Agenda item

Report of the Director of Health and Wellbeing

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing on the Refugee Transition Outcomes Fund (RTOF) Project. 

Coventry had a long tradition of welcoming people to the city from all over the world. The City Council supported this tradition and aimed to enable and empower all those who had arrived in this welcoming city, to thrive and prosper. In line with this aim, the City Council Migration team had managed and continued to manage projects and partnerships across a number of externally funded programmes including through EU (Urban Innovative Actions) and UK Government (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government and Home Office) projects. It also had a strategic responsibility for supporting newly arriving migrants and played a key part in supporting the city’s Local Migration Network.

Following a competitive bidding process, Big Issue Invest (BII) were successful in their bid for outcome-based funding for the Home Office project known as The Refugee Transitions Outcomes Fund. A condition of the fund was that projects must include Social Impact Bonds, which allowed for up-front cash investment to be provided by a social investor so that the Home Office only paid for outcomes if and when achieved.

Social Impact Bond projects entailed the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which was a subsidiary to the social investor, in this case BII.  The bid was a consortium regional bid comprising Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell and Wolverhampton local authorities with the largest cohort of asylum seekers accommodated locally and respective partner organisations. The Council and its partners (St. Francis Church of Assisi, Ashley Community Housing (ACH) and Spring Housing) supported development of BII’s bid and had been awarded £622,283 of funding through the RTOF.

The Big Issue Group was dedicated to supporting and tackling the issue of poverty and inequality in the UK.  Founded in 2005, Big Issue Invest extended The Big Issue’s mission by financing the growth of sustainable social enterprises. Since 2013, BII had invested in successful Social Impact Bonds/Social Outcomes contracts from a dedicated Outcomes Investment Fund (£10m) and was currently managing commitments of over £7m into 19 investees.

The RTOF was a £13.99m Home Office initiative which sought to improve employment, housing and wider integration outcomes for newly recognised refugees. The project was funded until March 2024 and would enable the city to offer intensive support to former asylum seekers granted leave to remain in the last 18 months.

The total regional project award was £2,463,900 and aimed to support 361 individuals across four local authority areas. Coventry’s portion of the funding was £622,283 which would assist 93 people, with Coventry City Council’s portion of the outcome funding being £184,237 and Coventry City Council’s partners portion of the outcome funding being £438,046. There remained the potential to increase number of participants supported over the lifetime of the Project, but it was dependent on the success of the project and the availability of additional funding from the Home Office.

Whilst the proposal was based on a partnership approach, delivery across each Local Authority area was based on local delivery models supported by local providers with considerable experience of working with this cohort of participants. 

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:

1)  Notes the success of the partnership work between Coventry City Council, other Local Authorities and the wider delivery partnership in developing the funding bid.

2)  Notes that BII and its consortium bidding partners (which include Coventry City Council) have been successful in their bid for the Home Office funding.

3)  Authorises Coventry City Council to accept funding up to £622,283 under the Refugee Transition Outcomes Fund, subject to the satisfactory conclusion of (4) below.

4)  Delegates authority to the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing, following consultation with the Director of Finance and the Director of Law and Governance, to undertake all necessary due diligence which shall also include the authority to enter into any legal agreement necessary to facilitate the ability for Coventry City Council to participate in the project.