Invest In Prevention Support Solutions September 2014
Jun 29, 2015
Invest In Prevention
Support Solutions
September 2014
Key Questions
Exempt & Specified Accommodation
Housing Benefit & Intensive Housing Management
Tenancy SustainmentWelfare Reform & VulnerabilitySocial & Financial Return on
Investment
Investing In Prevention: Context
The purpose of this series of events is to update you with a number of developments relevant to providing preventative services for people with additional needs and to discuss them as examples of investment in prevention.
We will be using social media throughout today & the series of events to promote investment in prevention. We’re using the hashtags #prevention & #SROI and we’re using Twitter, we’re Live Blogging and using Ustream (http://ustre.am/1hbYm)
Exempt Accommodation
Introduced in 1995 to exempt certain social landlords from private sector rent level restrictions
Definition: Landlord must be a non-metropolitan county council; voluntary
organisation, charity or Registered Provider (housing association)
Landlord must have legal interest in the properties concerned (ownership or lease)
Tenants concerned must need “care, support & supervision”Additional services to meet those needs must be provided by the
landlord or an agent on its behalf
Advantages of Exempt AccommodationAttracts enhanced levels of Housing Benefit to meet the
additional needs of people who need “care, support & supervision” (more than “normal property management functions”), for example, supported & sheltered housing
Has advantages under the Welfare Reform Act. Exempt Accommodation tenants are excluded from: Spare Room Subsidy (“Bedroom Tax”) Benefit Cap Direct Payment of Rent
Local Authorities can reclaim the enhanced HB they pay to Exempt Accommodation providers in full where a Registered Provider has a legal interest in the property
Exempt Accommodation
Some schemes, often wrongly, deemed not to “meet the precise definition of Exempt Accommodation”Agency-managed schemesSchemes that provide insufficient “care, support &
supervision”
Means they can fall outside of Welfare Reform Act protections & not be entitled to enhanced levels of Housing Benefit
DWP devised an additional definition: “Specified Accommodation” to cover such schemes
Exempt Accommodation & Investment in PreventionExempt Accommodation is an excellent example of
investing in preventionEnables people with additional needs to be provided
with services to help them remain independent in relation to their accommodation
Takes pressure off statutory servicesSaves a lot of money
Specified Accommodation
There are 4 categories of “Specified Accommodation”Exempt Accommodation (as described above)Supported housing where the landlord does not
provide the care, support or supervisionRefuges (Domestic Violence & Abuse)Local authority non-self-contained supported
housing (hostels)
Specified Accommodation
Tenants entitled to enhanced levels of HB due to having additional needs
Tenants excluded from:Benefit CapDirect payment of rentBut NOT from Spare Room Subsidy (“Bedroom
Tax”)
Specified Accommodation 2nd Category
Supported housing deemed not to be Exempt Accommodation because the landlord (or an agency on its behalf) doesn’t provide the “care support & supervision”.
But actually it often IS Exempt Accommodation because: the Landlord provides “more than normal property functions”
(Intensive Housing Management) Or an agency does this on behalf of the Landlord (usually in
addition to support funded by a 3rd party such as a local authority)
And where the Intensive Housing Management is funded by HB
Specified Accommodation 2nd Category
The person has to be “admitted” to the accommodation to receive the “care support & supervision” Assessment
The accommodation should be commissioned, designed or designated as supported housing by a statutory authority to qualify as Specified Accommodation But we think ALL Specified Accommodation is, or could be
made to be, Exempt Accommodation
Specified Accommodation: Refuges
Intended to protect Refuges that are allegedly not Exempt Accommodation.
Includes Local Authority refuges (Specified Accommodation of other types excludes LA accommodation except refuges and hostels)
Includes “non-familial” domestic violence, e.g., landlord or neighbour
We believe that most, if not all, refuges are or easily could be Exempt Accommodation
Specified Accommodation: LA Hostels
Local Authority hostels providing “care, support & supervision” are deemed to be Specified Accommodation
They could be deemed Exempt Accommodation if: the LA is a County Council or the LA is registered with the Homes &
Communities Agency as a Registered Provider
Specified AccommodationSpecified Accommodation, aside from Exempt
Accommodation, isn’t necessarily entitled to enhanced HB if the LA deems the rents to be unreasonably high
Where no Registered Provider is involved it will be restricted to Local Housing Allowance levels – not exactly an investment in prevention!
Only Exempt Accommodation provides: A guarantee of enhanced HB Full exclusions from Welfare Reform Act provisions
All too often schemes that are actually Exempt Accommodation are mistakenly seen as not Exempt
Intensive Housing Management
General needs housing management more intensively applied
Additional housing management tasks that reflect the additional needs of tenants with the objective of maintaining & developing independence in relation to accommodation
http://supportsolutions.co.uk/docs/intensive_housing_management_tasks.pdf
Intensive Housing ManagementProviders of Exempt & Specified Accommodation can
include IHM tasks in HB claimsLocal Authorities can pay enhanced HB claims to meet
additional needs of tenants requiring “more than normal property management functions”
Local Authorities can reclaim the enhanced HB they pay via their annual subsidy claim
Intensive Housing Management qualifies as “care, support & supervision” for the purposes of qualifying for Exempt or Specified Accommodation
It is another form of investment in prevention
Intensive Housing ManagementWe believe that the total amount of the annual HB UK
budget of £17bn (2011-12) paid to Exempt/Specified Accommodation is 6-7%
The DWP is currently quantifying it at local level It funds Intensive Housing Management as well as rent
and it’s the only part of the HB budget on which we get both a social and financial return as an investment in prevention
It is likely to be “localised”Probably means a fixed pot & maybe a finite list of
eligible tasks
Intensive Housing ManagementAnother “Platinum Cut” as per Supporting People?
Probably.Whether or not that happens, but especially if it does, it
is important to ensure that you have access to that revenue now. Trying to get it after the “cut” may not be possible
That’s what we’ve been helping people to do since 2005 If it is localised it may be restricted/cash-limited, which
means the service charge may not be sufficient to meet all additional needs
In which case it can be allocated to rent. Plan B!
Click here to expand this graphic
Intensive Housing Management
Ensuring tenant’s rent is paid regularly and on time. Explaining the tenancy agreement and assisting tenants
abide by it.Organising inspections of tenant’s property and
arranging for any repairs or improvements to be carried out, including the replacement of furniture.
Ensuring that tenants are aware of their rights under their tenancy agreement.
Offering tenants advice and guidance on keeping their property to a reasonable standard of hygiene
Intensive Housing Management
Assisting tenants to access other support providers as required.
Liaising with all relevant agencies, both statutory and voluntary, on tenant’s behalf.
Assisting tenants to reduce rent arrears.Dealing with nuisance issues.Ensuring that tenants know how to use equipment
safely.Providing tenants with advice and facilitating a move to
alternative accommodation as required.
Intensive Housing Management
Assisting tenants to claim Housing Benefit and other welfare benefits.
Helping to keep tenants safe by monitoring visitors, including contractors and professionals, and by carrying out health and safety and risk assessments of property.
Providing communication, CCTV, door entry, fire and other safety systems as a consequence of tenants’ additional needs.
Depreciating furniture, fixtures, fittings & white goods over a shorter period of time than would otherwise be the case.
Exempt & Specified Accommodationhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s
ystem/uploads/attachment_data/file/299267/a8-2014.pdf
Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Supported Housing) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2014/771
Exempt Accommodation Resources
Please talk to us!www.supportsolutions.co.uk/briefing/issue_12/e
xempt_accommodation.htmlwww.supportsolutions.co.uk/briefing/issue_12/u
cihm.htmlwww.supportsolutions.co.uk/briefing/issue_11/i
ntensive_housing_management_.html
Tenancy SustainmentOften people think that Exempt Accommodation involves
only multiply-occupied buildings: but see the qualifying criteria on slide 4.
It doesn’t mention the type of property and anyway, it should be about the needs of the person
A large number of “general needs” tenants in social housing have additional needs: elders, mental health, learning disability, chaotic lifestyles, substance misuse…
Without short-term and long-term interventions many of these tenants would be unable to stay put and would require more expensive & less independent accommodation
Tenancy SustainmentTenancy sustainment is an investment in prevention. It
prevents: Evictions/homelessness Arrears The need for more expensive supported/sheltered housing
It maximises independence It’s Exempt Accommodation: LAs can reclaim the
enhanced HB they pay to fund it & take pressure off themselves & statutory sector colleagues
We have already worked with providers to develop tenancy sustainment services funded by HB.
Social (& Financial) Return on Investment
Social (& Financial) Return on Investment
We are in a process of paradigm shift in the way that services for people with additional needs are funded
There is an emphasis of prevention….and on Social Return on Investment
(SROI)This helps to move us towards a focus on
value before cost
Social (& Financial) Return on Investment
SROI is a methodology pioneered by the SROI Network
It is interested in changing the way that society accounts for value
In methodological terms it puts value before cost, rather like investment in prevention
It’s the theoretical side of the infographic we saw on slide 26
There is a debate about whether SROI should measure monetary as well as social value
Social (& Financial) Return on Investment
We think it’s important for SROI to calculate a monetary value (cost-benefit) – for now
Because Commissioners work from cash-limited pots and want to know how much money a preventative intervention will save their budget
We have therefore developed our SFROI methodology accordingly so that providers can assess social outcomes and cost-benefit when providing preventative services
This is a hugely important approach to funding services for people with additional needs.
Our Contact Details
Media House
3 Drayton Road
Birmingham B14 7LP
0121 441 2955
www.supportsolutions.co.uk www.investinprevention.uk
[email protected] [email protected] Twitter @suppsolutions @PreventionTweethttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Solutions-Ltd/176634252380383?ref=hl
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