23rd September 2010 / AGENDA ITEM 10
SUPPORTING PEOPLE STRATEGY
1.0Matter for consideration
1.1The Committee to consider an update report on the Supporting People Strategy.
2.0Recommendation(s)
2.1To consider the update report, asking questions and making any recommendations that are considered appropriate.
3.0Summary of key issues
3.1Context
3.1.1The Supporting People Programme was launched in April 2003 to enable local authorities and their partners to plan, commission and provide housing related support services that help vulnerable people to live independently.
3.1.2 The aim of the Supporting People Programme is to establish a strategic, integrated policy and funding framework, delivered locally in response to identified local needs, to replace the complex and uncoordinated arrangements for providing housing related support services for vulnerable people that existed previously.
3.1.3Blackpool Council acts as the Administering Authority (AA) for the Supporting People Programme and works in partnership with NHS Blackpool and the National Probation Service Lancashire in commissioning Supporting People services.
3.1.4The Supporting People Programme and the housing support it delivers is a preventative programme aimed at assisting people to live at home rather than access high-cost social care, health or treatment services. It also contributes to savings within the criminal justice system by supporting people who are at risk of offending. Research by the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Treasury in 2008 as part of the CSR process has shown that the £1.7bn national cost of the Supporting People Programme saves the national social care, health and criminal justice budgets £4.4bn. Extrapolating this in Blackpool means the £6.821m Supporting People budget saves local social care, health and criminal justice services around £12.2m per annum.
3.1.5In 2005 a Five Year Strategy for the Supporting People Programme was produced. This guided the way in which the programme was developed and delivered.
3.1.6The commissioning strategy has been refreshed and is now included in the Joint (Health, Adult Social Care and Housing Related Support) Community Services Commissioning Strategy 2010-2015 and will have links to the homelessness strategy, the North West Needs analysis of housing related support and the updated Supporting People benefits model.
3.2Strategic Priorities
3.2.1The priorities for 2005-10 as identified in the Blackpool Supporting People Strategy were:
- Extra care Sheltered Housing Scheme – Tulloch Court opened July 2010 and Elk View in September 2010.
- Generic floating support service – two new generic Floating Support services provided by Barnardo’s and Creative Support opened March 2010.
- Short-term accommodation for people with mental health issues – in place.
- Accommodation based service for people with Learning Disabilities – in place.
- Direct access shelter for over 25’s – in place - Oasis Nightshelter
- Assessment Centre for homeless young people – due to open in October 2010, Streetlife have acquired capital funding
- Short term accommodation for people with Mental Health and Substance Misuse issues – accommodation based services for substance misusers was provided for by a specialist floating support service.
- Refuge places for women with additional needs – the current provision and generic floating support meets existing needs.
- Additional family hostel – no longer required due to lower demand for hostel places.
- Long term ‘wet’ accommodation including ‘Night Café’ – no longer required, this was explored during the options appraisal for the Nightshelter.
- Expansion of Home Improvement Agency – completed.
3.2.2The main areas of need identified in the refreshed Commissioning Strategy are to:
- Address areas of under-provision of supported housing for socially excluded groups in partnership with specialist providers and health services and determine the type of support required.
- Review the provision of specialist accommodation for older adults and move from high numbers of sheltered homes that meet relatively low level support needs towards accommodation for those that are most frail alongside more flexible tenure- neutral support services.
- Develop new accommodation strategies to plan the provision of appropriate specialist accommodation to meet local needs for the long term care of people with a learning disability and/or physical disabilities.
3.2.3Also identified in the homelessness strategy and the North West needs analysis is floating support. There is likely to be significant demand for and pressure on the generic floating support service. The funding for the generic services was from decommissioned services and any additional investment would require disinvestment in other service areas.
3.3 Financial issues
3.3.1Funding for the Supporting People (SP) Programme originally came as a specific ringfenced grant from CLG. During 2002/03, the year before SP commenced, we identified the existing funding being spent on SP services that would come into the programme. This funding was a mix of Transitional Housing Benefit, Supported Housing Grant from the Housing Corporation and Probation Accommodation Grant and as at March 2003 amounted to £6,535,318. The table below shows the levels of grant payable since the start of the programme on 1st April 2003.
Year / Grant payableIdentified spending March 2003 / £6,535,318
2003/04 / £6,407,224
2004/05 / £6,274,144
2005/06 / £5,986,904
2006/07 / £5,892,799
2007/08 / £6,138,533
2008/09 / £6,568,230
2009/10 / £6,821,000
2010/11 / £6,821,000
3.3.2On 6 December 2007, the indicative grant allocations for the Supporting People programme were published for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.
3.3.3The Supporting People Grant had been ringfenced to services meeting the grant conditions and was subject to annual audit. However, in November 2008, the CLG confirmed that, following the Pathfinder Project, from 2010 the SP Grant Funding would be delivered as an unringfenced named grant and would be included in the Area Based Grant from 2010-11. This was intended to allow Local Authorities greater flexibility in the use of resources in order to meet local priorities. This resulted in the funding being top-sliced by 5% in 2010-11 (£341,050). Uncommitted spend from 2009/10 has enabled funding to remain at 2009/10 levels.
3.3.4The CLG Select Committee held an inquiry into Supporting People funding and the lifting of the ringfence. The Committee recommended that the lifting of the ringfence was appropriate.
3.4 Contracts & Commitments for 2010/11
3.4.1 The table below gives an outline view of contractual commitments for 2010/11. Many of these schemes are jointly commissioned with social care and NHS Blackpool. Other schemes deliver the only housing support services available to the client group.
Client Group / Number of schemes / Total Capacity / Financial Commitment£000’s
People with mental health problems / 13 / 105 / £946
Older people / 19 / 1,760 / £1,216
People with Physical Disabilities / 2 / 12 / £101
People with Learning Disabilities / 11 / 114 / £1,600
Frail elderly / 1 / 44 / £111
People with HIV / 1 / 5 / £12
Single homeless / 7 / 87 / £742
Rough Sleepers / 1 / 8 / £181
Young people at risk / 6 / 76 / £710
Homeless families / 3 / 40 / £98
People with substance misuse problems / 1 / 85 / £166
People at risk of domestic abuse / 1 / 5 / £92
Ex-offenders / 1 / 47 / £152
Teenage parents / 3 / 24 / £192
Generic Floating Support / 2 / 107 / £290
Total / 74 / 2,527 / £6,609
3.4.2 In June, the Department of Communities and Local Government cut the £110,000 SP administration grant for 2010/11. This funded the staff to administer the contracts, monitor the services (essential as these services are not regulated), commission/decommission services, pay providers, collate and analyse performance data. The staff in the posts that were originally funded by this grant were put at risk of redundancy, but alternative funding has enabled them to continue.
3.5Commitments for 2011-12
3.5.1 The funding for Supporting People for 2011/12 and beyond will be announced following the Comprehensive Spending Review in the autumn.
3.5.2The contracts for Supporting People funded services are due to expire on 31st March 2011, but have an option to extend for two years. The services are currently being reviewed to determine future need based on strategic relevance, priority and effectiveness of services delivering against agreed outcomes.
3.6 Local Area Agreement
3.6.1It has been agreed that housing support outcomes can contribute to the Local Area Agreement (LAA) priorities and the National Indicator 141 has been included in Blackpool’s LAA. This measures the proportion of those people in short term services who are enabled to move on in a planned way into independent living settings. This is an effective measure of how these services enable people to build their capacity for greater independence, and in turn reduce issues such as homelessness, repeat offending and anti-social behaviour.
3.6.2The target for 2009-10 was 54%. The actual planned moves for the year was 43%.
4.0Witnesses / representatives
4.1As requested by the Committee members, the following persons have been invited to attend the meeting to speak on the matter:
- Craig McDowell, Integrated Contracts Manager
Relevant officer:
Brenda Smith, Adult Health and Social Care, Policy, Strategy and Commissioning
Tel: (01253) 651090, e-mail:
Appendices attached:
None.
Background papers:
None.
Websites and e-mail links for further information:
None.