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Memorandum from
West Berkshire Council is fully committed to the values and ethos of the Supporting People Programme. · We have a diverse range of services reaching out to the most vulnerable in our community and will seek to sustain these in the light of funding reductions and removal of the protection the ring-fence created. · We are concerned about the impact of the changes, particularly the level of commitment from partners less familiar with the aims and values of the programme against the many competing priorities to deliver statutory services. 1. The
advantages that the Supporting People programme could offer to vulnerable
people were fully embraced by West Berkshire Council at the launch of the
initiative. 2. Ring-fenced
funding created a focused approach to preventative services that otherwise
would have had less priority than statutory services. 3. A
project management approach was taken to the transfer of a diverse range of
services which included a refuge, hostel for the single homeless, supported
accommodation for young people at risk and supported living services for people
with learning disabilities, mental health needs and older people. 4. The
review process has been used to drive improvements in quality, range and value
across supported living services. 5. We
have worked to enhance our monitoring and commissioning processes in response
to greater focus on outcomes, and taken advantage of the flexibility that
excellent status has offered to deliver a more holistic approach to
commissioning services. 6. The
development of our local 5 year strategy has ensured enhanced priority for
socially excluded groups e.g. Gypsy Travellers and Teenage parents. The gap analysis has led to the development
of support services which may never have happened without the programme. 7. We
have also worked to increase investment in services delivered through the
voluntary sector e.g. a home from hospital service delivered by Age Concern and
services supported by a range of partners e.g. the Safer Spaces project which
enables victims of domestic violence to remain in their own home. 8. We are
committed to continuing further investment in services delivered through the 3rd
sector and this will form a key part of strategic commissioning. 9. The
commitment to supported living services for vulnerable people has been
maintained in the face of significant reductions in the programme
allocation. 10. We are
currently consulting with services users on proposals that have been developed
following a strategic review of current services. This will include significant service
re-modeling to ensure we continue to reach the widest range of people in the
most efficient way. 11. Early
work has already been completed with the joint commissioning of services with
Adult Social Care and Health which has reduced bureaucracy by promoting a
joined up approach. 12. The
government announcement around the removal of the ring fence and eventual
payment of the fund through the Local Strategic Partnership has caused some
concern as not all partners will recognize the value of the services delivered
within the current programme. 13. Our
response to this has been to work to raise the profile of the value of the
programme with our partners. This has
included ensuring it is a central theme to our Council Plan, Sustainable
Community Strategy and inclusion of both of the Supporting People national
indicators within the Local Area Agreement - NI141 and 142. 14. We are
committed to retain the Supporting People Commissioning Body as the key
governance for the local programme and have worked to develop a Housing sub
partnership as the main link within the Local Strategic Partnership. Additionally, we have also ensured that
membership includes representation from the voluntary sector and support
providers. 15. We
recognise that there is still work to be done to maintain the commitment to
preventative services for vulnerable people, particularly with those partners
who are less familiar with the programme. We also recognise the importance of integrating preventative other key strategic changes that will be delivered through the implementation of Systems Transformation. May 2009 |