Decision details

The Integrated Rehabilitation Service Accommodation contract was awarded to Ingeus in November 2021 following a formal open tender process.

Since the beginning of the contract, referrals into the GM Accommodation Service have been significantly more than those forecast as part of the tender process. The tender advertised a monthly referral of 170. See the last 6 months data:

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan-23 Feb-23 Total Projected referrals for 12 months
257 299 320 253 329 266 1724 3448


This has led to oversized keyworker caseloads meaning that cases are not being satisfactorily managed. The staff morale is low with significant periods of absence due to work stress placing further pressure on the service.

We are at increased risk of individuals being released from Prison without the level of support required to access accommodation and therefore increased risk of people leaving prison with no safe accommodation and significantly increased risk of re-offending and recalls.

The proposal is based on the supporting 80% of the projected 12-month referral total. There will be an additional 12.6 staff to reduce the average caseload and significantly increase capacity for community referrals.

The extra capacity will allow greater integration with Probation with keyworkers in Probation Offices with at least weekly outreach at Wellbeing Hubs and Women’s Centres.

Moreover, there will be a specialist recruited to support the CAS-3 move on and the most complex cases i.e. arson and sex offenders. It has also been recognised that there is a need for more strategic capacity and the extra funding will support a local partnerships manager to contribute to regional discussions with GMPS Homeless Prevention Team, GMCA, Prison and LAs in the whole system response to homelessness.

We will work with the Ingeus to develop indicators to measure improvement in the service over the next 6 months.

To increase the 23/24 budget for the Integrated rehabilitation service Accommodation contract by £585,205 to a total of £1,379,729 to increase the capacity of the service based on the ongoing demand.