GLA to use social impact bond in bid to reduce number of rough sleepers
The Greater London Authority is to run a £5m social impact bond aimed at reducing the number of rough sleepers on the capital’s streets.
Under the scheme, which was launched today by Housing Minister Grant Shapps and London Mayor Boris Johnson, charities will receive a share of the available funding depending on how successful their projects are.
The criteria for success include:
- Reductions in the proportion of regular rough sleepers returning to London’s streets;
- Reductions in admissions to hospital accident and emergency units; and
- Increases in the number of rough sleepers moved into settled accommodation and employment.
The launch of the GLA’s social impact bond comes just weeks after Essex County Council became the first local authority to use such a payment by results scheme. Essex is using a bond as part of its financing arrangements for the support given to vulnerable young people.
The Housing Minister said a new approach was necessary if rough sleeping was to be ended for good, arguing that the scheme would reward those charities which “pull out all the stops”.
He added: “I am determined to back those who work tirelessly to get people off the streets and into stable homes and jobs, and whose efforts will bring us ever closer to ending rough sleeping for good."
Boris Johnson claimed that “real strides” had been made towards ending rough sleeping in London.
But he admitted that “much remains to be done if we want to reach our goal of ending rough sleeping in London this year…..We must get out there and help those persistent rough sleepers, often battling with hugely complex addiction and mental health problems, to find a new life off the streets."
