Many may be disappointed that the ODPM is to cut next year’s Supporting People budget, but many other councils are relieved the £80m reduction was not more swingeing. And this relief is not total – the ODPM has not yet revealed much detail of its plan, and there is concern surrounding who will face the highest cuts.

The reduction comes after long-held suspicions that some Supporting People allocations ended up paying for other local authority work, particularly in social services departments. What the ODPM hasn’t yet disclosed is how the £80m figure was arrived at and whether this is equal to the sum it perceives some local authorities have diverted to other budgets.

That amount of money sounds like a huge cut – it is equal to about 5% off this year’s budget. For some authorities the reduction will be higher; as much as 7.5%. Urban authorities fear their services will face the toughest cuts under the government’s new spending formula and the core cities have lobbied the ODPM to try to head off this type of approach.

But the concerns of the urban councils are tempered by relief that the cutbacks will not be a blanket rate for all. Such an approach would have punished authorities that spent their allocation as required, as well as those that did not.

So it could have been worse, and another piece of good news is that Tuesday’s announcement sets out a three-year fund, which will allow housing departments and associations to budget on a longer-term basis.

The concerns of the urban authorities are tempered by relief that the Supporting People cuts will not be a blanket rate

Also, the ODPM has outlined a scheme that will allow authorities that exceed target savings to hold on to the additional funds. While this is welcome, it may be a mixed blessing as subsequent allocations to authorities achieving this aim may be designed to reflect their spending patterns.

So, where will the cuts be made and how will they be calculated? Let’s hope findings from Audit Commission inspections will be given at least equal weight to the ODPM’s distribution formula. The Audit Commission’s role in examining local authority performance and value for money delivery is a much more precise instrument than the government’s formula, which has already been criticised by those who have examined the methodology.

Some in the sector will be outraged by the cuts, but the ODPM has been measured in its justification. And while the additional nuggets of information are welcome, we look forward to details of who will be affected most and how.

Source

Housing Today