Agenda item

Report of Chief Superintendent Mike O’Hara, West Midlands Police and Chair of the Coventry Multiple Complex Needs Board

The Board considered a report of Chief Superintendent Mike O’Hara, Chair of the Coventry Multiple Complex Needs Board, which provided an update on the progress made against the priority of the Coventry Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2016-2019) on Improving the health and wellbeing of individuals with multiple complex needs.

The Coventry Multiple Complex Needs Programme intended to respond to the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy priority to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals with multiple complex needs by looking at ways services could be co-ordinated to deliver better results as well as value for money by reducing demand pressures on services. In particular the programme aimed to pilot new interventions and help bring about system change. 

The programme currently consisted of six projects, which, with the exception of the evaluation, would be used to shape future work. The projects were likely to continue post April 2019, notwithstanding the outcome of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy refresh, as in the past 3 years the Multiple Complex Needs programme had made progress and the environment in which it was operating had changed. This provided the opportunity to mainstream the work the programme had delivered and offered the Housing First scheme, in particular, potentially an initial cohort. STEPS for Change provided the opportunity for the foundations of a partnership approach to supporting street homeless in the City Centre.

The report detailed the progress with the following projects:

Housing First

Steps for Change

Experts by Experience

Case Management Forum

Making Every Adult Matter

Evaluation.

The report also referred to the sustainability of the multiple complex needs work. Since 2016, when the issue was chosen as one of the Board’s three priorities, there had been a significant increase in the number of people who were homeless, many of whom had increasingly complex needs. The City Council was currently in the process of refreshing their Housing and Homeless strategy. This revised strategy incorporated the need to provide better outcomes for those who were homeless and to provide more cost effective solutions. The Housing First pilot, funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority had also come online and the first amount of funding allocated to Coventry was to be drawn down in early 2019.

There was now the opportunity to embed the work and learning from the Multiple Complex Needs programme into these new structures and programmes, especially as there was strong correlation between those with Multiple Complex Needs and the Housing First cohort. The reporting structure for Multiple Complex Needs and Housing First into the City Council’s housing governance structure was still under development to ensure partners, who were integral to this work, continued to have an opportunity to shape and deliver in this area of work.

The Board discussed the details of the Steps for Change programme, which provided a multi-agency weekly drop in advice and information shop to address problems of homelessness, begging and drug/ alcohol addiction in the city centre. The drop in was currently located in Hertford Street but a relocation to the City Arcade was likely to take place early in 2019. Work was underway to extend the service to three days a week. Concerns were raised about the increasing numbers of homeless in the city centre. The link between homelessness and mental health was highlighted.

It was agreed to circulate the housing strategy consultation paper to Board Members for their information.

With regard to ‘Making Every Adult Matter, in November, 2017 Coventry had become one of 27 MEAM approach areas in the country. The approach helped local areas design and deliver better co-ordinated services for people with multiple needs. Coventry now had access to hands-on support from the MEAM partners and the network of other local areas. It was suggested that providing some detailed feedback to Board members would help to give assurance as to the approach that was being taken   

RESOLVED that:

(1) The progress made to date to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals with Multiple Complex Needs be endorsed.

(2) Agreement be given in principle to mainstream support for Multiple Complex Needs, linking it with Housing First, through the City Council’s Housing Governance Structure.

(3) An item on the partner approach to housing and homelessness in the city be considered at a future Board meeting.