Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration introduced a report in respect of temporary accommodation arrangements for those families with no recourse to public funds.

The Cabinet Member explained that families subject to immigration control had no entitlement to benefits or public housing but could apply to their local authority for support, as Councils had statutory duties under the Children Act 1989 to meet certain needs of children and care leavers.  To meet the statutory duty to provide a child with somewhere safe to live, the Council had arrangements in place with three housing providers and approval was being sought to formalise those arrangements by entering into interim contracts up to 31 March 2019, while plans for a joint procurement with Community Solutions were being developed.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Waive the requirements to advertise and tender for the provision of temporary accommodation for families with no recourse to public funds in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procurement Rules;

(ii)  Agree the retrospective award of three contracts to the Griha Group, FineFair and N.K.B and Associates (formerly known as Harrison Property Associates) for the period 1 November 2017 to 31 March 2019 inaccordance with the strategy set out in the report; and

(iii)  Authorise the Director of People and Resilience, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration, the Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Law and Governance, to enter into the contracts with the three providers.