Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Evaluation

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) wishes to commission a systems wide evaluation of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping system, along with the delivery of a Test and Learn project.

The total budget for this research work is up to £15m (excluding VAT) with the Test and Learn programme making up £12m of this budget. £0.5m has been set aside for a Deep Dives programme which includes some light-tough evaluation work of specific interventions.

The remaining requirement is covered by £2.5m.

The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping (HRS) Programme provides funding for programmes designed to end rough sleeping and reduce homelessness.

While there is some evidence on the impact of specific funds and interventions delivered by DLUHC, these interventions are delivered as part of a complex system where homelessness and rough sleeping is driven by both structural and individual factors, and service users interact concurrently with a wide range of government and third sector interventions.

This overlap, in addition to the national roll out of most interventions, limits our ability to robustly evaluate different interventions in isolation from each other.

Scope & Requirements: The Test and Learn Programme of work will aim to improve outcomes by focusing on gaining a better understanding of 'what works', for who, where, why, and in what context.

This will extend across prevention, intervention, and recovery programmes, and will include identifying, implementing, evaluating, and scaling effective practice.

The System Wide evaluation will provide contextual information to better understand delivery at the system and at the local level, providing a broader understanding of how the system does work and should work as a whole; provide a better understanding of how people enter and move through the homelessness and rough sleeping system and interact with different services or support, and; measure delivery and interventions using a common set of metrics, to understand the effectiveness of the HRS system and service delivery.

This evaluation will incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods to test how, and how well, interventions work and interact across the HRS system and their value for money.

Both will also facilitate knowledge sharing and support capability building for local leaders and practitioners, with the aim of advancing the understanding and use of evidence to improve services.

Feasibility studies are currently underway and will inform the specification of the main project.