Cough up for Supporting People, DH told

The committee said government departments that benefit from the ODPM’s £1.8bn supported housing scheme should contribute to its costs.

And it said the ODPM should justify its management of the programme, whose costs ballooned from £1.4bn to £1.8bn between February and October last year.

The committee’s report on the scheme, published on Monday, said: “Given the chequered history of the programme, its scale and its significance, we expect the 2005 departmental report to give a fuller account of how the ODPM has managed Supporting People.”

The study also recommended that cuts in Supporting People grants be targeted at councils deemed by the Audit Commission to have high costs.

It added that the number of home improvement agencies, which renovate homes owned by older people, should be expanded to cover the country by 2006.

They currently cover less than 90% of authorities.

Nick Sweet, Supporting People coordinator at the National Housing Federation, welcomed the call for a contribution from the DH.

However, he said: “It should be sorted by central government, rather than locally with social services.”

Sarah Davis, policy officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing, warned against hasty moves to cut grant to councils with high costs. She said: “Some of the costs may come from being able to put in place schemes and services that couldn’t be funded before.

“If they focused the cuts on high-cost authorities, we still have to have robust assessments of the schemes.”