Supporting People flaws cue for review

The government is to review the growing cost of the Supporting
People programme after announcing a £1.8bn budget for England
for this year.

An independent review will be carried out into the cost of the
transitional housing benefit element of Supporting People, which
has increased by £400m from the original estimates by local
authorities announced in February.

Meanwhile, social services directors claim the effectiveness of the
scheme is still being hindered by inflexible contractual
arrangements.

Terry Butler, the Association of Directors of Social Services
spokesperson on Supporting People, said there was too much
bureaucracy for local authorities to deal with when commissioning
services from providers of housing and support.

Money is not necessarily following the tenants when they move from
one support provider to another, he told the National Social
Services Conference last week.

“It is a faultline at the heart of the programme,” Butler added.
However, he said there was no evidence that councils were siphoning
off Supporting People money to pay for other services, as some had
feared.