Content

9.1

The
Head of Commissioning for Vulnerable People and Communities
introduced the report which set out a new 5
year Sheffield Strategy which will take the learning from
the Changing Futures Programme and further develop system wide
support to some of the most vulnerable residents of the city. The
strategy has been developed in partnership with other statutory and
voluntary organisations and people with lived experience of
multiple disadvantage.
 
The
report asked for Committee approval for the Council to play a lead
role in delivering the Strategy and a future resourcing plan to
support the development of new service models to put the learning
from the Programme into practice and improve outcomes for
vulnerable people.
 

9.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Adult Health
and Social Care Policy Committee:-

Approve the new citywide strategy to support people facing
severe and multiple disadvantage.

Approve a recommissioning process to organise existing and,
where available, new resources, into a reshaped service model to
provide direct support to vulnerable adults including people with
severe and multiple needs from 2026 in line with the principles and
objectives in the strategy.

Approve the development by officers of an interim resource and
delivery plan for 2025-26 to enable key services developed through
the Changing Futures Programme to continue within existing budgets,
whilst the recommissioning process recommended above takes
place.

9.3

Reasons for Decision

9.3.1

The
recommendations in this report, if accepted, will build on the
successful work and learning from the Changing Futures Programme,
turning this into a sustainable citywide strategy in future years
to support some of the most vulnerable residents of
Sheffield.

9.3.2

The
Strategy will ensure better outcomes for people and communities
including better health and wellbeing, reduced crime and
exploitation, reduced homelessness and rough sleeping, and direct
involvement and participation of people with lived experience of
multiple disadvantage.

 

 

9.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

9.4.1

Alternative Option
1:
One option would be to
bring the Changing Futures Programme to a close locally in line
with the Governments National Programme and the External Grant
Funding in March 2025.

9.4.2

All the partners
involved in the programme are agreed that this approach would
squander the rich insight and learning that has emerged from the
programme and would stall the system change that has in many ways
only just started to take root. It would mean scaling back activity
and support for Coproduction which would go directly against the
spirit of the programme and the energy and time that so many
coproduction associates have personally invested in the
programme.

9.4.3

Alternative Option 2:
An alternative option
which was considered was for all partners to secure additional new
resources from their budgets to make up the gap from the external
Grant ending and continue to deliver the programme in the future in
the same or similar way to the current Changing Futures
Programme.

9.4.4

This option was not
considered the best because, although having the additional new
resources and the structure of the Changing Futures has given us a
strong platform to start from, there have been drawbacks to having
a standalone Programme of activity. All partners agreed that
in order to really make the system
change sustainable for the future it is necessary to widen the
scope of the work and integrate the activity increasingly with
other services and systems. In other words, to deliver more than
just a new service but a strategic system change
ambition.

9.4.5

In addition to this,
in the last year the uncertainty over public sector budgets,
including delays to funding announcements due to the election and
subsequent Spending Review and ongoing pressures on budgets, mean
that it is increasingly difficult to find new additional resources
for activities. The best way to achieve our ambitions as a Council
is to have a longer term plan to
integrate a range of resources under a new strategy, as set out in
this report.

9.4.6

As we start to engage
with partners to develop a new service model for the future, there
is potential for other budgets and resources to be aligned with the
Council’s to widen the scope of a more preventative service
to deliver other partner objectives. This will be something
officers will pursue as we develop the process.