AN organisation which has been working with homeless people in Darlington for three years is expected to be given a vote of confidence this week.

A meeting of Darlington Borough Council on Thursday night will be asked to waive contract procedure rules to allow the National Children's Home (NCH) to continue its work with the authority until March 2005.

The authority is proposing to delegate a number of its statutory duties to NCH to consolidate and extend the partnership, in an effort to implement the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000.

A report to the meeting by Ian Tucker, acting director of social services, says: "NCH is an established and reputable organisation which has demonstrated its capacity to deliver services to the required standard."