The Housing Corporation launched its Investing in Independence - Housing for Vulnerable People Strategy. It highlights the need for developing and providing high quality homes and services that meet the needs of vulnerable people, as vital to ensuring they have independence and choice.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Baroness Andrews OBE, officially launched the document at Princess Beatrice House, London, a scheme for single homeless people owned and managed by Look Ahead Housing & Care.
The strategy sets out how the Corporation will engage with housing providers and support them in responding to the needs of vulnerable people, working in partnership with local government and health authorities, the Department of Health, Communities and Local Government Department (CLG), and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Housing Corporation Chairman, Peter Dixon, said:
"Meeting the needs of vulnerable people is at the very heart of our policies. They have a right to expect to have choices and a maximum amount of independence in the way they live their lives.
"This strategy sets out how we plan to ensure this happens. Housing providers are already doing some fantastic work with vulnerable groups, both within general needs and supported housing. We aim to make sure this work is identified and promoted as good practice models for the provision of housing, care and support for vulnerable people."
Baroness Andrews, said:
"This publication is timely, coming so soon after we launched Independence and Opportunity - our strategy for Supporting People, and shortly before we publish our strategy for housing in an ageing society.
"These three documents - the strategies for Supporting People and an ageing society, and Investing in Independence - will set clear direction for the future of housing for the most vulnerable and excluded in our society over the next few years, as we deliver on the bold ambitions set out in last week's Green paper, Homes for the future."
The Corporation invested £385 million in 2006-08, which is double that of the previous two years (in part due to removal of requirements of revenue guarantee requirement). The Corporation wishes to maintain or increase this level of investment in its next bid round 2008-11, subject to receipt of high quality bids that meet its funding criteria. Investment will only be made in schemes which meet needs prioritised in relevant strategies, for example in supporting people and regional housing strategies.
Housing associations across the country already have a very successful track record in providing services.
Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis opened a bidding process for £175 million for local authorities and primary care trusts to make the transition from providing campus accommodation to more appropriate independent arrangements for those with learning disabilities. Currently, at least 1,600 people who have a learning disability live in NHS campuses and are not given the opportunity to develop important social skills, or the freedom to make everyday decisions.
This funding will give local authorities and primary care trusts enough money to make sure housing and day facilities are provided, which will ensure that whilst living in the community individuals receive the necessary support to make a smooth transition to a better way of life.
Before leaving a NHS campus, each person will be individually assessed and given a 'person centred care plan' to ensure they will continue to receive the correct support in their new way of living.
Announcing the opening of the bidding process, Ivan Lewis, said:
"This announcement will bring to a close one of the darkest chapters in our nation's history. Putting people with learning disabilities in hospitals and large-scale institutions was a scandal which disfigured our society. People who are neither a danger to themselves or others have the right to live in the community.
"I am proud of the fact that by 2010 the remaining residents in NHS campuses will move into the community. Every individual will receive high quality support at a level required to ensure they have a full life. No one will be left isolated and vulnerable. This decision underlines the Government's belief that people with learning disabilities are people first with a right to expect equality of citizenship."
Welcoming the announcement, Dame Jo Williams from MENCAP, said:
"Mencap welcomes the closure of NHS campuses. People with a learning disability should have the opportunity to make choices about where and how they live. The funding provides the incentive for primary care trusts, in conjunction with local authorities, to get on with closure plans, so people with a learning disability can live their lives the way they want, within their community."
This study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation explores how the Government's Supporting People programme is affecting housing and support for people with learning disabilities in England.
Its key points include:
The Government has only loosely defined 'housing-related support' and this has resulted in significant variation in the type and amount of support available in different areas.
The introduction of Supporting People appears to have increased the availability of supported living services for people with learning disabilities.
However, this has often come at the expense of principles of supported living so that, in some cases, it is indistinguishable from residential care.
Interviews with people with learning disabilities showed they were largely in control of choices about their everyday activities, such as what to wear, what to eat or how to spend their time.
However, the more fundamental choices which framed individual lives - including where to live, who to live with and who to receive support from - were still typically made by service managers or commissioners.
Different ways of delivering supported living services result in different outcomes for services users:
Shared tenancies with accommodation-based support (own bedroom but communal kitchen and living areas, with a dedicated full-time staff team) were associated with higher overall levels of support and less social isolation, but also less independence.
Individual tenancies with floating support (single person or couple living in their own self-contained property, with staff providing support for a specified number of hours each week) were associated with lower levels of support and the potential for greater independence, but also loneliness.
These differences need to be acknowledged explicitly, so that people with learning disabilities can make informed choices about how they wish to live.