In January 2007 the Audit Commission carried out an inspection of The Leeds Supporting People Service.
A copy of the results of their inspection and their recommendations is available on this page.
You will also find a copy of the action plan which we are implementing to meet the recommendations made by the Audit Commission.
The following is a summary of findings taken directly from the report
- Overall, Leeds City Council (LCC) administers a fair Supporting People programme which has promising prospects for improvement.
- Leeds is a large vibrant city in the north of England. A high proportion of the723,100 population are aged 20 to 29. People over age 65 and black and minority ethnic communities make up other significant proportions. The city has pockets of high deprivation. Unemployment is above average.
- The Council received a Supporting People grant of £32,986,531 for 2006/07. In total, the programme funds 12,421 units of housing-related support of which 2,022 or 19 per cent is floating support. The highest cost service at £1,312 per unit per week is an accommodation-based service for people with a learning disability reducing following review and phased retraction to £541.26. The lowest cost service is £0.70 a week for a community alarm service for older people.
- Governance arrangements are well established and statutory partners and service providers are well engaged. However, there are gaps in representation on governing groups and service users are not yet closely involved. An updated five year strategy based on broad needs information provides clear aims and addresses growing move on accommodation problems.
- The programme is getting increased value for money from the grant. More relevant and better quality services are being commissioned for a reduced cost. Significant efficiency savings have been achieved. A number of new services have been introduced. Poor quality and low demand services have been decommissioned. However, for some vulnerable groups such as refugees and people with substance misuse problems, there is no change in the level of provision.
- Generally, robust support plans are in place for service users focusing support on activities that help people live independently.
- Eligibility and value for money assessments have not been rigorous or applied consistently across all services with some based on estimates. Consequently, the programme does not know how much grant, if any, remains locked into contracts continuing to fund activities that are ineligible or not value for money. Retraction arrangements have been agreed with social services although they are slow to shift full responsibility for funding to its proper source. Service providers are dissatisfied with aspects of the service review process, including the lack of transparency around value for money assessments.
- Steady state contracts are not yet in place for the majority of service providers. Contract monitoring is only just beginning and improvements resulting from service improvement plans have not been fully validated.
- Future plans are to tackle areas of difficulty and weaknesses such as the availability of move on accommodation. However, there is no programme of service or sector-wide reviews to continue the drive for improvements beyond contract monitoring arrangements. Plans do not identify the level or source of resources needed to deliver actions.
- Effective and improving performance management arrangements are in place. Procurement and contract monitoring arrangements are strong. New software is being introduced to address previous IT problems. Inward investment is being attracted to the programme and a strong learning culture has developed.