Sitra bulletin issue 2 /2013

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www.sitra.org

Supporting People,10 Years On

Making Way for the New Order

PIP Changes

TenancySustainment

Supporting Formerly Homeless People

Midland Heart Pilots Tyze

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE HOUSING, CARE & SUPPORT SECTOR 2013 - No.2

www.sitra.org

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The bulletin is available in large print on request

Sitra StaffChief ExecutiveVic Rayner

Deputy Chief ExecutiveLisa Harrison

Practice and Policy OfficersAdam Knight-Markiegi Geoffrey FerresMike BallardSue Baxter

Policy and Research Co-ordinatorDani CohenJulia Mercier-Weiner

Contracts OfficersAnna Robertson Jon Harris

Business SupportKatie Barnes Lana Lewis Sarah Pink

Head of Finance & Central ServicesBerihu Mohammed

Finance OfficerRay Naicker

Office Co-ordinatorGill Cotton

Membership and Central SupportAlison QuinnMonica Antolin (on maternity leave)

About SitraSitra is a membership organisation championing excellence in housing, support and care.

Membership benefits include discounts on all services and events, access to free advice, an annual subscription to the bulletin and regular briefings on key policy developments in the sector.

Sitra works with local and central government to ensure that the needs of its members are recognised, understood and met by resource providers.

If you would like to join Sitra please contact the Membership Administrator on 020 7793 4710 and ask for an application form, or download one from www.sitra.org

Content ©2013 SITR (Services) Ltd except where stated, All right reserved. All images © individual photographers & illustrators. Opinions expressed by individuals writers are not necessarily those of Sitra or the magazine’s Editorial Team. E&OE. Design: Aquatint BSC 020 8947 8571 www.aquatint.co.uk

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THE MAGAZINE FOR THE HOUSING, CARE & SUPPORT SECTOR

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CONTENTS

Cover Story 04Supporting People, 10 years on…

ContributorsTo discuss advertising opportunities within the bulletin, please email [email protected]

EditorialTo contact the editor please email [email protected]

Submissions and queriesIf you have any comments, queries or suggestions, a letter for publication or wish to submit a news story or article please contact us via one of the methods opposite.

Sitra bulletin3rd Floor, 55 Bondway London SW8 1SJTelephone: 020 7793 4710Fax: 020 7793 4715Email: [email protected]

If you would like to receive the bulletin in large print or in other accessible formats, email [email protected]

Keep up with developments and add to the debate at Sitra CEO’s blog at www.sitraceo.wordpress.com

Keep up to date with our Blogdid you know you can follows Sitra’s Policy Teamon twitter at www.twitter.com/sitrapolicy

Stay in touch with us on Twitter

03 CEO's Comment

04 Supporting People, Supporting Voluntarism? Bert Provan marks the tenth anniversary of the Supporting People programme going live

06 GreenSquare’s Tenancy Sustainment Team Becky Willis explains the work of her inhouse team

08 Authorising Clinical Commissioning Groups: a Lay Assessor's view Daphne Ingham gives an insider’s view of the new bodies in charge of local NHS commissioning

09 Power in Numbers Adam Knight-Markiegi emphasises the importance of Sitra’s national data collection for 2012/13

10 Rebuilding Lives Maureen Crane, Louise Joly and Jill Manthorpe describe the start of a new study of formerly homeless people five years after they were resettled

12 Midland Heart Pilots Online Personalised Networks Matthew Kemp outlines an innovative partnership with Tyze

14 Keeping Chinese Culture Alive in Birmingham Kerri Smith celebrates two sheltered services specifically for Chinese elders

16 FAQs: Exempt Accommodation Geoffrey Ferres answers more questions about this vital topic

18 Goodbye and Good Riddance? Geoffrey Ferres looks at the replacement of Disability Living Allowance for people aged 16 to 64

19 Sitra Training



CONTENTS

Cover Story 04Supporting People, 10 years on…

ContributorsTo discuss advertising opportunities within the bulletin, please email [email protected]

EditorialTo contact the editor please email [email protected]

Submissions and queriesIf you have any comments, queries or suggestions, a letter for publication or wish to submit a news story or article please contact us via one of the methods opposite.

Sitra bulletin3rd Floor, 55 Bondway London SW8 1SJTelephone: 020 7793 4710Fax: 020 7793 4715Email: [email protected]

If you would like to receive the bulletin in large print or in other accessible formats, email [email protected]

Keep up with developments and add to the debate at Sitra CEO’s blog at www.sitraceo.wordpress.com

Keep up to date with our Blogdid you know you can follows Sitra’s Policy Teamon twitter at www.twitter.com/sitrapolicy


03 CEO's Comment

04 Supporting People, Supporting Voluntarism? Bert Provan marks the tenth anniversary of the Supporting People programme going live

06 GreenSquare’s Tenancy Sustainment Team Becky Willis explains the work of her inhouse team

08 Authorising Clinical Commissioning Groups: a Lay Assessor's view Daphne Ingham gives an insider’s view of the new bodies in charge of local NHS commissioning

09 Power in Numbers Adam Knight-Markiegi emphasises the importance of Sitra’s national data collection for 2012/13

10 Rebuilding Lives Maureen Crane, Louise Joly and Jill Manthorpe describe the start of a new study of formerly homeless people five years after they were resettled

12 Midland Heart Pilots Online Personalised Networks Matthew Kemp outlines an innovative partnership with Tyze

14 Keeping Chinese Culture Alive in Birmingham Kerri Smith celebrates two sheltered services specifically for Chinese elders

16 FAQs: Exempt Accommodation Geoffrey Ferres answers more questions about this vital topic

18 Goodbye and Good Riddance? Geoffrey Ferres looks at the replacement of Disability Living Allowance for people aged 16 to 64

19 Sitra Training

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE HOUSING, CARE & SUPPORT SECTOR 03

Make way for thenew order…

This bulletin marks an important turning point in a number of key institutions. On 1st April 2013 what are described as the most significant changes to the National Health Service

since 1948, moved from the shadow into daylight – and the world of Clinical Commissioning Groups, Health and Wellbeing Boards, NHS Commissioning Board, Healthwatch, etc… is upon

us. This bulletin gives an insight into the world of Clinical Commissioning Groups from the perspective of a lay assessor, a housing specialist who has been privy to the inner workings

of Clinical Commissioning Groups as they gear themselves up for taking the reins. It also coincides with the arrival at Sitra HQ of the Health and Social Care Partnership – hosting a

body of expertise and knowledge to guide the sector through some of these changes.

I was interested to read new research produced by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations entitled; “The Prevention Revolution: transforming health and

social care”. This report puts a strong call out for health commissioners to shift the balance between acute and preventative spending. At a conference I attended last year run by nef

(the new economics foundation) focussing on prevention, they quoted that the current balance between money spent on acute services and money spent on preventative services

is 96% acute to 4% prevention. Clearly the balance needs to shift – and the further it can shift towards preventative services, the more that the housing, care and support sector

has to offer. We will be closely following this area, and have been continuing to develop resources to support organisations in communicating, demonstrating and measuring the

outcomes of their interventions. Sitra’s ongoing work on data, featured on page 9, will be a critical tool in supporting the sector in demonstrating its worth.

The second fundamental shift in April was the move into the more substantive elements of the welfare reform agenda. Those working in housing are undoubtedly aware of some of the

headline changes, but as we continue to train and support organisations in thinking them through, it is surprising the gaps that continue to exist. The sheer number of areas of change,

alterations of timescales, emerging exclusions, exceptions and apparent U turns are confusing – to say the least. This bulletin picks up on three of the pressing issues: (1) the implementation of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), (2) how Exempt Accommodation is now defined and (3) how housing providers can take an active role in supporting their more vulnerable clients in

understanding what changes to welfare benefits will mean to them.

However, it is of note that the sector has generated its own landmark, and 1st April 2013 also marked 10 years since the introduction of Supporting People. To mark this moment,

Sitra asked one of Supporting People’s key architects, Bert Provan, to reflect on the 10 years that have passed since that influential day.

Finally, I wanted to draw your attention to our new website. Sitra has been working hard over the last few months to update, streamline and improve the resources available to the sector.

We are keen to know if it works for you – so please do take a look www.sitra.org

CEO’s Comment

Vic RaynerChief ExecutiveEmail: [email protected]


Few currently working in the field will recall the emerging information about the size of the new programme. First we had the December 2002 £1.4bn “Golden Cut” which provoked concern and celebration in almost equal measure. Then the even bigger £1.8bn “Platinum Cut”, which provoked a major Treasury review, but no changes. For those who really want to go down memory lane, just remember the celebrated SPIntLS computer system which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (as the Department for Communities and Local Government used to be called) provided free to all (initially sceptical) upper-tier local authorities2. It did the business though.

These announcements had been preceded by three-plus years of creative ferment, argument, pleading, compromising, pouting, and general sweating blood that so many dedicated and knowledgeable people put into working alongside government (at local and national level) to create the Leviathan of Supporting People. One thing I particularly enjoyed was agreeing on the logo that had a little yellow door which opened when clicked. But the Scots had to drop the “supporting independence” strapline (pace Alex Salmon).

Nigel Rogers3 was key to this gestation. Immediately identifiable as an expert, a canny negotiator, and entirely focused on the interests of Supporting People service users and frontline staff. His contribution was immense, and continued throughout the whole period until his tragically untimely death recently. He will be missed.

The Supporting People programme was launched ten years ago,

writes Bert Provan1, the senior civil servant responsible for setting up

the programme in 2003. An anniversary worth marking, celebrating

and reflecting on. Services which had been running for 30 years

were reorganised under new contracts, resulting in better services, a

quality framework and sector recognition.

With so much investment, the demands for more efficient services and greater quality were immediate. Great progress has been made– and Capgemini’s 2009 figure of annual net programme benefits of £3.41bn demonstrated the progress made.4 More important, that investigation demonstrated rigorously what most service providers know instinctively, which is the enormous value of Supporting People services in changing lives. Sitra’s leading role in training and supporting service providers offers constant and continuing benefits for a wide range of staff and service users. I hope a similar article in the Sitra bulletin will appear 10 years from now, celebrating their continuing success.

But what might the next 10 years hold? Sitra is certainly being very active in working with service providers on welfare reform, and their initiative to develop the Common Data Framework is hugely important. One of the new planks in 2003 was comprehensive, detailed, timely information on services and service users, and not to have had this continuing would have been an enormous step backwards. But what of the new currents of “localism”, “voluntarism”, and individual responsibility? Do these not echo the value of Supporting People and hence support the continuing development of the sector? Has supported housing been going with the flow of mainstream Coalition thinking, even if it did not know it? Have mainstream Conservative thinkers actually been inspired by the “supporting independence” strapline in planning the welfare reform programme?

Supporting People, Supporting Voluntarism


Local planning has always been at the heart of Supporting People, a programme driven by local needs (even if we never did manage to produce the definitive framework for mapping needs!). Localism reinforces this, but there are clear risks. The increasing numbers of Community Plans, which trump wider local authority plans, may present risks to the continuing development of projects – gaining local neighbourhood acceptance of projects having been a constant concern.

In terms of funding, while the disappearance of ringfencing always provided challenges, theappalling irony of aggressive austerity, however, is that the sheer scale and pace of the cuts facing local authorities means that even cost- effective services – spending to save – are at high risk. This is seen already in many (but not yet all) authorities. It has echoes of “underoccupying” tenants moving to smaller private sector properties with higher rents (and often increased Housing Benefit spending). Nevertheless thecase must continue to be made for the huge, demonstrable, benefits of Supporting People spend, including the now hugely effective spend on homelessness and street homelessness services. Voluntarism and local engagement presents one of the major ambiguities. A growing

1 Bert Provan no longer works for the Government. These views are in a personal capacity. Bert is now a Visiting Fellow and Knowledge Broker at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at London School of Economics.2 SPIntLS stood for Supporting People Interim Local System and consisted of one or more, shiny black, stand-alone computers made available to upper-tier local authorities with relevant software to prepare for the programme’s launch in April 2003. 3 Director of Sitra, 1999-20064 Department for Communities and Local Government, 2009. Research into the financial benefits of the Supporting People programme, 2009. Available online at www.gov.uk/ government/publications/research-into-the-financial-benefits-of-the-supporting-people-programme-2009

strength over the last ten years has been increased professionalism and more skilled staff – knowledgeable about their clients’ needs and experienced in building positive relationships. Voluntarism, the involvement of volunteers as well as people from the local community in the work of a project, could be seen as a means to maintain some levels of service where they are cut, as well as being a means to build better links between service users and their local community – but provides a risk to these quality and professionalisation gains made since 2003. But it looks inevitable that some urgent creative solutions need to be put in place to resolve this tension, as the downward pressure on costs will certainly continue, and the pressure on services will almost certainly increase due to the wider impacts of austerity and welfare reform.

As to the central question “supporting independence”, there is a clear difference between the “dependency” problem faced by an ex-substance misuser or homeless person, and the general “dependency on the state” presented by the current Coalition as one of its targets. The nature of the second can often be misleadingly presented – with the mythical “three-generation workless” household or “family from hell” being often presented as the typical model of state dependency while the majority of cuts are made to the benefits of the

working poor. But it is quite possible that the mature skills and approaches of the Supporting People and homelessness programmes could contribute much to addressing the more entrenched forms of multiple deprivation which are at risk of worsening over the next few years. It may even be that these approaches will become more transferrable to address some of the wider impacts of recession and public sector cuts that will become evident very soon – where many more people need a wider range of coping skills, and of support, than now. A scary thought.

Finally, however, there is much to celebrate and showcase. Over the last 10 years the programme has delivered what it promised, and much much more. There has been continuous improvement and many people have been supported to independence. Things are now changing very fast, and the risks might seem overwhelming. My own view is that the historic and present resilience, robustness, commitment, and enthusiasm of the sector, and its core message of supporting independence, will see its role change, and become even more crucial to addressing the needs and problems of the next 10 years. Congratulations.

“The appalling irony of aggressive austerity meansthat even cost-effective services are at high risk”


Why tenancy sustainment?

Mrs Baxter (see Box) is one of 316 residents referred to GreenSquare’s inhouse, self-funded tenancy sustainment team in its first year.But why not leave it to the tendered support services? Why would a housing association fund an inhouse team?

Most floating support services aim for early intervention and prevention, but with shrinking budgets and pressure to prove specific outcomes, choices have to be made between supporting people in crisis, and intervening early. Mrs Baxter was not a priority for the local-authority-funded service, as her rent arrears were relatively low and she had not been identified as exceptionally vulnerable. Once possession action had started, they would have picked up the case – but, by then, the debt would have been entrenched and more difficult to tackle. Instead, if Mrs Baxter’s sons keep their promise

We sit round a long, cluttered table and let the flustered lady in the dressing gown talk. I’ve come along with Mel, one of our Tenancy Sustainment Officers, because Malcolm in Customer Accounts said Mrs Baxter1 can be aggressive when she’s upset. She seems happy to talk to us, though. Mel’s engaging manner comes from years of experience in support work, and a natural empathy.

“I was doing OK,” says Mrs Baxter. “My employers were great when I was ill the first time... but now they’ve let me go. So I’ve been on the ESA2 three months, used up my savings, and got behind with my rent. I can’t lose the house – where would the boys go? And Julie pops in with the baby most days.”

‘The boys’, it turns out, are Peter and

Mark, 24 and 27. They both work, and Peter gives Mrs Baxter £20 a week towards the housekeeping. Mark doesn’t see why he should – he doesn’t like his mum’s cooking, especially now she can’t afford ready meals, so all his spare money goes on takeaway pizza.

Mel suggests a meeting with the boys. She knows while they’re living with her, their mum won’t get any Housing Benefit – the non-dependant deductions are too high3. The rent is more than her benefits. And it wouldn’t help much if they moved out, as that would mean benefit reductions for underoccupying. It might help to explain all that to them.

Mrs Baxter looks worried. Couldn’t we get a grant from that army charity, or something? Peter does his best but he

gets nervous, and Mark stays in his room most of the time. If she confronts him, he brings up those times she didn’t cope very well, after his dad left.We haven’t done much more than listen. But two weeks later Mel updates me. She did help Mrs Baxter with an application for a small grant, and she persuaded Mark and Peter to talk things through. She explained their mum’s budget, and told them about a similar family she’d worked with who lost their home – it tore them apart.When Mel last saw them, Peter and Mark had agreed to pay £50 a week each towards the rent. The family had also decided to have a meal together every Monday, and to plan the week ahead - including who would buy the food, and who would top up the electric.

to contribute to the rent, then a tenancy has been stabilised at a cost of less than six hours of a Tenancy Sustainment Officer’s time.Our inhouse team focuses on:• Earlyinterventionandfastresponse• Fillinggapsinotherservices• Jointworkingwithneighbourhoodhousingteams• Mitigatingtheimpactofwelfarereform.

Early Intervention

GreenSquare’s tenancy sustainment team aims to respond to all referrals within four weeks. If rent arrears are increasing or the tenancy is judged to be at risk for any reason, a Tenancy Support Officer contacts the resident as soon as possible – within a week of referral – and usually visits them at home soon afterwards.

The team is also central to GreenSquare’s policy of carrying out pre-tenancy housing and support needs assessments. This helps people

to manage their tenancies successfully right from the start, by checking the property is suitable, that any support needs are met – whether by our own team, or external or specialist services – and that residents are able to budget, set up utilities and understand changing benefits.

Filling gaps in other services

External housing related and specialist support services provide invaluable support to many GreenSquare residents. However, some of our most vulnerable residents – often those with the most intractable and resource-intensive housing management problems – have needs that fall outside these contracts. Some fail to engage with services, some don’t fit the contract criteria, and others need help for longer than the time limit of short-term services, while failing to reach the threshold for longer-term support.

GreenSquare’sTenancySustainment Team


The tenancy sustainment team closes half of cases within six months, but we have residents who will be on our books for years. Most of our cases have support plans and recorded outcomes, but others are low-level and hard to pin down. The team also assists with the monitoring of aggressive and violent residents and oversees safeguarding procedures. Above all, we have the flexibility to adapt to change, and to respond to the most pressing needs.

Joint working

Referrals are made by all customer-facing teams, for a variety of reasons. Not surprisingly, referrals for support with rent arrears and benefits are increasing faster than others. Sharing premises and systems with neighbourhood housing teams has several advantages:• Referralsarequickandsimple• Sharinginformationreducesriskand duplication• Jointvisitscanhelptoengageclients,and different approaches can be combined – for example, addressing anti-social behaviour with enforcement action coupled with support.

Welfare Reform

While all departments are involved in GreenSquare’s response to welfare reform, the tenancy sustainment team has a particular role in:• Identifyingvulnerableresidentsaffected by underoccupation rules and supporting them to work through their options• Helpingresidentstounderstanddirect payments of rent, and to set up and use bank accounts• Supportingclientstomanagereducing income and benefits – after Housing Benefit and Council Tax changes, some will have less than £50 per week to live on.

Is it cost-effective? The Tenancy Sustainment team was established because of GreenSquare’s strong support ethos – but also because we recognise the cost of tenancy failure to the business. In these cash-strapped times it is more important than ever to demonstrate value for the organisation, and for the tenants whose rent funds our services.The difficulties of measuring financial and social impact are well-rehearsed. Had the Tenancy Sustainment Officer not taken Mr Jones to his appointment with the alcohol support service last year, would he have been evicted for anti-social behaviour, at a cost of £5,000 to GreenSquare in court fees, £3,000 to the local authority in hostel subsidies and hell for the neighbours? Or would he have pulled himself together, got to the appointment on the bus and engaged with the treatment programme?

By Becky Willis, Tenancy Sustainment Manager, GreenSquare

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN & VULNERABLE ADULTS 10

DOMESTIC ABUSE 11

SUBSTANCE MISUSE 21

HYGIENE, HEALTH AND SAFETY 22

HELP TO MOVE 24

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR/ OTHER TENANCY BREACH 27

BUDGETING/ DEBT/ BANK ACCOUNT 34

WELFARE REFORM 37

INCOME/ BENEFITS 43

RESETTLEMENT 49

MENTAL HEALTH 52

RENT ARREARS 61

Common reasons for referral to the tenancy sustainment team (2012)

While accepting that any indicators of cost-effectiveness will be imperfect, we measure the cost of our service against rent arrears reduced, evictions avoided and an estimate of tenancy failures averted, as well as response times and client satisfaction.

Estimated savings in 2012 were over £70,000 for the prevention of eviction and tenancy failure alone (based on Shelter’s figure of £5,800 as the cost to the landlord of eviction and subsequent re-letting4, and £1,600 as the average cost of a failed tenancy in repairs and rent loss). As welfare reform progresses, we will monitor the impact on rent arrears of supporting residents with underoccupation, opening bank accounts and budgeting, as well as maximising incomes.

Tenancy sustainment or local-authority funded floating support?

Sitra’s training programme includes a half day event in London on Welfare Reform with Exempt Accommodationon13May2013.Forthisandotherspecial events, and for inquiries about inhouse training on benefit changes, go to www.sitra.org/training or contact [email protected]

Are we setting the clock back 10 years by funding support from rental income, alongside maintenance and housing management? We think what we do will only become more crucial as increasing numbers of vulnerable residents struggle to cope with managing their homes, their rent and their reducing incomes. Many social landlords are weighing up the cost of inadequate support for residents, and opting to fund a range of services, from pre-tenancy training to financial advice and support – not to replace local authority-funded services, but to complement them.

1 Real names have not been used2 Employment and Support Allowance, a benefit for people with limited capacity for work3 Housing Benefit non-dependant deductions vary according to the level of the non-dependant’s earnings. For 2012/13 there were six levels, ranging from £11.45 to £73.85 per week. For 2013/14 the equivalent figures are from £13.60 to £87.75 per week.4 Shelter, 2012. Research: briefing. Immediate costs to government of loss of home [online] London: Shelter (Published January 2012) Available at http://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/415596/Immediate_costs_to_government_of_losing_a_home.pdf

Source of referrals to the tenancy sustainment team (2012)FROM PRE-TENANCY ASSESSMENT/ LETTINGS TEAMS 64

NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSING TEAMS 121

RENT/ CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS TEAMS 83

OTHER GREENSQUARE TEAMS 40

EXTERNAL AGENCIES 7

SELF-REFERRED 1

316


I had a unique insight last year into the world of the 211 new Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) that will control local NHS budgets from April 2013, writes Daphne Ingham. I was one of 43 members of the public recruited in summer 2012 as Lay Assessors, members of the panels undertaking one-day visits as part of each CCG’s authorisation process. Each panel included one Lay Assessor, and for at least three of these CCGs, this NHS outsider (the writer) was from the supported housing sector. A few of us, still in touch via NHS Networks, have compared notes on this privileged glimpse into the realities of NHS reform. Views in this article are drawn from the comments of six Lay Assessors from various backgrounds, who covered 32 visits.

It was a positive experience. We admired the energy and enthusiasm of CCG people at all levels. Amongst our fellow panel members, many themselves experiencing career flux and uncertainty, we observed a dogged determination to see this process through. Senior NHS people, working as Panel Chairs, skilfully steered teams through the day, shifting a large volume of detailed business. Occasionally it was hard going for lay people, with a few mixed reactions to our presence. One commented that the “NHS is very poor at communicating to the public – needs lessons in plain English”.We met many GPs with a vision of another way, driven by deep frustration with NHS over-reliance on hospitals. Innovations such as “virtual wards” are springing up. One Lay Assessor noticed that “rural CCGs are finding great ways to deliver what patients need without lengthy and

Daphne Ingham is a Sitra associate and a freelance consultant providing strategic advice and project management to a range of clients. She has over 20 years’ national experience in developmental roles in housing, care and support.

Sitra hosts the Health and Social Care Partnership which has a leading role in delivering health and social care reforms in the South of England. Visit the partnership’s website at www.hscpartnership.org.uk

expensive trips to hospitals”. We also saw “encouraging signs of improved relationships between GPs and hospital doctors”. It’s not all about GPs. One Lay Assessor said: “All safeguarding nurses were superb – great commitment to improvement – interesting ideas”. Another wrote: “All my five visits have been positive experiences, which have reinforced my view that clinicians have a better handle on health needs and how to improve outcomes than most NHS managers”.

What about the future? The training emphasised that CCGs are at the start of an uncertain journey, and can only offer limited evidence of any track record. One Lay Assessor remarked that “generally if the CCG tells a good story by giving examples they get the benefit of the doubt”.

In the aftermath – aside from the big public debates on the NHS – Lay Assessors’ concerns about the future encompassed two main themes: the variation between CCGs, and the feasibility of achieving integrated care. The variation was conspicuous. Lay Assessors were struck by the considerable disparity in size and state of readiness, and surprised by the variations in compositions of the governing bodies. On integrated care, variations and anomalies in arrangements with local authorities fuelled our reservations about the practicalities of delivering the new vision to all. One CCG had “good engagement with one local authority but none with a second where over 5% of the population lived”.

On health and housing, the visits reinforced my view that there are opportunities for housing organisations willing and able to invest effort, over a period of time, into building NHS relationships. To be attractive, innovations should be ready-made and demonstrate direct NHS cash savings. Many CCGs will be busy, preoccupied with being new, and minimally-staffed. The key NHS organisations to approach may be Provider Trusts who hold big CCG contracts, often with multiple CCGs. Some Trusts will welcome partnerships to deliver such packages with local providers who have intimate knowledge of their local areas and needs – if they lead to cash savings.

On a personal note, as a result of being a Lay Assessor, the writer has seen superb local innovations already underway, but wonders how small CCGs will develop “clout” in relationships with big providers, and how they will manage their myriad new governance arrangements. But my most memorable impressions are of the atmosphere, behaviours and emotions within CCGs. The energy and commitment of all those people who are going the extra mile was inspiring. Let’s hope it lasts.

Authorising Clinical Commissioning Groups: a Lay Assessor’s View

“To be attractive, innovations should be ready-made and demonstrate direct NHS cash savings.”


Without strong data, the national Supporting People budget would have been cut even deeper in the last Comprehensive Spending Review, writes Sitra’s Adam Knight-Markiegi. That was the key message from the top civil servant for housing support at the time. This may be the case again this year, as we move closer to the next spending review. And robust data on housing support services is also important locally.

Sitra has been working hard on housing support data for the last few years. We consulted widely, updated the Common DataFrameworkandperformanceindicator workbooks, and we’re now getting ready to collect the data nationally (see numbers from our pilot collection to right). We’ll be collecting this data from councils in May.

We see the value in collecting data from across the country. At a local level this data helps commissioners and providers compare information and benchmark themselves on capacity,

costs,performanceandoutcomes.Forproviders, it offers information that can help win tenders or show value for money.Forexample,yourperformanceand client outcomes may be better than average across the local area. This local data can also help plan investment and supports good commissioning in services for vulnerable people that meet local priorities.

There is value in housing related support data nationally too. It 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.

So watch out for the national data collection in May. In the meantime, you can see more about our work, including the reporting tool for the national data, at www.sitra.org/policy-good-practice/housing-related-support-data.

Power in Numbers In numbers

22councils involved

987

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An exciting and unique new study, Rebuilding Lives, started in March 2013, as Maureen Crane, Louise Joly and Jill Manthorpe explain. It will examine the longer-term outcomes for single homeless people who are resettled, and is a follow-onoftheFOR-HOMEstudy.Forthefirst time in the UK, information will be collected about formerly homeless people five years after they were resettled. The study will investigate their experiences of sustaining tenancies and achieving independent living. It will also identify their longer-term social care and support needs and effective ways of delivering the required help.

Rebuilding Lives is being carried out by Maureen Crane, Louise Joly and Jill Manthorpe at the Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King’s College London. The same six homelessness sector organisationsthatcollaboratedinFOR-HOME are collaborating in the new study. These are: Broadway, Centrepoint, St Mungo’s and Thames Reach in London; FrameworkinNottinghamshire;andStAnne’s Community Services in Yorkshire. Rebuilding Lives has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research School for Social Care Research and will be completed in April 2014.

Why the study is being done

TheFOR-HOMEstudyrecruited400single homeless people in London, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds who were resettled during 2007-08 into independent accommodation. They were followed up for 18 months after they were rehoused. Most were glad to have moved into their own accommodation and a high

rate of tenancy sustainment was achieved. By the end of the study, 77% were in their original accommodation, 8% had moved to another tenancy, and just 15% had lost their tenancy. Over time, however, many experienced serious financial difficulties and increasing debts. The majority found it extremely hard to budget because of their low income, and had problems sorting out welfare benefit claims and rent and utility payments. The difficulties of finding stable and secure employment added to their financial struggles – many could only find temporary or casual work and experienced problems getting their social security benefits reinstated when their job ended.

The help that they received from services after moving varied greatly. Only half had a tenancy support worker. Strict allocation criteria (in London) and long waiting lists meant that many were not entitled to or could not access tenancy support services. A few sought help from staff at their former hostel or from mental health or substance misuse workers when they were having difficulties. Although most were still housed at the end of the study, several were struggling to cope, had rent arrears and had been threatened with eviction1. The Rebuilding Lives study is important. Since the 1990s successive British governments have invested large sums of money into preventing and tackling homelessness, yet the number of people becoming homeless is increasing. Some are newly-homeless, but others have experienced repeat episodes of homelessness. Many of the latter are multiply-disadvantaged, have complex

needs, and require help to cope with independent living.

At present there is no information about the circumstances of homeless people a few years after they are resettled and their longer-term support needs. Rebuilding Lives will provide new understanding of the extent to which formerly homeless people settle and cope during the first few years, the types of problems that they face and whether and how they overcome difficulties, and their longer-term social care and support needs and how these can best be met.

The Rebuilding Lives study is also timely given the current economic and housing situation in England, major welfare reforms and cuts to services. Many homelessness sector organisations have experienced reductions in local authority contract funding which have led to cuts in frontline services1. The financial struggles thatmanyFOR-HOMEparticipantsexperienced during the first 18 months are likely to worsen once Housing Benefit restrictions and reductions in help with Council Tax are introduced. Mounting shortages of social housing over the last five years have increasingly meant that the private-rented sector is used to rehouse homelesspeople.YetamongtheFOR-HOME participants, resettlement into this tenure had the poorest outcomes, partly due to the relatively high rents which particularly affected people when they started work or when a job ended. However, those rehoused into the private-rented sector through a specialist scheme that provided post-resettlement support had more favourable outcomes. Rebuilding Lives will provide greatly-

Rebuilding Lives:Supporting Formerly Homeless People to Achieve Independent Living


• FurtherdetailsoftheFOR-HOMEstudyandthefinalreport,MovestoIndependentLiving,areavailablefor downloading2

• FormoreinformationabouttheRebuildingLivesstudycontactMaureenCraneatmaureen_ann.crane@kcl.ac.uk• ForfurtherinformationabouttheNationalInstituteforHealthResearchSchoolforSocialCareResearchandother homelessness studies it has funded see www2.lse.ac.uk/LSEHealthAndSocialCare/aboutUs/NIHRSSCR/home.aspx.This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research School for Social Care Research. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health Research School for Social Care Research or the Department of Health, the National Institute for Health Research or the NHS.

needed information about how vulnerable and disadvantaged people manage during a period of economic downturn and how they are affected by the cuts and changes.

What the study involves

Thenewstudywillinvolve295FOR-HOME participants five years after their resettlement. It will recruit those who were still housed at 15/18 months (either in the resettlement accommodation or in another tenancy) and agreed that the researchers could contact them again. Information will be collected about their housing, management of household tasks and finances, family and social networks, community involvement, engagement in education, training and employment, health and substance misuse problems, and help and support received and needed during the last 12 months. With the participants’ consent, interviews will also be conducted with tenancy support staff and other workers who have provided help to the participants during the previous 12 months. This will likely

include social workers, housing officers, health and substance misuse workers, and staff at day centres or in hostels. Information will be collected about the types of support provided, the outcomes of the help given, and any difficulties in providing support. We hope to interview at least 40 workers.

Outputs

The main output from the study will be a Practice Guide for housing, social services and homelessness sector staff and other workers involved in delivering longer-term care and support to formerly homeless people. It will identify the characteristics of those requiring such help and their needs. It will give examples of interventions and their impact, and have practice recommendations. It will be available for downloading from our Unit’s website, and from the websites of the National Institute for Health Research School for Social Care Research and the collaborating homelessness organisations. Evidence on social care and welfare reforms and the longer-

term support needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged people will be submitted to central government departments and to local authority managers who are commissioning services for homeless and at-risk groups.

Further details

An advisory group, which includes representatives from the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions, will advise on the study’s emphases and the dissemination of findings. Sitra is a member of this advisory group and will provide training and updates for the research team on recent housing and welfare reforms. The effects of these changes will be explored with the study participants during interviews. A Service User Group of formerly homeless people who have been resettled for at least two years will also advise on the main issues for homeless people once they are rehoused and comment on the recommendations.

“At present there is no information about the circumstances of homeless people a few years after they are resettled”

1Homeless Link 2012. Survey of Needs and Provision 2012: Homelessness Services for Single People and Couples without Dependents in England. Available online at: www.homeless.org.uk/snap2012#.UT8JFtZdDTo2Crane, M., Warnes, A.M. and Coward, S. 2011. Moves to Independent Living: Single Homeless People’s Experiences and Outcomes of Resettlement. Available online at: www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/kpi/scwru/res/roles/resettling.aspx


Organisations are investing time in finding new and creative ways to deliver improved outcomes for customers in the face of the changing environment, sweeping reforms across the health, care and housing sectors and the move to more personalised services, writes Matthew Kemp from Midland Heart.

There is extensive research evidencing the value of community in supporting individuals and promoting wellbeing. The evidence promotes the use of support networks to provide greater collaboration and increased contribution leading to improved social and health outcomes. However currently links between a

Coordinate appointments

Audrey is an elderly customer living in a Midland Heart retirement home, her family are spread across the country and aboard, and she often has hospital appointments.

“When I first heard about Tyze, it sounded like a great way to keep in touch with family who live far away, I have sons living abroad and they are sometimes hard to contact so it would be great to share stories with them.”

“After speaking with staff I then realised that a Tyze network could help a lot more, I am using it to coordinate appointments and it’s easy to let people know when I have to get somewhere.”

person’s paid care and the unpaid care delivered by family and friends is often uncoordinated and indeterminate which has a detrimental impact of the individual as well as increased caregiver stress.

Broader recognition of the need for links with the wider care community around an individual, prolonging the need for more intensive care, was recently outlined in the 2012 Caring for our future white paper.3

An innovative partnership between UK care and support provider Midland Heart and a Canadian organisation called Tyze is currently underway, piloting their new online personalised care networks

with customers which aim to allow family, friends, housing, care and health professionals to keep in touch and offer an individual everything, from emotional and practical support to sharing the care for someone, at the click of a mouse or through a smart phone app.

The aim is to ultimately strengthen communication and coordination of care around an individual and effectively bridge the gap between informal and formal carers, something that is often hard to establish and maintain.

Key functionsTyze networks are different to other social networking sites, built around a specific person for a specific situation. As Tyze put it “it’s designed to strengthen networks, not count them”. The functions of the site are designed for the individual in mind and can be accessed at anytime, and at any place in the world with internet access. These are:

•Asharedcalendartomanagevisits, appointments and to set tasks; those in the network can always be aware of important appointments, help coordinate and complete tasks like planning travel arrangements or going grocery shopping - ultimately sharing care•Amessageboardtokeepintouch, share important information and stories; with one simple message you can reach your whole network so everyone can always be aware of the most current situation•Theabilitytouploadphotosandvideos; people in the network can share photos of activities and holidays, which helps to monitor someone’s wellbeing and celebrate the life of the person•Storecriticalinformationfiles; upload information that your whole network can view such as grocery shopping lists, emergency contact phone numbers or symptom guidance• A private vaulted area restricted to certain people; an area which can be used to store sensitive files such as health records, care plans or legal documents.

Widening the reachMidland Heart is piloting 100 networks across its services. Though traditionally networks have been used by carers and families of older persons, Midland Heart is innovatively looking at ways a network could help support its customers with learning difficulties or mental health issues, and young homeless and vulnerable customers living in general needs accommodation.

Midland Heart Pilots Online Personalised Networks


“Midland Heart is keen to see if Personal Networks can not only benefit the person at the centre of the network but also those around them”

Midland Heart is also looking to explore ways of supporting staff, and recognise that at times people have outside care commitments. As part of the pilot networks are offered to members of staff who care for family and friends in their private lives. Midland Heart is keen to see if Tyze can not only benefit the person at the centre of the network but also those around them by helping to share the strain caring for someone can have.

Richard, a Midland Heart employee is using Tyze to coordinate care for his young son: his care arrangements are

The pilot has been running for almost one year and Midland Heart is continually evaluating the impact an online network has made on those individuals taking part. The evaluation focuses on how a network has benefited the independence and wellbeing of the customer over the course of the pilot by assessing its impact on better communication and coordination between family and carers. So far, observed outcomes include fewer missed

Staff support

Evaluation and Recognition

quite demanding at times as his son has appointments with multiple health professionals including a dietician, speech therapist and consultants.

“Having a network of people who care about him and want the best for him is really reassuring. We have two health professionals on his network that can monitor his wellbeing, which is a major plus for us”.

“The ability to coordinate care at a click of a button has taken a lot of stress off the family, being safe in the knowledge that I can ask for help at any time”.

appointments, enhanced rapport between individuals and staff, greater sharing of information between community and professionals, and reduced social isolation.

Subsequently, Tyze and Midland Heart have been recognised by receiving two award nominations from the Chartered Institute of Housing UK Housing Awards and from Laing and Buisson Independent

Richard and his family continue to use the network with family and friends, and are inviting more health professionals on to the network.

“We have found that people are positive to using a secure network that could help him and have recently got his dedicated support team at his school on board so we are able to manage his support sessions as well as involve his consultants”.

Specialist Care Awards – both nominated in the category of Innovation.

For further information contact [email protected]

1 Available online at www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/136422/White-Paper-Caring-for-our-future-reforming-care-and-support-PDF-1580K.pdf


A groundbreaking Midlands-based charity – recently named the most innovative housing provider in the country – was an early pioneer of culturally-sensitive sheltered housing services, writes Wyn Matthews.

Trident Reach the People Charity runs two supported housing services solely for Chinese elders in Birmingham: Cherish House in Digbeth and Connaught Gardens in Balsall Heath. Connaught Gardens was, we believe, the first sheltered scheme in the country just for older Chinese people and, together with Cherish House, the service is still only one of a handful of its kind across the country. Connaught Gardens – a complex of 68 self-contained flats with a communal room – opened 22 years ago, followed by Cherish House – which has 45 flats with

a lounge and dining room – about eight years later.

Despite being so far from their native land, staff teams are dedicated to keeping the Chinese culture and traditions alive to make the services a “home from home” for their customers, with traditional dishes on the daily menu and support in their own language. Each Chinese New Year, Cherish House hosts a special dinner and New Year party for customers from both services, with traditional food, entertainment and activities. Customers also make arts and craft items – such as traditional ribbon fish, origami stars and paper lanterns, lucky red packets (lai see), posters and bookmarks – to sell at a stall in the city’s Chinese Quarter during the New Year festivities.

Anthony McCool, Charity Lead at Trident Reach, said: “The community at Cherish House is like a family. Our customers make lots of friends here so they always have people to talk to, share a joke and play traditional Chinese games with. We offer a culturally sensitive service within a safe environment which is solely dedicated to Chinese elders, so understanding their cultural needs is our priority. Customers are involved at all levels of decision making and we have a customer advisory group at both Connaught Gardens and Cherish House which meet once a month to discuss concerns and consulted about new ideas and proposed changes.”

Customers at the service range in age from their 50s to 90s, and some have embraced the technological age to keep in touch with family and friends in China via email and Skype. Connaught Gardens was set up in 1991 after a need was identified for such a facility within the local community. Delegations of officials from China and across the UK regularly visit the two specialist housing services to learn about what they do.

Keeping Chinese Culture Alive in Birmingham

“Staff teams are dedicated to keeping the Chinese culture and traditions alive”

FeaturesofConnaughtGardensandCherish House which help maintain the traditional Chinese culture, while promoting active social lives and reducing isolation, include: • Bothsitesofferaservicewherestaffare bi-lingual in Chinese and English. Most staff are able to converse in more than one Chinese dialect. The most commonly spoken among customers is Cantonese and Hakka, with a small number speaking Mandarin• Chinesemealsservedinthedining room at Cherish House each day, with the menu discussed in advance and agreed with customers

Specialist services• Weeklyartsandcraftsessions• Monthlycookeryclasseswhere customers make traditional Chinese foods together• Monthlyshoppingtripstoalocal Chinese supermarket• DailyMahJong(apopularChinese game) and card games to help maintain active and healthy minds• WeeklyTaiChiclasses,runby customers • Daytripstolocalandnationalplaces of interest• Monthlycustomers’meetings,including visits from representatives of local groups and organisations.

The services also organise:

• Dailyfallspreventionexerciseclassesto help maintain good balance and health• Varioushealthworkshops,organisedin partnership with other agencies, including monthly blood pressure checks, annual eye tests and flu jabs.• Anumberofcustomersattendmeetings oftheOlderPeopleForum,runby Birmingham City Council to engage with older members of the community.• StaffalsoworkwiththeBirmingham Chinese Mental Health Project to raise awareness of mental health issues in the Chinese community.


Lin Kiu Lee, who is 72, came to Birmingham from Hong Kong in 1975. She joined her husband who had come to Britain a few years earlier.

She says: “It was the first time I flew in an aeroplane and it cost over 1,600 Hong Kong dollars to get here.”

“When I first got here, I just couldn’t get used to it – it was too cold and snowed a lot. I barely went out – only to go to the shops. There were not many Chinese people around here and no Chinese food. Now it is much better.”

“I used to work in a Chinese restaurant and made lots of friends there. Birmingham has developed a lot in the time I’ve been here – now it has lots more high-rise buildings.”

Koon Hing Tong, now 98, came to England in 1961. He initially lived in Worcester and spent most of his career working in restaurants.

He says: “Before I came to the UK, I was a road worker in Hong Kong for 13 years. It was really hard work.”

“When I came to the UK, I started work in a restaurant – I was paid between £6 and £8 a week. No-one here really ate Chinese food then. We did fish and chips but I had no idea how to make it. I learned to make British dishes when I got here.”

Trident Reach the People Charity provides a range of housing, support and care services to vulnerable people across the Midlands region – including homeless people, people with disabilities or mental health issues, young people and women experiencing domestic abuse – to help them live independently and reach their potential.

It recently won the ‘Most Innovative Housing Provider’ category of the Housing Innovation Awards 2013. The award recognises Trident Reach’s imaginative and original solutions to diversify its services and fund its work, including development of a wide range of ‘added value’ services to help meet local needs. They are currently shortlisted for a customer services award at the 2013 Housing Excellence awards

FormoreinformationaboutTridentReachortofindouthowyoucansupportitswork,contact01212265800orvisittheirwebsite www.reachthecharity.org.uk.

Trident Reach

Lin Kiu Lee

Koon Hing Tong

“When I lived in Hong Kong I worked from home doing craftwork such as threading beads, making plastic flowers and doing needlework.”

Lin, who is a widow, has two sons, a daughter and three grandchildren.She enjoys the craft sessions at Cherish House and, as well as learning calligraphy, she makes items for the Chinese New Year market stall and helps to staff it on the day.

Lin adds: “I like living at Cherish House – it is in a good place, with good security and excellent language support.”

“In 1974, my wife and six children joined me in the UK. I have 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.”

“I first moved into Connaught Gardens in 1991 with my wife. She passed away in 1995 and a few years later I decided to move to Cherish House. I was one of the first ones to move in when it first opened in 1999.”

“I like living here because of our location, the language support and all the cultural events and activities.”

bulletin articles are not the only way in which Sitra showcases good practice in housing, care and support. We have recently launched a feature on our website highlighting examples of good practice. If you are interested in having your own work featured, contact [email protected]


Queries from our members on supported exempt accommodation answered by Sitra’s Geoffrey Ferres.

There should be little impact on your organisation in the next year and it is most likely to depend on the degree of your exposure to:•Thesocialhousingsizecriteria–howoftendoyouletaccommodationto people that exceeds the new criteria in force from April 2013?•Thehouseholdbenefitcap–howhighisyourownrentandhowoftendo your clients also receive Housing Benefit for the home from which they have fled but to which they may hope to return?

If you had been exempt accommodation you would probably not have been affected by either of these new rules. The important thing to remember about the threat from Universal Credit later this year is that we do not expect anyone to be claiming Universal Credit before April 2014 unless they are single, childless and newly unemployed. We would not expect this to represent many of your clients.

If anyone does claim Universal Credit you would expect to be able to persuade the Department for Work and Pensions to make payment of their rent money to you but only while they are still living with you – the Department for Work and PensionspublishedthelistofTierOneandTierTwo“AlternativePaymentArrangement”factorson11February2013.1 This would help to limit your loss of rent income but would certainly not eliminate it.

You will certainly need to plan much more carefully for 2014/15 when a much greater impact on your organisation is likely.

The one worry I cannot eliminate without more information about your clients is the possible risk to you from new limits in force from April 2013 on Housing Benefit for people placed in your project by local authorities under their homelessness duties. If you do have clients in this situation, they will only be entitled to Local Housing Allowance no matter who is the landlord of the property or properties you use. Again, you would have been exempt from these new restrictions had you been supported exempt accommodation.

I think you are enquiring about exempt accommodation status and, if so, we have to tell you that no property where a housing authority is landlord can ever be exempt accommodation, no matter to what purpose it is put. This is because exempt accommodation status only applies in Housing Benefit to rent allowance cases, not rent rebate cases.

We have been making representations to the Government about this and we are still optimistic the Government will move on this issue but at the moment the supported exempt accommodation rule offers you no protection against the size criteria, the household benefit cap or the new rules limiting temporary accommodation to the Local Housing Allowance.

Iammanagerofawomen’srefugeandwedon’tcountas‘exempt’forHousingBenefitundertherules.WilltherebeanyimmediatechangeinourincomefromHousingBenefitinApril2013oristhereadelay?Q

A

A

FAQs: supported exempt accommodation

Our authority manages two types of homeless accommodation, stage 1 (pending Section.193 enquiry) and stage 2 (Section 193.3 full housing duty). 2 We manage homeless hostels, former warden’s houses and various general needs propertiesinthetown.IamawarethatthehostelwillbeexempthoweverIcannotfindanyinformationthatmakesclear if a property were used for a homeless family under Section 193 that is larger for their needs (such as a former warden’s house), whether the spare rooms would be exempt from the bedroom tax? Equally would this also apply where a full housing duty has been accepted?

Q


Letter from Lord Freud, Minister of State for Welfare Reform

On4thApril2013LordFreudsentSitraandotherorganisationsalettertryingtoreassurehousing, care and support providers worried by the fact they did not fall within the supported exempt accommodation definition and were at risk from the social housing size criteria (the “bedroom tax”), the household benefit cap, the new temporary accommodation rules and Universal Credit.

We reproduce below the full text of his letter:

1 Available online at www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/personal-budgeting-support-guidance.pdf2 The references are to the Housing Act 1996. The text of Section 193 is available online at www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/52/section/1933 Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Urgent Bulletin HB/CTB U1/2013 available online at www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/u1-2013.pdf

This request sparked alarm in the housing, care and support world. The Government tried to calm anxieties by issuing a circular3 assuring local authorities it was not asking them to check all their decisions, merely to record what they were actually doing to enable the Government to gauge the amount of money it might have to put into a new localised system.

Nonetheless some local authorities have realised they may have wrongly been treating some accommodation as “supported exempt accommodation” and are concerned they must now correct all their mistakes. Equally Sitra does not have confidence this exercise will provide reliable figures on which to base a new funding system for the additional housing costs of supported housing.

The Government recently asked Housing Benefit departments to record in the April 2013 version of the Single Housing Benefit Extract, which gives the Government a copy of local Housing Benefit data, details of all their supported exempt accommodation cases. It gave local authorities until 31st March 2013 to record all these cases.

SingleHousingBenefitExtract

You will be aware that we have put in place arrangements to ensure that our reforms recognise the needs of those using supported exempt accommodation. From April, this type of accommodation will be exempt from the benefit cap and the removal of the spare room subsidy. Our plans to deal with the housing costs of claimants living in supported exempt accommodation outside of Universal Credit will also mean that the change to a monthly payment cycle and the removal of direct payments to landlords will not apply.

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 hostel 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.

Due to the legislative constraints it is not possible to put a solution in place for April. However, officials are working closely with other government departments and key stakeholders to develop workable solutions, through a change to the definition for other means, without increasing current spend. These include local authorities, the National Housing Federation, Homeless Link, Sitra, the Chartered Institute of Housing and the devolved administrations.

Proposals will be brought forward at the earliest opportunity.

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; I am very conscious of the invaluable services that providers offer to some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Yours sincerely,

Lord FreudMinister for Welfare Reform

Many of you noticed that in our last

issue there were a couple of errors

in our exempt accommodation flowchart which

meant that boxes with questions which should have had yes and no answers, had two yes answers. We are very sorry we did not notice this before

the bulletin was printed and made efforts to circulate

a corrected version, which you can also find on our website.

www.sitra.org


Goodbye and good riddance?

It’s hard not to have mixed feelings about the imminent closing of Disability Living Allowance to new claims from people over 16, writes Sitra’s Geoffrey Ferres.Ifevertherewasaclaimformyoualmost needed to be a benefits expert to complete, this was it – a solicitor even used to be able to claim 1½ hours of Legal Aid for helping someone fill it in!

But unfortunately Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is not being closed to new claims because it was a pain to claim, but because the Government has decided to cut £2bn from DLA spending.

ProcessPIP is meant to be claimed online but with telephone claims as a fallback, like Universal Credit. But the initial claim is not the hard bit. It’s followed by an invitation to submit supporting evidence and then, in most cases, by a call to attend the new test.Most frontline workers will probably get used quickly to the new process: the scoring system is not particularly complicated3 but advising clients whether or not to apply for PIP in the hope of getting more – but at the risk of getting less – will require frontline workers to be very careful in calculating the number of points clients are likely to receive. A good understanding of the scoring system will also enable frontline workers to identify how to give supporting evidence effectively.

Sitra can provide training on the move from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment: contact [email protected]

How does PIP differ from DLA?

• PIPisbasedonascoringsystem,liketheWorkCapabilityAssessmentusedforEmploymentandSupportAllowance• There‘satestadministeredbyaprivatecontractorandit’sAtosinmostareasjustlikeitisnationallyfortheWork Capability Assessment used for Employment and Support Allowance• TherearejusttwolevelsofPIP’sDailyLivingComponentcomparedtothreelevelsofDLA’sCareComponent• PIPonlylooksatcareneedsduringtheday,whereasDLAlookedseparatelyataclaimant’sneedforattentionor supervision during the day and night• ApersonisonlyentitledtobepaidPIPforaneedthatisgoingtolastatleastanotherninemonths,whereasforDLAit was for at least another six months – unless, in both benefits, the claimant is terminally ill• TherewillbenopremiumsinUniversalCredittriggeredbyanawardofPIPunlikethosecurrentlytriggeredbyDLAin Housing Benefit and other means-tested benefits which Universal Credit replaces – except for a continued connection between awards of PIP’s Daily Living Component and carers’ benefits

Outcomes

So Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not just easier to claim and understand, but less generous – it’s not just a reform, but a cut: 450,000 people who now get DLA will lose it and not get PIP when the transition happens – and the conversion of existing cases of people aged 16-64 does not begin in earnest until October 2015, on the revised timetable published in December 2012. As many as 510,000 existing claimants will get more from PIP than DLA, and the same number will get less; only 270,000 out of 1.75 million claimants will get the same.1

Timetable

PIP went live for new claims in the North East and North West on 8 April 2013 2, and will go live in the rest of the country in June 2013. Once PIP goes live, no new claims can be made for DLA except for children under 16. People over 65 can continue to claim Attendance Allowance if they have care needs.

FromOctober2013DLAclaimantsturning 16 will start being asked to claim PIP, and so will DLA claimants who:•Reportchangesofcircumstancesthat might affect their rate of payment•Havefixed-termawardsexpiringfrom theendofFebruary2014.

DLA claimants can also choose to claim PIP from October 2013 and those who are very confident they will get more from PIP than from DLA may certainly wish to do so.

Introducing PIP – the Personal Independence Payment

450,000 people who now get Disability Living Allowance will lose it and not get Personal Independence Payment

1 Department for Work and Pensions, 2012. Personal Independence Payment. Reassessments and Impacts. [online] Available at: www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf2 For a table showing the relevant postcodes, visit Sitra’s website3 The scoring system can be found in Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013. Available at www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/377/schedule/1/made


Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty safeguards (one-day course)9 May 2013, Southampton

This course is suitable for all staff working with vulnerable adults or with clients with mental health issues.By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• UnderstandthekeyelementsoftheMental Capacity Act and the implications for best practice• Beabletoundertakeanassessmentof capacity and make a best interests decision in accordance with the Act• Beabletotakeactiontosafeguard individuals and minimise risk• Understandwhat‘deprivationofliberty’ means and how it relates to the Mental Capacity Act• Understandhowtodeveloppractices, procedures and care plans to avoid unnecessary deprivation of liberty• Understandwhatactiontotakeifaperson may already be deprived of their liberty and no authorisation has been granted.

Moving between housing support and personal care services (one-day course)9 May 2013, London

Are you considering branching out from housing support services and into personal care, or from personal care to housing support? This one-day course will help you decide if that is the right move for your organisation and help you plan the move. It is suitable for managers in provider services, while council staff will gain insight into the issues and processes of housing support and adult social care services, especially if they have recently been included in your commissioning or monitoring remit.By the end of the course, participants will:• Understandthesimilaritiesanddifferences between housing support and personal care• Beawareofthefundingenvironmentfor housing support and care services• Explorethebenefitsandrisksofmovinginto the new area• Knowabouttherelevantqualityand regulatory systems• Understandthenextstepstotakeinservice development.

Collaboration and partnerships (half-day course)14 May 2013, London

This course provides an introduction to the options for collaborative working in both service delivery and “back office” resource sharing, reviewing the range of partnerships models and the risks and opportunities they may offer. It will enable staff to assess their own organisation’s position and consider the potential for partnerships with others.This course will focus on:• Currentpolicydriversforcollaboration• Contractualoptionsforpartnersinservice delivery• Partnerselectionandriskassessment• Partnershipsforresourcesharing,optionsand priorities.

Self-harm: supporting clients (one-day course)21 May 2013, Southampton

This course is suitable for people working within a variety of health, social care and support roles, or any frontline staff who may be working closely with vulnerable clients who are at risk of self-harming.The course aims to enable participants to:• Identifywhatismeantbyself-harm• Identifycommonmythssurroundingself-harm• Demonstrateagreaterunderstandingofwhy people self-harm• Understandthesignsandsignalsofself-harm• Gainanawarenessofthecausesof,andrisk factors of self-harm• Identifywhatmayormaynotbehelpfulstaff responses.

Mental health issues (two-day course)15-16 May 2013, London

This course will cover:• Recognisingthesignsandsymptomsofthe major mental health problems • Treatmentsandservicesavailable• AnoverviewoftheMentalHealthAct• Goodpracticeinserviceuserinvolvement• Communicatingwithpeoplewithmental health problems• The‘CareProgrammeApproach’• Waystoenableyoutosupportsufferersmore effectively.

Suicidal behaviour (one-day course)20 May 2013, Southampton

This course is suitable for people working within a variety of health, social care and support roles – particularly those working with clients who may demonstrate suicidal tendencies or talk about suicidal thoughts/images.This course will enable participants to:• Identifymythsandfactsaboutsuicide• Gainincreasedawarenessoftheincidence and profile of suicidal behaviour• Beawareofthesignsandsignalsofsuicidal behaviour• Identifyriskfactorsforsuicidalbehaviour• Identifyhelpfulresponsestopresentationsof suicidal behaviour.

Tenancies and licences in agency-managed properties (one-day course)24 May 2013, Southampton

This course looks at how to manage tenancies and licences. The course will cover landlord and managing agent responsibilities in managing tenancies and licences.The course will look at:• Thedifferencebetweenatenancyanda licence• Thelegalresponsibilitiesofthelandlordand managing agent• Howtotakelegalactiononatenancyor licence in an agency-managed property• Goodpractice.

Sitra Training

Courses suitable for new workers suitable as part of an induction programmeCourses suitable for frontline staff, also suitable as refresher courses for managersCourses suitable for new managers or frontline staff moving into managementCourses suitable for experienced and senior managersCourses suitable for local authority commissioning and monitoring staff

New prices with increased discount for members:

Half-day: Sitra members £55/Non-members £89One-day: Sitra members £89/Non-members £149For a full list of forthcoming courses, please visit our website www.sitra.org

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Supporting People,10 Years On

Making Way for the New Order

PIP Changes

TenancySustainment

Supporting Formerly Homeless People

Midland Heart Pilots Tyze

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE HOUSING, CARE & SUPPORT SECTOR 2013 - No.2

www.sitra.org

Sitra OfficesSitra London3rd Floor, 55 Bondway, London SW8 1SJReception: 020 7793 4710Policy & Public Affairs: 020 7793 4711Services: 020 7793 4713Central Admin: 020 7793 4716Finance: 020 7793 4717Fax: 020 7793 4715Email: [email protected]: www.sitra.org

Sitra BirminghamBVSC, 138 Digbeth, Birmingham B5 6DRTel: 0121 678 8891Email: [email protected]

Sitra SouthamptonFariways House, Mount Pleasant Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 0QBTel: 023 8023 0307

Charity Reg No 290599 Company Reg No 1869208 ISSN 0956-6678 Sitra is partly funded by DCLG.

The bulletin is available in large print on request

Sitra StaffChief ExecutiveVic Rayner

Deputy Chief ExecutiveLisa Harrison

Practice and Policy OfficersAdam Knight-Markiegi Geoffrey FerresMike BallardSue Baxter

Policy and Research Co-ordinatorDani CohenJulia Mercier-Weiner

Contracts OfficersAnna Robertson Jon Harris

Business SupportKatie Barnes Lana Lewis Sarah Pink

Head of Finance & Central ServicesBerihu Mohammed

Finance OfficerRay Naicker

Office Co-ordinatorGill Cotton

Membership and Central SupportAlison QuinnMonica Antolin (on maternity leave)

About SitraSitra is a membership organisation championing excellence in housing, support and care.

Membership benefits include discounts on all services and events, access to free advice, an annual subscription to the bulletin and regular briefings on key policy developments in the sector.

Sitra works with local and central government to ensure that the needs of its members are recognised, understood and met by resource providers.

If you would like to join Sitra please contact the Membership Administrator on 020 7793 4710 and ask for an application form, or download one from www.sitra.org

Content ©2013 SITR (Services) Ltd except where stated, All right reserved. All images © individual photographers & illustrators. Opinions expressed by individuals writers are not necessarily those of Sitra or the magazine’s Editorial Team. E&OE. Design: Aquatint BSC 020 8947 8571 www.aquatint.co.uk

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Sitra bulletin issue 2 /2013