Erosh welcomes the housing minister’s calls for councils to ‘invest to save’ and protect their most disadvantaged residents.
Grant Shapps has urged town halls to protect Supporting People (SP) funding to help the most vulnerable in their communities.
In a letter to council leaders, Mr Shapps reminded councils as they set their budgets they should consider evidence showing that every pound spent through this housing support services saves £3 – in reduced costs in homelessness, tenancy failure, crime, health and residential care packages.
So the £1.6 billion invested annually in Supporting People can save as much as £3.41 billion in the costs of alternative help for vulnerable people in our communities.
The Government protected £6.5 billion funding for Supporting People over the course of the Spending Review.
Erosh has long been championing the need for councils to recognise the financial benefits of Supporting People funding for older people’s housing and support services, through reduced need for residential or nursing care, hospital administration and home care.
Rebecca Mollart, erosh’s director of policy, said: “Erosh, along with many other organisations with similar interests, has long been highlighting that money spent on supporting people reduces costs to other expensive and resource-intensive public services. We have also previously welcomed the Government’s protection of the national SP funding pot.
“However, with ring-fencing removed and pressure on local authorities to fund other services with significantly reduced budgets, it is difficult to see how in reality these services can be protected. We have already seen unprecedented cuts in SP funding by many local authorities, which has impacted significantly on our members’ ability to continue to provide good quality services to older people and bring about the savings to other services Mr Shapps mentions.
“We want to ensure that financial and other benefits of preventative housing related support services are not lost and that we continue to tackle the needs of our ageing society.”
Grant Shapps said: “Local taxpayers will rightly expect their councils to do their utmost to protect the services that help the most vulnerable residents in their communities – and so do I.
“That’s why, despite the need to cut the record deficit we inherited, we’ve protected the £6.5 billion Supporting People funding which each year helps approximately a million people to live independent lives.
“As councils look to set their budgets, I would urge them to consider the evidence that with each pound spent through Supporting People saving £3 by avoiding more costly alternatives, and invest to save to ensure help continues for those most in need.”
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