Case Study: Shropshire Council achieves life‑saving homeless outreach with Microsoft Power Apps

Supporting the homeless with Microsoft Power Platform

Shropshire Council, a large UK local authority, faced the challenge of better supporting people experiencing homelessness — not just visible rough sleepers but a wider, harder-to-track group. To understand individuals’ needs and whereabouts while maintaining trust during engagements, the council partnered with Microsoft Power Apps to develop a digital tool for discreet, accurate data capture and outreach coordination.

Using Microsoft Power Apps and the Power Platform, the council’s IT team built The Homeless App to pinpoint locations, record essential information without being intrusive, and connect partners such as Shrewsbury Ark, mental-health and substance-misuse services, housing teams and police. The solution improved coordination and speed of outreach, helped staff find and engage people more effectively, and — by enabling targeted support and referrals — is credited by council staff with helping save lives and moving people more quickly into permanent housing.

Shropshire Council

Andrew Boxall

Head of Technology