The Deputy Chief Executive – City and Citizens submitted a report for Cabinet to approve the Preventing Homelessness Budget allocations for 2025/26; and to approve grant assistance using Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant funding for 2025/26.

Cabinet is recommended to:

1.    Approve the allocation of the Preventing Homelessness Budget to commission homelessness services in 2025/26 as detailed in Table 1 of this report.

2.    Approve the following 12-month grants for rough sleeping support: £90,000 to Aspire Oxfordshire; and £41,100 to Turning Point using Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant funding received from MHCLG for 2025/26.

3.    Delegate to the Deputy Chief Executive – City and Citizens, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, the authority to revise if required the allocation of the Preventing Homelessness Budget set out in Table 1 provided the total allocation is not increased.

4.    Delegate to the Deputy Chief Executive – City and Citizens the authority to take any steps necessary to enable and facilitate the implementation of the grants approved in this report and the allocations set out in Table 1.

The Deputy Chief Executive – City and Citizens had submitted a report for Cabinet to approve the Preventing Homelessness Budget allocations for 2025/26; and to approve grant assistance using Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant funding for 2025/26.

Councillor Smith presented the report. She congratulated the Housing Needs team for their nomination for an award and thanked them for their hard work in this area. Councillor Smith stated that it is important for them to remember that this work is non statutory, it is work they fund as a Council because they care about it. Councillor Smith stated that they are determined to do what they can to end homelessness. Councillor Smith noted that they had been allocated 600k of additional grants from government and they have used 100k of that to add to this budget. They are also providing an uplift in the grants that they are making to organizations that work with the homeless communities in the city. Councillor Smith expressed pride in the work of these organizations and said that she was pleased that they are moving more towards a housing led approach.

Ossi Mosley, Rough Sleeping and Single Homelessness Manager, said that since the report was written the government had announced their figures for homelessness across the UK. She noted that they had not seen the increases in Oxford, despite increases nationally. However, she stated that they still have higher numbers than they would like. She stated that they are particularly concerned with long term homelessness and that is an issue they are seeking to address. 

Francesca Barr, Senior Rough Sleeping Officer, added that the Council’s budget for homeless services was partially made up through grants from central government and their PHB. She said that the main change in the report before them was to move towards a more housing led approach, and this included an additional commitment of 100k. She stated that this will allow more people to move into their own accommodation.

Councillor Hollingsworth noted that there are many groups of people who are particularly prone to homelessness and flagged the particularly difficult position of former offenders. He said that he was pleased in the proposal to see an increase in service for that group of individuals. Councillor Hollingsworth said that this is a service for people who are in the most need of help. He stated that the transformational potential of this service is notable and thanked the team for their work.

Councillor Arshad congratulated Councillor Smith and the officers for their work in this sector and on this report. She thanked them for their important work.

Councillor Brown agreed with the positive comments and said that they are grateful to the officer for the fantastic job they were doing. She said that it is a tribute to their excellent work that at a time when the housing situation is increasingly serious and the national picture is seeing big increases in rough sleeping, Oxford is seeing decreases. Councillor Brown thanked the officers for their work.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.    Approve the allocation of the Preventing Homelessness Budget to commission homelessness services in 2025/26 as detailed in Table 1 of this report.

2.    Approve the following 12-month grants for rough sleeping support: £90,000 to Aspire Oxfordshire; and £41,100 to Turning Point using Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant funding received from MHCLG for 2025/26.

3.    Delegate to the Deputy Chief Executive – City and Citizens, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, the authority to revise if required the allocation of the Preventing Homelessness Budget set out in Table 1 provided the total allocation is not increased.

4.    Delegate to the Deputy Chief Executive – City and Citizens the authority to take any steps necessary to enable and facilitate the implementation of the grants approved in this report and the allocations set out in Table 1.