Select Committee Inquiry

The Communities and Local Government Select Committee is conducting an Inquiry into supporting people services, with the following terms of reference:

"The Committee's inquiry will consider the extent to which the Government has, so far, delivered on the commitments it made in Independence and Opportunity: Our Strategy for Supporting People. The Committee will also consider the implications of the removal of the ring-fence, asking what needs to be done to ensure that the successes of the programme so far are not lost, or services cut, following the change; and what opportunities this change in the funding mechanism will offer for innovation and improvement in the delivery of housing-related support services."

The Committee asked for written evidence by 8 May.  Sitra ran an extensive consultation exercise with our Members and was able to make a submission based on more than 200 responses made in writing, though our on-line survey and at the regional consultations meetings held in London, Birmingham, Bristol and Newcastle.  We were also able to draw on the feedback from more than 650 people who attended the Regional Round Table discussions earlier this year.

We would like to thank all our members who took the time to contribute to our submission.  We have sought to represent accurately the views put to us and believe our report takes much of its authority from this input.

Our submission is available here: Final Report; Appendices.

Sitra gave oral evidence to the Committee in a joint session with the NHF and Unison on Monday 8 June 2009. 

We have suggested to the Committee that it would be useful for them to visit a number of supported housing schemes and offered to assist with arranging this.  We await an outcome to this suggestion.

It is currently anticipated that the Committee report will be published after the Parliamentary recess, in October 2009