Market Engagement - Recommissioning Services Adults who are, or are at risk of Homelessness

Host

Oxfordshire County Council on behalf of its commissioning partners Oxford City Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, South and Vale District Council and Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group

When

Market engagement session

Wednesday 31st March 10am - 12pm

Platform

Microsoft Teams

Please confirm attendance via the portal providing a word attachment with organisation name, contact name of attendee(s), email and telephone contact details. A Teams link will be provided in advance of the engagement session.

Purpose

This session is intended to provide information to the market about how the partnership of six Oxfordshire councils and the Clinical Commissioning Group intends to recommission services to support people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness including rough sleepers. Services will start 1st April 2022. The overall approximate budget is circa £3.1m per annum. The proposed contract length is 5 years with the option to extend for up to 3 years.

Summary

The Crisis housing led feasibility study for Oxfordshire (Full report) completed in November 2020 concluded that if we want to put an end to rough sleeping in Oxfordshire we need to change how we commission services, what we commission, and how we work together as a housing, social care and health system that prevents and resolves homelessness.

Oxfordshire will adopt a Housing Led approach to ending homelessness which aims to move people into their own homes as quickly as possible and provides them with the support they need to make it work. We are working towards an Alliance approach to commissioning and contracting where we will be looking for a group of providers to come forward, setting out how they will work with commissioning partners to deliver outcomes. The approach will require the development and deployment of flexible and interdependent working relationships, embracing the differences between existing practices and enabling truly collaborative behaviour.

The overarching areas that we propose to commission include: intensive case management for Housing First; a proportion of shared / dispersed housing with a clear identity and function; with support that is flexible and responsive; specific provision e.g. gender, substance misuse; floating support - including cohorts that may require a specialist approach for example for Adults Survivors of Sexual Exploitation; outreach services to rough sleepers; stepdown houses and embedded housing workers to support discharge from hospitals.

For more information please contact

Sarah.roberts@oxfordshire.gov.uk