Decision details

To allocate DLUHC’s 2024/25 Homelessness prevention grants and Safer Accommodation Grant funding as set out in Appendix 1. (This appendix also sets out the expenditure incurred during 2023/24 by way of comparison.)

1) Homelessness Prevention Grant Funding
For 2024/25, DLUHC have allocated CBC homelessness prevention grant funding of £402,080, plus an additional ‘windfall’ homelessness prevention grant of £209,030, which takes account of additional homelessness pressures arising from Ukrainian crisis. Both grants are ringfenced for homelessness prevention services, including temporary accommodation provision and statutory homelessness services. The funding must be spent during this financial year.
Given that the conditions for spend are ringfenced for homelessness prevention and statutory homelessness services, it follows that the bulk of this funding will contribute towards the costs of Cheltenham’s Housing Options Service, as this service is responsible for delivering our statutory homelessness and homelessness prevention services. An estimated total of £548,239 grant funding will contribute towards the delivery of this service.
In addition, a further £11,871 and £26,000 will be allocated to our Assertive Outreach Service and Enhanced Housing Service respectively. These are county-wide, jointly commissioned services, mainly funded by DLUHC’s Rough Sleeping Initiative Grant Funding 2022-25, which is held by Gloucester City Council on behalf of the 6 districts. Our Assertive Outreach Service, delivered by P3, helps rough sleepers access support services and suitable accommodation; whilst our Enhanced Housing Support Service, again delivered by P3, helps entrenched rough sleepers with complex needs remain in independent accommodation. Both these services fall within the remit of the grant funding spend requirements.
2) Safer Accommodation Grant Funding
In addition, for 2024/25 DLUHC have allocated CBC £36,042 grant funding to support the county council in their duties to undertake a needs assessment and to develop a strategy to tackle domestic abuse. This strategy provides a framework for the commissioning of relevant support services.
All district housing authorities across Gloucestershire are in receipt of grant funding to support the county council. It therefore follows that economies of scale can be created by pooling resources to create a small team to assist the county council in the needs assessment, strategy development, and the commissioning of housing-related domestic abuse services, such as places of safety and target hardening services, both of which play a key role in supporting survivors of domestic abuse and preventing homelessness. The estimated costs for 2024/25 are £29,790, leaving a difference of £6,252 which can support any additional funding requirements during 2024/25, or otherwise can be carried into 2025/26 to support potential future additional cost requirements, subject to any relevant approvals

None considered. These grants to CBC are ringfenced to support the services as set out above, and are aligned with CBC’s Housing, Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023-28.

The funding allocation has been agreed with Officers within Cheltenham’s Housing Options Service and relevant finance officers part of our ongoing budget monitoring work. Our contribution towards the financing of rough sleeping services will ensure CBC is able to meet its contractual obligations in respect of the delivery of these jointly commissioned services.