A review of the future and service delivery model for Emergency and Temporary Accommodation at East Suffolk Council.
At a glance
Housing Advisers Programme case study
2021/22 cohort
Executive summary
East Suffolk Council (ESC) engaged Campbell Tickell to deliver a review of the council’s emergency and temporary accommodation service. The review focused on how best to deliver sufficient units of low-cost high-quality emergency and temporary accomodation (TA) to meet ESC’s needs. As part of the review Campbell Tickell analysed the projected and predict the number of TA units the council will require over the next 5 to 10 years to meet our statutory duties. They also provided the evidence to support procurement decisions by identifying the type of TA is the most cost effective.
Challenge and context
The homelessness situation in the district (and indeed regionally and nationally) is very dynamic and TA demand needs to be reviewed with some regularity. A variety of factors can positively or negatively impact on TA requirements including, but not limited to, the COVID-19 global pandemic which gave rise to a public health emergency, changes in Government legislation (the significant impact of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 is a case in point), the current economic environment (like Brexit and the potential impact on employment), and the current housing market (reduction in private sector lettings or growth in the new build market).
ESC therefore needed support from the Housing Advisers Programme to undertake a comprehensive review of the service needs over the next 5 to 10 years.
What we did
Campbell Tickell worked closely with managers, team leader, officers, and other departments at ESC such as Finance and Development to gain a full understanding of what the services needed and how they could bring value and new ideas to the future service delivery model.
They analysed the projected number of TA units the council will require over the next 5 to 10 years to meet our statutory duties. They also provided the evidence to support procurement decisions by identifying the type of TA which is the most cost effective in our local area.
The difference we made
This review enabled the council to identify key areas where changes could be made to add value and improve on what was identified as successful delivery. The review offered reassurance that the council are meeting statutory responsibilities as expected and the service is well managed. It was also clear that there was an in depth understanding of some of the key issues around TA and emergency provision, but this project enabled us to identify areas where improvement could be made and how this could be projected over the next 5 to 10 years to enable us to meet demand based and local changes. It provided an in-depth review of our ‘End to End’ process, general overview of how the service is delivered and how this can improve.
As a result of this project, we are now launching our new triage team to focus on front of house and managing cases more effectively, we will be increasing the amount of TA units across the district and have identified key risk factors that will have to be addressed as a result of current demand and projected increase.
Moreover, this project has allowed us to consider how the council can reduce the financial impact of placements in TA and build on current TA strategic priorities.
What's next
The changes we will be implementing as a result of this review will mean that we are now able to work more effectively from the moment a customer presents to the council for housing advice and make savings in relation to TA by using more of our own stock and creating new units of accommodation that will have a longer team impact for the service and the council as a whole.
Some of the challenges will include sourcing of additional units of accommodation as this will take time, however plans are in place, and we have full backing from our Head of Housing and Portfolio Holder for Housing to continue with the good work.
Lesson learned
We were already making good progress, but this review has given an invaluable insight into what the next 5 to10 years may look like, so that we can ensure we are prepared.
This project has provided significant value to the service and the team. We now have key areas we will be focusing on to improve and add additional value.
Having the opportunity to work with leading professionals in the field was incredibly helpful and we are very grateful for the value their advice, guidance and resources have added to the service.