Published: Wednesday 16th March 2016 | 5.03pm
A report to Cannock Chase Council’s Cabinet has highlighted the impact the withdrawal of the Supporting People grant funding will have on vulnerable people in the District.
Supporting People funding helps the most vulnerable people in the District, such as single homeless with support needs or teenage parents, withdrawal of this funding means these people could lose their support networks and accommodation.
The Supporting People grant funding of £222,000 will be withdrawn by Staffordshire County Council at the end of March 2016. This is in addition to £300,000 of funding which was previously withdrawn in 2014/15.
Councillor Frank Allen, Housing Portfolio Leader said “Our partner agencies who manage the services affected are re-evaluating and trying to find alternative funding to maintain their provision and mitigate the impact, however this has not been possible in all cases.
In 2014/15 the Council managed to protect all of the services provided in our sheltered housing schemes, through the introduction of a service charge, meaning sheltered housing scheme tenants continued to receive the same support.
The Council also protected the continued provision of a social alarms service to 1,350 vulnerable tenants in the District through efficiencies and funding from the Council’s Housing Revenue Account.
The Council has taken action to lessen the impact of these cuts but the long term future of these services remains uncertain.”