Health and social work services

Tender description

Bristol City Council is seeking early engagement with our partners to explore interest in piloting an accommodation with support service for people with complex needs and multiple disadvantage. We wish to commission accommodation with support for people who do not fare well within current ‘short-term’ housing and support provision, in particular people with behavior that challenges that can be the result of trauma, physical and mental ill-health, substance misuse, criminal justice involvement and negative experience with institutional care. We are seeking written responses from partners expressing interest in providing this service and accommodation and inputting into how this model might develop. The council is open to how this service might be delivered by providers with experience of working with this group. Further details can be found here https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=46681da7-96e3-ea11-8104-005056b64545 Bristol City Council is seeking early engagement with our partners to explore interest in piloting an accommodation with support service for people with complex needs and multiple disadvantage. We wish to commission accommodation with support for people who do not fare well within current housing and support provision, in particular people with behavior that challenges that can be the result of trauma, physical and mental ill-health, substance misuse, criminal justice involvement and negative experience with institutional care. As a consequence relationships, support networks and tenancies can break down, our perception of the risk people present is often heightened and options for housing can become limited. We also know that more generally the demand for accommodation and support often outstrips supply and these people feel the consequences of that. We wish to pilot a new approach by commissioning a service jointly between Housing and Adult Social Care to address this gap. We are seeking written responses from partners expressing interest in providing this service and inputting into how this model might develop. The council is open to how this service might be delivered by providers with experience of working with this group. We would like this service to work with a client group to include people in the homelessness pathways with eligible needs, mental health hospital discharge, prison leavers, people in temporary accommodation and people facing eviction. This cohort of people might be perceived as ‘high risk’ and exhibit behavior that challenges but require a lower amount of direct support or may be unlikely to engage with intensive support. Accommodation We envisage accommodation as self-contained flats in small to medium blocks (approximately 8-10) with provision for on-site overnight care and support staff. It would be beneficial for some of the flats to be adapted for wheelchair access and use. Building on the Housing First approach, we do not see this as a strictly time bound service, although care and support may be stepped up and down as required and move on to greater independence planned and supported. Crucially, a stable tenancy will be provided as the foundation for recovery. We hope to work with partners who understand and implement psychologically informed environments both in the structure of the building and how support is delivered. The associated provision of housing alongside the support contract will require agreement with Bristol’s Housing Benefit Policy Unit. It is expected that this agreement can be provided as part of the commissioning process, where appropriate guidance and advice will be provided as to how claims may be treated, once received and under what housing benefit scheme. Officers will seek to work with providers and commissioners to provide clear information, advice and guidance as to what to expect from housing benefit assessment. It is difficult to provide detailed advice as part of a PIN, so we would ask that schemes, rents and service charges enquiries are raised at the earliest possible stage. As a very broad guide we would expect that schemes meet the following criteria: 1) all accommodation provided by a Registered Social Landlord; 2) accommodation provided to target rent as ‘specified managed’ where support is provided by a third party, or ‘specified exempt’ where the support is provided by the RSL landlord; 3) tolerances for property management and enhanced repairs are able to be funded by eligible service chargers on top of the formula rent for both ‘managed’ and ‘exempt’ cases subject to further discussions and an evidence base with regard to costs incurred; 4) any proposal to utilise ‘Specialised Supported Housing’ (SSH) status, which allows for exemption from target rent will require in principle fulfilment of all criteria as set out in the Social Housing Rents (Exceptions and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2016. All limbs of this regulation will be considered, but attention is drawn to limb (d) which stipulates that the rent charged must comply with any agreements made in respect of overall scheme’s commissioning with the local authority. Support An innovative, restorative and trauma informed approach to the delivery of care and support is important for our cohort of people. A flexible response based on an individual’s needs would be required. We are also looking for providers who can work in partnership with us and the wider system involved in supporting individuals to maintain and increase their independence. We do not envisage this support to include personal care but will work alongside home care providers depending on individual needs. By piloting this approach we hope to inform our wider recommissioning of our Community Support Services Framework, when this comes to an end. This model has the potential to improve outcomes for this cohort, reduce over-provision of care to manage risk, reduce the use of temporary accommodation and reduce the turnover and increase capacity within the supported living sector. We will use the responses to this notice to inform any future procurement process. For more information, please contact Wanda Knight/Victoria Hayes by email on victoria.hayes@bristol.gov.uk or wanda.knight@bristol.gov.uk The deadline for responses is 25 September 2020. Please note that all responses are to be submitted as a response on Procontract.