York Labour set to ditch another homeless persons contractor.

Comes in the wake of the Salvation Army controversy

Only 6 months after ditching its deal with the Salvation Army to look after people found sleeping rough in the City, the Council is set to terminate its contract with the charity (The Cyrenians) which runs homeless accommodation in the city

Th service provides emergency/temporary accommodation and support, using residential placements, for everyone who is homeless over the age of 16. The service supports people to develop the skills to live independently and prevent homelessness.

The Councils existing external contract was commissioned on 1st February 2017 from The Cyrenians Ltd. (trading as  “Changing Lives”) to reduce homelessness. The Contract will expire on 31st July 2024 (the term having previously been extended beyond the original expiry date of 31st January 2022 by a further 2.5 years).

The current annual cost is £1,098,375.

The scope of this contract covers: –

• 24/7 hostel provision at Union Terrace (39 male units)
• 24/7 hostel provision at Robinson Court (14 female units and 4 young people’s units)
• floating tenancy support to shared housing and people living in the community (74 units across 14 houses, including Scarcroft Rd, and 12 training flats).
• Making Every Adult Matter services (“MEAM”) which provide intensive support and multi-agency coordination to up to 28 adults with complex needs.
• Mental Health Housing First service (“MHHF”) which supports up to 21 individuals with a long history of mental ill health and challenging lives to live independently.

This is also supplemented by charitable provision by Restore who provide a further 41 beds of uncontracted, shared accommodation in 10 properties, at zero cost to the council. The service provided has proven highly effective at supporting individuals and getting them to the point where they can move on into self-contained accommodation.

Now the Council wants to end the contract and – rather like the Salvation Army issue -bring the service “in-house”. This wish appears to be based on political dogma rather than any attempt to put the homeless first.

The Council claims that this can be done at zero additional cost.

Anyone who has been through this kind of exercise will doubt that. There will also be major concerns about any break in provision between the time that the contract expires and the launch of a new service. Senior management at West Offices cutbacks mean that there is limited experience and capacity to call on.

While those currently working for The Cyrenians will be entitled to transfer to new Council posts under TUPE arrangements, there is no guarantee that they will want to do so.

The Council has multiple job vacancies for care workers and there are reports that experienced staff across the authority are considering leaving in the wake of the turmoil caused by cuts being imposed by the Labour administration.

There is a very real danger that this will go badly wrong and that the victims will be vulnerable homeless people.

They deserve better.