§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Yvette Cooper)The supporting people programme went live on 1 April. The programme provides services which help vulnerable people—including victims of domestic violence, older people and teenage parents—live independently in their accommodation.
The Government have today announced a grant allocation of £1.8 billion for the first year of the programme. Officials will be writing to local authorities individually to confirm allocations for 2003–04.
The Government have also set up an independent review to gauge the true picture of how the funding is being utilised. The review will report by Christmas and will inform local authority budget allocation decisions for the next financial year. This review is in the context of the growth of the transitional housing benefit element of supporting people, which has increased by £400 million from the original estimates by local authorities, which were announced in February. In all there are now an estimated 250,000 units of housing support, excluding sheltered and community alarms, compared to fewer than 100,000 estimated in 2000.
The review will specifically consider:
The considerable variations between authorities' costs and patterns of service provision.Services which were previously paid for out of other budgets where it is unclear how the resulting savings have been re-deployed;Whether the programme is meeting its original objectives, including schemes which raise questions about compliance with grant conditions.A key objective of the programme remains to ensure vulnerable groups receive the level of complex support they need through planned sustainable spending arrangements that demonstrate equity, efficiency and value for money.