ITEM EX9 - ANNEX 1
EXECUTIVE – 1 OCTOBER 2002
IMPLEMENTING THE SUPPORTING PEOPLE REFORMS
Supporting People Shadow Strategy : Executive Summary
What is ‘Supporting People’?
Supporting People is a national government programme that covers both supported housing and housing related support provided to vulnerable people in their homes. Implementation of Supporting People is being overseen and driven by the Office of the deputy Prime Minister (ODPM, former DTLR).
Although this programme will be ‘going live’ on 1st April 2003, it will remain transitional for the first year. This is the ‘steady state’ phase of implementation where existing services will be maintained and the review process started. It is only at the end of this process that any decisions on service provision will be taken.
From 1st April 2003 Oxfordshire will take over responsibility for a budget in the region of £7 to £12 million and responsibility for funding housing related support services. Currently about 472 services have been identified that are eligible for and will receive Supporting People funding.
Purpose of the Shadow Strategy
The purpose of the strategy is to:
- Present Oxfordshire’s vision for Supporting People
- Explain how we plan to implement this programme to achieve the smooth transition to new arrangements in 2003/04
- Indicate on the basis of the initial gap analysis the priorities for change in local service provision in 2003/07
- Describe how decisions about prioritising these changes will be made
- Indicate what we plan to do in 2003/04 and how this work will link to our future plans for 2004/07
Mechanisms for consultation and approval
A formal consultation programme on this document was carried out from 17 July to 31 August 2002. A full list of stakeholders consulted with is provided in Appendix 1. The Supporting People implementation team collated this information and produced a report for the Core Strategy Group on 5 September. The Core Strategy Group agreed amendments to the document, which then were incorporated into this post-consultation document on 9 September.
Elected members of District/City Councils and Executive members of the Health and Probation boards will then be asked to formally approve the strategy. In order to facilitate this process an Elected Members Forum (Commissioning Body) had been formed. It is envisaged that the strategy will be approved and signed off by 31 October, when it is due to be submitted to the central government.
Oxfordshire Supporting People Vision
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‘We will work in partnership with service users, providers and commissioners to ensure that, within the constraints of limited resources, the widest possible range of high quality, cost effective housing related support services is available to support vulnerable people in Oxfordshire. We will work to ensure continuing stability of existing services and will address issues of unmet need for services by ensuring that needs are effectively identified. We will work towards developing an agreed mechanism to establish equitable priorities between user groups to assess competing claims on limited resources. We will work to improve accessibility to services and to ensure that information about all support options is available to assist those in need of support to access appropriate services.’ |
Two main themes that emerged from all consultation events and informed this vision are:
- Significant areas of unmet need and demand for new housing related support services have been identified
- Specific areas of under provision or inappropriate provision have been identified as part of the gap analysis
Oxfordshire Supporting People Strategic Aim
In the period from 2003 to 2006 service provision in Oxfordshire will be reviewed to ensure that services provided meet identified priority needs.
Oxfordshire Supporting People Key Objectives
- To ensure a smooth transition to Supporting People regime on 1 April 2003
- To meet current unmet need for people in priority groups, including specialist services for BME groups, within resources available
- To improve quality of service provision by reviewing existing services and developing local quality standards by client group
- To review and, where appropriate, to reshape local services to maximize a range of flexible and diverse support options available to people of Oxfordshire
- To work to improve accessibility to services and to provide information to assist those in need of support to access appropriate information
- To ensure that local services provide value for money and make best use of existing resources
Oxfordshire Supporting People Key Challenges
- Operating within cash-limited budget
- Achieving equity across client groups
- Achieving equity across geographic areas
- Providing diverse services
- Increasing flexibility of services
- Quality of life
- Oxfordshire context
Guiding principles for overall provision
- The guiding principles are intended to facilitate and support decision making by Elected members and officers.
- Need to provide services to meet identified unmet priority needs within limited resources
- To provide appropriate services for service users from different ethnic backgrounds
- Funding decisions will have due regard to needs analyses undertaken by support and housing agencies, including consideration of demographic profiles in respect of particular client groups, and that the needs of communities (both rural and urban) will not be overlooked because of problems of limited or scarce resources
- All decisions taken as part of this strategy will be open and accountable
- Need to establish clear links with other commissioning bodies’ priorities and to set up joint planning and monitoring processes in partnership across agencies
- Wish to increase capacity to provide low level preventative services
- Need to recognise that a low level Supporting People service can be provided as part of a broader range of services from other agencies
- Wish to provide widest possible choice of services where resources permit
- Strive to maintain services as close to localities as possible
- In preparation for this Shadow Strategy each Supporting People sub-group produced a statement of priorities for its respective client group. How the available resources should be redirected is one of the major tasks facing Elected members and officers from now till April 2004.
Decision-making structure
The decision making structure that has been set up in Oxfordshire to develop the Supporting People strategy in partnership with stakeholders is described below.
- Supporting People services in Oxfordshire are commissioned by a countywide partnership of district and county government, health agencies and the National Probation Service (Thames Valley). Officers from these partner agencies sit on the Core Strategy Group (CSG). This group is the main advisory body for Supporting People services in the county. The CSG also oversees the Supporting People team and implementation of the Supporting People Strategy. The administering authority for the programme is Oxfordshire County Council.
National Policy Guidance
- In addition to setting the work programme for authorities and monitoring progress, ODPM has set the policy context within which Oxfordshire’s Supporting People strategy must deliver services. The main policy documents include:-
- Charging policy. This defines who may be charged for Supporting People services
- Developing an Allocation Formula. This describes the process by which Oxfordshire’s allocation of resources will be reached in future years of the programme once allocation has moved away from a current spend basis
- Housing Benefit guidance on the Transitional Housing Benefit Scheme
- Guidance for rent pooling landlords. This provides detailed guidance on the identification of support costs and the splitting of costs between housing management and support.
- Grant conditions. This states the type of services that will be eligible to receive Supporting People funding post 2003
Charging policy
ODPM have set the national framework within which authorities within Oxfordshire have the discretion to determine whether to levy charges for Supporting People services. Charges can be levied for support services with an intended duration of more than two years. Those who are in receipt of housing benefit (full or partial) will be exempt from Supporting People charges. Those not in receipt of housing benefit will be able to apply for subsidy via a financial assessment under the Department of Health Fairer Charging Policy.
Service review
Under Supporting People all supported housing services will be reviewed at two levels: service quality reviews will be carried out at service level, whereas broad strategic reviews will be carried out at county level. It is proposed that, at the first level, services will be reviewed by client group, rather than by support provider or existing funding source.
Year One: Older People (sheltered housing), Teenage Parents, Care Leavers/Young vulnerable homeless
Year Two: Older People (other), Learning Disabilities (de-registered), Substance Misuse, Refugees and asylum seekers, Floating support services
Year Three: Learning Disabilities (other), Mental Health, Physical Disabilities, Domestic Violence, Homelessness
(Services for offenders have been included within the above categories)
Getting more information
If
you would like to obtain more information on any aspects of the implementation
of Supporting People in Oxfordshire, please contact Natalia Lachkou (Supporting
People Manager), 11 A High Street, Witney, OX28 6RR. Tel: 01993 704517
/ E-mail: supporting.people@oxfordshire.gov.uk.
Or visit the National Supporting People Website: www.spkweb.org.uk
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