Minister looks forward to the future
I am pleased to be able to reflect on the Supporting People programme in this final issue of Supporting People Matters and to look forward to the future.
This final issue celebrates the achievements of local authorities, the voluntary sector and private providers in helping to support vulnerable people under the Supporting People programme. In this issue we revisit a number of successful projects and hear from Lead Officers. Whilst applauding the excellent work done locally to help many different people maintain independent living, I also want to emphasise why now is the right time to provide local authorities with greater flexibility to improve support to those who most need it.
Although the benefits of housing support services are not always easy to quantify, the programme has shown what housing support can achieve in quality of life improvements and cost effectiveness. Research has demonstrated that housing support more than pays for itself through the savings generated elsewhere. However, the time is now right to focus attention on the outcomes we want to see for Scotland and remove artificial constraints on local government.
I have no doubt that housing support services will have a key role to play. They will continue to be vital in enabling vulnerable people to maintain independent living, whether they are older people who might otherwise have to move into a care home or young people in danger of becoming homeless.
Funding for housing support continues, but with the ring fence around the Supporting People programme removed. This will enable local authorities to respond to the issues they face in more imaginative and innovative ways, providing greater opportunities for joining up health, social work and housing support services, and enabling more flexible support packages to be drawn up. The reduction in accounting and reporting requirements should release more resources for frontline services.
I can assure you of our commitment to ensuring that vulnerable people continue to be supported, and I look forward to working with all of you to achieve this.
Stewart Maxwell, MSP