Sitra Flying High - 25 Years On

Vic Rayner is taking up the position of CEO of Sitra in February 2009. Vic has been involved with Sitra for over 9 years, and takes up the post at the beginning of the organisations 25 year anniversary. She writes:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

If you have any exposure to the national media, you might have noted that we are not the only organisation celebrating 25 years of service! Whilst initially dismissing the comparison between Sitra and a multi-billion pound airline I caught myself and realised that the similarities were endless!

*Virgin airlines

What else is Sitra there to do but provide:

• Sitra Flying High - 25 Years On

Well, I know that this is beginning to stretch the point – but certainly we have a lot to celebrate. Sitra was borne out of the merger of two organisations in 1984 - the Special Needs Housing Advisory Service (SNHAS) and London Special Needs Housing Group (LSNHG). Its established core purpose was to promote and advance the housing needs of persons who are poor, ill, aged or disabled by providing advice to voluntary and other agencies on the finances, development and management of housing schemes intended to provide accommodation for individuals or groups in special housing need.

Over 25 years, the fortunes of Sitra have been inextricably linked to the changing needs and requirements of the sector. Sitra has been a strong force working through significant funding and regime changes.

At the crossroads

Whilst reading through past copies of the Bulletin, there was an article entitled ‘Housing with care or support at the Crossroads” and in it a timely quote caught by eye: “many in the sector now see the future as uncertain and there is a genuine fear that the period of growth is now over and the battle will now be to ensure that existing provision is properly resourced into the future”

What stuck me is that this could have been a quote from last months Bulletin announcing the Lifting of the Ringfence, and yet it is dated November 1991. So, it is worth noting that where we find ourselves now is not the first proverbial crossroads – nor will it be the last.

For much of Sitra’s 25 years of existence, our job has been about providing safe passage and negotiation through the complexities of the funding regime, and for those who are hot on funding history, there are a few quick reminders of what came before:

1989 – The abolition of Board and Lodging and the introduction of Housing Benefit

1991 – Hostels Deficit Grant was transferred into Transitional Special Needs Management Allowance (TSNMA) Flat rate, non-transitional SNMA was brought in for new schemes

1993 – Introduction of Community Care

1995 – SNMA Review System introduced - leading to the ultimate absorption of TSNMA

1995 – 1999 – An initial circular restricting the eligibility of staff costs in supported housing led to a wide range of reviews culminating in Transitional Housing Benefit (THB)

1996 - Transfer of Home Office Probation After Care Grant (PAGS) funding to probation services

1997 – The renaming of SNMA as Supported Housing Management Grant

2000 – Introduction of Transitional Housing Benefit – Sizing the Pot activities

2003 – Introduction of Supporting People programme.

In 2009, we face yet another change to the way that Housing with Care and Support is funded. As we move towards April and the beginning of the transition year, heralding the transfer of funds to the Area Based Grant, there is a full and involved agenda emerging for Sitra. I have just attended the first of a series of Roundtable events that Sitra is organising, which looks at the issues arising from these changes for both providers and commissioners. The imagery that has dominated the last 25 years has been that Housing with Care and Support is the ‘Cinderella’ sector, hidden away.

However, nowadays, providers of Housing with Care and Support will find their services subject to greater exposure through a more specific determination of funding priorities, in line with the new Local Area Agreements. Sitra will be taking up the support of the sector in this new environment, and recognises many of the issues being raised by members around:

• Sitra Flying High - 25 Years On

So, as I take up the role of Chief Executive, I recognise that there are both threats and opportunities inherent in the changes affecting us all. I hope to have an opportunity to meet up with many of you over the coming months and am always keen to hear about how the changes are affecting your service and most importantly your service users. I am looking forward to working with you in this new capacity so please keep in touch. I can be contacted at vicr@sitra.org