Directors can help to push Supporting People

Social services directors must take an active role in helping their
local authorities implement Supporting People, the deputy director
of the government’s new funding regime for supported housing has
urged.

Hilary Bartle told delegates that she found it “very worrying” when
she heard social services directors say they did not know what
Supporting People was.

“It’s very important for directors to understand where Supporting
People fits in with social services and the broader social
inclusion agenda,” she said.

A pilot audit of the programme, which involves all housing with
support costs being met through a single budget, will take place in
four councils next January. Full joint inspections of Supporting
People services, which will start when the programme goes live in
April, will include the Social Services Inspectorate, housing, the
Audit Commission and the probation service.

Bartle advised councils to make sure that Supporting People funding
was “distributed broadly and evenly” among all levels of support
services.

“We don’t want money diverted to the high care sector because in 10
years we will be back to square one and we’ll need larger community
care budgets.”

She added that the programme was “not a substitute to top up
community care”, insisting it had to be used across the board in
all housing with support costs services.