New support arrangements for people experiencing rough sleeping

Somewhere Safe to Stay provides short-term accommodation for people while they take part in an intensive assessment to identify their needs and link them with the support they need to leave homelessness behind. 

From April, people will be offered self-contained rather than communal accommodation to help them away from the streets and on into more suitable housing as quickly as possible.  

This will be achieved with a new ‘hub and spoke’ model providing a central assessment hub and eight rooms in the city centre and a further 15 rooms in shared houses. 

The key to helping people off the streets is effective engagement. Giving people their own room will make it easier for services to engage with them by providing a comfortable, private and safe space to begin their recovery from homelessness.  

A new service 

St Mungo’s assessment services will relocate from Floyds Row to Homeless Oxfordshire’s O’Hanlon House in nearby Luther Street. Homeless Oxfordshire will also provide eight Somewhere Safe to Stay rooms here with 24-hour staffing for people with high support needs. 

The remaining 15 rooms will be provided in shared housing around Oxford for people who need lower levels of support. St Mungo’s and Connection Support will work together to provide management and support for people living in shared housing. 

With the sharing of staff and sites, the new Somewhere Safe to Stay service will enhance cooperation between the three organisations and improve move-on for people into more suitable housing. 

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has agreed to support the new model and is funding £59,000 in improvements at O’Hanlon House. These will include changes to the building’s entrance, new bedrooms and refurbished bathrooms. 

Cost-effective 

The new Somewhere Safe to Stay service will mean significant cost savings for Oxfordshire Homelessness Alliance, the partnership of services which aims to prevent and reduce rough sleeping across the county.  

Now costing £895,000 a year, Somewhere Safe to Stay accounts for nearly a quarter of the Alliance’s £3.8m annual budget. The closure of Floyds Row in April will deliver savings of £394,000 a year, helping to reduce cost pressures on the Alliance and allowing it to continue to deliver other services.  

The Council is closing Floyds Row because DLUHC will no longer fund homelessness projects which have shared sleeping spaces. 

Floyds Row 

Co-designed with people experiencing rough sleeping, Floyds Row was intended to be at the heart of the Council’s transformation of homelessness services. 

When its first wing opened in January 2020, the Council’s plan was for Floyds Row to provide an assessment service and up to 56 beds for people at risk of or experiencing rough sleeping. 

A little over two months later, England was in lockdown as the first wave of the pandemic struck. This changed everything. 

It was not possible to use Floyds Row for its original purpose during lockdown restrictions because shared sleeping spaces would make it impossible for people living there to practise social distancing. It did not reopen as a shelter until April 2022.  

With DLUHC permission, Floyds Row currently has a temporary maximum capacity for 28 people. New public health guidance means this would need to reduce to 18 people in April. 

Most fundamentally, the experience of the pandemic means DLUHC has decided it will not fund homelessness projects with shared living spaces from April 2024. 

Keeping Floyds Row open would mean the loss of £585,000 in DLUHC funding, which the Council would then have to make up itself. 

While Oxford has set a balanced four-year budget, councils across England face a difficult financial climate with record demand for services and reduced incomes. Floyds Row without government funding would mean an annual cost of £65,000 per bed and this is not a sustainable option given other pressures on council services. 

Floyds Row is not suitable for subletting. It has a single entrance which would have to be shared with people using Somewhere Safe to Stay, many of whom have unmet support needs like mental health and trauma. 

The Council has therefore decided to sell or rent out the entire building. It is taking external advice on the best options for maximising a financial return from sale or lease. 

Comment 

“Floyds Row was co-designed with people experiencing rough sleeping and with full approval from our government funders. However, DLUHC has now made it clear it will no longer support projects with shared sleeping spaces in the wake of Covid-19. 

“We looked at all options for keeping Floyds Row open but this could only be at a much-reduced capacity under today’s public health guidance. Without DLUHC support, it is just not viable in the current financial climate and we’ve been forced to make the difficult decision to close Floyds Row. 

“We’ve been working closely with the Oxfordshire Homelessness Alliance to develop a new way of delivering Somewhere Safe to Stay and I’d like to thank St Mungo’s, Homeless Oxfordshire and Connection Support for their hard work in helping achieve this. 

“Our approach to helping people experiencing rough sleeping off the streets has not changed. Somewhere Safe to Stay will continue to offer intensive support and a roof over people’s heads while we move them into more stable housing as quickly as possible. Nobody should have to sleep rough in Oxfordshire.” 

Councillor Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing 

"St Mungo's aims to end homelessness and rebuild lives, we aim to support people away from the streets for good. 

"With the Floyds Row building closing, St Mungo's have ensured that all clients have a relevant plan in place to support their onward recovery and move into stable accommodation. In Oxford we work collaboratively with local partners with the aim of housing people quickly and supporting them in their move-on journey." 

"We also provide outreach services in Oxford with specialist teams who are out multiple times a week wherever they are needed, helping to make every night someone’s last on the streets.”

Lauren Paraskeva, Regional Head, St Mungo's