Decision details

For Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) to enter into a contract from 1^st July 2022 to 31^st March 2025 with Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) for an ACE-led trauma-informed post and an Intensive Tenancy Management post at a total cost of up to £96,250 over this period, financed from Rough Sleeper Initiative Grant funding.

These posts will offer a bespoke, trauma-informed approach to support former rough sleepers to sustain tenancies within CBC’s housing led accommodation through developing a better understand of past life experiences/ ACE’s and will provide additional support to CBH’s tenancy management team in managing any anti-social behaviour concerns and community element of the properties. This service will be match-funded by CBH using funding from the Housing Revenue Account

Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) have been running a pilot scheme, for an ACE-led trauma-informed post funded by RSI 4 uplift funding, since the 11^th October 2021 to offer a bespoke, trauma-informed support approach to better understand the past life experiences of six previously entrenched rough sleepers with complex needs who are currently in Housing First properties in Cheltenham.

This role provides support for people who have previously slept rough to ensure people do not return to rough sleeping and focuses support on increasing resilience and improving life outcomes including tenancy sustainability. This support is in addition to the support provided by CBH tenancy teams and complements the wider support being provided by the enhanced housing service.

CBC was recently part of a joint funding bid for Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) funding to support initiatives to tackle rough sleeping over the next 3 years (up to March 2025). This was a joint bid involving all the local housing authorities in the county, with Gloucester City Council submitting the bid as lead partner and covered funding for a number of jointly commissioned county-wide services, focusing on preventing and supporting people currently rough sleeping.

Alongside these county-wide initiatives, CBC was successful in receiving 3-year funding (from 1^st July 2022 to 31^st March 2025) to continue the ACE-led trauma-informed post alongside a new Intensive Tenancy Management post which will provide additional support to CBH’s tenancy management team in managing any anti-social behaviour concerns and community element of the properties.

This initiative will provide additional intensive support to clients who have a history of being entrenched in rough sleeping and have previously not engaged well with relevant services. This will be in addition to the housing management provided by the CBH tenancy teams, and will complement the support already being provided by P3.

This will support further clients with complex needs who have a history of rough sleeping in Cheltenham and will increase clients’ understanding of the trauma they have experienced and increase their resilience - it is anticipated this will enable clients to become more equipped to cope with challenging social situations and to make more positive life choices, giving them hope, and a sense of purpose and meaning that will equip them to lead more fulfilling lives.

The roles will support 12 Housing First dwellings across Cheltenham which will all be in place by the end of Q4 2023. It is anticipated that as the support needs of the 6 existing housing first clients will reduce more time can be focused on supporting the additional 6 housing first clients which will be mobilised incrementally.

All of these dwellings will be provided by CBH (6 units are already in place (with an additional unit being currently sourced) with an additional 5 units being proposed to be mobilised (at an approx. rate of one per quarter) over the 3-year funding term (Q3 / 2022 – Q4 / 2023.

All cases will be regularly reviewed on a monthly basis to not only understand the progress made but to also understand the challenges experienced. A countywide strategic steering group is also being proposed which will provide governance, strategic support and operational oversight for Housing First / Housing led initiatives across the county.

To demonstrate our commitment to ensuring our housing-led initiative is a success, both CBC and Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) have committed to match-fund these roles via the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget (approved by Council on the 21^st February 2022) which will contribute towards half the costs of these roles from Year 1. Please see breakdown of funding below:

This work supports a key outcome of Cheltenham Borough Council’s housing, homelessness and rough sleeping strategy 2018-2023 to tackle homelessness and to undertake activities to reduce rough sleeping.

None.

There is overwhelming agreement that services continue to be required, and enhanced, in order to tackle rough sleeping within Cheltenham and across the county

The bid was prepared by a range of partners and was scrutinised and endorsed by the countywide Partnership’s Oversight Board that includes representation from all Partner organisations.

Consultation has been undertaken with partners in the statutory and voluntary sectors to help inform the bid.