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The Supporting People programme offers vulnerable people the opportunity to improve their quality of life by providing a stable environment, which enables greater independence.
It will deliver high quality and strategically planned housing related-services, which are cost effective and reliable, and complement existing services. The planning and development of services will be needs led. Supporting People is a working partnership of local government, service users and support agencies.
Supporting people is a new way of funding housing related support services.
At the moment most of these support costs have been included in the rent or services charge (Warden Charge). During November the existing charges have been split out and currently on rents we show a reduced warden charge and a supporting people charge.
This applies to all our sheltered schemes and properties where there is a community alarm system in situ.
From April 2003 the Supporting people charge will not be eligible for Housing Benefit but if the Tenant is on Housing Benefit the charge will be passported by the Suffolk Supporting People Team.
These charges will now be the based on the actual cost of running the service for each scheme, therefore these charges are not being subsidised from the Housing Revenue Account.
From April 2003 the Tenants services department will notify Suffolk team of all changes to tenancies and the rents team will have to supply details of those tenants on Housing Benefit.
This will result in an advance payment being made every 4 weeks direct to Babergh.
Current tenants who are not on Housing Benefit should not be worse off as a result of the changes. The Government have introduced Protection Charges which mean that any tenant in occupation as at the 31st March 2003 will not pay more than the current year supporting people charge plus the rate of 2.9% inflation.
For all new tenants from the 1st April 2003 protection charges will not be applicable unless a tenant has a transfer or a mutual exchange. |