Supporting People Programme

Background to the Supporting People Programme

The Supporting People Programme was launched in 2003 and brought together housing-related funding streams from across central government. The Supporting People Programme Grant (SPPG) provides housing-related support to help vulnerable people avoid homelessness and allows them to live as independently as possible. This could be in people’s own homes or in hostels, sheltered housing, or other specialist supported housing. The Programme has close policy links across the Welsh Government e.g. Social Services, Health, Probation and Community Safety, Tackling Poverty and Public Service Policy. Whilst the Supporting People Programme can help vulnerable people with housing related matters, Social Services Departments can help with personal care.

The Supporting People Campaign 2017

The 2017 campaign to protect the SPPG has launched. With the political climate in such uncertainty, it is crucial, this year more than ever, that the funding is ring-fenced and protected, ensuring the continued support of over 60,000 people, most of whom are the most vulnerable, in our society.

This is a crucial time for the Supporting People budget, as the Welsh Government (WG) continues to look for cost savings across all departments before they table their draft budget in October. We know that the Communities department will be under pressure to cut funding across all of its programmes, so it’s absolutely vital that we work together to demonstrate why the WG should protect Supporting People.

We can already see the impact that the programme is having on preventing homelessness and transforming people’s lives – but we need to encourage Assembly Members and ask them to call on their party leaders to protect the budget. Cymorth Cymru and Community Housing Cymru are dedicated to leading this campaign nationally – but we need your help locally. Assembly Members listen to their constituents and you are in a great position to influence them.

Download the campaign pack, which highlights a number of actions you can take to support the campaign.

Here’s a bit more information about the Supporting People Programme…

The Supporting People Programme Grant (SPPG) – Guidance (June 2013) states that Regional Collaborative Committees (RCCs) across Wales are to feed back to the Supporting People National Advisory Board (SPNAB) to advise the Minister on progress of each RCC. The RCC forms part of the overall governance structure for the SPPG and you can find details of the Western Bay RCC by following the link below.

There are 6 regions across Wales who each have an allocation of the SPPG. The Western Bay SPPG Spend Plan 2017-18 can be found below. Each region is made up of the Local Authorities in the surrounding area who work together to make sure that vulnerable people, at risk of homelessness, live as independently as possible, by providing housing-related support services via many Providers across the region. Each Region has one co-ordinating local authority.

Western Bay region comprises Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend County Borough Councils with The City and County of Swansea as co-ordinating authority.

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