Over the past year Inside Housing has reported devastating cuts to the Supporting People programme in England. Now it is highlighting the vital importance of housing services to all policy areas ahead of next month’s regional elections with its House Proud - Devolved campaign.
Although the loss of specific grant makes it difficult to pinpoint where responsibility lies, the UK government’s belief that services for homeless and vulnerable people should compete with other areas of local public spend in such difficult times is having devastating consequences.
The need for support and homelessness services has never been greater due to our ageing population, a rise in the number of people with learning disabilities and the economic situation. Research has shown that the human cost of an economic downturn is more family breakdown, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol problems, mental ill-health and, ultimately, homelessness. When we add the highest level of youth unemployment we’ve ever seen and the fact that personal debt is predicted to rise to unprecedented levels, it seems obvious that support services which help people to find or keep their home should be central to government policy.
Since the introduction of the SP programme in 2003, the Welsh Assembly Government has taken a different approach to Westminster. This has been characterised by the protection of services to homeless and vulnerably housed people and the championing of third sector organisations which support vulnerable people, who do not enjoy the protection of public support or a statutory framework.
The most recent demonstration of this was from deputy minister for housing and regeneration Jocelyn Davies who instigated an independent review of how the programme could be improved. The review put forward a number of recommendations including strengthening flexibility, accountability and transparency. The latter involves establishing a national board chaired by the Ms Davies to oversee the programme and ensure it maximizes its contribution to meeting national policy objectives. So, while Westminster has washed its hands of any responsibility for the vulnerable people SP helps at a time when services are needed most, in Wales we have a policy direction that raises the housing and support needs of vulnerable people further up the national agenda.
Over the next assembly term we will have more people needing support to find and keep a home and I am grateful that in Wales we have a national commitment to the SP programme. I also hope the UK government reflects on the impact its decisions on SP are having and follows Wales’ lead.
Joy Kent is director of Cymorth Cymru
Have your say
You must sign in to make a comment
Readers' comments (4)
Peter Wicks | 20/04/2011 1:17 pm
SP is a con,most HA's are doing away with their "live-in" wardens and renting out the wardens houses.Those in so called sheltered housing see a mobile warden twice a week(if they are lucky) and for this "service the old folk are charged nearly £12 a week...SP keeps a few in clover.....it should be done away with
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Jack Davies | 20/04/2011 2:45 pm
Work it through Peter
The national average cost of support in payment was just under £12 per week. For that sheltered tenants wanted a resident warden. The costs all found of warden salary, the rent on warden flat, pens, paper, office, utilities, propoertion of IT and HR support from the landlord will come out at no less than £700 per week.
So all the shelteredd tenants paying £12 per week have to cover these costs and means a resident warden is not-sustainable unless the sheltered scheme holds at least 60 residents.
Still think a few are in clover?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Peter Wicks | 20/04/2011 5:22 pm
Prior to 1st of April 2003 help and support was a free service provided by local councils,but that excuse for a socilist Tory Blair and Co decided to rape and pillage the old and infirm and introduced another quango called Supporting People and the latest figures they put out(Department of Communities and Local Gov) is as follows...
Supporting People helps around one million people at any one time, including approximately:
815,000 older people with support needs
39,000 single homeless people
36,000 people with mental health problems
10,000 women at risk of domestic violence
Which is a massive difference from your estimate Jack my friend, so if we take the single figure of 815,000 older people paying £12 per week to Supporting People that equates to the staggering figure of
nearly £9.8 million per week(lubberly jubbly as Dell Boy would say)
Think of the CEO's wage packet on this one Jack.clover indeed
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Peter Wicks | 20/04/2011 5:33 pm
As a foot note to my last post to Jack I must say the following, I live in one of these old folks homes, but I am a radical writer who debates on the Guardian and the BBC web pages and I am the author of over 500 radical kicking bums poems,l(unpublished) and as an ex civil servant I am finding great to be myself in my twilight years.Last week my next door neighbor had her door kicked down by the police......she had been dead for two days.......no warden came on those days......
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment