Another week, and another review of the Supporting People funding regime gets under way.
A questionnaire probing the services provided to care for vulnerable people in their homes is winging its way to 3000 providers (see page 9).

Having dipped into its coffers to meet the swollen costs of the services, the Treasury was always going to want to make sure the £1.8bn cash was not going to be squandered. But with budgets currently being set only on a piecemeal basis – and at the 11th hour, at that – councils and housing assocaitions are having a nightmare trying to plan, long term, what services they can offer. Capital programmes are in limbo and morale has taken a battering.

There’s no doubt that some councils are hogging more than their fair share of the cash – the previous review, published in February, confirmed that. Some of this overspend will be historic and, let’s not forget, the system that Supporting People replaced was even more chaotic – care was paid for out of housing benefit cash and what got signed off in the housing benefit system depended on who happened to be in charge of it at the time. This latest review, argues the ODPM, should at least lead to a more equitable distribution of funds – and settle once and for all the suspicion that some authorities are paying for health and care services out of their housing budgets.

With the spending review process in full swing, it’s vital the ODPM uses any evidence of malpractice uncovered by the survey to strengthen the case for other government departments to contribute to the health and care bill rather than see the budget slashed by the Treasury. This will allow councils once again to start thinking about caring for vulnerable people in their homes in terms 0f years, rather than weeks.

With budgets being set on a piecemeal basis, councils and RSLs are having a nightmare planning for the long term

An axe is too blunt a weapon for ALMOs
The decision by the ODPM to reinspect arm’s-length management organisations beyond the intial scrutiny should not surprise anyone (see page 8). Rightly or wrongly, council housing departments and registered social landlords are under the microscope more than ever and it would be bizarre to treat ALMOs differently.

There is concern within the ODPM that without regular inspections to keep ALMOs on their toes, the performance of the two- and three-star performers is likely to slip. The question is, what should be the sanctions if they do?

Source

Housing Today