Purpose

Cabinet will consider the option appraisal for
the management of council-owned temporary accommodation (TA),
inspections of TA and delivery of private sector properties for
households in housing need and single person homeless services.

Decision

Cabinet approved the
following recommendations:

·      
Approved the implementation of a hybrid delivery model for the
Housing Solutions Services not already in-sourced.

·      
Agreed to bring in-house the following functions: statutory
decision making for homeless singles, rent collection from those
living in Temporary Accommodation, and the Private Rental Sector
(PRS) placement service, to be directly delivered by the Council
from April 2026.

·      
Delegated approval for the new operating model and associated
budget for insourced services jointly to the Executive Director of
Housing and Commercial Partnerships in consultation with the
Cabinet Member for Housing Services and the Executive Director of
Finance and Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for
Finance and Council Reform.
 
 
Reasons for Decision: Following recent
insourcing of elements of HSS, the future delivery of the remaining
HSS services was considered, with a recommendation to implement a
hybrid model, by insourcing statutory decision-making for single
homeless applicants (Lot 2), and recommissioning prevention and
support services for single people (Lot 2), and property
management, compliance, and inspection of TA properties (Lot
4).
 
The delivery model for the remaining HSS
contracts balances strategic insourcing with targeted
recommissioning. This approach enables the Council to integrate
services where there is alignment with existing structures and
transformation opportunities, while leveraging market expertise to
redesign and commission services that deliver added value and
economies of scale