Purpose

The Council has been providing funding for
Derek Crosfield House since 2017. The scheme is owned and operated
by Peabody and provides housing related support to young parents or
those who are expecting a child and might otherwise be
homeless.
The most recent funded period ended on 30 September 2025, and in
the longer term the Council will need to undertake a procurement
exercise for this service. To allow time for this exercise to take
place, the Council has considered extending the funding for this
service until the 31March 2026.
Given the type of service offered and the level of ongoing demand,
it is the view of officers that funding should be provided from 30
September 2025 until 31 March 2026 using a proportion of the
Homelessness Prevention Grant for 2025/26.
A report was written in February 2024 along with a decision to
extend the funding from that point for 12 months. A further six
month extension was made in May 2025 with the intention that a
procurement exercise would be undertaken during that period. Due to
staffing pressure that exercise has not yet been completed
necessitating this further extension.
The Corporate Director (Law & Governance) and Monitoring
Officer has been consulted and indicated that an extension to the
grant funding can be offered, due to the specific type of public
sector support which is being provided.
Consultation has also been undertaken with the Portfolio Holder for
Housing & Planning.
The extension of time will be used to undertake a procurement
exercise. There is a risk that a further shorter extension period
may be required beyond this one and this is dependant upon how well
the procurement exercise goes.

Content

To extend the funding for Derek Crosfield
House for a 6-month period to allow for a procurement process to
take place.
Peabody have advised that funding of £26,116.99 would be
needed to continue the level of support that is provided at the
scheme, during this period.

Alternative options considered

There are at this time no direct LGR or
devolution issues although in the longer term the new unitary
authority will need to consider whether it wishes to continue
funding schemes of this nature.