FOI: My Space Housing Solutions

Form Submission

Hello Sarah Sinclair,

Thank you for contacting St.Helens Borough Council.

We have now received your Freedom of Information Request and it has been
assigned to one of our staff to review and reply to you.

Your reference number for this enquiry is 8530-0786-3662-7226

Please quote this reference in any future correspondence with us
concerning this matter.

In accordance with the Act, a response will be sent to you within 20
working days from the date following the receipt of the request.

You can follow progress of this by using the below link to access details
of the case.

[1]My case

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Many thanks

St Helens Borough Council

References

Visible links
1. https://www.sthelens.gov.uk/cmav?bk=8530...
2. https://www.sthelens.gov.uk/register

Form Submission

Dear Sarah Sinclair

Further to your Freedom of Information Request - details as follows:

i) Does the local authority currently have any ongoing partnerships with
My Space Housing Solutions?

The Council does not have any direct partnerships with My Space Housing
Solutions, however they operate and manage a number of properties with the
borough of St Helens.

ii) If so, how many individuals are currently tenants of properties
managed by My Space Housing Solutions?

9 individual tenants

iii) What is the total financial cost of this to the local authority's
housing budget?

£3,300 per week in Housing Benefit payments made to My Space

iv) How many of the tenancies being funded are classed as ‘voids’ or empty
accommodation?

0

The second part of this request is in relation to an enforcement notice
issued against My Space Housing Solutions in January 2023 (see link
below).
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
The notice includes a direction to “advise the local authority that My
Space has concluded that it does not provide Specialised Supported Housing
for the majority of its tenants, despite the wording on My Space’s housing
benefit/referral application stating that this was the case”.
2) i) Can you confirm whether the local authority has been made aware of
this notice and the conclusion that My Space Housing Solutions does not
provide Specialised Supported Housing , as stated above?

The Council are aware of the above notice

ii) If you are aware of this, what action is being taken to address it?

The Council has conducted a number of reviews of the properties currently
being operated by My Space and has obtained details and evidence of care
plans and contact logs with those My Space tenants to ensure that the
appropriate level of care, support or supervision is being delivered to
those tenants. The situation is being monitored on a regular basis.

Regards
St Helens Borough Council

Form Submission

Hello Sarah Sinclair,

Thank you for submitting your report to us and we can now advise that your
case has now been closed with the following outcome: All data disclosed

Where applicable we have included a short update with this email so that
you can see a summary of the action that has been taken so far to address
the issue you have reported.

Action taken: Response sent to the customer

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Many thanks

St Helens Borough Council

References

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1. https://applications02.sthelens.gov.uk/C...