Purpose

Bristol City Council receives funding from the
Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (RSPARG) for
services that prevent people rough sleeping in the city. In recent
years there has been a significant increase in people living in
vans in the city, largely driven by Housing Affordability. Bristol
City Council is creating a new policy for van dwellers, one element
of which will be accessing wellbeing and support services to help
people access accommodation and support where needed (either
supported housing or private sector housing). We are proposing to
use RSPARG funding to fund two additional Outreach workers in the
St Mungo’s Outreach Team for two years to engage with Van
Dwellers and look at accommodation and support options available to
them. They will work in tandem with a health visiting
service.

Content

To approve the spend on two additional
outreach officers, with 0.2 Coordination time (one day per week)
from 1st October 2025 to 30th September 2027.

Alternative options considered

No alternative options were considered. It is
acknowledged that funding additional Outreach capacity was better
than funding internal BCC posts as St Mungo’s are independent
from BCC and better placed to engage with clients who can sometimes
be wary of engaging with BCC staff.