Agenda item

This report seeks approval to vary the Haringey Street Outreach (HSORT) contract for the period 1st April 2021 to 31^st March 2023, with an option to extend for up to one year as allowed under Contract Standing Order (CSO) 10.02.1(b).

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal considered the report which sought approval to vary the Haringey Street Outreach (HSORT) contract for the period 1st April 2021 to 31^st March 2023, with an option to extend for up to one year as allowed under Contract Standing Order (CSO) 10.02.1(b).

The Cabinet Member referred to her introduction in the report and reiterated that Housing Related Support (HRS) services played a vital role in the prevention of homelessness and rough sleeping within the Borough. People who experience rough sleeping face a wide range of inequalities and some of the worst health and housing outcomes of all residents, including significant risk of a preventable early death.

The Rough Sleeping Taskforce had made outstanding progress in tackling rough sleeping in Haringey, reducing the number of people living on our streets by 63% in the last four years and enabling people with long-term histories of rough sleeping to sustain accommodation, in some cases for the first time in years. The proposal set out in the report aimed to continue that work by building capacity in the team to offer flexible and person-centred support to help people exit street homelessness and rebuild their lives.

RESOLVED to

1.         Approve, in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 10.02.1(b), the variation of the contract with Thames Reach Charity for Haringey Street Outreach Service (HSORT) which was let for a period of 2 years from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2023 with an option to extend for up to one year.

2.         Note that the variation will increase the capacity of the frontline team employed under the contract, bringing the aggregated value of the contract over a 3-year period to £620,520 inclusive of the agreed extension.

Reasons for decision

A Request for Quotation (RFQ) was undertaken via the Council’s e-tendering portal (HPCS). A contract was awarded and due to start on 1 April 2021. 

The bid was evaluated and found to meet quality and price criteria stated and was awarded at a total value of £472,277.  This report requests approval to vary this contract, to include an additional lead worker in the service, at an increased value of £148,243 across the contract period, bringing the total aggregated cost of the contract to £620,520.

Due to increased flow on to the streets and additional and confirmed funding from the Rough Sleeping Initiatives Programme administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), this proposed variation will better meet demand for the service which in turn will enable the Council to meet its strategic commitments to residents around rough sleeping and single homelessness.

Financial provision exists within the Housing-Related Support budget to meet the additional costs of this variation.

Alternative options considered

The Council is not statutorily required to provide these services. It would therefore be legal not to approve the variation proposed and continue only with the contract already entered into with Thames Reach Charity. However, the Haringey Borough Plan (2019-2023) sets out a commitment to ending rough sleeping in Haringey and the Council has received funding from MHCLG to do so, as such it is in the Council’s best interests to approve the proposed variation.

It would be possible to insource the additional capacity required, and this was explored as part of the tender process for the main contract. However, due to existing implementation and insourcing commitments made by the Housing-Related Support Service this year, and the extraordinary additional pressures posed by Covid-19, it is not possible to insource the street outreach team or any additional capacity required to the required degree of quality or financial viability. The agreed 2+1-year contract length was determined so that the Council can revisit the insourcing of the service in the mid-term future.