The Head of Housing has submitted a report to seek the City Executive Board’s agreement to  the re-commissioning of an independent housing advisory service.

Recommendations:That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.    Re-commission the contract to provide an independent housing advisory contract; and

2.    Delegate authority to the Head of Housing to award the contract in the best interests of the Council.

The Head of Housing had submitted a report to seek the City Executive Board’s agreement to the re-commissioning of an independent housing advisory service.

The Housing Strategy and Needs Manager introduced the report. The current contract was with Shelter at the moment but up for renewal.  The specification was being refined to reflect, among other things,  the introduction of the Homelessness Introduction Act. It was envisaged that the contract provider would  deal with more complex cases on a referral basis from an advice agency. Significantly it is proposed that advice should in future  be available not just from the City Council Offices but also  from advice agencies elsewhere in the City; these should be capable of offering more comprehensive housing and homelessness advice. The next step would be to tender the contract via the usual procurement process.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Re-commission the contract to provide an independent housing advisory contract; and

2.    Delegate authority to the Head of Housing to award the contract in the best interests of the Council.