The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the Supporting People programme. The committee's report included a number of recommendations to improve the value for money of the programme. The government said that it had developed a programme of work to address these recommendations, and to gather information on value for money for the Spending Review 2004.
Source: Government Response to the ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee s Report on the Supporting People Programme, Cm 6348, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Link to response removed | MPs report
Date: 2004-Oct
A report examined the challenges for Supporting People commissioners, their partner agencies and providers in tackling older homelessness, and proposed cost-effective solutions.
Source: Jenny Pannell and Guy Palmer, Coming of Age: Opportunities for older people under Supporting People, Homeless Link (020 7960 3010) and UK Coalition on Older Homelessness
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Oct
The government announced a funding package for the Supporting People programme. It would provide 1.72 billion in 2005-06 (a real-term cut of around 7.5 per cent), followed by around 1.7 billion in both 2006-07 and 2007-08. The government said that this demonstrated its commitment to improving the quality of life for those at risk by promoting independent living - providing housing-related support to vulnerable people, including home visits, alarm systems and advice on accessing benefit entitlements.
Source: Press release 31 August 2004, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 3000)
Links: ODPM press release
Date: 2004-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs endorsed the tighter regime of financial control introduced for the Supporting People programme, following a review of costs. But it warned that real-terms cuts in annual provision, applied blindly to each authority, could damage services for vulnerable people in an unacceptable way.
Source: Supporting Vulnerable and Older People: The Supporting People Programme, Tenth Report (Session 2003-04), HC 504-I, House of Commons Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Jul
An article presented findings from an exploratory study of the harassment and abuse of older people within the private rented sector. It considered the legal remedies that might be available for tackling some of these problems. Legal remedies were compared with more social policy based approaches which drew upon the framework relating to the protection of vulnerable adults.
Source: Nancy Carlton, Tina Fear and Robin Means, 'Responding to the harassment and abuse of older people in the private rented sector: legal and social perspectives', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 26 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Jul
The government announced plans to regulate home reversion schemes, often used by elderly people to derive an income from the capital value of their home.
Source: Press release 10 May 2004, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: HMT press release | Age Concern press release | ABI press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-May
A report examined the views, attitudes, perceptions and behaviour of older people who were in fuel poverty or who were concerned about heating their homes. Many were found to be unable to afford to keep their home warm in winter. Government-backed schemes to tackle cold homes had been designed without the input of older people. Few older people in England and Wales had heard of the Warm Front scheme (England) or the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (Wales), and those who had done so found the eligibility criteria confusing.
Source: Fay Wright, Older and Colder: Views of older people experiencing difficulties keeping warm in winter, Help the Aged (020 7278 1114) and British Gas
Links: Help the Aged press release
Date: 2004-Mar
The report was published of an independent review into the costs of the Supporting People Programme. It found 'strong circumstantial evidence' that local councils had been using the programme to finance services that used to be funded by health and social services budgets. On the basis of the findings of the review, the government said that local authorities would be expected to make efficiency savings of up to 2.5 per cent in 2004-05, in order to improve value for money. A proportion of the savings would be reallocated to councils to fund services which had come on stream in 2003-04. The government also announced an overall allocation to the programme for 2004-05 of 1.8 billion, which it said would fund housing-related support services for over one million vulnerable people, including victims of domestic violence, older people and those with mental health problems.
Source: Eugene Sullivan, Review of the Supporting People Programme: Independent report, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 12 February 2004, column 84WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 12 February 2004, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Hansard | ODPM press release | NHF press release | LGA press release | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Feb
