In November 2016, the Government announced a consultation on its ‘Funding for Supported Housing’ proposals, linked to its ‘evidence review of supported accommodation’ launched late 2015.
The departments involved were i) the Department for Communities and Local Government and ii) the Department for Work and Pensions, and the consultation was described as covering Welfare Reform and Housing for Older and Vulnerable People.
Full details are available on the relevant page of the GOV.UK website.
This is how the Consultation was described:
This consultation seeks views on the government’s plans for a new housing costs funding model for supported housing as well as views on how funding for emergency and short term placements should work. It covers the following areas:
- devolved top-up funding to local authorities in England
- funding for emergency and short term supported housing placements across Great Britain.
Various parties who made submissions to the consultation will now be publishing and publicizing them.
First off the blocks appears to be the Housing LIN.
The Housing LIN describes itself thus: The Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN), formerly responsible for managing the Department of Health’s Extra Care Housing capital programme, is the leading ‘knowledge hub’ for a growing network of housing, health and social care professionals in England involved in planning, commissioning, designing, funding, building and managing housing with care for older people. Rescare follows the Housing LIN because Extra Care Housing may be considered relevant to people of all ages with a learning disability; and the Housing LIN still offers information on housing and learning disability viz. www.housinglin.org.uk/Topics/browse/HousingLearningDisabilities/ .
Anyone with a particular or personal interest in supported housing and its future (and the perseverance to understand the funding models and issued raised) should take the time to read Housing LIN’s response document, which gives the questions asked by the Government, and the answers of one of the most expert consultee organisations.