26/01/11……Call for 12% cap on cuts to vital support services (contributed)

THE National Housing Federation is appealing to councils in the South East to promise to protect the most vulnerable people in their communities. It is calling on them to agree to limit budget cuts to Supporting People services to the level recommended by the government.

The appeal comes after research showed that 73% of service providers throughout England have been warned by their local authority to expect significant funding cuts to services for some of the most vulnerable people in their community. More than 130 English housing associations, charities and community groups responded to a recent survey, saying that they think their local councils are planning cuts of much more than the suggested 12 percent outlined by ministers.

In the South East more than 2,700 Supporting People services currently help over 136,000 people. Among them are services for women fleeing domestic violence, help for people to overcome mental health problems, support to enable older people to live independently, and help for people with disabilities.

The National Housing Federation is warning that in some circumstances whole services face closure as cash strapped town halls look to make massive savings over the next four years by raiding one budget to fund another.

The Federation say: “In his recent Spending Review, the Chancellor announced that money allocated nationally to Supporting People ? which funds services for over a million vulnerable people ? would be broadly maintained, with a 12% real terms cut over four years. However, as the money is no longer ring fenced, councils can spend it on whatever they want to as it is rolled into their general grant from central government. There is no legal duty to support many of the groups traditionally funded by Supporting People ? despite their vulnerability.

“Even before the Comprehensive Spending Review was announced some South East local authorities, such as Isle of Wight Council and Hampshire County Council, were already slashing their Supporting People budgets.

“More recently, Ministers have warned councils about excessive cuts to Supporting People. Questioned at a DCLG select committee, Housing Minister Grant Shapps said: ?the idea that local authorities should use Supporting People as their front line for reductions is completely against everything that we would expect to see.”

“And a letter to local authorities on 22 December from the Department of Communities and Local Government stated: ?Ministers do not, however, expect authorities to respond to reductions in their budgets by passing on disproportionate cuts to other service providers.?

The key findings of the Federation’s survey of providers were, it states: