About Supporting People in Plymouth

• What is Supporting People?
• What is Housing Related Support?
• What sort of things do Supporting People funded service do?
• What services do Plymouth Supporting People fund?
• Who can access Supporting People Services?
• How agencies can refer into services
• How people can access services directly
• What can you expect when you access Supporting People funded services?
• Will there be a charge for services?
• What Supporting People cannot fund

What is Supporting People?

Supporting People was introduced by the Government in 2003. It enables Local Authorities to fund services that provide housing related support. The needs of vulnerable people are identified locally, and support is targeted to enable vulnerable people to move towards or maintain independence in their accommodation. This support helps people to develop a stable environment, from which they can avoid problems that can lead to hospitalisation, institutional care or homelessness. It is therefore essential to the aims of other agencies like health, social care, housing and community safety.

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What is Housing Related support?

Housing related support is specifically linked to helping people to either stay in their own home, or to move towards being able to live in their own home. Generally, it means helping the individual to do things for themselves, rather than bringing in a service to do things for them.

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What sort of things do Supporting People funded service do?

• Help to develop life skills, such as understanding a tenancy agreement, budgeting and cooking, which will enable people to live by themselves. This might apply equally to a teenage mother working towards her own accommodation, or to an older person now managing a home independently for the first time.
• Offer support to access services and benefits. This might include helping an ex-offender to register with utilities and health services as she settles into the community, or helping to ensure that an older person is claiming his benefits.
• Offer support to access training and employment. This might include helping a young person enter work for the first time, or helping a person with learning difficulties move into further education.
• Help people to avoid social isolation.

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What services do Plymouth Supporting People fund?

Full information about services available in Plymouth are detailed in the Plymouth Online Directory.

Services funded in Plymouth include:

• Mother and Baby Unit - helping teenage mums develop independent living skills
• Plymouth Foyer - supporting young people to access training and education
• George House - helping people who are homeless to develop the skills they need to avoid homelessness in the future
• Plymouth Domestic Abuse Service - helping women escaping from domestic violence to resettle following a crisis situation
• Sheltered Housing – provision of support in sheltered housing for people who are older, such as preventing isolation

Services can be provided either within supported housing - where support is linked to the accommodation - or floating support - that is support which is provided to people within their own homes, wherever they live or move to.

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Who can access Supporting People funded services?

People who may be vulnerable for a variety of reasons can access services. This includes those listed below, though the list is not exhaustive.

• Have been or are homeless or rough sleeping
• Have been previously imprisoned or are at risk of offending or re-offending
• Have a mental health problem
• Have a learning disability
• Are at risk of domestic abuse
• Teenage parents
• Have a drug and/or alcohol problem
• Have a physical and/or sensory disability
• Have HIV or AIDS
• Refugees
• Being vulnerable due to age - either older people, or young people including those who are leaving care.

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How agencies can refer into services

People can be referred to services by social workers, probation officers, mental health workers, or other agencies within the community.

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How people can access services directly

Carers and advocates may also contact support providers directly to see if they have vacancies.

Demand for services is often very high. We cannot guarantee that our services will have vacancies.

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What can you expect when you access Supporting People funded services?

Service providers are contracted to provide specific services. Needs are assessed, and an individual support plan developed, with the support package regularly reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet needs.

Services could be either short term or long term, depending on whether the individual needs to develop the skills to live independently, or whether support needs to carry on in the long term, for people who require low level, but regular support to help them to sustain their ability to live in their own home.

Not all services can be funded by Supporting People, and services are targeted at those who need it most. Service providers will be able to discuss whether support can be given on contact.

Services can be provided whether or not the individual is currently in accommodation, or whether current accommodation is rented or owned.

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Will there be a charge for services?

Plymouth has followed Government guidance in order to agree that:

• A Fairer Charging assessment is available to service users who are charged for their support. This applies to all long-term services (over two years in duration)
• No charges apply to short-term services so a Fairer Charging assessment is not necessary
• If a service user receives Housing Benefit (all or part) they automatically qualify for the full support subsidy from Supporting People and will not pay for services
• If a service user does not receive Housing Benefit they can apply for a Fairer Charging assessment, which will assess their ability to contribute to their support charge
• The financial assessment can lead to the service user receiving full support subsidy or paying a proportion of their support charge. It may also be determined that the service user will have to pay the full support charge themselves

To request a financial assessment, please call the Council's Contact Centre on 01752 668000.

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What Supporting People cannot fund

Supporting People cannot fund things that already receive statutory funding – things like health care or personal care (help to wash, dress etc). Services cannot be provided for people who live in residential care or in hospital.

The following are examples of services that cannot be provided by Supporting People:

• Personal care
• Domiciliary and home care
• Health care
• Therapeutic/intensive behaviour management
• Rehabilitation after illness/acquired disability
• Rehabilitation and specialist counselling
• Specialist treatment or counselling
• Help with transport/mobility
• Home adaptations/equipment to improve accessibility
• Regular maintenance services
• Training courses
• Crèche facilities
• Decorating services
• Gardening schemes

Supporting People does not have the resources to fund everything, and therefore has to prioritise services that will receive funding. This is done by asking service users to tell us what sort of services they need, and by consulting with other agencies in the city. For more information about current funding priorities please see the Supporting People Commissioning Strategy, which can be downloaded from our Supporting People page.

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