Shapps 'disappointed' at cuts to Supporting People
Grant Shapps has written to the LGA expressing his “disappointment” that some councils have made significant cuts to their Supporting People programmes despite insisting that it is up to councils to decide how they choose to spend their budgets.
In an open letter to the LGA the housing minister said the government had “clearly recognised” the importance of the Supporting People programme in the spending review and said it was “disappointing to see several councils are indicating significant cuts in Supporting People services, particularly for the homeless”.
He said: “It is difficult to understand why some councils appear to be targeting any disproportionate spending reductions on programmes that support the most vulnerable people in their communities.”
The £1.6bn Supporting People grant faced a modest overall cut of just 0.7%, in the local government finance settlement, but analysis by Newcastle City Council revealed some larger city councils saw their share of the grant axed by nearly half before formula damping was applied.
Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, and Newcastle City Councils all faced un-damped cuts to their Supporting People funding of more than 30%, according to the analysis.
The analysis showed that even with the damping in place - which is designed to take out volatile changes in grant allocation - the cities still “effectively faced a 10% loss, at minimum, in their Supporting People grant next year, with a further loss in 2012-13”.
Last week Homeless Link, which represents 480 homelessness charities, said proposed reductions to the £1.6bn Supporting People programme could see a quarter of the 44,000 homeless hostel beds in England disappear from April, as councils prepare for the swingeing cuts imposed on their budgets in the government’s local finance settlement.
In response to an article in the Guardian on the impact of council cuts to Supporting People budgets, Mr Shapps said “councils were best placed to know local needs and how to meet them”.
www.lgcplus.com 25/01/2011
