Purpose

See attached ODR for details

Decision

Approval is given to allocate Homelessness Prevention, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant to the following:-

• Management capacity £6k (one-off)
• Downsizing incentives and development of temporary accommodation model £100k (one-off)
• Welcome Centre staffing enhancement £80k (recurrent)• Open House Plus budget shortfall £100k (recurrent)
• Single Point of Access budget shortfall £60k (recurrent)

Alternative options considered

1. Continue existing arrangements without additional investment in prevention activity.
Rejected as this would limit opportunities to strengthen early intervention, partnership working and prevention-focused approaches.

2. Allocate all additional funding solely to statutory homelessness functions.
Rejected as this would reduce flexibility to respond to wider causes of homelessness and rough sleeping and limit opportunities for partnership-led prevention activity.

3. Reduce or discontinue existing rough sleeping interventions
Rejected due to the significant risk of increased rough sleeping, repeat homelessness, pressure on emergency services and poorer outcomes for vulnerable residents.

4. Limit funding to accommodation-based responses only.
Rejected as homelessness is wider than solely a housing issue and requires coordinated responses across housing, health, social care, advice services and community partners.