Memorandum from Communities and Local
Government (SPP 110)
The attached memorandum sets out the work undertaken
by CLG on the development and delivery of the Supporting People
programme.
The memorandum includes information on:
— Introduction to the Supporting people
Programme.
— Changes in context and policy since the
Supporting People programme was introduced in 2003.
— The history of Supporting People.
— The Supporting People National Strategy
and how CLG have delivered on the commitments set out in the strategy:
— Keeping people that need services at
the heart of the Programme.
— Enhancing partnership with the Third
Sector.
— Delivering in the new Local Government
landscape.
— Increasing efficiency and reducing bureaucracy.
— Removal of the Supporting People programme
ring-fence
— Supporting People Distribution Formula
Communities and Local Government are pleased
to respond below to the Communities and Local Government Committee's
invitation for memoranda in support of the Committee's inquiry
into the Supporting People programme.
INTRODUCTION
1. Supporting People is a grant programme
that funds housing related support services, which are administered
through all 152 top tier authorities in partnership with
Housing, Health, Adult Social Care Services and Probation, and
is delivered largely by the Third Sector.
2. Supporting People began on 7 April
2003, bringing together nine housing related support funding streams
from across Whitehall for the first time. From its very beginning
Supporting People's main aim was to help end social exclusion
and to enable vulnerable people to maintain or to achieve their
independence. This was through the provision of vital housing
related support which would enable them to maintain a suitable
and stable independent home within local communities
3. Supporting People has proved successful
in providing a clarity and focus to support services across England
that was rarely in place before its inception. Supporting People
tackles poverty, disadvantage and social exclusion, and by preventing
crises before they occur, avoids more costly intervention such
as long-term hospital admission.
4. In 2003-04 the Supporting Programme
grant allocation to Local Authorities was £1.8 billion.
In 2010-11 the indicative allocation is £1.6 billion.
In 2004, an independent review, carried out by Robson and Rhodes
examined whether the Supporting People programme was providing
value for money. The review concluded that there was evidence
that the distribution of funding was uneven between similar authorities,
and that there was some evidence that elements of SP spend could
more properly fall to other Departments. The review concluded
that £1.8 billion was too much to spend on the services
then being provided. It also identified inefficiencies in the
programme which we have since taken action to rectify.
5. The Government has invested over £8.7 billion
since the programme began in 2003; and announced a further £4.9 billion
funding up to 31 March 2011. It is the biggest single source
of Government revenue funding for the Third Sector—standing
at over £1 billion per year.
6. In addition to the SP Programme grant
all SP Administering Authorities were allocated an SP administration
grant as a contribution towards the set up and delivery costs
of the programme. From 2007-08 the Administration grant has
been incorporated in-to the Area Based Grant.
7. Supporting People is an invest to save
budget—the expenditure of £1.54 billion in housing
related support services, alongside other expenditure costs associated
with supporting vulnerable people, such as housing and social
care costs, delivers an estimated net annual saving of £2.77 billion
to the exchequer.
8. Supporting People helps around one million
people at any one time, and the types of support it provides include:
— help to develop life skills, such as
understanding a tenancy agreement, budgeting or cooking, which
enables vulnerable people to have an independent lifestyle;
— support in accessing services and benefits,
for example, helping an older person to claim benefits or helping
an ex-offender to register with a GP or dentist;
— support in accessing training and employment,
for example, helping a young person to find work for the first
time; and
— support through warden and alarm services,
these services provide reassurance and a more cost effective method
of support to vulnerable groups, such as older people, victims
of domestic violence and people with disabilities.
CHANGES IN
CONTEXT AND
POLICY SINCE
2003
9. In the run up to the launch of the Supporting
People programme in 2003-04, there was an increased level of claims
for Housing Benefit in respect of housing related support under
the Transitional Housing Benefit (THB) Regulations. These regulations
had been put in place following a court judgment (see below) around
the appropriateness of paying for this support from Housing Benefit,
and were designed to allow Housing Benefit to continue to meet
housing related support costs until the new scheme came into place.
The level of these claims and awards (which were adjudicated by
Housing Benefit Officers) varied from authority to authority.
Initial Supporting People funding allocations to Authorities were
set in exact proportion to the levels of residual funding from
other relevant grant schemes (including those paid by the Housing
Corporation and Probation Service) as well as the annualized level
of Housing Benefit being paid (for which equivalent provision
was required to be made under the new grant arrangements).
10. As part of the Comprehensive Spending
Review (CSR) 2004 settlement HM Treasury (HMT) stipulated
that we needed to agree an allocation mechanism that moved away
from the largely unplanned legacy distribution pattern of funding
towards one far better aligned with distribution of need. The
CSR07 settlement letter from HMT agreed indicative allocations
for the next three years (2008/09—2010/11) based on a limited
implementation of the "needs" distribution formula but
further emphasised the requirement to accelerate the process to
reflect need.
11. In 2005-06 Local Area Agreements
(LAAs) were introduced and it was agreed SP could be included
in the five Local Authorities piloting the process. As the LAAs
evolved to focus on delivery of priorities rather than funding
streams, they were identified as an opportunity to test the "mainstreaming"
of Supporting People services while retaining the ringfence and
the existing legal framework. The two SP indicators (NI141 and
142) have since been included in the basket of National Indicators
used to monitor Local Authorities performance.
12. The inclusion of Supporting People into
the Area Based Grant in 2010-11, brings together a range of funding
streams, to provide Local Authorities with a mechanism to fund
housing related support services through a single grant, thereby
furthering the mainstreaming of SP. This would require SP to be
unringfenced.
HISTORY OF
SUPPORTING PEOPLE
13. In 1998 the then Department of
Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) published a consultation
paper on a new policy and funding framework for providing housing
related support services for vulnerable people, entitled Supporting
People: A new policy and funding framework for support services.[45]
This came in the context of a 1997 High Court ruling restricting
the use of Housing Benefit for such services, and of a wider policy
agenda of expanding the community leadership role of local authorities
in providing or commissioning such services. Local authorities
would be mobilised and involved to take on a new role, based on
five-year strategies and mapping of existing provision. In 1998 an
approximate estimate of projected costs for the Supporting People
grant was set at £350-750 million. In October 2003 the
final calculated amount came in for the financial 2003-04 year
at £1.8 billion. This was the sum passed on in grants
to local authorities in 2003-04.
THE PROGRAMME
VISION
14. The vision behind the programme, of
bringing together at local level better integrated and more securely
funded housing related services for vulnerable people, commanded
general support, and still does. It is intended to help many categories
of people—older people who wish to remain living independently
or are moving back home after time in hospital; people in sheltered
housing of many kinds; those with learning difficulties or mental
health problems who wish to live with greater or lesser degrees
of support in the community; homeless people; victims of domestic
violence; teenage mothers; those leaving prison; and others in
need of support.
THE INDEPENDENT
REVIEW
15. In October 2003 however, the Treasury
and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) commissioned
an independent review of the Supporting People programme from
Robson Rhodes, in view of the substantial rise in the 2003-04 cost
of the programme from the projections made in December 2002. The
review was asked to "gauge the true picture of how the funding
is being utilised" and had to report swiftly enough to be
able to inform SP grant allocations for the coming financial year.
16. The Independent Review was asked to
consider:
— variations between local authorities'
costs and patterns of service provision;
— services previously paid out of other
budgets where it is unclear how the resulting savings have been
re-deployed; and
— whether the programme is meeting its
original objectives, including schemes, which raise questions
about compliance with grant conditions.
17. The review process included consultation
with a wide range of stakeholders and was overseen by a steering
group with broad representation.
OUTCOME
18. The Robson Rhodes report[46]
was published in February 2004. It made recommendations in four
broad areas: improvements in high costs authorities, the 2004-05 Supporting
People allocation and distribution, future allocations, and growth.
It concluded that the £1.8 billion was "too much
to pay" for the legacy provision, but not too much for the
needs of the vulnerable groups.
19. The Robson Rhodes independent review
and the requirement stipulated by HMT in the CSR04 settlement
letter impacted and influenced the future delivery arrangements
for SP in a number of areas including:
— need to identify ineligible expenditure
(which should be borne by other departments) which was being paid
by Administering Authorities from SP Grant,
— need to develop a distribution formula
that allocated resources based on need rather than legacy services;
— need to develop a tool to identify the
benefits that accrue to other budgets eg care and support from
the provision of housing related support; and
— need to work with Local Authorities to
identify and secure efficiency savings.
20. The publication of the Local Government
White paper[47]
setting out the new relationship between Central and Local government,
the introduction of Local Area Agreements, the Area Based Grant
funding mechanism and the new performance framework, which also
had implications for the future delivery of the programme. However,
it should be noted that because the Supporting People programme
is locally delivered and is a managed programme, with Local Authorities
commissioning services to meet local needs and priorities, it
therefore was already delivering on this relationship element
of the White Paper.
SUPPORTING PEOPLE
NATIONAL STRATEGY
21. In 2005 the Department recognised
the need for a national strategy for two reasons: first; in light
of the newly proposed Local Government Framework and the move
to Local Area Agreements with changes to the reporting, policing
and funding arrangements of devolved programmes, and second; the
need to improve housing related support services—A consultation
document was published in November 2005 entitled:
— Creating Sustainable Communities:
Supporting Independence[48],[49]
22. The key questions asked in the consultation
exercise focussed on the following four key themes:
— supporting people in its strategic context;
— focusing and integrating support;
— administering the programme; and
The questions set out in the consultation document
are listed at Annex B
23. The consultation process was completed
in March 2006, and gave CLG the opportunity to consider the direction
of the programme and to look at Supporting People in the broader
context of the role of local government and the provision of adult
social care. A key part of the consultation exercise was user
involvement: an easy read version of the consultation document
was produced, and events with service users, service providers
and local authorities were held from November 2005 until
March 2006. As part of the strategy development and consultation
process CLG also set up an expert reference group and sounding
board group bringing together representatives from across the
sector.
24. Preliminary conclusions from the consultation
process were set out in a range of documents[50].
The main conclusions were:
— agreement that SP services were an essential
part of meeting the needs of the most vulnerable and that more
emphasis should be placed on the preventative role of housing
related support;
— a need to involve service users directly
as decisions are taken which affect their services and lives;
— agreement that a move towards a more
outcomes focus for the programme and for Government to lead on
the development of a national outcomes framework;
— a need for certainty and clarity on future
funding and to show caution about integrating SP funding into
LAAs;
— a need for the retention of the Commissioning
Body as a focal point for SP and to not lose the skills and knowledge
from the learning review process;
— an agreement that the VCS has an important
role to play in the delivery of SP services; and
— and to provide support through encouraging
LAs to apply Compact and full cost recovery principles in contracting
services with the VCS.
25. The final publication of the Supporting
People strategy focussed on the following areas:
— Keeping people that need services at
the heart of the Programme;
— Enhancing partnership with the Third
Sector;
— Delivering in the new Local Government
landscape;
— Increasing efficiency and reducing bureaucracy.
26. Within the strategy and as part of the
"delivering in the new Local Government Landscape" CLG
committed to support local authorities and their delivery partners
in moving towards delivering Supporting People funds through the
new Area Based Grant from April 2009. In order to do so required
the removal of the ringfence from the Supporting People programme.
27. In summary the SP programme has evolved
and developed to move from a legacy based allocation of resource,
to one which better reflects the needs of the local authority.
This builds on the relationship with the Third Sector to support
the government commitment to them, and to support the sector as
the programme is included within the new Local Government funding
structures.
28. We understand that the Committee's inquiry
will consider the extent to which Government has so far delivered
on the commitments in the strategy and will also consider the
implications of the removal of the ringfence.
29. This memorandum is structured in three
parts. Part A provides and introduction to the Supporting People
programme, Part B will address the commitments set out in the
Supporting People strategy and Part C will set out the work undertaken
to support the decision to remove the ringfence from the Supporting
People programme grant. Attached are a number of annexes including
Annex A which provides information on the Supporting People Distribution
Formula. Annex C further information on the pathfinder process.
Part B
CHAPTER 1
KEEPING PEOPLE
THAT NEED
SERVICES AT
THE HEART
OF THE
PROGRAMME
30. The department has been looking at a
number of ways in which we could support service users by focusing
on how we can reduce the need to provide information more than
once, be sure that the services they receive are of an appropriate
standard and what services are available to them. How we can support
local authorities to assess the future needs in their area; demonstrate
the value of the programme through outcomes and how services could
be delivered to support the personalisation and choice agenda
is of critical importance and in taking this work forward we have
been mindful of the need to reduce the burden on Local Authorities.
Key priorities:
— to develop a national outcomes framework
to demonstrate how housing related support is enabling service
users to achieve their goals and live independently;
— review the Quality Assessment Framework
(QAF) to ensure it remains fit for purpose and develop a version
of the QAF to support service users who decide to have Individual
Budgets;
— take forward work to ensure future needs
requirements are being assessed and appropriate services commissioned;
— the implementation of pilots to demonstrate
how the most vulnerable clients with complex needs can be helped
to maintain a tenancy and live independently.
Key delivery partners
— CLG have worked with umbrella organisations,
representatives from local authorities, providers and services
users to take forward the key priorities
Outcomes for service users
31. An example of this was the Supporting
People Outcomes Framework which we successfully launched in May
2007. The SP framework is one of a few frameworks which is able
to evidence if service user needs have been met or not whilst
in receipt of Supporting People services.
32. A key criteria of the outcomes framework
is that service users have support plans which clearly identify
their housing support needs and they are involved in the development
of the support plan including agreeing the outcomes identified
which are personal to them. The result has been greater control
and choice of which service people wish to access.
33. Equally the Supporting People Outcomes
Framework has provided valuable information to enable local authorities
to analyse the effectiveness of different services and see how
effective they are in delivering outcomes for vulnerable socially
excluded groups.
34. In order to further the commitment to
keep service users at the heart of the programme the department
agreed that Supporting People should be one of the six funding
streams included in the Individual Budgets (IBs) pilots. The IB
pilots were led by the Department of Health working with CLG and
Department for Work and Pensions/Office of Disability Issues.
CLG have formed a working group to develop some tools[51]
to support authorities to explore the options available.
Quality Assessment Framework (QAF)
35. The Quality Assessment Framework (QAF)
measures the quality of housing support services and is regarded
as one of Supporting People's successes. CLG have worked with
umbrella organisations and Local Authorities to review and update
the QAF to take account of changes in service delivery. In addition
an "Easy to Read" QAF has promoted greater choice and
control in use of services by service users.
Analysis of needs
36. Important to the future of Supporting
People services will be the ability to predict the needs of service
users in the future, particularly those who are at most risk,
and put in place preventative services.
37. CLG have worked with St Andrews University
to develop and launch an online reporting facility which provides
access to both Client Record and Outcomes data, and tools to analyse
it, at a local, regional and national level. The facility was
successfully launched in Autumn 2007.
38. CLG commissioned work on predictive
risk modelling work by the King's Fund to identify those at risk
of needing care a year early and who would therefore benefit from
preventative interventions. The Department of Health is funding
pilot work being undertaken by Nuffield.
39. CLG jointly commissioned research with
the Housing Corporation and Care Services Improvement Partnership
(CSIP) in 2008 to explore investment in housing related support
for vulnerable groups within the context of the new regional framework.
40. CLG published "Needs Analysis-Commissioning
and Procurement for housing related support"[52]
jointly with CSIP/Housing Learning Improvement Network (LIN) last
summer, and jointly branded their publication "Commissioning
housing related support for health and well-being". CLG are
also linked into the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning
run by IDeA.
Adults Facing Chronic Exclusion (ACE)
41. A practical demonstration on how the
department is working to identify and facilitate the delivery
of a wide range of services to meet the needs of more difficult
to reach client groups is exemplified by the ACE pilots. The Pilots
work closely with people who receive or are eligible for support
from Supporting People teams and examines how housing related
support can help them to maintain a tenancy and live independently.
The Pilots have focussed on how to construct a package of care,
of which SP is a part, so that health, community and employment
services can work together to improve their life chances.
42. The Pilots will also contribute to the
Supporting People Capgemini Financial Benefits study to demonstrate
how positive outcomes can be achieved through SP and related services
through improved co-ordination and reduced reliance on emergency
care.
43. The ACE Programme[53]
is a three year, £6 million fund designed to test new
approaches to tackling chronic social exclusion amongst the most
marginalised people in society.
44. Twelve pilots have been funded across
England to test ways to improve outcomes for adults with chaotic
lives and multiple needs through developing new types of intervention
and changing local service provision. They are led by public sector
and third sector organisations, working in partnership with other
local agencies.
45. The sponsoring Government Departments
are the Home Office, Communities and Local Government, Department
of Health and Department for Work and Pensions. Each has pledged
£1.5 million over the next three years for the pilots.
46. Adults facing chronic exclusion will
experience:
— Poor health prospects—mental and/or
physical health issues;
— A history of exclusion, institutionalisation
or abuse;
— Behaviour and control difficulties;
— Skills deficit—unemployment and
poor educational achievement.
47. The client group is estimated by the
Revolving Doors Agency to be 60,000 people in England.
Tyneside Cyrenians have employed a team
of ex-service users who identify, engage and offer help to people
sleeping rough and/or involved in crime. They can co-ordinate
a range of services from benefits and housing through to education
and healthcare. The team work closely with Supporting People in
Newcastle to identify how chaotic people with entrenched drug
problems or long criminal records can sustain a tenancy in the
community and use their housing as the base from which to resolve
their problems. The first year's results have demonstrated the
Team's success at both housing their clients and helping them
be responsible tenants.
The Programme will use the learning from
the Pilots to inform wider Policy with particular reference to
how local commissioners can design services differently to improve
outcomes for the hardest to reach. One of the most encouraging
examples is run by South West London and St George's Mental Health
Trust. A multi-agency panel designed a new assessment tool for
people who, despite being known to each service, do not qualify
for support. The subsequent team commissioned to respond to the
local, identified need demonstrates how collective action by agencies
results in positive housing and health outcomes for this group.
Lifetime Homes and Lifetime Neighbourhoods—National
Housing Strategy for an Ageing Society
48. Demographics show that the Older Population
is ageing and increasing. Supporting People provides services
to a wide range of client groups including older people to enable
them to live independently in their own home. Services provided
may include alarm systems, handypersons services and generic floating
support.
49. The Department has been at the forefront
of work on Older People which is demonstrated by the publication
of Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods: A National Strategy
for Housing in an Ageing Society[54]
which was launched by the Prime Minister on 25 February 2008.
Our ageing population is one of the great challenges for housing
and planning. This strategy, the first of its kind, is the Government's
response to meet this major challenge.
50. This cross-government strategy addresses
older people's housing needs and aspirations and outlines our
plans for ensuring that there is enough appropriate housing available
in future to relieve forecasted unsustainable pressures on homes,
health and social care services.
51. It includes a range of measures to bring
about a fundamental change in the way we build future communities
alongside an expansion in existing support available to older
people, that will help them to live safely and, where they choose,
independently in their own homes.
52. A total of £35 million in
additional funding will be provided to meet these objectives from
2009.
53. Key measures included in the strategy
to address older people's housing needs are:
— Expansion of handyperson services—investment
of £33 million over two years for simple repairs and
adaptations from 2009 (eg fitting hand rails or fixing a
stair carpet, light or leaking tap, home safety checks built in
and access to other help).
— Maintaining independence by adapting
homes as older people grow older: £460 million allocated
over three years enabling more people to adapt their homes such
as installing stair lifts, walk in showers and wider doors to
their homes now—helping them stay mobile and live independently
for longer. This is a 30% increase in the national budget for
adaptations through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) provision.
Handypersons provide a wide range of practical
support for older, disabled and vulnerable people to help maintain
independent living. Bids for this funding required local authorities
to confirm that the services will:
— be holistic handyperson services,
typically including most of the following: small building repairs,
minor adaptations, odd jobs, general home safety checks with remedial
action, falls/accident prevention checks with remedial action,
security checks with remedial action, small home energy efficiency
measures, fire safety and signpost client to other services, and
— follow adult protection procedures
as appropriate and operate within a Quality Assurance Framework.
Handypersons schemes contribute to a range
of national indicators.
CLG are also funding 19 pilots to test
a range of innovative approaches to delivering housing related
support services for older people. These will include housing
advocacy and support services and hub referral schemes.
— CLG is funding FirstStop, a new advice
and information service for older people, their families and carers.
FirstStop Advice is a free, independent phone and website service
covering housing, care and finance in later life. FirstStop is
also available to professionals working in the relevant fields/with
this client group. FirstStop is developing local partnerships
with councils, home improvement agencies and other providers of
support to older people.
— Building accessible and easily adaptable
homes: a new aspiration of all new homes by 2013 built to
Lifetime Home standards, (eg wider doors, level access, more convenient
sockets.) This will apply to all public sector housing by 2011.
FIRSTSTOP INFORMATION AND ADVICE SERVICE
Information, advice and support needs
to be tailored to the person's level of need and risk. For a start,
most people thinking about their choices need a light touch service
such as web and telephone based information and advice is appropriate.
For those most at risk, including those who do not have alternative
personal and social resources, a more intensive local support
and advocacy service is needed. Lifetime homes, lifetime neighbourhoods
(2008)
CLG announced the development of a new information
and advice service for older people in Lifetime homes, lifetime
neighbourhoods A national strategy for housing in an ageing society.
A need among older people for joined-up advice across a range
of housing and care issues was a key point to emerge from consultation
and research work carried out to inform the development of the
strategy.
FirstStop is a free, independent national
information and advice service for older people, their family
and carers. It covers housing, care, finance and rights. It is
also a useful resource for local agencies and authorities.
The FirstStop partnership brings together
resources from Help the Aged, Counsel and Care, Elderly Accommodation
Counsel and NHFA Ltd. It was launched in August 2008 with
set-up funding from the Big Lottery.
Additional funding will be made available
to fund up to 10 local posts for two years to offer advocacy
and support services and to develop local FirstStop partnerships.
e-mail: info@firststopcareadvice.org.uk
— Encouraging the development of Lifetime
Neighbourhoods: actions include use of the Olympic Village to
promote inclusive design for homes and neighbourhood; CLG will
promote exemplary inclusive design through Eco—towns and
will commission practical guidance to support this; CLG will also
work with volunteer local authorities and partner organisations,
to identify and share good practice in turning existing neighbourhoods
into lifetime neighbourhoods.
54. There is a rigorous and detailed action
plan in the strategy which will be translated into practical action
on the ground—enabling change for the better for older people's
housing and services. CLG published a delivery plan[55]
for the strategy on 23 December 2008 giving a comprehensive
update on progress against the strategy actions.
Single Assessment Framework
55. CLG have been working with the Department
of Health who have specifically included references to Supporting
People and housing in their consultation paper "the Common
Assessment Framework for Adults".[56]
The issues around piloting a joined up needs assessment process
and form will for the most part be tested by Rochdale who have
received funding from Department of Health to pilot an information
sharing arrangement between health, social care and other key
partners, including Supporting People and housing.
56. The development of Charters for Independent
living was intended to provide service users with information
on the standards and accessibility of service they should expect
from Supporting People providers. However, it was agreed that
the work on Charters for Independent Living linked to the "Communities
in control White Paper" and the work will be taken forward
in that context.
57. CLG had also committed to undertake further
work on the Directory of Services. However, as part of the requirement
to reduce data burdens on local authorities a decision was taken
in December 2008 to discontinue the National Directory of
Services (DOS) from June 2008.
CHAPTER 2
ENHANCING PARTNERSHIP
WITH THE
THIRD SECTOR
58. The Office of the Third Sector (OTS)
was created at the centre of Government in May 2006 in recognition
of the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both
society and the economy. The OTS leads work across government
to support the environment for a thriving third sector (voluntary
and community groups, social enterprises, charities, cooperatives
and mutuals), enabling the sector to campaign for change, deliver
public services, promote social enterprise and strengthen communities.
59. The SP services being provided today
are largely built on services that were being provided by the
third sector before the SP programme was introduced. SP third
sector service providers traditionally have delivered services
to some of the harder to reach, vulnerable client groups who often
have multiple needs but who shy away from services provided by
the "establishment".
60. CLG will continue to work with the OTS
and national umbrella organisations to support the third sector
to ensure that they are able to survive in the current economic
climate and can respond to the changing agenda.
Key priorities
— support small providers to develop partnership
and collaborative working practice;
— work with umbrella organisations to ensure
their members are able to respond to the changing agenda; and
— work with the Office of the Third Sector
as we develop guidance to ensure consistency of message and build
on existing practice.
Key delivery partners
— Office of the Third Sector;
— umbrella membership organisations who
have a strong policy influence in the sector and can feedback
the view of providers and service users.
Office of the Third Sector (OTS)
61. CLG and the OTS consulted on the third
sector elements of the Supporting People Strategy, which incorporated
references to the OTS Third Sector Action Plan. The two organisations
have worked closely on raising awareness amongst commissioners
of the unique needs of small and medium-sized supported housing
providers. CLG have also had input into the National Programme
for Third Sector Commissioning which is run by OTS and IDeA.
62. In the strategy CLG we said we will
continue to work with national organisations such as the National
Housing Federation (NHF), Housing Association Charitable Trust
(hact), Foundations and Sitra to support and build capacity in
the sector. In particular we will provide three year allocations
for the programme and will invest in the skills of commissioners
to improve commissioning from the third sector.
63. The third sector delivers the majority
of SP services. In order to facilitate delivery of greater choice,
better value for money and a more professional approach to service
delivery the department has announced the allocation of a three
year funding settlement to Local Authorities for the SP programme.
How we worked with the third sector
64. Sitra and Hact have been involved with
the development of Supporting People from its beginning. They
have a strong record in informing policy and a history of constructive
and successful working with CLG and other government departments
in helping to implement it. In working with the third sector CLG
have drawn on the knowledge and expertise of the umbrella organisations
in order to develop specific policy and products. For example
when local authorities were looking for efficiency savings and
made changes to their re-commissioning processes hact worked with
small providers to help them maintain their place in the market.
65. As previously mentioned in paragraph
23, the SP Sounding Board and the SP Expert reference group were
set up as part of the strategy development and consultation process.
Representation across the two groups included umbrella organisations,
eg Sitra, NHF, providers (small and large), other government department
and recognised bodies, ie the Local Government Association (LGA).
The inclusion of providers on the SP expert reference group is
important to inform our understanding of how policy changes will
impact on the providers and the front end delivery of the programme.
66. Whilst Foundations/Home Improvement
Agencies (HIAs) are not part of the mainstream SP programme, they
are important to the delivery of services to help older people
stay living safe and independently in their own homes. We will
therefore continue to work with Foundations to produce guidance
and raise the profile of the work that HIAs do.
Hact
67. Hact is a development agency that acts
as a catalyst for change in the housing sector. Working in partnership,
they develop and promote solutions for people on the margins of
mainstream housing. A key part of Hact's work is to ensure that
the issues and concerns of small providers are understood by larger
stakeholders, such as government, local authorities and registered
social landlords. This is underpinned by a commitment to safe,
healthy, vibrant and inclusive neighbourhoods. Over a number of
years, in partnership with the Housing Corporation, Hact provided
significant support to the emerging black and minority ethnic
housing sector. Working with Shelter, Hact also supported the
development of the "care and repair" concept and subsequently
the organisation of the same name. Care and Repair continues to
support local and regional initiatives, which provide practical
handy person support enabling older people to live safely and
comfortably in their own homes.
68. CLG provided funding to HACT to take
forward work on projects to look at different collaborative approaches
to bidding for Supporting People contracts. Collaborate
was a year-long project and was delivered in partnership with
Sitra and the National Housing Federation. Hact worked with six
partnerships pioneering different collaborative approaches to
bidding for Supporting People contracts. The resource kit[57]
draws on the direct experiences of the partnerships where Hact
provided practical help and facilitation including:
— working through some of the issues involved
in developing collaborative models;
— some financial support for the costs
of building capacity of some of the smaller partnership members
and;
— some legal and expert support costs.
69. In exchange, all participating organisations
contributed to an evaluation and facilitated learning process
between the partnerships. The project was very successful, with
one consortium of smaller providers winning a substantial £1.5 million
floating support contract in Suffolk.
70. CLG have also provided funding to HACT
to enable them to begin work on a specific project which supported
and complemented existing work being carried out in house on efficiency
savings via the Value Improvement project. The HACT project aimed
to develop and test resource sharing models between Supporting
People providers, some between larger and smaller providers. The
project will fund, support and work with between five and eight
partnerships in different local authorities. Each partnership
will identify areas where resources can be shared and costs reduced,
focusing specifically though not exclusively on infrastructure
costs such as ICT, finance, training and professional development,
fundraising and office supplies.
71. The project will draw on the learning
from the current capacity building work, also funded by CLG, and
use similar methodologies of establishing and supporting a network
of pilot initiatives, drawing out key learning, and developing
a range of resources for wider adoption.
SITRA
72. SITRA is a registered charity and a
company limited by guarantee. In addition to grant funding from
CLG, they also receive funding from other organisations and income
from their training and conferences services. SITRA provides policy
advice, capacity building, and a training service to the 6,000+
organisations that provide Supporting People services, and helps
them link into the 150 local authorities that commission
them and contribute to the delivery of CLG's Sustainable Communities
and Social Exclusion agenda.
73. SITRA's main objectives are to champion
the benefits of support, housing and care services to providers,
statutory bodies, carers and users including homeless households
and special needs users and to raise standards in the support,
housing and care sector. They are the leading specialist in infrastructural
resource within the third sector, providing expert advice and
guidance to support providers. They also have a record of co-operation
with national bodies such as the NHF.
Foundations/Home Improvement Agencies
74. CLG sponsors a national body for home
improvement agencies, known as Foundations, to support the work
of the home improvement agency sector and service commissioners
in a number of ways, including :
— providing advice and support to the sector;
— promoting and raising the profile of
HIAs ;
— representing the movement in dealing
with government and other stakeholders and;
— building capacity within the sector.
75. A new three-year contract for the national
body was announced as part of Lifetime homes, lifetime neighbourhoods
commitment to the continuing support of the home improvement agency
sector. This contract runs from October 2008 to September
2011.
CHAPTER 3
DELIVERING IN
THE NEW
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
LANDSCAPE
76. Since the introduction of the SP programme
the key relationships have been between Central Government and
Local Authorities, in the new Local Government landscape this
relationship has changed, and Government Offices have an important
role to play in delivery of the SP programme. There are two national
Indicators for Supporting People within the new national Indicator
set. Due to the cross cutting nature of the programme this means
Supporting People can help deliver a number of additional indicators
( See Annex C). Due to the programme essentially being delivered
from the centre since 2003 Government Offices require some
additional support in order to fully understand Supporting People
and the wider benefits to the other indicators. This support has
helped GOs agree and set challenging but realistic targets with
LAs accordingly.
Key priorities
— To provide support to the Government
Offices to raise awareness of the programme and how it feeds into
the National Indicators;
— To share good practice more widely across
Local Authorities;
— To ensure that housing support is featured
within the new CAA process.
Key delivery partners
— Regional Resource Team;
— Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships
(RIEPs);
77. Local Authorities are ideally placed
to provide a strategic lead across all public services in their
area and to ensure that services benefit local people and must
be responsive to the needs of the community and put those needs
at the centre of any decision-making process.
78. Supporting People has traditionally
been managed from Central Government, and not through the Government
Office network. In recognition of the new local government landscape
the department has established Regional Resource Teams (RRT).
Regional Resource Teams
79. Based within the Regions to work alongside
other Regional Government bodies, stakeholders and local authorities,
the RRTs provide support and advice and ensure that housing support
continues to play an important part in helping reduce social exclusion.
Although relatively new, these teams are proving to be a very
useful resource within the regions and will also be a key element
in the successful delivery of the Social Exclusion PSA 16.
80. The RRTs are working closely with the
Government Offices and the Regional Improvement and Efficiency
Partnerships in:
— assessing performance and setting of
meaningful targets in relation to 141,142, 156, 143, 145, 147 and
149 (see explanation of National Indicators at Annex C) and
assist them during Local Area Agreement refresh;
— identifying other forms of assistance
required such as peer/sector support;
— feed in to the Comprehensive Area Assessment
(CAA) process by ensuring that the Audit Commission have the additional
information they require to get a clearer local picture of an
authority, prior to undertaking a CAA;
— disseminate positive practice at a sub
regional and regional level in relation to both PSA 16 and
Supporting People housing related support issues;
— feed back to CLG on issues emerging from
the Regions in relation to PSA 16 and Supporting People Housing
related support issues;
— support authorities during this transitional
year as the ringfence is lifted on Supporting People and also
going forward in to 2010 when the funding goes in to the
Area Based Grant; and
— assist in the implementation of the CLG
Supporting People transitional package.
Regional Champions
81. As the service review process came to
an end and the delivery of the programme became less prescriptive.
Together with an increase in the number of Local Authorities becoming
"Excellent" authorities, which gave them additional
freedoms and flexibilities in how they deliver the SP programme,
it was important to disseminate and share good practice as widely
as possible. The CLG funding and support for Regional Champions
enabled this to happen.
82. In keeping to our commitment in the
strategy CLG sponsored Local Authorities in 2007-08 to act
as Regional Champions across a range of themes. The Regional Champions
act as expert points of contact for Supporting People authorities
in their region, and help to put them in touch with examples of,
and resources for, improved practice. Each Regional Champion leads
nationally on a specific topic or theme, and helps to join up
authorities and practice across different regions.
83. Themes covered include:
— Service Design and Value for Money;
— Outcome Based Commissioning;
— Service User Involvement;
— Governance Arrangements;
— Performance Monitoring;
— Streamlining Referral and Access Arrangements;
— Provider Support and Capacity Building.
CHAPTER 4
INCREASING EFFICIENCY
AND REDUCING
BUREAUCRACY
84. CLG are working with LAs and GOs to
help them identify ways to deliver efficiency saving to manage
the reduction in the SP programme budget. We are also committed
to working with Local Authorities and providers to ensure that
administration and bureaucracy is minimised so that resources
can be redirected towards frontline delivery. Previously where
we have required some elements of the programme to be mandatory
such as use of Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) to measure service
quality this is no longer the case.
Key priorities
— To provide support to LAs to ensure efficiency
savings are identified and realised without impacting on the delivery
of the programme and service users.
Key delivery partners
— Care Services Efficiency Division (CSED);
— Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA);
— Housing Learning and Improvement Network
(Housing LIN);
— Association of Directors Adult Social
Services (ADASS);
— Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships
(RIEPs);
85. As stated in Strong and Prosperous
Communities, authorities are expected to provide local services
as effectively and efficiently as possible. SP has already delivered
a £345 million efficiency in the last five years, with
local authorities and providers still able to provide good and
improving services. Local authorities are now able to identify
where savings can be made, and it is essential that they continue
to do so.
Value Improvement Projects
86. The Supporting People Value Improvement
Project (SPVIP) was established in 2007 following the success
of the pilot projects. Significant levels of efficiencies were
realised in the pilots, and there were positive effects for service
users arising from the rationalisation of services, which brought
them much closer to the profiles set out in local strategies.
There was a strong feeling among teams of having been proactive
and taken appropriate control of the delivery of SP in their areas.
87. The work of the SPVIP was integrated
into the delivery of the National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy
and delivery was passed to the Regional Improvement and Efficiency
Partnerships. CLG remains closely involved in the process of support
of Local Authorities at a national, regional, and local level
through involvement in the improvement and efficiency work led
by Care Services Efficiency Division (CSED), Improvement and Development
Agency (IDeA), the Housing Learning and Improvement Network (Housing
LIN), and Association of Directors Adult Social Services (ADASS).
The Regional Resource Teams work with authorities to support delivery
of the housing support and PSA16 National Indicators and
also gather examples of good practice and disseminate them across
the regions.
88. As previously mentioned in order to
further reduce the burdens on Local Authorities SP has discontinued
work on the Directory of Services, which in turn has reduced the
data that LAs were required to submit through the SP local system.
89. Whereas we recommend that local authorities
use the QAF to help ensure that standards of housing support services
are continually raised this is not a mandatory requirement. The
information to support the SP Outcomes framework is also not a
mandatory requirement .However, we are aware that some authorities
stipulate, as part of their contractual agreement that the providers
must participate in the CLG outcomes framework.
REMOVAL OF
THE SUPPORTING
PEOPLE PROGRAMME
RING-FENCE
90. In the strategy CLG said it would work
with authorities to explore the impact and benefits of delivering
Supporting People funding through the new Area Based Grant and
committed to pilot the removal of the ringfence by offering a
selected number of local authorities known as Pathfinders, the
same freedoms that they would have if their funding was paid under
the same power as the Area Based Grant.
Key priorities
— to test out the impact of delivering
SP in an unringfenced environment;
— to gather evidence from across the sector
including providers, service users, commissioning Bodies and Local
Authorities;
— share the learning from the pathfinders
more widely;
— to provide the SP community with a clear
steer on the way forward; and
— to provide transitional support to the
sector.
Key delivery partners
— pathfinder authorities;
— umbrella organisations, other government
departments and recognised national bodies eg Local Government
Association; and
— service users, providers and commissioning
bodies.
91. The Area Based Grant is a funding mechanism
is it a non ringfenced general grant, and as such its use will
not be directly monitored. It is up to local authorities to decide
how best to use the totality of their non-ringfenced general grant
(Revenue Support Grant and Area Based Grant) in support of local,
regional and national priorities. Local authorities' outcomes
will only be measured via the National Indicator Set and their
LAA targets The National Indicator set includes two Supporting
People indicators (NI141 and 142) and a number of others
(see Annex C) to which the Supporting People programme contributes.
92. Within the strategy and as part of the
"delivering in the new Local Government Landscape" CLG
committed to support local authorities and their delivery partners
in moving towards delivering Supporting People funds through the
new Area Based Grant from April 2009. In order to be fully integrated
would require the removal of the ringfence from the Supporting
People programme.
93. The Supporting People ringfence protected
the overall budget available in that LAs were required to spend
the funding on housing related support or for "Excellent"
authorities on wider welfare services. The decision on what services
to provide for the different SP client groups was for LAs and
Commissioning Bodies based on the local needs and priorities therefore
the use of the ringfence did not provide protection for individual
client groups.
94. At the time the decision was made to
remove the ringfence 23 local authorities were classes as
"non excellent" and were required to deliver on housing
related support services, 112 were "excellent"
authorities and the remaining 15 were the pathfinders.
95. As the programme has evolved and LAs
completed service reviews, produced their five year strategies
and had a better understanding of need so the Grant Conditions
had been revised to provide increased flexibility, eg LAs could
change the Commissioning Body arrangements and were no longer
required to contract for all services.
96. Hazel Blears wrote to Local Authority
Chief Executives and the chairs of Local Strategic Partnerships
in October 2007 and set out the list of grants that will
be delivered via Area Based Grant. The letter stated that "CLG
aim to include Supporting People programme grant in the un-ringfenced
Area Based Grant from April 2009 dependent on pilots in 2008-09 not
raising serious concerns".
97. In 2008/09—through amended grant
conditions—we allowed a small number of authorities to have
the same freedoms that they would have if SP were paid under the
same power as the new Area Based Grant. This would, for a time-bound
period, "remove the ringfence".
98. One of the issues raised has been about
the length of time the pathfinders ran for and whether this was
sufficient to identify any "serious concerns". The pathfinders
commenced in April 2008 but in order to inform the future
funding arrangement a decision on the ringfence was required in
October 2008. In addition to the work carried out to gather views
and evidence we also recognised the importance of providing ongoing
support to the sector as SP is delivered in an unringfenced environment.
The inclusion and on going development and delivery of the transition
package to support the sector going forward has mitigated some
of the concerns raised.
99. The inclusion of the Supporting People
budget within the Area Based Grant supports the clear commitment
of central government to provide authorities with greater flexibility
over their funding. Localities would be allowed more flexibility
to deliver local priorities, including their Local Area Agreements,
and it would reduce their administrative burden.
100. Payment through the new Area Based
Grant meant lifting the current ringfence from the SP grant, however
a large number of SP services are delivered through contracts
and therefore we do not anticipate a "big bang" approach
to the services available at 1 April. Unlike care and health
provision, there are no statutory duties requiring the provision
of housing related support. However, the programme is the largest
revenue stream of Government investment in the third sector (over
£1 billion annually) and the majority of SP funded services
target vulnerable or socially excluded client groups.
101. We have worked with the Pathfinder
authorities and other stakeholders to gather evidence about the
impact these changes made in the pilot areas. We have also explored
the issue more widely, talking to providers and their representative
bodies, service users, non-Pathfinder authorities, the LGA and
ADASS, colleagues across Whitehall and in the devolved administrations
and the Audit Commission, as well as analysing relevant data sources.
Through these discussions, the main concerns and risks raised
have related to:
— a shift in funding away from preventative
housing support services, which—due to the contractual nature
of the programme—is more likely to be a "medium-term
drift" rather than a "big-bang" impact; and
— a loss of focus and understanding at
the local level of the importance government attaches to preventative
work which enables vulnerable groups to live independently and
supports them into education, training and employment.
102. One of the key messages from the pathfinder
learning network was the importance of having a clear decision
and route-map for the future delivery of funding. Whilst the group
raised early concerns about how much change the project would
be able to measure in the short amount of time available, they
also stressed the importance of having a clear decision in 2008.
They argued that this would provide the certainty needed for authorities
and their provider partners to plan effectively for the future.
103. The pathfinders stressed the benefits
gained from a better mainstream understanding of housing support,
and the potential offered by the innovative projects that they
had been able to consider, with their new flexibility. The types
of innovation delivered so far have been positive, enabling the
delivery of jointly commissioned services which provide better
outcomes for service users. For example:
— Prison Transport Service—to improve
rates of ex offenders on release from prison meeting accommodation
appointments, a contract for "prison to provision" is
being agreed with a local provider of offender accommodation.
— Handyperson service looking to extend
to the private sector and to close gaps where the Supporting People
programme does not cover services such as disabled children moving
to adulthood.
104. Overall, the views from the group about
the best way forward was clearly in favour of increased funding
flexibility. This represented a changed position from the beginning
of the project when many of the learning network members were
in favour of keeping the ringfence.
Department Response—Transition package
105. These concerns, the vulnerability of
certain client groups and the high profile of any change, mean
that the decision and the transition to the new arrangements need
to be managed sensitively. As part of this management process,
we have been working with stakeholders to develop a transition
package that will help manage these concerns and support the sector
going forward. This will build on the mitigation already in place
to manage the concerns above:
106. The transition package currently consists
of:
— revisiting and updating the Capgemini
model which looks at the financial benefits of the programme to
help authorities better understand the costs avoided through preventative
housing related support services and therefore the case for future
investment.
— develop a local financial modelling tool
based on the Capgemini work which will allow authorities and their
partners to input relevant local data to better demonstrate impact
and evidence the case for investment (see paragraph 108 below
for a more detailed explanation).
— gathering and promoting lessons learnt
and examples of innovation from the freedoms gained by the Pathfinder
authorities.
— continued work with member groups in
the sector to support providers in responding to the new commissioning
and procurement environment, through the delivery of 18 regional
roundtable events, bringing together providers and commissioners
of services.
— a commitment from the Office of Third
Sector to work with CLG on promoting better commissioning practice,
with a special focus on small third sector groups.
— CLG/DH/LGA/ADASS conferences on 19 January
(in London) and 27 January (York) to help authorities and
their commissioning partners learn from the Pathfinders and consider
how their own localities will respond to the changing agenda.
— continued support from the CLG Regional
Resource Teams to support local performance improvement on the
commissioning and delivery of services (taking into account the
work being undertaken by Government Offices and the Regional Improvement
and Efficiency Partnerships).
— further events in Autumn 2009, to continue
monitoring any change and support sector with ongoing transition
issues.
107. We are continuing to work with Other
Government Departments and stakeholder partners to agree and enhance
this proposed package in order that identified risks are mitigated.
The Capgemini model included in the transition
package
108. CLG have commissioned Capgemini to
update a model to calculate the financial benefits of housing
related support services with the most recent nationally available
data. This is a repeat of an exercise undertaken in 2006 when
CLG commissioned research to understand the financial benefits
provided through the investment made in housing related support
services and, in particular, the extent to which investment in
these services saves money and avoids costs elsewhere through
preventing or deferring use of more costly alternatives.
109. The outputs of the 2006 modelling
were instrumental in securing the three year SP Funding settlement
for the CSR07. This time round Capgemini will add new client groups
into the model where possible (the previous model largely concentrated
on SP client groups which accounted for the majority of SP spend)
and revise the model to develop a tool kit that can be used at
local authority level. The latter point is particularly important
as it will provide local evidence of the financial benefits of
investment in housing support services. The revised National model
and the local tool kit will be available in summer 2009.
May 2009
45 Supporting People: A new policy and funding framework
for support services. Back
46
Review of the Supporting People Programme-Independent Report Back
47
Local Government White Paper Strong and Prosperous Communities-The
Local Government White Paper-October 2006 Back
48
Creating Sustainable Communities: Supporting Independence Consultation
on a Strategy for the Supporting People Programme, November 2005 Back
49
The consultation included 3 additional documents - Help us
to Make Supporting People even better -easy read version of the
consultation on a strategy for the Supporting People Programme-January
2006
Supporting people Distribution Formula-Technical Consultation
November 2005
eSupporting People: Shorter Term Questions-December 2005 Back
50
Supporting Independence-Next steps in our Supporting people Strategy
July 2006
Creating Sustainable Communities: Supporting Independence-a summary
of your responses-July 2006
How to make Supporting People work better-a report about what
you told us-Easy read version July 2006 Back
51
Learning and Experiences from the Individual Budget Pilot Sites-sharing
practice from the Individual Budget pilot sites-March 2009 Back
52
Commissioning housing related support for health and well-being Back
53
"Reaching Out, An Action Plan for Social Exclusion"
September 2006
ACE Website
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/adults.aspx Back
54
Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods: A National Strategy for
Housing in an Ageing Society-February 2008 Back
55
Delivering Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods-A National
strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society-February 2008 Back
56
Common Assessment Framework for Adults-a consultation on proposals
to improve information sharing around multi-disciplinary assessment
and care planning -January 2009 Back
57
Collaborate the Supporting People partnerships project http://www.hact.org.uk/downloads.asp?PageId=175 Back
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