You wont get a rise out of them

The Housing Corporation says the pay dispute over Supporting People funding at English Churches Housing Group is a matter for ECHG and its staff. That’s not strictly true any more. The Supporting People funding regime has effectively tied employers’ hands.

Staff are the largest cost in supported housing so the government’s control of the Supporting People budget and how administering authorities allocate it sets the parameters for pay. For a long time housing support workers have been modestly paid, certainly getting far less than many people in easier, less responsible jobs. Even a rise in line with inflation would leave them falling behind (2.5% of a housing worker’s salary is a lot less than 2.5% of an ODPM bureaucrat’s).

The ODPM has instigated cuts for the next three years with uncertainty thereafter. The government is behind the squeeze on housing worker pay.

They’ve deliberately picked on a low-profile body of workers and forced them to choose between their right to a fair wage and the needs of vulnerable people they serve.