Youth Housing Strategy 2009

Project Initiation

Document

Version: 02

Date: 17.2.09

Status:

Author:Kim Mylchreest

Index

1.Introduction

1.1Background

1.2Strategic objectives

2.Business Case

3.Project definition

3.1 Project scope

3.2Objectives

3.3Constraints

3.4Assumptions

3.5Dependencies

3.6Risks and Issues

3.7Acceptance criteria

3.8Tolerances and exception criteria

4.Project organisation

5.Reporting arrangements

6.Communication

7.Project controls

7.1 Plans

7.1.1 Outline project plan

7.1.2 Quality plan

7.2Risk management

7.3Issues management

7.4Other controls

8.Appendices

The purpose of this Project Initiation Document (PID) is to define the review and development of the Youth Housing Strategy and to provide a basis for management of progress and for assessment of overall success.

The PIDsets out the reasons for the project and the scope, objectives, deliverables, approach, timescale, risks and responsibilities.

The project PID is signed-off by the Project Board and acts as a mandate for the Project Manager.

Following sign-off, the PID will be subject to formal Change Management. It should be noted that any changes to the PID might impact Project timescales

1INTRODUCTION

1.1Background

South Gloucestershire Council has historically given a high priority to youth housing issues and has an active youth housing partnership tasked with developing and maintaining an integrated service for young people (aged 16-24) in housing need in the area.The last five years has seen the development of many new schemes, a review and update of the multi-agency protocol for the assessment and support of young people in housing need, and youth housing issues being reflected in many strategies and local plans.

A project is currently underway to re-new the Councils Homelessness Review and Strategy. Notwithstanding the progress that has been made, the current homelessness review has identified that youth housing and youth homelessness continues to be a major issue and risk area for the authority and its partners, and for its young people. This area is given such significance that it warrants it own review and strategy and one of the proposed priorities for the homelessness strategy currently out for formal consultation is for a dedicated strategy for youth housing to be developedalongside the Homelessness Review,

The Council has committed to this and this project has been set up accordingly.

1.2Strategic Objectives

Reducing homelessness is one of the six priorities in the Housing Strategy 2008 – 2013, and the completion of the youth housing review and strategy is a key action in working towards the achievement of this. The youth Housing Strategy will also link to and influence wider council priorities and other relevant organisational plans including the:

  • Homelessness Strategy
  • Teenage Pregnancy Partnership Plan
  • Connexions West of England Business Plan
  • Voluntary sector Business plans
  • Community Strategy
  • Corporate Plan
  • South Gloucestershire Improvement Plan
  • Community Safety Plan
  • Local area agreement (LAA)
  • Children & Young People Plan
  • JAR Action Plan
  • South Glos Youth Justice Plan

Other relevant strategies include

  • Housing for People with Learning Difficulties Strategy
  • Mental Health Housing Action Plan
  • Supporting People

Strategic reviews

There are several relevant reviews currently underway that have clear links to the development of the Homelessness Strategy. These include:

  • Supporting People Domestic Violence Services
  • Learning Difficulties and Housing Strategy
  • Mental Health Review and Procurement

2BUSINESS CASE

The development of the Youth Housing Strategy is part of the overall Housing Strategy/Homelessness Strategy action plan and will set out in more detail how the priority of the reduction of homelessness will be achieved.

The Options that have been considered are:

Option / Risks / Benefits
Do nothing /
  • Not consistent with the Housing/ Homelessness Strategy action plan
  • Not consistent with the CYP plan
  • Likely to be implications for future resources in not maximising opportunities for prevention
/ No resource implications for conducting a review and strategy
Do a ‘refresh’of existing strategy /
  • The existing strategy for youth housing issues is not contained within one document but exists across many strategies. [for examples, see Section 1.2] Will lose the opportunity to bring these together in one place
  • Doesn’t reflect changes within the homelessness and housing advice service since 2006
  • Doesn’t reflect changes brought by the implementation of the HomeChoice policy
  • Doesn’t reflect changes brought by the implementation of the single access service
  • Doesn’t reflect partners sign-up to homelessness prevention role
  • Opportunity to take account of current needs of special groups lost
  • Doesn’t reflect current credit crisis & subsequent potential impact
/ Straightforward exercise less resource
intensive
Develop a dedicated youth housing strategy / /
  • Reflects changing housing role of the authority and integration with Community Care
  • Youth housing and homelessness prevention perceived as high priority
  • Would serve to strengthen the authority’s prevention function
  • Would serve to strengthen partnership arrangements in prevention and delivery of homelessness services
  • Complements major South Gloucestershire Plans

Based on the above analysis option 3 is the preferred option.

3 PROJECT DEFINITION

3.1Project Scope

Review of Youth Housing

  • Establish through local baseline housing and support data:

current and projected Youth Housing demand/need;

the extent to which this can be prevented through best practice;

the extent of unpreventable need;

the extent to which this is addressed through existing provision; how value for money is achieved by identifying resources/assets available and currently in use so as to ensure that they are made best use of and needed to address youth housing. Establish the inter-relationships between existing providers and the route map, timescales and protocols for young people moving through different forms of accommodation and support to independent unsupported living.

The extent to which existing Youth support services are achieving outcomes: the requirements for any changes to existing accommodation and/or support; and identify any remaining gaps in provision – i.e. the extent and type of remaining need for which new provision and/or support should be commissioned

  • Identify risk factors in the under-16’s from national research that make them more likely to become homeless
  • Collate and analyse local homelessness data, including profiling information, e.g. NEETs and support needs
  • Compare national risk factors with local analysis to identify any issues particular to South Gloucestershire
  • Identify and prioritiseyoung people most at risk of homelessness and housing need in South Gloucestershire
  • Comparison of South Gloucestershire services with recent good practice guidance, including effective prevention and best practice in provision.

Establish whether current partnership arrangementsachieve positive outcomes, e.g. On Home Ground protocol, TP strategy, Connexions Business Plan and the CYP Plan

  • Consider how awarenessis raised re: youth housing advice and homelessness services
  • Consider and review existing links to other plans and strategies
  • Link to regional, sub regional, communities strategies and Registered Providers’(Housing Associations) homelessness strategies

Communication :

Intranet project information

Consultation with Service Users (SUs), partner agencies and other services, other stakeholder groups and forums, Councillors, public, staff

  • Executive member briefings
Project team meetings
  • Reviewingnature of youth housing and homelessness issues and approaches in light of findings
  • Ensuring strategic approach to youth homelessness prevention and delivery of homelessness and housing access services
  • Consider further integration of strategies

3.2Project Objectives

Ensure that the youth housing strategy:

  • Sets out clear guidelines and responsibilities of partners and agencies
  • Supports, is supported by and is consistent with other key documents, for example, Housing/HomelessnessStrategy, Supporting People Plan, Children & Young People Plan, Community Safety, LAA, Teenage Pregnancy Partnership Plan, Connexions West of England Business Plan, Voluntary sector Business plans, JAR Action Plan, South Glos Youth Justice Plan
  • Plans to meet the need for emergency accommodation and to ending the use of B & B for 16/17 year olds
  • Promotes the 5 ECM outcomes and mitigates against the worst effects of a young person becoming homeless
  • Improves outcomes for young people by 1) creating accommodation pathways for young people 2) providing better homelessness prevention and homelessness services and

3) responding to needs with more appropriate accommodation, including move-on

  • Informs future opportunities for the development of housing for young people by type, support, and location,
  • Equips young people to exercise choice in their settled accommodation and to manage their properties
  • Develop prevention practices in services for the under-16s both in universal delivery of services and in targeted youth support
  • Identifies opportunities for young people to provide peer support and education
  • Reflects local, national and sub regional priorities
  • Is a fit for purpose Youth Housing Strategy approved by January2010
  • Is supported by a resources / business case
  • Ensures partners understanding of their role and contribution and strengthens links with other services to address the needs of the young person holistically,

3.3Constraints

Availability of other staff and partners to participate fully in the

Project

Availability of Planning & Partnerships staff to support the project

3.4Assumptions

  • Starting from a reasonable baseline (information/current performance)
  • There is ongoing support for the project

3.5Dependencies

  • Full consultation
  • Democratic processes and timescales for approval of strategy

3.6Risk and Issues

See appendix A Initial Risk log - Project team will further identify risks

A separate issues logwill be recorded.

3.7Acceptance Criteria

The project will be completed when the following defined deliverables have been completed (based on approval of PID in February 2009):

Deliverable / Target Timescale
/ Engage with service users and their service providers via partnership arrangements.
Analyse needs/demand, best practice and undertake benchmarking. / May 2009
/ Pre-Consultation / feedback response/ draft strategy / September 2009
/ Formal consultation on draft strategy / October – December 2009
/ Fit for purpose approved Youth Housing Strategy / January 2010

3.8Tolerances and Exception Criteria

Milestones / Target Timescale
/ PID sign off / February2009
/ Data collection/information gathering and Service user feedback/pre consultation / February – May 2009
/ Develop options / June – September 2009
/ Draft strategy to directorate / September 2009
/ Consultation / October – December 2009
/ CC&H and CYP Select Committee / October – December 2009
/ Strategy approval / January 2010
If any of the above milestones slip by 1 month an exception report will be raised with the Project Board.

4PROJECT ORGANISATION

HOMELESSNESS REVIEW AND STRATEGY PROJECT TEAM
Homelessness Review and Strategy Distribution List (in Contacts)
Project Sponsor / Geri Palfreeman
Project Manager / Kim Mylchreest
Supplier of Research and Support / Planning and partnership team
Statistics and Research Officer
Project Team / Peter Parry – SGC, CYP
Chas Townley – SGC, SP
Jackie May – SGC, SP Access
Jamie Gill – PYH
Dawn Stevens – Connexions
Kitty Jones – Service User
Steve Waters– YOT
Matt Dymond - KYHP
Critical friend – / Jon Shaw
Technical Advice – Housing Benefits / Jude Bevan
Internal ccincl Youth Housing Partnership
Supplier of Resource – Communication and marketing / Lisa Firstbrook
Supplier of Technical Support – Performance Management / Alan Sharp
Internal cc if necessary
User /customer representative / SU reference group
Project Assurance / Project sponsor, relevant directorates

5REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS

Project Manager (or project team members when appropriate) will report back to the monthly Project Team on progress and findings. This will be done either verbally or via a written report, depending on the information that is being presented.
The reporting arrangements for the project will be as follows
1Progress against the project plan will be reported at Directorate on a bi-monthly basis
2There will be a short written report, a review of the project plan and a verbal update
3The Project Manager will be responsible for reporting progress
4Additional reporting will occur between the Project Manager and Project Sponsor as required

6COMMUNICATION

See appendix B Communications Plan

7PROJECT CONTROLS

7.1Plans

A single project plan will be developed and reported on. Each member of the project team will be responsible for developing their own plans, relevant to their area of activity

7.1.1Outline Project Plan

Outline Project Plan

/ Target Timescale
1 / Project Team established and first meeting / October2008
2 / PID and governance arrangements approved by ProjectTeam / February2009
3 / Determine baseline information / needs data to be collated, collect and analyse / February–May
2009
4 / Consider and review existing links to other plans i.e. community plan, LAA, LSP etc / February – April
2009
5 / Service user feedback / March – April 2009
6 / Partner agency feedback - Seek contribution and views from stakeholder groups re gaps / issues / April 2009
7 / Map current resources / February– March
2009
8 / Best practice from elsewhere researched and fed into option appraisal / May 2009
9 / Identification and prioritisation of needs / May 2009
10 / Options appraisal / June – September
2009
11 / Draft Strategy developed by / September 2009
12 / Consultation / October – December
2009
13 / Redraft Strategy by / December 2009
14 / Decision making / January 2010
15 / Graphics and publication / January 09
Budget
The review will be resourced from within HomeChoice/Supporting People/YOS and Connexionsbudgets. Additional costs will be incurred in respect of consultation and communication, and the publication of the review and strategy.

7.1.2Quality Plan

The Project Team is ultimately responsible for the success of the project, and for ensuring that the project remains on course to deliver the desired outcome of the required quality to meet the objectives defined in the Project Initiation Document.
The Project Team will also have the key role in ensuring the quality and comprehensiveness of the work undertaken. The user, staff and provider representatives involved in the Project will be responsible for feeding in user, care, staff and provider views and feeding back appropriately to the groups they represent.
7.2Risk Management
Initial risk log attached as Appendix A
7.3Issues Management
Issues will be recorded in an issues log to be maintained as the project is undertaken.
7.4Other Controls
The Project Manager will be responsible for overall control of project documentation including version control.
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8 APPENDICES
Appendix A Risk log
Appendix B Communication Plan
Appendix A Initial Risk Log
Risk / Likelihood / Impact / Risk Score / Response
Inadequate baseline data / 1 / 3 / 3 / Data audited for correctness
All potential data sources approached and aware of contributing information
Lack of systematic service user consultation / 1 / 3 / 3 / Prompting system in place for SU feedback.
Inability to engage service users/stakeholders / 2 / 3 / 6 / High level of stakeholder interest.
Obtain SU feedback through third parties and their information
Insufficient resources
  • budget
  • time
/ 1
2 / 1
3 / 1
6 / See conflicting workloads
Lack of ownership from across the Council and the local partnership / 1 / 3 / 3 / Complementary services to be involved in strategy development and their roles in delivering homelessness prevention services
Impact of poor feedback from critical friend / 1 / 2 / 2 / Opportunities to incorporate suggestions to be considered
Inability to demonstrate prospects for improvement / 1 / 3 / 3 / Project team to monitor
Failure to act on feedback / 1 / 3 / 3 / Use of feedback to be clearly set out in review findings and strategy action plan
Conflicting workloads and priorities / 2 / 3 / 6 / Dedicated time set aside from key officers
Minimise potential for distraction by ensuring all senior posts are covered
Departure of key project staff / 1 / 3 / 3 / Robust handover and cover arrangements are in place

Appendix B Initial Communication Plan

STAKEHOLDER LIST

Sponsor

/ Geri Palfreeman

Project Manager

/ Kim Mylchreest
Project Team / As at 4
Staff within the Authority / All housing staff , CC and H head-quarters staff in Finance Management Information and Communications sections, Directorate, Department of C & YP, Safer South Glos, Community Services, Housing Benefit
Partners / Advice Agencies, supported housing providers, Youth Housing Partnership, RSL homelessness champions, HATA sub-group,
Service Users / public / Current and potential service users
Stakeholders / contact list to be set up Care Forum, CVS
WHAT
What will be communicated / WHO
Audience or Stakeholder group / WHY
Purpose of Communication / HOW
Method of Communication / WHEN
Timing of Communication / Responsibility
PID/Project Plan / Project Team
Partner agencies
CC & Housing staff / To agree input from Team
To keep informed and
discuss how objectives will
be achieved. / Agenda item
Verbally/in writing at the meetings
Intranet briefings / Monthly meetings / KM
Review of progress against the Project Plan / Project Team
Partner agencies / Information on progress against the Project Plan / Agenda item
Short written report and verbal update / Monthly
Ongoing / KM
WHAT
What will be communicated / WHO
Audience or Stakeholder group / WHY
Purpose of Communication / HOW
Method of Communication / WHEN
Timing of Communication / Responsibility
Project outline
Priorities key actions
Draft strategy consultation / Former and current service users / Raise awareness of project
Seek views and ensure involved in strategy development, feedback incorporated into strategy / Consultation Leaflets, direct mailing,
Via partners,
Consultation event
Intranet / Web site / Initial outline intranet/web when PID signed off Feb
March – April consultation / ?
Project outline
Priorities key actions
Draft strategy consultation / C & YP/ Youth Housing Partnership / Raise awareness of project
Seek views and ensure involved in strategy development, feedback incorporated into strategy / Meetings
Consultation Leaflets / Initial outline intranet/web when PID signed off Feb
March – April consultation / YHP Connexions
CYPS
Project outline
Priorities key actions
Draft strategy consultation / RSL’s homelessness champions / Raise awareness of project
Seek views and ensure involved in strategy development, feedback incorporated into strategy / Meetings/SGSLP
Direct mailing
ConsultationLeaflets / Feb 09 / KM
Project outline
Priorities key actions
Draft strategy consultation / Community Safety partnership / Raise awareness of project
Seek views and ensure involved in strategy development, feedback incorporated into strategy / Meetings
ConsultationLeaflets / ?? / ?
WHAT
What will be communicated / WHO
Audience or Stakeholder group / WHY
Purpose of Communication / HOW
Method of Communication / WHEN
Timing of Communication / Responsibility
Project outline
Priorities key actions
Draft strategy consultation / Domestic Violence Forum / Raise awareness of project
Seek views and ensure involved in strategy development, feedback incorporated into strategy / Meetings
ConsultationLeaflets / ?? / KM
Project outline
Priorities key actions
Draft strategy consultation / Voluntary sector partner agencies / Raise awareness of project
Seek views and ensure involved in strategy development, feedback incorporated into strategy / Care Advisory Network
Carers open meeting Meetings
/ Newsletter
ConsultationLeaflets / ?? / KM
Project outline
Priorities key actions
Draft strategy consultation / Members / Raise awareness of project
Raise awareness of housing advice and homelessness prevention functions, and homelessness services
Seek views and ensure involved in strategy development, feedback incorporated into strategy / Exec briefing
Select Committee
Intranet briefings
New members meeting
ConsultationLeaflets / ?
Jan –Feb 09
?
?
? / KM
Location:
Version: / 01
Last Updated: / 6.2.09
By: / Kim Mylchreest

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