07 February 2011
Homeless and vulnerable people must not be the casualties of cuts to Supporting People (SP) funding, St Mungo's said, following the publication of a joint briefing on the implications of local decisions.
The joint briefing highlights how money previously ring-fenced for supporting vulnerable people in the community now looks set to be 'raided' as local councils face tough decisions on where to spend money, or not, in their boroughs.
The briefing is co-written by 14 organisations: Adass, the Centre for Mental Health, Clinks, Crisis, DrugScope, Homeless Link, MEAM, MIND, the National Housing Federation, Rethink, Revolving Doors, the Salvation Army, SITRA and St Mungo's. It has been sent to local authority Supporting People commissioners across the country.
Charles Fraser, Chief Executive of St Mungo's, said: "It's disheartening to see that from evidence gathered so far that the most vulnerable people are the casualties of the removal of the ring-fence for Supporting People funding.
"When the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Select Committee reviewed Supporting People in 2009, we were adamant that we believed local authorities could be trusted with the removal of the ring-fence. With the benefit of hindsight, that now seems like an overly generous view. At that time the recommendation was that local authorities must be prepared to justify any decisions made to redirect SP funding.
"Once good quality services are pared down or disappear completely, recreating them can take a long time and be more costly longer term. In other words, it is a mistake to believe that the cuts don't have a cost. They do. They have a human cost to those deprived of the services they need; and they have a long-term financial cost when services have to be restored."
The joint briefing highlights that Supporting People services provide vital support to vulnerable groups and excellent value for money. It also says that, nationally, SP funding has not been significantly reduced, while at the same time the need for services is likely to rise with the impact of public spending cuts still to bite.
It provides a four question checklist for councillors in local authorities to help them make the best decisions around SP spend:
ENDS
Charles Fraser gave evidence to the CLG's Select Committee on removing the ringfence in June 2009 and welcomed the final report of the Select Committtee, November 2009.
Homeless Link wrote an important update about Supporting People funding in December 2010.
See media coverage about Supporting People cuts in The Guardian and Inside Housing.