The Spending Review 2010
The outcome of the Coalition Government's four-year spending review has been announced.
The budget for Supporting People services will be £6.5 billion over the four-year period, Disabled Facilities Grant will be linked to inflation and Homelessness Grant will be protected at an annual level of £400 million through the life of the review. In the current climate, Sitra was pleased with the recognition that the Government gave to the programme as a whole and the reinforcement that this gives to the central importance of housing related support. Sitra worked with NHF and Homeless Link to produce a joint submission to the Government to demonstrate the value of Supporting People services.
However, Sitra recognises that £6.5 billion allocation over a four-year period still represents a cut of approximately 12 percent in real terms. The removal of the Supporting People ring fence and the move from Area Based Grant to Formula Grant raise the significant concern that money for housing related support will be utilised by local authorities to meet other priorities. Sitra has already received information from a number of authorities who are proposing radical reductions to spending on housing related support, notwithstanding the outcome of the Spending Review. The need to focus on local accountability in relation to how this money is allocated is essential.
The Spending Review also focused on many other areas affecting the housing, care and support sector:
Impact on the vulnerable – Cuts announced to the capital budget for social housing will have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable, inevitably increasing the numbers in temporary housing and therefore increasing the support they require in securing settled accommodation. Reduction in the development of new social housing will impact on the ability of specialist services to move existing service users into independent accommodation. It will also reduce the capital available to develop much needed specialist supported housing.
Welfare benefit reform – The reduction in Housing Benefit for recipients of Job Seeker Allowance, caps on Housing Benefit, the raising of the age threshold for single persons accommodation and the proportional reduction in the Local Housing Allowance will squeeze the most vulnerable families and individuals. The announcement that capital spending in the future will be bolstered by a reduction in the rent subsidy for social housing tenants raise further concerns about the accessibility of social housing to the most vulnerable. We are also extremely concerned about how the additional pressure of the elimination of lifetime tenancies will bring to households locating the home as their core stability.
Localism – The implications of the cuts to the Supporting People programme will not be fully understood until the local government settlement is secured. However, the Spending Review announced cuts to local authorities of 28 percent over a four-year period and, in anticipation of this, many authorities have already been talking about how much they propose cutting Supporting People services in order to fund other local priorities. It is more crucial than ever that the importance of housing related support is understood at a local level, and the way it which it contributes to the key agendas around security of home, prevention and personalisation.
Download the full Spending Review document (pdf). An easy to read version can be found on the HM Treasury website.
Resources
Sitra resources
Briefing: Spending Review headlines
Press release 20 October 2010 (pdf)
Read Sitra's submission to the review
The local level - find out more about how to inform your local decision makers:
- Navigating the maze: A guide to engaging with and influencing local governance and commissioning structures
- CLG Select Committee on localism
The regional perspective:
- South West: "They say cut back" - Sitra bulletin article, October 2010 (pdf)
- Update on the Isle of Wight
Making a case for Housing Related Support:
- Read the Personalisation and Prevention report that Sitra was commissioned to produce for the Yourkshire and Humber Housing Related Support Group
- Use this template briefing, supplemented with your local area information, to make the case to your local stakeholders and decision-makers
External resources
Local Government Finance Settlement 2011/12
DCLG Spending Review 2010: Equality Impact Assessment
Funding for the Supporting People Programme
Download the full Spending Review document (pdf)
HM Treasury's Spending Review webpages
You can watch a video of PMQs and the Spending Review on the Parliament website
Follow the Guardian's live blog on the Spending Review
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11566509#video
Read the Guardian's Joe Public Blog
Cuts Watch website
Keep in touch
Email us you comments and we'll feature them on our Comments page
Take a look at SitraCEO's blog for discussion of the implications of the spending review
Keep updated on the latest developments by following Sitra Policy on Twitter
Spending review 2011/15: Sitra's submission
Sitra produced a joint submission to the Coalition's four-year spending review with Homeless Link and the National Housing Federation (NHF). The submission called for spending on Supporting People to be maintained and also covers Homelessness Grant, Places of Change, benefit reforms, health and capital investment.
