To inform the Committee of the outcome of the Inspection by the Audit Commission of the Supporting People Programme in Herefordshire and the improvement plan.

Further to the report to the Committee in November 2003 the Committee was informed of the outcomeof the inspection by the Audit Commission of the Supporting People Programme in Herefordshire and the improvement plan.

The inspection report was appended to the report.  The Council had been assessed as a ‘good’ two star service that had uncertain prospects for improvement.

The Head of Strategic Housing drew attention to the improvement plan attached to the report at Appendix B.

In the course of discussion the following principal points were made:

·         It had been noted that the inspection team had found that the Council had identified too many priorities for the Supporting People Programme and it was suggested that the priorities selected following a review should be clearly set out and related to available funding and its allocation.   The Head of Strategic Housing confirmed that a report on the revised priorities could be prepared.

·         In relation to paragraph 39 of the report which stated that there were no specific services for people from minority ethnic groups the Director of Social Care and Strategic Housing reported that research was being undertaken to assess the level of support which was required.

·         Paragraph 37 of the report stated that there were currently 4,805 units of supported housing or housing support in Herefordshire provided by 44 organisations.  It was suggested that this was a large number of organisations to deal with and monitor.  The Head of Strategic Housing commented that there were a large range of client groups involved and no one organisation could serve all their needs.  He did not consider the number involved excessive in relation to the number of units being provided but recognised the advantages in seeking to rationalise arrangements if possible.

·         Attention was drawn to the weaknesses in performance management referred to in the report.  The Head of Strategic Housing noted that this was an issue which was being addressed across the Council as a whole with the development of the performance management framework.  He noted that the inspection report had stated that the Council had focussed on getting the Supporting People programme in place and this was evidence of its ability to focus on what mattered.  However, performance management was taking place and work was underway on devising local performance indicators.

·         The need for the action plan to be free of jargon was noted and the benefit of including glossaries in documentation was noted.

In response to further questions the Head of Strategic Housing commented as follows:

·         The development of Supporting People would enable the continued revenue funding of the Supported Housing for Young Persons Project (SHYPP) delivered by St John Kemble Housing Association once Single Regeneration Budget funding ended in April 2004. All Supporting People funded housing related support services would be subject to review, however, Supporting People grant represented an important funding stream for such projects.These arrangements would be monitored and reviewed to ensure value for money.

·         He noted a suggestion regarding paragraph 54 of the report that from a voluntary sector perspective in terms of securing Supporting People funding guidelines would be helpful on what elements of a service were housing related support and what constituted personal care for staff involved in the direct provision of services.  He added that the distinction was a national issue and the Government had issued questionnaires to establish whether authorities had been making inappropriate use of the funds in the Supporting People Programme.  He believed that he Council had been cautious and robust in its approach.  The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s guidance set out what counted as personal care and what could be funded from the Supporting People programme.

RESOLVED:  

That       (a)     the findings of the Audit Commission Inspection of the Supporting People Programme be noted;

               (b)    a list of proposed services as originally prioritised, the current priorities and an indication of the cost of the revised priorities and the budget be reported to the Committee;

                        and

               (c)     a report on user feedback be made to the Committee.