Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Adults and Health.  To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Well-Being]

This report requests that Cabinet award the  Housing Related Support contracts for supported accommodation and floating support services for homeless adults with mental health needs.

The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Well-Being introduced the report which sought approval to award six contracts to the successful tenderers for the Provision of Housing Related Support (HRS) Mental Health Pathway Services in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.1 (d).

The Cabinet Member and Director for Adults and Health responded to questions from Councillor Ogiehor:

-           Where no bids had been received, one of the contracts would continue to run as it currently was and the other was a pilot project which would not require a contract until it was decided to identify an appropriate provider.

-           The Adults and Health service were working hard to ensure that all services were peer informed and peer designed.  All tender specifications had been designed based on feedback provided by ‘experts by experience’ (service users).

Further to consideration of exempt information, it was

RESOLVED that Cabinet

1.      Approves the award of contracts for the provision of HRS - Mental Health Pathway Services to the successful tenderers (identified in Appendix 3 - Part B (exempt information) of this report), for a period of 3 years commencing from 1^st April 2022 to 31^st March 2025 with an option to extend for a further period, or periods, of up to 2 years, in accordance with CSO 9.07.1(d).

2.      Approves the aggregated cost of the contracts for the initial period of 3 years will be £3,225,810, inclusive of London Living Wage (LLW). For a duration of 5 years (if the extensions are invoked) would be £5,412,917, exclusive of annual inflationary increases for contractual years 4 and 5, but in line with LLW inflationary increase.

3.      Notes that insufficient tenders were received for some of the accommodation-based Lots, please see Appendix 3 - Part B (exempt information) of this report.:

4.      Notes that a further procurement process will be undertaken as a matter of priority to commission the remaining units. Prior to this feedback will be sought from bidders and partners to ensure retendering is effective and the new service model is fully in place by April 2022.

Reasons for decision

There is an identified need within Haringey for services to support residents around the wide-ranging needs and circumstances that contribute to and cause homelessness. Dedicated mental health supported housing services help to meet that need, providing a flexible and person-centred service which will support clients to maintain and establish sustainable housing and overcome health inequalities, barriers and experiences that can contribute to and perpetuate homelessness.

The Mental Health Pathway operates to prevent homelessness, facilitate rapid hospital discharge and smooth prison releases for people with ongoing mental health needs. The pathway supports residents to develop and strengthen the skills required to sustain independence. There is a continuous and high demand for mental health supported housing, with residents referred via Barnet, Haringey and Enfield Mental Health Trust (BEHMHT) and Homes for Haringey’s Housing Needs Service. These services make a key contribution to the health and wellbeing of local residents and there is both a strategic need and evidence base to support the award of these contracts.

The Homelessness Reduction Act (2018) brought about a range of changes to the way that local authorities respond to households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. A key element of the new legislation is an extended duty, for the Council and its partners, to prevent homelessness at the earliest possible stage. This focus on early prevention will be a key element of these services and will therefore support the Council in meeting its statutory duties under the Act.

The HRS Mental Health Supported Housing Pathway will also contribute to delivery of the Council’s Borough Plan (2019-2023) objectives and will play an integral role in the delivery of Haringey’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategies, by supporting single adults with support needs to secure positive housing, health and community outcomes.

Alternative options considered

Do nothing – The Council could elect not to recommission the Mental Health Pathway services. However, this would leave Haringey without the appropriate housing services to support households in need. This would be likely to cause an increase in the number of people placed into temporary accommodation and in acute hospital admissions, which would have a significant detrimental impact on the residents affected and the Council and its partners. The option to do nothing was considered and rejected.

Extend existing contracts – Extension periods available within the existing contracts have been exhausted.

Deliver the services inhouse –Extensive consideration was given to the possibility of in-house delivery for these services. However, the investment required to develop and manage the properties, services and teams required, was found to be significantly greater than the resources currently available to the Council. In particular, suitable accommodation for the delivery of key contracts within the Pathway would have been a challenge to source and manage; some of the existing properties would not have been available to the Council and an exploration of the Council’s own assets did not generate any suitable and available buildings. The successful tenderer’s have an extensive track record in delivering these services and have committed the properties required to do so. which will ensure quality services for residents and best value for the Council.