Independent Living Support Sheltered Housing Service

We consulted on a proposal to end the funding that Adult Social Care (ASC) provides to six housing associations. The funding is used to provide support services to residents living in 31 non-council sheltered housing schemes. These services support people who, in most cases, do not meet the council’s threshold for care and support.

As part of the consultation the council wanted to understand whether the six housing associations could continue to provide some form of support to these residents without ASC funding.

Council officers worked closely with the six housing associations and their residents to gauge views on the proposal. In total we met with 111 people through 13 meetings. 95 of those people were residents and 16 were housing association staff.

The meetings were held in the day rooms of schemes affected across the city to ensure they were accessible to the residents.

As part of the main consultation we received 207 responses.

Responses were received from a range of stakeholders although 67% of responses received were from the residents of the 31 sheltered schemes.

Comments made through the focus group meetings and responses from consultation surveys indicated residents were concerned about losing the funding for their support service. They were also clear about the value they derived from that service. Where there were clear plans in place from the housing association to mitigate against the impact of the proposal, residents felt reassured.

The main comment in terms of how the service met their needs was that they valued the wellbeing support as a way of helping residents remain independent.

The support, residents felt, also helped to reduce isolation and loneliness. Residents described it as a lifeline in terms of supporting their ability to participate in the community of the scheme/s.

The council has decided to end the funding for the ILS sheltered support service.

Although residents raised valid concerns about the impact of the proposal, the consultation process enabled council officers to understand how residents in these schemes would continue to be supported, without ASC funding.

All six housing associations demonstrated well developed ideas for continuing the support. Some of the proposals may require residents to pay for support in the future but council officers were reassured that residents would be fully consulted on those proposals.

Other forms of support, such as volunteer roles and good neighbour initiatives will also be considered, and this will help mitigate against some of the impact residents raised around loneliness and isolation.