homelessness, facilitating savings in existing hostel and temporary supported housing provision which can be redeployed to support
increased preventative activity and to support Housing First itself53.
Commissioning arrangements and options
It is necessary to appraise the commissioning options for a Housing First model across the LCR to determine the most feasible option. Based on feedback from a range of stakeholders, the following commissioning options have been identified:
• Commissioning by each of the six local authorities separately but to an agreed Housing First model.
• Commissioning by ‘groups’ of local authorities, e.g. across two groups of three local authorities or another combination.
• Jointly commissioned by all six local authorities across the whole LCR. All these options assume that local authorities will be the ‘lead’ commissioners of the proposed Housing First model, but that this will be done in close partnership with NHS, criminal justice and other partners.
Key drivers and pressures
As we saw in Chapter 1, there are a number of key drivers and pressures facing LCR local authority commissioners and their partners in considering the commissioning options for a Housing First model. These include:
• Increasing levels of homelessness including rough sleeping;
• The high numbers of people with complex needs, who tend to get the poorest outcomes from the system, often moving around a ‘revolving door’ for years.
• The strong consensus amongst local stakeholders that the current
53 Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (2015) Op. Cit.
homelessness system is not working well, especially for this group; and that a more strategic and innovative approach involving working across agency and authorities boundaries is needed.
• The significant changes proposed by Government to the future funding of supported housing, which includes existing hostel provision, within a relatively short timescale, by April 2019.
• Concerns about both the availability of and access to 1-bed self-
contained housing for people who are homeless.
In this context, the potential commissioning options for
implementing a Housing First model, and their implications, are set out below. These options are presented to diferentiate the approaches that could be adopted; and are not intended to be exhaustive. Table 5.1 summarises the implications of each option.
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What will it cost?
Table 5.1 Potential commissioning options for implementing Housing First
Option Summary Description Implications 1 Commissioning by each of the six
local authorities separately but to an agreed Housing First model, In efect, this would mean a Housing First model being commissioned by each local authority for its area
• Local control over commissioning arrangements
• Unlikely to be suicient demand in all six local authority areas for the proposed model
• Risk of lack of consistency in how the Housing First model is commissioned and delivered across the LCR with potential for people to ‘gravitate’ to those authorities with greater Housing First provision.
• Less likely to address strategic cross-boundary issues afecting homelessness that have been identified by stakeholders
• Partner organisations, mental health services, drug/alcohol services, criminal justice agencies, would need to work with a locally commissioned Housing First service in each local authority area
• Access to and the provision of suitable housing would need to be managed within each local authority area
• Local connection within the LCR would remain a barrier
• Ability to personalise the delivery of the service to clients may be easier at local level
• Very limited scope for economies of scale 2 Commissioning by ‘groups’ of local
authorities, e.g. across two groups of 3 local authorities or another combination
In efect, a degree of commissioning of a Housing First model across local authority boundaries
• This is a way of commissioning an agreed Housing First model across 2 or 3 cross-local authority areas to deliver a greater degree of consistency • There is scope to better address and manage variations in demand across
diferent local authority areas
• There is greater scope to commission and configure Housing First to better align with partner organisations, i.e. mental health services, drug/alcohol services, criminal justice agencies
• There are diferent cross local authority boundary ‘permutations’ that may be possible for commissioning purposes (e.g. Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton) but no established existing model for such commissioning • Although this approach would better address strategic cross-boundary
issues afecting homelessness, it would not necessarily provide a consistent pan-LCR approach
3 Jointly commissioned by all six local authorities across the whole LCR. In efect, a single Housing First approach covering the entire LCR, commissioned by or on behalf of all LCR authorities
• Commissioning an agreed Housing First model pan LCR would deliver a consistent approach which could still be ‘tailored’ to suit local requirements • This approach would enable a Housing First service to be flexible in adapting
to difering levels of need across diferent local authority areas
• It would require pan LCR governance arrangements but this would need to allow for local flexibility and responsiveness
• Some local authorities may be concerned about loss of control if the joint governance arrangements are not robust
• More likely to address strategic cross-boundary issues afecting homelessness that have been identified by stakeholders
• Provides a more consistent and coherent approach to securing engagement of partner organisations, i.e. mental health services, drug/alcohol services, criminal justice agencies
• Provides a better opportunity to align the approach to commissioning and implementing Housing First with the potential for additional powers being devolved to the LCR Combined Authority
• Access to and the provision of suitable housing would need to be managed across the LCR; this could be challenging but could also provide economies of scale for a local lettings agency model
• Would need to consider how to ensure the service is still personalised to individuals within a pan LCR commissioned approach.
• May take time to establish the necessary pan LCR commissioning arrangements