CITY of York Council’s controversial ending of its contract with the Salvation Army “could have been managed differently”, a report found.

The report, by council officers, says the authority’s ending of the £95,000-a-year contract, which funded the Salvation Army’s rough sleepers’ early intervention programme, was "not managed well”.

“Part of that was as a result of unforeseen circumstances and technical disruption,” it states. “Transition discussions, however, should have taken place much earlier.

“It was foreseen in the contract as drafted that the contract would have a fixed lifetime, but too little attention was paid within the contract wording and in contract management meetings to ending it well.”

Going forward, the report says, the council will review how contracts are managed.

This aims to improve the experience of organisations who enter contractual arrangements with the council throughout the lifetime of the contract, officers add.

In particular, the report says, the council will focus on ensuring contracts contain “robust contract managements provisions”, have provisions that are “proactively communicated and used”, and that there is advance planning for service remodelling, with retendering that includes early consultation and clear communication.

The Salvation Army told The Press it "remains committed" to homelessness prevention and support in York and is "considering various funding options to ensure the continuation of our vital early intervention and outreach work in the city".

As The Press reported at the time, the council announced last September that it would not be renewing the Salvation Army’s contract.

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Instead, the authority said it would be using £260,000 of extra government funding over the next two years to expand its own rough sleepers Navigators service under a new homelessness strategy.

This announcement was made so abruptly that the Salvation Army itself only learned that the contract would not be extended in a call from The Press.

To make matters worse, an attempt to grant the charity a one-month contract extension to allow for a transition period came to nothing – because the council sent the contract out too late.

Regular meetings between council and Salvation Army only established after contract had ended, says report

Regular meetings between the council and the Salvation Army’s assistant territorial director of services for homelessness in the north were only established after the contract ended, according to the report.

Officers write that “it would have been better” if a “productive future relationship” with the Salvation Army as a non-contracted charity started during the contract.

Charlie Malarkey of the Salvation Army meeting rough sleepers on York's streets just before Christmas Charlie Malarkey of the Salvation Army meeting rough sleepers on York's streets just before Christmas (Image: Stephen Lewis)

The council will combine its own services with smaller commissioned work packages where needed as part of its new resettlement pathway and develop its own homeless strategy.

But, the report says, given the timing of contracts ending, the “overall strategic picture around early intervention and prevention of homelessness may not have been as clear to partners and citizens as it could be due to the developing strategy”.

It adds that a consultation is planned where residents and members of the voluntary and community sector will be invited to help shape the homeless strategy.

A Salvation Army spokesperson said: "Our priority has always been the vulnerable people we support. Our focus currently is on the boxing classes which we run a number of times a week, providing mental and physical support for people who are homeless. We have had some great feedback on these classes and know they are making a real difference to people’s lives. 

“We also continue to run a service from Lawrence Street supporting people who have been forced to sleep rough with signposting, clothing, food and drink. Please phone 01904 416562 or email Charles.Malarkey@salvationarmy.org.uk for appointments. Our church in York, which operates from Burton Green Primary School, also provides practical and spiritual support for the community."