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Glasgow to spend £187m on new alliance to tackle homelessness amid regulator probe
A group of seven organisations is in line to win a £187m contract to forge a new approach to tackling Glasgow’s well-documented homelessness problem.
Glasgow City Council has named the ‘Glasgow – Everyone’s Home’ group as the preferred bidder for the 10-year contract to “transform” the city’s approach to homelessness.
The group will work with the council under the banner ‘Alliance to End Homelessness’ as part of the new initiative.
The group’s members are: Aspire, Crossreach, Loretto Care, Mungo Foundation, Sacro, the Salvation Army and YPeople.
The move comes amid an inquiry into the council’s homelessness services, launched by the Scottish Housing Regulator in December. Last year, housing charity Shelter announced it would launch legal action against Glasgow City Council for what it claimed was the council’s “unlawful practice of denying homeless people temporary accommodation”. It has now been paused that action because of the start of the regulator’s investigation.
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Councillor Mhairi Hunter, Glasgow’s convener for health and social care, said the new approach involved pooling resources, skills and expertise. “The alliance will provide a more inclusive and collaborative approach to service provision and decision-making,” she added.
The council said the alliance will make “financial and operational decisions related to street and community outreach services, Housing First provision, emergency and supported accommodation, day services, and specific outreach support for young people aged over 16”.
However, the council, which will also be a member of the alliance, will retain sole responsibility for statutory homelessness services.
The alliance will have a budget of £23m in its first year and a director will be appointed to lead the organisation. For the first two years, the council will also provide an extra £100,000 a year in set-up costs.
A report due to go before the council’s contracts and property committee said that such a change “is not without risk for the council and its partners”. But it said “significant work” had been done to develop the agreement while “protecting the collaborative” principles.
In 2018, Glasgow was selected to join a global group of so-called ‘vanguard cities’ that were aiming to end street homelessness by 2030.
