Local Government Minister, Phil Woolas, unveiled a new strategy for delivering housing related support services to vulnerable people, and a key role for the Third Sector was at its heart.
The Supporting People Strategy builds on the current Supporting People programme, which helps more than a million people a year to maintain their independence through housing related support services. Currently £1.7 billion is allocated through the Supporting People programme to provide the life skills, such as cooking and budgeting, which vulnerable people need to maintain their independence in a settled home.
The Supporting People Strategy outlines the vital role of the voluntary sector, and asks for its help in shaping how the programme will be delivered in the future. Charities have long acted as innovators and campaigners and proved themselves adept at working with vulnerable people. The Strategy aims to guarantee this excellent work can continue by ensuring all good service providers can compete fairly when services are tendered and offering support for service providers.
The Strategy also suggests exploring new approaches that would give service users greater say in the services they receive through the Individual Budget pilots and new 'Charters for Independent Living' (outlines the services people can expect to access locally, and sets out clear and accessible standards people can expect from services).
Minister for Local Government, Phil Woolas, said:
"The Government's Supporting People programme has been a huge success story. The £7 billion of funding has meant that over one million vulnerable people - who used to slip through the net - are now living independent and fulfilled lives in their own homes. This has helped reduce re-offending, homelessness and rough sleeping, and anti-social behaviour, as well as helping the most vulnerable and excluded contribute to wider society.
"But we have now reached a watershed in the programme and we need to refocus our approach to give the service users a greater say. Like all members of the community, vulnerable people should have choice and control to ensure the services they use are tailored to their individual needs.
"The third sector is absolutely vital to the success of the programme so we are intending to provide the support they need to play a full role in delivering Supporting People Services. Only then can we benefit from the unique skills, knowledge and expertise the sector possesses."
Other key elements of the Strategy include:
Introducing an integrated assessment process so that people are assessed for health, social care, and housing support at the same time.
Ensuring access to services is not unnecessarily restrictive due to administrative boundaries - particularly for those groups of people who tend to be more mobile, such as survivors of domestic violence.
Improving communication with those people receiving Supporting People services, and making sure service users are properly informed about what is happening, particularly when service changes are being made.
Increasing support for Third Sector providers, in particular to harness their creativity in working with the hardest to reach people.
Supporting local authorities to deliver greater efficiencies through the National Supporting People Improvement Programme.
Reducing monitoring arrangements to a necessary minimum alongside reporting through Local Area Agreements.
The National Housing Federation welcomed the new strategy but pointed out it had to be backed with resources after the budget cuts seen in the last few years.
New research reveals a failure to provide supported homes for most of the vulnerable people living in London.
A joint report by the London Housing Federation, Mayor of London, and the Housing Corporation reveals that London has a serious shortage of specialist supported housing. This shortage is most acute for certain socially-excluded groups of people, including people fleeing domestic violence, homeless people, people with drug and alcohol addictions, people with mental illness, and young people leaving care.
Building for all: Identifying the need for supported housing in London makes the following estimates:
London needs 5,874 additional supported homes over the next 10 years.
More than 70% of these are for the groups defined as socially excluded under the Supporting People programme, with the remainder split between people with disabilities or learning difficulties, and older people.
East London has the greatest need for all kinds of supported housing, owing to higher levels of deprivation and a fast-growing population.
Progress Care Housing Association, in partnership with Kent Reliance Building Society, launched an innovative multiple-shared and single-shared ownership scheme.
The Lancashire-based Housing Association, which manages in excess of 600 units of supported housing accommodation for more than 1,800 tenants across the UK, unveiled its unique scheme at Manchester's Learning Disabilities Today Exhibition.
Progress Care's new initiative is the first scheme of its kind in the UK and it will be key in terms of developing the future role of supported housing. For people with learning disabilities, who often have little or no income and historically have had little prospect of owning their own home, or for those people with learning disabilities who do not wish to live alone, multi-shared ownership can offer future security and autonomy.
The concept of multiple-shared ownership for groups of people with learning difficulties is a particularly significant step forward in light of today's property climate and the future challenges facing the social housing sector and the future provision of supported housing.
The scheme will help empower individuals to choose where, with whom, and in what type of accommodation they would like to live, and benefit those people who gain most from living in a shared residency with a consistent and familiar environment.
It will also help tackle some of the difficulties associated with tenanted supported housing, such as future security and independence, and provide longer-term and more permanent independent living solutions. In particular, the scheme will address the concerns of relatives of the shared-owner by securing the future provision of a suitable and quality home for their family member.
Alan Johnson, Managing Director of Progress Care Housing Association, said: "People with learning difficulties are often seen as having no prospect of enjoying the benefits of home ownership since they have little or no income and are therefore unable to raise a deposit or qualify for a mortgage.
"Progress Care's multiple shared ownership scheme will extend the benefits of homeownership to people with learning disabilities who are often excluded from, or marginalised within, the conventional property market.
"We hope that it will challenge traditional assumptions about the provision of supported housing and the nature of independent living. By developing the scheme, we intend to take an active role as a quality housing provider in empowering people with learning disabilities by providing more opportunities for sustainable and longer-term supported housing solutions."
