The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Sub Committee were scheduled to meet to discuss an independent evaluation of rough sleeping services, an update to the 2023-2027 homelessness strategy, and a proposal for a North East London rough sleeping grant. The meeting also included updates on tackling the negative impacts of rough sleeping, and commissioning and procurement for homelessness prevention.

Independent Evaluation of City of London Rough Sleeping Services

The sub committee were scheduled to note a report on the independent review of the City of London's rough sleeping services. The review was carried out by Homeless Link¹ and the final report was submitted in August 2025.

The review considered:

• The ability of existing interventions to meet near future demand.
• How effectively available grant funding has been used.
• The extent to which rough sleeping workstreams are integrated into the wider homelessness service.
• Exploration of potential gaps in existing service delivery.
• Strengths and weakness of partnership arrangements.
• The extent to which services can demonstrate their impact in reducing rough sleeping.

The review noted that the City of London has a comprehensive service offer, including the Snow Hill Court assessment centre, accommodation for people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF), the specialist rough sleeper social worker, homeless health offer, and the private rented sector (PRS) access scheme.

The review made a number of recommendations, including:

• Allocating specific resources within the outreach team, to respond to Streetlink reports and work with other flow rough sleepers.
• Setting up a staging post, to increase throughput and move on from Snow Hill Court.
• Additional funding for immigration advice and casework support.
• Commissioning a separate team to support move-on from Snow Hill Court and other City of London accommodation pathway projects.
• Establishing a dedicated health data role based in the outreach team.

North East London Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant Delivery Proposal

The sub committee were scheduled to consider a report seeking approval for the City of London to act as the lead authority, commissioning body and administrator for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant (RSPARG) on behalf of the North East London (NEL) sub-region.

The report noted that the government's new RSPARG programme was publicly announced on 18 December 2024. The initial award for 2025/26 includes £1,373,509 individual allocation to the City of London and £767,448 allocated to the NEL sub-region.

The report set out two options:

• Option 1: The City of London will act as the lead authority for the NEL sub-region. The City of London will be the recipient of RSPARG funding for 2025/26, with consideration given to extending this arrangement to align with confirmation of future funding for 2026/27 and beyond.
• Option 2: The City of London will not assume a lead authority function for the NEL sub-region. Redbridge will retain the budget and the role until such time as an alternative arrangement can be designed and implemented. The City of London will sustain its participation in the NEL sub-region as an equal with the other boroughs involved.

Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023-2027 Update Report

The sub committee were scheduled to receive an update on the progress against the aims set out in the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2023–2027.

The report noted that there are currently 53 actions on the Strategy Delivery Plan (SDP). 47 actions have commenced, and 26 actions are now completed.

The actions completed in the period are:

• Develop recruitment practices to increase/sustain representation diversity in workforce/committee membership – diverse recruitment panels and blind shortlisting routinely used.
• Explore business case/need for increased wellbeing offer in Square Mile for rough sleepers – one-year fixed-term post at the Providence Row Dellow Centre is now recruited to and delivering.
• Enable move to electronic casework management system for Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) – Salesforce Inform now purchased and at configuration phase.

Tackling the Negative Impacts of Rough Sleeping Update

The sub committee were scheduled to note a report providing an update on the work done to date to tackle the negative impacts of rough sleeping.

The report outlined the resources and governance introduced to respond to these concerns, including:

• A specialist Community Safety Officer was employed in May 2025 on a 12-month fixed-term contract.
• A Joint Working Group was formed in June 2025, chaired by City of London Police (CoLP) Chief Inspector Garner and including staff from across the Corporation.
• A comprehensive register of all active rough sleeping sites has been created of every known rough sleeper in the Square Mile.
• The Joint Working Group has strategic oversight of the Days of Action operational group.

Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping – Commissioning and Procurement Update

The sub committee were scheduled to note a report providing an update on the Commissioning and Procurement of services provided to the Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Service.

The report noted that the Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeper Service (HPRSS) currently commissions 21 different services of varying sizes delivering statutory and strategic outcomes. The total annual value of these contracts stands at £5.5 million.

The current commissioning and procurement activity is as follows:

• Statutory Homelessness Out of Hours Response - Designing proposal (Target date 01/01/2026)
• Health Inclusion (two sites) - Preparing direct award of new contract (Target date 24/11/2025)
• The Lodges - Preparing direct award of new contract (Target date 31/12/2025)
• Low–Medium Supported Housing - Redesign of service specification following service review and preparing direct award of new contract (Target date 31/03/2026)
• Street Homeless Outreach and Support - Co-producing and designing new multi-functional service (Target date 01/11/2026)

Other Matters

The agenda also included:

• Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting.
• A verbal update from the Commissioner of the City of London Police.
• Questions on matters relating to the work of the sub-committee.
• Any other business that the chairman considers urgent.
• Exclusion of the public for discussion of non-public minutes and a non-public update from the City of London Police.