I’ve received the following information from West Suffolk Council about a new service being launched today:
The aim of this new service will be to help house and support vulnerable people and to further West Suffolk Council’s work in preventing and reducing homelessness.
The new West Suffolk Housing Pathway will be tailored to individual needs to help people who need support either in sustaining accommodation or to maintain independent living.
This will include support for people with learning difficulties or mental health needs, people battling drug or alcohol addiction, homeless people and ex-offenders. It will also help people who are working but who need additional support.
The new service will offer three levels of support from accommodation only through to high level care for people with complex needs who may pose a risk to themselves and others.
Our continued emphasis will be on homelessness prevention while also breaking the pattern of repeat homelessness that sadly happens for some of the people we help.
This is in line with the aims and actions of our Housing, Homelessness Reduction and Rough Sleeping Strategy, which was itself shaped through public engagement including with our town and parish councils.
The new housing pathway service is backed with £200,000 a year of funding from the council’s housing reserves.
It follows on from changes by Suffolk County Council to only fund Housing Related Support to people it has a statutory responsibility for.
While the changes to HRS were initially due to take effect on 1 April 2024, Suffolk Public Sector Leaders provided interim funding for a year to allow time for the district and borough councils to look at alternative provision.
Through this new service we are helping the most vulnerable people in our communities while also working to deliver on some of the key aims set out in our strategy to tackle and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping