Housing the debate

The debate about how housing providers should play a role in care services is as old as the hills. It certainly pre-dates my time at Inside Housing anyway.

I’ve lost count of the number of times someone has quoted the Capgemini report at me with its ubiquitous findings: for every £1 spend on Supporting People, £1.17 is saved on other services, like health care or homelessness support.

Housing is important. But then, you all knew that.

Tomorrow, the government’s health select committee will publish a report on evidence it’s heard on social care. It will make a slew of recommendations for consideration by the government before it publishes a white paper on the issue later this year. With funding being cut on all sides and resources stretched to breaking point, it’s an issue that needs debating.

While I can’t report any of the content today – tune back tomorrow for that – I think it’s clear to everyone that housing must get a mention.

David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation was called to give evidence last month: ‘Those of us who have been involved in housing have felt a degree of frustration over the years that the health and social care debate is a health and social care debate,’ he told the MPs. ‘We think it needs to be a housing, health and social care debate, because it is almost impossible, outside the delivery of acute services, to consider how best to meet someone’s needs unless they are properly housed.’

He also made the point that around half of all housing association tenancies are held by people who are 60 or over.

‘It is our assumption that that group of people, as they age and become more frail, are likely to require considerable degrees of support and care, and that very often that support and care will be provided in their home rather than in some external residential setting,’ he said.

But more than that, he made the point that even where housing associations are doing this, there is not the support in place to help them. ‘We do not think the systems and structures are in place yet to ensure that it is properly delivered,’ Mr Orr added.

This group of MPs could really influence care policy ahead of the white paper, so it’s vital that they see housing as central to the continuing work around care. If nothing else, it would stop us all banging on about it.