The implementation fund is virtually twice the amount first offered to the sector by DETR earlier this year. It was criticised as not being enough to help all of the organisations which provide care and support services (Housing Today, 28 September).
The largest grant of approximately £1.5m has gone to the federation which will use it to provide eight regionally-based Supporting People workers and a co-ordinator over a three year period, starting from next April.
Other plans by the federation include launching Supporting People fora in every council for pr oviders and voluntary agencies and the development of a toolkit covering the programme’s preparatory stages.
Federation head of housing management and support Kathleen Boyle told Housing Today: "Providers face enormous challenges over the next few years. We are committed to helping them meet these challenges and believe that basing workers in the regions, whom all providers can call on, is the most effective way of doing this."
The Housing Associations Charitable Trust will receive approximately £400,000 over 24 months. The grant will finance a series of 18 regional seminars aimed at involving small frontline providers and will also establish a grant pot for smaller providers to apply to.
HACT assistant director Maurice Wren said: "The department is clearly considering small providers, particularly those on the margins operating with client groups that can be low priorities for some local authorities. It is assisting them in a number of ways to talk with bigger providers on a level playing field."
The DETR is still in discussions with Sitra over the final amount it will receive.
Source
Housing Today
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