City of London Street Outreach & Support Services

Background

The City of London Corporation has historically contracted a Street Outreach service to identify and support rough sleepers within the Square Mile.

This provision has been complemented by two additional rough sleeper support services working with clients temporarily accommodated as a route from the streets and those clients with a long-term history of street homelessness and more complex needs.

Since 2018, the Central Government has made specific funding available to address street homelessness across the United Kingdom and the current Outreach Service, alongside the related services, has benefited from the addition of these resources to boost its reach and effectiveness.

Current Position

The Corporation has co-designed a new multi-functional Street Homelessness Outreach & Support Service, taking on board the learning from previous initiatives and challenges alongside input from people with lived experience of street homelessness and service access; that will comprise three of the currently separately contracted services under one contract with a single provider.

This service will meet the potential challenges of the next five years with flexibility, agility and the ability to take on new initiatives over its lifespan. This is reflected in the potential value and scope of the tender. This modular approach will also allow the Corporation to react to changing needs, demand and priorities over the lifetime of the contract

Flexible Service

The contract will be based on a primary service, consisting of Street Outreach, Peripatetic Support for clients placed in temporary accommodation settings and Long Term Casework for individuals with more entrenched or complex and multiple needs.

The contract will also outline a number of potential additions to the service over the lifetime of the contract, enabling the service to react to change on a local, sub-regional or national level.

Optional extras may include, but are not limited to:

Specific premises from which to provide the service

Weather / Seasonal-related responses, such as providing enhanced support during cold or hot weather, in addition to the normal service function during severe weather

Providing support to specific demographics of clients, such as those identifying as women and those with complex immigration issues

Health improvement interventions

Providing a bespoke response to the emergence or existence of “hot spots” or rough sleeping encampments in the City of London

Providing an enhanced day service for street homeless individuals

Responding to potential legislative changes or strategic developments nationally in reducing rough sleeping

Providing an enhanced reconnection service

Research and investigation into wider national initiatives and market best practice

Specific Pilot projects to aid learning and development of practice

Prevention initiatives, especially those targeted at preventing a return to the streets

Each optional or potential service addition will be subject to a series of activation triggers, including the availability of funding, ensuring the Corporation is able to react quickly to potential future funding opportunities; using the learning from the 5 years since the Covid Pandemic, where funding opportunities have arisen for specific interventions.

The flexibility built into this procurement is made transparent and explicit within the tender documentation.

This tendering exercise is being undertaken using the electronic tendering system ‘City of London Corporation Sourcing & Contracts Portal’ (cityoflondon.ukp.app.jaggaer.com ↗). Suppliers will need to register an interest in the system in order to participate, and registration is free.

The estimated contract value given at sections 31 and 32 is for the full duration of the contract, including the maximum possible extensions. The estimated annual contract value is therefore £1,000,000)