We need to keep Supporting People

In 2015, the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action undertook research which calculated that every £1 spent on Supporting People services saves the public purse £1.90. This rose to £11.18 for victims of domestic violence. Housing support helps prevent problems or escalation that can result in hospitalisation, homelessness or premature admission to residential or nursing care. All of these are more costly to the public purse than the housing support provided through Supporting People.

In the context of housing, the latest study notes that Supporting People really does help people to live independently: 9,925 service users were supported to maintain their tenancy; 77% indicated they were supported to improve their ability to live independently; and 53% indicated that they were supported to secure long-term accommodation.

At the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA), we believe that every household should have access to a good-quality, affordable and sustainable home that is appropriate for its needs. Supporting People helps to provide the extra layer of support to meet those needs.

“Energy costs have risen by up to 92% for some providers and agency staff costs have risen by 31%, at a time when housing associations cannot afford to match pay levels in other health and care sectors”

So why then, given the clear success of the programme, has the budget remained static for 15 years?

Fifteen years of a static budget has left providers with a real-terms cut in funding of 30% and service providers in the sector are now at breaking point. Budgets are already stretched, and rising inflation is putting further pressure on the sector. There is no doubt that Supporting People providers are gravely concerned about rising costs, combined with the frozen budget.

NIFHA members have reported that well over half of their Supporting People services are running at a deficit, with more expected to be in deficit by the end of the year. These valued services are being propped up by housing associations’ own reserves and the continued support of their boards, which see the value in what Supporting People provides.

But they caution that the situation cannot continue. Energy costs have risen by up to 92% for some providers and agency staff costs have risen by 31%, at a time when housing associations cannot afford to match pay levels in other health and care sectors, resulting in recruitment and retention becoming increasingly difficult. Static budgets have taken their toll on providers, but the current economic challenges are pushing them to the brink.

It took many years of lobbying the Northern Ireland Assembly to highlight the value of Supporting People and the need to continue to invest in it. This was finally acknowledged in the draft three-year Stormont budget, which included a £10.9m uplift over the next three years. But the current stalemate in Stormont means that the budget was never approved and no new funding has been made available to meet even the current rising costs of delivery, never mind rebalancing the inflationary losses of the past 15 years.

This funding crisis is real and it is having an impact on services. There is a greater demand for Supporting People than can be provided and the long-term view is that the demand will continue to grow. But with no new funding to help underpin current and future need, providers believe that services will cease to be viable and service users will suffer. 

We know how successful Supporting People has been, but we believe that services are at breaking point due to a lack of long-term investment in the programme. NIFHA is calling on the Northern Ireland Executive to provide urgent funding to meet immediate cost pressures, to help bring front-line staff pay back in line with other health and care services, and to secure new funding to reverse the long-term inflationary erosion of the core budget. Let’s keep on supporting people. Its value to the community cannot be argued.