Supporting People funding for Scotland has been announced amid concerns there may be a shortfall.
There will be 拢200m for existing supported housing schemes during the first year of the programme. Councils will get a detailed breakdown of their funding next week but some have already noticed shortfalls.

A source at one council said: 鈥淲e need to look closely at the breakdown because at this point there seems to be a shortfall 鈥� but we hope this will even out in the wash.鈥�

The Scottish Executive is setting up a forum to address Supporting People issues, which will include representatives from councils, service providers, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.

Alan McKeown, policy officer for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, said the forum would give 鈥渁 partnership approach鈥� to the development of Supporting People in Scotland. He said concerns about funding would begin to filter through as people digested the announcement but these issues would be worked through with the Scottish Executive.

A spokesman for the executive said that, unlike the English programme, there was no requirement for councils to make savings during the first year.

The executive will do a final check of the cost of schemes in July. This will affect future funding.

An announcement of the funding for pipeline schemes is expected in May.

Source

Housing Today