Money talks……

The Queen’s Speech created a mixed response across the sector. A few headlines related to Rehabilitation of Offenders (read the letter Sitra, NHF and HomelessLink sent to the Minister on transforming rehabilitation), ASB, Immigration and Housing, and important confirmation around Dilnott were picked up but many seemed to think it was not talking very much to the agendas we care about.  Sitra has pulled together some of the key items into a handy chart – as useful to see the next parliamentary session laid out for the future.

However, with all that pomp and ceremony over my mind turns very much to the issue of how any of this will be paid for, and critically to the issue of the impending Spending Review for 2015-16.

We know that the climate for this review will be ‘austerity’ heavy, and it is hard not to feel ‘heavy hearted’ about what it will bring for the housing support and those most vulnerable within the community. However, there are some strong points that Sitra will be reinforcing with  Ministers about what the sector has to offer, and how it important it is to continue to invest centrally and locally in preventative services.

Some of the areas to be raised include:

Visible Central Investment: Over the last two/three years, Ministers have been regular commentators on their central investment in Supporting People, and afforded it ‘relative protection’ in the last spending review. We would of course encourage the government in this round to take the same approach. There has been much talk and focus across Whitehall on how ‘preventative’ spending is a critical response to future changes – and housing support has demonstrated savings over and above the return on many other publicly funded services. Bodies including the New Economics Foundation have raised the profile of prevention and it is critical that the government sustains a central commitment to this work. The 2015-16 spending review must include an identifiable level of funding for housing support, or a central plank of that preventative community based agenda will be lost.

Outcomes: Delivering outcomes is another central tenant to government discourse. Supporting People funded services have been measuring in detail client outcomes for the last six years – and over two thirds of English Local Authorities continue to provide detailed evidence of how their local related housing support services are continuing to support individuals in turning around their own lives. This information continues to be collected by the Centre for Housing Studies at St Andrews University. The latest annual report and information about the collection of this data can be found here. This is a critical tool in understanding both the changing needs of clients, and how successful services are in meeting the needs of those individuals.

Data: In addition to the information provided to demonstrate success in meeting outcomes, the sector has always been rich in providing data on the management of services. In 2011 Sitra carried out a large consultation across the sector, which gave a strong commitment to continue to collect national data regardless of changes in ongoing central requirements. This month saw the launch of that call for national data – and we will be continuing to build a picture over the coming months showing performance management data alongside the attainment of outcomes. These are not services that are hiding their costs – they are upfront and transparent about how publicly funded money is being used to protect the most vulnerable in society. At a local level, providers and authorities have often worked together with clients to articulate the cost benefits of the services – and Sitra continues to support new approaches to this including understanding of social impact and Social Return on Investment.

Personalisation: Finally, it will be important for the government to recognise that this is a sector that supports its focus on personalisation. There has been a real shift in how particularly the providers in this sector have understood that the most effective delivery is that which is focussed around the assets and strengths of individuals – and is designed to support them in exercising choice and control. Creative, innovative responses to meeting client need demonstrate a sector that is responding to the changes in the environment and that is putting individuals at the heart of delivery and is valuing the contributions and skills of those in receipt of services. Services which promote independence, which enable individuals to take part in their community, which increase those able to take part in the job market and to manage their housing and finances are a critical part of the future. Personal stories such as recent case studies carried out with Bromford Support and Radian Support demonstrate these points to great effect.

There are of course many other critical areas t0 include – more to follow……

Data day is here………..

Today is the day we have been waiting for in Sitra – the day that we launch the national call for housing support data for 2012-13. We are contacting all top-tier authorities in England to send through their housing support data for 2012-13. This data will be invaluable locally and nationally – and we are keen to get as wide a picture of provision across the country.

At a local level data on housing-related support helps commissioners and providers to quickly compare information and benchmark themselves on capacity, costs, performance and outcomes. This local data can also help plan investment and supports good commissioning in services for vulnerable people that meet local priorities. It is also useful to show those working in other areas like social care and health.

At a national level, housing-related support data helps show the impact of investment in preventative services for vulnerable people. This will help raise the profile of housing support, including to government departments and ministers.

We have been really pleased by the positive response to the sector whilst we have been piloting the national collection tool – and if you want to find out what the new collection will produce – then check out the pilot sample and the demonstration tool at national data collection.  For the first time you can see data on spend aligned with data against outcomes and performance.

As authorities submit their information, they will be able to see their data come to life in a dashboard based format, allowing them to see the relative performance on different types of service, different client groups and different outcome domains. We will be telling the story of this data over the coming months, and want to encourage you as provider, commissioner or user of services to take up the call to data!

If you have any questions about the data, then we would be delighted to hear from you. We will be working with our partner agencies to ensure they are kept updated on the work, and would be very keen to hear of any thoughts and developments you would like to see as we move forward with this critical collection.

So – for the next two months – we will be on data watch. We hope you will join us in this great quest for critical knowledge that will remind and reinforce everyone about the critical role of good quality housing support services.

For more information on this and all things data – visit www.sitra.org/spdata.

Exempt accommodation – Where are we now?

It is some time since we have been able to provide any update on what is happening with Supported Exempt Accommodation and how it is to be treated under the new reforms. As you may remember, Sitra produced a detailed flow chart and guidance to help providers understand what did and did not constitute exempt accommodation and a series of regular updated FAQs. Both of these can be found on our newly developed website here.

Since then, Sitra and other organisations have been heavily engaged in discussions with both DCLG and the DWP to try and identify a solution to the gulf between stated intention – ie to remove the housing costs of supported exempt accommodation from Universal Credit in the short term – in order that a long term solution to how the housing costs could be paid in the future.

Late last night (4^th April 2013) Sitra received a letter from Lord Freud restating his commitment to identify a solution and some of the key parts of the letter are noted in this blog:-

“It has recently been brought to our attention that much of the existing provision does not meet the precise definition of supported ‘exempt’ accommodation. This has, understandably, caused concern amongst providers.

 We would like to make clear our intention to protect providers from any unintended consequences. For example, we wish to protect refuges and hostels where care is provided by or arranged through a ‘managing agent’ rather than the landlord. Such arrangements may not meet the precise definition of exempt accommodation but in all other ways the provision is identical to that which does”

In the letter, Lord Freud refers to his intention being focussed on taking supported accommodation outside of Universal Credit. However, this is not the only concern. The letter makes it apparent that there is nothing immediate going to happen to sort out the ‘unintended consequence’ of the current situation. However, for projects affected by the bedroom tax, the consequences are being felt already. By the end of September, the household benefit cap will also have been rolled out beyond the four London boroughs it is currently being tested in. Time is not on Lord Freud’s or our side. We are aware that some supported housing projects are already being affected by the size criteria – and some of those include refuges and exactly the kind of projects that the DWP has been so vocal in stating their support for.

Although it is of note that alongside this letter, earlier in February the DWP also issued an urgent bulletin to Housing Benefit departments on this issue. The circular HBCTB/U1/2013.highlighted concerns raised by providers that HB departments were interpreting the new requirements to include the numbers of exempt accommodation in the housing benefit extract as a rationale to review previous claims and make adjustments to accommodation. This is of course concurrent with what Lord Freud’s current letter is saying – in a sense that he was anticipating that this concession to supported housing would not generate change within the sector. Later on in his letter he states:-

“Finally, I would like to use this opportunity to assure you that I am determined that our reforms will maintain a viable supported housing sector”

 In other parts of the letter he talks about the need to ‘develop workable solutions’ and it is apparent that whilst he is acknowledging the challenge inherent in the current definition for managing agents – there are many other situations where the current definition does not include provision – which up until now has been treated in the same way as accommodation that does fit in. This is a complex area, and one where no ‘quick fix’ has come to the fore – either for the short term, or for the long term treatment of housing costs of supported housing. Without an answer soon – the government’s stated ambition to ‘maintain a viable’ sector have the potential to be undermined by the hundreds of  different HB authorities interpreting the current ‘guidance’ in different ways.

 

Confident Commissioning for Personalisation

I have just spent the last two weeks on the road being inspired and challenged by commissioners and providers working their way through the personalisation agenda. Sitra have been catching up with the sector to understand how individual authorities and providers have been making changes to the way that they work to really make sure that service users are able to make real choices and take meaningful control over their lives and the services that support them.  The events also coincided with the release of a number of new resources to do with personalisation, including a new film showcasing personalisation, new tool produced by the DCLG steering group on the customer journey – and a suite of resources coming out of the various work groups.

Some great insights have come out of the debates, particularly from commissioners who have transformed their approach to commissioning. We have heard from Hampshire and their work on developing local clusters to ensure that customer needs are effectively understood and met – and providing a more realistic climate for the emergence of micro provision. We have also heard from our audience including Walsall, Sandwell and other commissioners about how their work on personalising different services will influence their future commissioning within the community. We have also been promoting the innovative approaches of Leicestershire and their work with community catalysts (see here for evaluation of their work), and the exciting new approach of East Sussex who just started a major project to promote the personalisation of housing related support provision (supported by Sitra).

However, alongside the positive messages there was the constant reminder that all decisions, actions, and priorities within localities are being squeezed by cuts across the country.  Commissioners happy to assert their position and approach, but couched in terms of ‘for now’, we ‘don’t know what next year will bring’ and ‘we are continuing to cut back on our internal resources’ – all of which generate a real cloud over the positive steps being taken. Sitra are planning to undertake a major scoping study in the next financial year to gauge the state of play across the country.

There are real concerns about how procurement will impact on the way in which authorities will be able to respond to create greater flexibility, focus on outcomes and a more negotiated approach. Increasingly decisions about contract size also dominated discussion – particularly following the positive input of Community Catalysts and their great work around the development of micro provision.

We want to know what you are doing. There is a huge amount of activity out there and we are really keen to have as much of this on line as possible so it can be shared. Make sure you check our new site that holds a growing set of resources, and if you have anything you would like to share let us know and we can spread the word. Copies of all presentations from the events are now available here.

Reform on the agenda…..

Firstly – I just wanted to thank all those fantastic contributors at our annual conference this month – we had a great show across the board – and I am pleased to include full details of the event here. We hope to follow up with more in depth sessions with some of our speakers and delegates – so watch this space. The conference has made us all think about what digital inclusion means and how inclusion could help managing the risks linked to welfare reform – and Sitra is thinking about helping our members through the transition.

Following the conference, I been involved in long and detailed discussions with members, partner organisations and specialists regarding how the future treatment of exempt and supported housing will impact on the sector. As we march ever closer to the deadlines around the phased introduction of Universal Credit – it is more and more pressing that a short term solution is reached.

Those who followed the laying of the regulations will have noted suggestions that the DWP is ‘alive to the issues’ (see Column 14 – 5^th line down and column 25 – 11^th line), and we have been working hard to understand the full implications of how different manifestations of any change may emerge. Sector specialists and others have been focussing on how organisations might respond, and it is clear that a continuing state of uncertainty does nobody any favours – particularly those who are in supported housing. We understand that the DWP wants to talk to the sector and the message from the sector has been loud and clear that we are ready to talk.

As news of the support framework for Universal Credit emerged earlier this month, and DWP assessments about the impact of Direct Payment on rent arrears it is clear that providers will be thinking through and investing in structures to provide support and advice for their tenants and clients. One such service was profiled in our recent addition of our Bulletin, and examples of other responses can be found across the web. As we move nearer toward the implementation of areas of welfare change including the introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’ the pressure on tenants and clients grows exponentially. Press coverage of the placement of families in insecure bed and breakfast provision and examples of how Housing Associations have looked at the reclassifications of their properties has also received much attention. In amongst this pressure, Sitra are working with SHP on a new project to co produce benefits information for and with tenants and staff. This project has been funded by the London Housing Foundation, and the first set of information will be available in the next few months. If you would like to know more about the project, then please do get in touch.

Highlighting Innovation…….

The Sitra annual conference Innovating for Efficiency is just around the corner – and this year – as I hope you will already know – we are focussing on the many different roles that technology can play in the housing related support sector.

I am really looking forward to the first debate which will focus on the role of technology in engagement. We have Shirley Ayres coordinating this session – and for those of you twitterati – you will know that Shirley is prolific, active, challenging, productive and a connecting force in the world of social media. I follow her tweets with great interest as they are by their nature ‘engaging’- but at the same time they offer an immediate understanding of how connections across silos can be achieved. Shirley has some great messages for the sector – and I know that everyone there will go away from this session with something for them to do! She will be joined by Jasmine Ali from Patient Opinion – and in the wake of all the recent coverage of failings in both health and social care provision – having some concrete understanding of how technology is being used to harness patient voices and concerns is bang on target. We will also be hearing from Kenny, who is a client of Single Homeless Project, who has been blogging through the Unheard Holler programme which has been picked up by a range of TV and radio.

There is so much more going on in the day – with input from Housing and Support Alliance, DCLG, My Learning Cloud, Montal – that there really will be that ever elusive ‘something for everyone!’

The day is going to finish on a high – with the first public showing of ‘Population Insight’. Population Insight is a free-to-use online mapping tool, developed by HACT and OCSI, and funded by Metropolitan, that enables housing providers to access detailed information on changes in neighbourhood demographics.  Using Census 2011 data released by ONS on 31 January,  Population Insight enables housing providers to generate instant information on who is living in their neighbourhoods,, and understand the often rapidly changing demographic profiles that characterise the areas they work in.  Based on HACT and OCSI’s successful Community Insight mapping platform, Population Insight provides housing providers with free heat mapping of key demographic indicators, and full demographic profiling of their communities – including age, gender, country of origin, ethnicity, religion, migration status and primary language – at the press of a button.

We really hope to see ALL Sitra members there. If you are not sure that your organisation is on the list – ring us up and claim that FREE place. If you are not coming – watch the debate unfold through #sitraconf2013

 

 

There is a chill wind out there……

I spent yesterday morning at an interesting event looking at Sheltered Housing, and hearing once again about the critical connections between health, housing and social care.

I focussed on the challenges of integration in my last blog, but it does no harm to repeat the seismic shifts required to make this approach work, and indeed the coordination required amongst those in the housing sector to come together and cement our offer.

There was then an opportunity to hear about the recent launch of HAPPI 2 – a guide to the implementation of the HAPPI report – which looked at the practical changes and approaches that developers need to take when thinking about new build or retrofit of older peoples housing. The vision of HAPPI remains strong – the implementation of it across the country – not so strong – and is it with this in mind that the HAPPI framework is now underpinning the new bidding guidance for the Specialist Housing Funding from DH announced at the recent ADASS conference. Guidance and details of the fund can be found here.

It was then my turn to speak– with a look at how sheltered tenants will be impacted by the changes in welfare reform (Happy to supply copies of the presentation!). Clearly the audience that was there did not need to be reminded of the fact that a significant proportion of tenants in sheltered are of working age – and therefore will be very much a part of the move to Universal Credit, Social Housing Size Criteria and other benefit reforms.

I reminded people of the need to support tenants to understand the shift to ‘digital by default’, the potential to be receiving council tax bills for the first time (depending on their authorities localised approach to Council Tax Reduction) and to support their staff in understanding the changes. Whilst this was all going on, I was very aware that the Chancellor was launching into his Autumn statement and would be making changes that would have a significant impact – particularly on those working age tenants in sheltered accommodation.

The Autumn Statement (full transcript of statement) was given and the headlines are out there – and we now know that one of the main impacts on our sector is on the real reduction in the value of benefits. The pegging of benefit increases to 1% per year for three years from 2013, means that year on year, tenants and service users will experience a reduction in buying power – whilst vital costs of food, energy, travel accelerate often over and above the inflationary rate.

In addition, the capping of Local Housing Allowance increases at 1% will have an impact on the ability of tenants to find suitable private sector accommodation in the future, as private landlords see reductions in their return on renting properties to benefit recipients.

I wondered whether others agree that the repeated stereotypes of people on benefits are  wearing thin? The misuse of  ‘fairness’ as a justification for these changes ringing more and more hollow? When George Osborne justifies changes by drawing on analogies such as “…..fairness is also about being fair to the person who leaves home every morning to go out to work and sees their neighbour still asleep, living a life on their benefits” – is further reinforcement of his ‘Strivers and Scivers’ divide – surely an unhelpful silo mentality in contrast to the other well worn adage of ‘we’re all in this together’. For statistics that refute this proposition about the community who receive benefits – it would be very useful to  review the recent report by Joseph Rowntree Foundation Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion.

More bad news was delivered in relation to local government funding. Whilst departmental funding was squeezed across the board by 1% in 2013 and 2% in 2014 – Local Authorities were taken out of the 2013 squeeze (although requiring them to continue the freeze on council tax for another year) but firmly located in the 2% squeeze on funding promised for 2014-15. All of which news will send shivers down the spines of supported housing and social care commissioners and providers.

It is hard to find many reasons to be cheerful – but there are some parts of the autumn statement that the sector have responded to with tepid optimism. Local Enterprise Partnerships are to get more money – and it seems likely that there will be more opportunities for pooled budgeting which the LEP will have access to. Details of all the LEPs can be found here and if not already tied into an understanding of their strategic plans for the local community – it will become ever more important to do so.

Once again Osborne restated his commitment to protect Health funding and there has been substantial in roads made into the connection between Health and Housing.  There is more money to go on science and technology – and it will be interesting to see whether the priorities for that spend reflect on technological innovations that will impact the sector around assistive living. Our annual policy conference in February will be picking up on this theme – and we are putting the final touches to the agenda at this moment.

Finally – news on the horizon – Osborne announced in his Autumn statement that there would be a spending review announced in the first half of next year – and this will look to set departmental spending from 2015-16 onwards. How that review will be carried out is not yet clear, but it will be important for organisations like Sitra and our partners to be working with central government to understand evidence requirements and critical that the work on data continues apace.