News

The relentless bad press experienced by Supporting People is to be countered by a charity campaign highlighting its benefits, writes Simeon Brody.

The campaign, designed by charity Homeless Link and set to start this autumn to coincide with a government consultation on the future of Supporting People, will target policy-makers, MPs and the public.

The charity has also welcomed the decision by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to write to local authorities this week reminding them that there is no requirement for service users to prove a "local connection" to access Supporting People services.

Research by the charity revealed that half of local authorities were wrongly restricting services to people from the local area.

Since its launch in 2003, Supporting People has faced criticism as a result of budget cuts, a heavy administrative burden and problems with local implementation.

The charity hopes that by moving the emphasis away from the difficulties the programme has faced, the fund can more easily be defended and even increased in the 2007 spending review.

Homeless Link's director of policy, practice and campaigns, Dominic Williamson, said: "We are switching our emphasis on the campaigning to make sure people are aware of what Supporting People does."

But Williamson said he would continue to highlight any implementation problems with the programme. Homeless Link research has found that two-thirds of local homelessness agencies felt under pressure to change the services they offered due to the restrictive definition of housing-related support adopted by their local authority.


The charity fears local projects will be reluctant to engage in certain types of work, such as ensuring people with tuberculosis take their drugs, because the local authority might not fund it.

The ODPM is reviewing the future of Supporting People as part of a "stock take" of the whole department. An ODPM spokesperson said it would consult on any proposals and an announcement would be made "in due course".