Cuts monitoring

During 2011 Homeless Link contacted members and local authorities across England to build a comprehensive picture of likely cuts and the impact these may have on services and the people who use them.

We have published a summary of our findings, 'Counting the cost of cuts to homelessness support', which reveals that the cuts risk undermining progress in tackling homelessness in 4 in 10 local authority areas.

'unjustifiable' spending cuts being planned by 41% of councils

In 2010 the Government announced that local council budgets would be cut from 2011/12, but urged them to protect services for the most vulnerable people.

The national budget for tackling homelessness, much of which goes to local authorities, was not cut and the overall cut to Supporting People funding was kept at 2.7% for 2011/12. There was variation in how this affected individual councils.

Homeless Link tracked the decisions made by the local authorities who control funds for housing related support and spoke to local services about what the plans are likely to mean for them. The findings indicate that:

• 41% of these councils are cutting their budgets by more than they have lost from central Government;
• 14% are making like for like cuts; and
• 45% are reducing their budgets by less than the amount they have lost from central Government.

The amount by which councils are planning to reduce their Supporting People budgets varies widely, with funding reductions ranging from 1% - 45%.

Our report Counting the Cost of Cuts was published on 22nd March 2011 and examines the impact of cuts in more detail.

DIRECT IMPACT ON SERVICES - OUR FINDINGS

Last updated - 6 April 2011.

The more services we speak to, the more able we are to paint a clear picture of the impact of the cuts nationwide.

We've had input from 540 services - 30.7% of the accommodation services on Homeless UK.  On average, these services report an overall funding loss of 24.6% for the period 2011/2012, compared with a 3.9% funding loss for the period 2010/2011.

LOSS OF BED SPACES

A key resource being hit is available bed spaces - a clear indicator of the direct impact of cuts on the people who use these services.  The services we spoke to are estimating a loss of 1,807 bed spaces (a reduction of 15.9%) for the coming year. If this reduction was seen across the sector, nearly 7,000 bedspaces would be lost.

KEY TRENDS

Some trends are emerging as services describe how they will adapt to the new financial landscape.

• Some services are looking to recruit consultants to maximise capital on Housing Benefit revenue.
• Services are looking at other funding streams - especially Social Enterprises, Work Programmes and Local Charities.
• As a result of cuts more services are taking on signposting provisions such as ETE.
• Services are downgrading staff roles, planning the appointment of more Support Project Workers.
• There are plans for more lone working and group sessions.
• Services are planning to use more volunteers to cover shifts.

For current information on homelessness provision and client needs across England please see our current Survey of Needs and Provision report.