Introduction

The Council works with other authorities and agencies to provide housing related support services and to address the supported housing needs of vulnerable people in Fareham.  This partnership working aims to ensure that people with support and care needs have the same choice and access to decent housing as anyone else.

 

Our key partners are Hampshire County Council ( through its Adult and Childrens' Services Departments) and local voluntary sector service providers  commissioned in the main through the Hampshire Supporting People programme and funded through the Hampshire Area Based Grant. 

 

In developing a strategic response to the housing related support needs of  a range of vulnerable client groups, we also work closely with Gosport Borough Council, the local Supporting People (SP) Coordinator for Fareham & Gosport, and the Borough’s Locality Housing Officer.

 

 

The Supporting People Programme

 

What does the Supporting People programme do?

Since April 2003 the Supporting People Programme has operated across Hampshire to commission housing related support services for local vulnerable people.  Current annual investment in local support services stands at around £3 million, which assists over 1100 vulnerable people in Fareham to maintain independence. Support is provided through a range of different services that enable vulnerable people otherwise at risk of losing their accommodation to continue to live as independently as possible in their own home, be that owner-occupier or rented accommodation, sheltered housing,  or temporary and “move-on” accommodation.  This support can reduce reliance on more institutional, costly, and intensive service alternatives: Research into the value for money represented by the Supporting People programme has concluded that, nationally, there is a net financial benefit to the public purse of over £2 for every £1 invested in housing related support services. 

 

For more information on this research go to: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/financialbenefitsresearch (this is an external hyperlink)

 

 

How Is Supporting People Organised in Hampshire?

In Hampshire, the Supporting People Programme is administered by the County Council's Supporting People Team, based in Winchester.  The programme operates as a multi-agency framework for the commissioning of housing related support services that  involves the district councils, NHS Hampshire, HCC Adult and Children’s Services, Hampshire Probation, the voluntary sector, service providers and service users

 

Each district area of the county is covered by a specific Supporting People Coordinator overseeing the programme's implementation at the local level.  The district coordinator for Fareham is Fiona Minchew, who can be contacted via  e-mail fiona.minchew@hants.gov.uk  or telephone 01962 832181.

 

Locally, FarehamBorough Council works closely with its partners in the statutory and independent sectors, service users, Gosport Borough Council and the Hampshire Supporting People Team to ensure that the resources invested across Fareham and Gosport can be used as effectively as possible, supporting the maximum number of people.  Services for single people vulnerable through homelessness or disability are commissioned from a joint Fareham and Gosport perspective, reflecting the close strategic relationship between the boroughs in addressing these areas of need.  Services for older people are commissioned on a district specific basis.

 

 

Who can the Supporting People Programme help?

• Vulnerable Older people
• People with a learning disability
• People with mental health problems
• People with a physical disability or life-long limiting illness
• Women escaping domestic violence
• People at risk of offending
• Young people at risk
• Teenage parents
• Homeless people
• People with substance misuse problems

 

How do people benefit from Supporting People funded services?

Services work with people to enable them to achieve the positive outcomes associated with the Supporting People Outcomes Framework, namely to:

• Achieve economic wellbeing,
• Enjoy and achieve
• Be healthy
• Stay safe
• Make a positive contribution.

 

Practical examples of how services assist people include enabling them to: 

• Understand and manage the rights and responsibilities of their tenancy
• Budget effectively – e.g. to pay the rent
• Sort out utility services (water, gas and electricity supplies etc.)
• Ensure their home is safe and secure
• Develop life skills associated with maintaining a home or tenancy
• Access relevant benefits associated with living in their own home
• Live independently in sheltered housing
• Arrange adaptations and minor repairs to the home
• Have access to advice, advocacy and liaison support
• Gain access to local community organisations and services

 

What types of services are provided locally?

• Fareham’s domestic abuse refuge service
• Direct access hostel (and “move-on”) accommodation for homeless people
• Scheme manager support provided to sheltered housing tenants
• Re-settlement project assisting those in recovery from alcohol or substance misuse problems.
• The local Home Improvement Agency & Handyperson’s service.
• Local visiting support services to people in their own homes
• Other accommodation based services (including supported lodgings)  where support is linked to accommodation to assist homeless people, people with mental health problems, those with learning disabilities and people with physical and/or sensory impairment and life-long limiting illnesses.

 

Who is eligible, and is there a cost?

Any vulnerable person over 16 who is in need of the kinds of support services the programme provides, and who has a housing responsibility as a tenant, licensee, or owner occupier. Pre-tenancy work with individuals is currently eligible to be funded through the programme where it is part of a planned move to more appropriate, identified accommodation with support continuing to be provided either for resettlement or for the longer term.

 

Services are either “short term” in nature (i.e. people receive them for up to two years) for which there is no cost to the service user, or they are “long-term” in nature for which a charge may be levied. If the service user is in receipt of a means tested benefit they may be eligible to have their support costs met on their behalf through the Hampshire Supporting People Programme. In these cases the service user must be in receipt of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Job Seekers Allowance, Pension Credit or Income Support.

 

To find details of Supporting People service providers in Fareham, or other parts of Hampshire, or to identify an appropriate service the following can be contacted:

• The Local Supporting People Co-ordinator for Fareham   Tel: 01962 832181/ e-mail fiona.minchew@hants.gov.uk
• The Fareham Borough Council Housing Options and Homelessness Prevention Team.
• Your care manager or care co-ordinator

The Public search site https://spocc.hants.gov.uk/spoccnet/  (this is an external hyperlink, from which you click on “Display non-secure items” and then “Search for Services” under “Public Services” )

 

 

Strategic & Policy Context

Having initiated the establishment of  the SP programme in 2003, central government has since devolved its ongoing implementation to local authorities. Funding for the programme is now incorporated within the Area Based Grant paid annually to Hampshire from the Department of Communities and Local Government. 

 

The strategic approach of the Supporting People Programme in Hampshire  was outlined in the 2005-2010 Hampshire Supporting People Strategy.  Since then Hampshire has seen the development of the Local Area Agreement,  and the emergence of the Personalisation agenda for change in the provision of social care services. An updated position statement, articulating the strategic role of housing related support in this context, will be produced during 2010.   

  

To ensure that as broad a range as possible of housing support services can be made available, from within a very tight budgetary framework, the programme has adopted a sector-wide approach to the strategic review and commissioning of services for vulnerable people. This has grouped housing related support services into one of three sectors, or “clusters”, for strategic review at district level: Strategic review of services for socially excluded groups took place in 2009-2010. During 2010 strategic review of services for those with physical or sensory impairment and life-long limiting illnesses will take place. There will also be a review of support services for those experiencing domestic abuse. Services for older people are scheduled for strategic review during 2011.

 

 

Further Information   

Additional information relating to:

• The current Hampshire Supporting People Strategy
• Implementation of the Supporting People Programme in Fareham & the rest of Hampshire
• News and events relating to the programme

Can be accessed via:

• The Hants Supporting People website (this is an external hyperlink)
• The Public search site https://spocc.hants.gov.uk/spoccnet/ (this is an external hyperlink)