Decision details

To seek approval for South Kesteven District Council to complete a virement of £90,000 into the Change4Lincs budget to cover the forecast spends for the remainder of the year.

That approval is granted for additional in-year grant funding of £90,000 for the Rough Sleeper Initiative to ensure the service can continue to deliver for the remainder of the financial year. 

To reduce the risk of an increase in the number of people sleeping rough across the four districts.

This amount is to be funded from the grant funding awarded for the future years until 2025 to cover the Change4Lincs project.

The number of rough sleepers has significantly increased across the 4 District areas, South Kesteven District Council, South Holland District Council, North Kesteven District Council and West Lindsey District Council which has been further impacted by the Pandemic, the effect of which we are still seeing today.

The official Rough Sleeper count for SKDC in 2022 was 7. This is an increase of 5 from the previous year. Each of the 7 we have engaged with, however for various reason they either will not or cannot be accommodated.

This figure shows the increase of demand for this service and shows why the cost to deliver this service has increased over the past few months.

The four councils will have regular meetings regarding the budget, areas for improvement, and how best to distribute resources and funding. This will be reported back to the Department for Levelling up Housing and Communities to demonstrate the spending of the grant and the positive impact of the proactive approach C4L are delivering.

Operational procedures are continually being reviewed by the management team to ensure that going forward, the service is delivered within the budget constraints to prevent the issue from re-occurring.

In addition, a proposal to change the structure of the team to ensure that managerial control remains within the housing options team will be put forward to the 4 districts. This will ensure that the progress made to date can be maintained.