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Sheltered Housing: Finance

Volume 471: debated on Wednesday 30 January 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what funding was made available to local authorities for sheltered accommodation with a residential warden in each of the last five years; (172020)

(2) what the Government's policy is on (a) the removal of residential wardens and (b) replacement of residential wardens by mobile wardens in relation to sheltered accommodation.

Local authorities provide funding for housing-related support services such as those included in sheltered housing accommodation through the Supporting People programme grants allocated to them by the Government. Supporting People is a grant programme administered through top-tier authorities which enables over 1 million vulnerable people each year to live independently in their homes and communities.

However, decisions about how support services for sheltered housing are provided and how the allocated grant funding is used are made by each local authority, in accordance with their local needs and priorities and as identified in their Supporting People five-year strategies.

The Supporting People funding allocated to local authorities relates to the total Supporting People grant covering all types of housing by related support, not just sheltered housing with a residential warden. Therefore, figures are not collected which would show funding for sheltered accommodation with a residential warden in each of the last five years.

As mentioned decisions on how much of the total allocation is spent on sheltered housing with a residential warden or any other kind of support services are for local authorities to make.

As part of its national affordable housing programme, the Housing Corporation has funded through social housing grant accommodation designated or designed for older people, but, as with Supporting People grant, does not specify how support services should be delivered within specially designated or designed housing for older people, and is therefore unable to identify how many of these will have a residential warden.