Supporting People funding will be delivered through local area agreements (LAAs) by April 2009, the local government minister told a conference this week.
Phil Woolas’s statement appears to contradict a speech he made in July, when he pledged to maintain the programme’s ring-fenced status.
LAAs give councils flexibility over how they spend their money as long as they meet agreed targets. But campaigners have raised fears that removing the Supporting People ring fence would lead to less popular groups losing out.
Trailing the launch of the government’s Supporting People strategy, expected early next year, Woolas also promised an expansion of individual budgets that include Supporting People funding.
Supporting People minimum standards are also under consideration, giving local authorities guidance over what they should deliver and allowing people to take action if they do not receive it.
Chartered Institute of Housing policy officer Sarah Davis said removing the ring fence could be a problem in areas where there was not a good understanding of the benefits of supported housing. But she suggested introducing a statutory supported housing duty might be a way to stop funds being diverted to other areas.
Woolas backtracks on funding plans
November 29, 2006 in Adults
More from Community Care
Related articles:
Featured jobs
Workforce Insights
- Working with perpetrators of domestic abuse: training social workers to have challenging conversations
- Extending support: the importance of reflective supervision beyond the ASYE
- ‘It’s hopeful work’: social work in an adults’ mental health team
- Podcast: supporting adults with learning disabilities and autism post-pandemic
- ‘There aren’t many roles where you get to take a child on holiday’: the benefits of residential care work
- Workforce Insights – showcasing a selection of the sector’s top recruiters
Community Care Inform
Latest stories
Finley Boden: professionals should have protected baby murdered by his parents, review finds
Regulator calls for consistency of support for NQSWs as DfE develops children’s early career framework
Leadership training programme launched for PSWs, AMHP leads and principal OTs in adults’ services
Kent ‘extremely close to capacity’ to care for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
Comments are closed.