by homelessness and rough sleeping. Of those seen sleeping rough in 2023-24:
•    55 per cent were non-UK nationals
•    24 per cent were Black or Black British
•    4 per cent were Roma
•    48 per cent had a mental health need
•    16 per cent were female
•    59 per cent were aged 26-45
•    9 per cent were under 26
•    11 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 preventative homelessness interventions 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 help people sleeping rough to come off the streets, and 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    The proposals in this paper are likely to have positive impacts on several groups with protected characteristics. As rough sleepers are over-represented among those with the protected characteristics of race and disability, the proposals are likely to have positive impacts on these groups.
 

Key risks and issues
4.1    The key risks associated with the decisions in this MD 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, MHCLG 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    Four organisations will be receiving funding pursuant to the decisions in this MD: St Mungo’s, Housing Justice, Homeless Link and Crisis. All of these are registered charities.
4.6    GLA officers have carried out an analysis of the proposal against the Statutory Guidance for the UK Subsidy Control Regime. They have assessed that the Subsidy Control Regime is non-applicable in these circumstances because the proposed financial assistance does not constitute a subsidy.
4.7    In particular, the proposed financial assistance fails to satisfy Limb B of the four-limbed test set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022, as the beneficiaries of the funding are not classed as enterprises.
4.8    The proposal is consistent with the example set out in section 2.17 of the Statutory Guidance. This example states that “a ringfenced grant to a charity for its non-economic activities (even if the charity also provides some goods or services on the market)” is unlikely to meet the four-limbed test.
 

5.1    Mayoral approval is sought for expenditure totalling £1,228,893 between 2024-25 and 2027-28, from the GLA Rough Sleeping programme budget. Approval is also requested to receive and expend, in 2024-25, £299,516 from MHCLG for RSI, and Crisis at Christmas/winter pressures. MHCLG also confirmed, in December 2024, funding of £20,227,117 for 2025-26 Rough Sleeping programmes. Therefore approval is sought to receive and expend, in 2025-26, this revenue funding from MHCLG.
5.2    The profile and funding of the expenditure totalling £21,755,526 is provided in the table under paragraph 1.31, above, and summarised below:

5.3    The budget for the GLA Rough Sleeping programme is included in the 2025-26 to 2027-28 budget. However, this is subject to the final budget being approved – therefore, to mitigate against risk of insufficient funding, a break clause should be included in the contracts being funded from GLA programme budget, should funding change for future years.
5.4    These contracts, funding and programmes are managed by the Rough Sleeping team, part of the Specialist Housing services unit within Housing and Land. 
 

Power to undertake the requested decisions
6.1    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers; and fall within the GLA’s statutory power to do such things considered to further, or that are facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of social development within Greater London. 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 UK
•    consult with appropriate bodies.
Grant funding from the MHCLG
6.2    Decision 4, above, seeks approval for the receipt, by the GLA, of £299,516 grant funding from the MHCLG. Decisions 5, 6 and 7, above, seek approval for the receipt by the GLA of a total of £18,791,504 grant funding from MHCLG. Officers are reminded to comply with any conditions placed upon the GLA’s use of the funding by the MHCLG.
Exercise of options in NSNO and CHAIN contracts
6.3    Decision 1, above, seeks approval for the exercise of an option in the GLA’s NSNO contract with St Mungo’s. Decision 3, above, seeks approval for the exercise of an option in the GLA’s CHAIN contract with Homeless Link. Regulation 72(1)(a) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 provides that a contract may be modified during its term where it contains an option; and where the services the subject of the proposed option fall within the scope of the original contract. Officers have set out at paragraphs 2.4 to 2.15, above, that both of those criteria will be met in the case of each of the requested options.
Grant funding from the GLA
6.4    Decision 2, above, seeks approval of a grant of up to £300,000 to Housing Justice for its ESP. As set out in paragraphs 2.16 to 2.22, above, the proposed grant would enable Housing Justice to provide a team of emergency accommodation staff to support London-based shelters. To that end, the proposed funding may be viewed as a grant rather than a contract for services.
6.5    Decision 4, above, seeks approval of up to £200,00 grant funding to Crisis and up to £99,516 grant funding to St Mungo’s in order to provide additional accommodation to rough sleepers. To the end, the proposed funding may be viewed as a grant rather than a contract.
6.6    In the case of each of the proposed grants discussed at paragraphs 6.4 and 6.5, above, officers are reminded to put in place a grant funding agreement between the GLA and the charities, before the GLA provides any of the grant monies.
Subsidy control
6.7    The Subsidy Control Act 2022 requires that grant funding be assessed in relation to its four-limbed test. Officers have made this assessment at paragraphs 4.5 to 4.8, above, and have a concluded that the proposed funding does not amount to a subsidy.
Delegation to the Executive Director Housing and Land
6.8    Any function exercisable by the Mayor on behalf of the GLA may also be exercised by any member of GLA staff to the extent that the Mayor authorises and subject to any conditions, which the Mayor sees fit to impose. To this end, the Mayor may make the requested delegation to the Executive Director Housing and Land if he so chooses.
 

7.1    The planned delivery approach for each of the interventions within this MD is set out in the table below: