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NEWS AND POLICY UPDATE:

Winter 2006

Information for the providers and commissioners of housing related services for older and disabled people

HOUSING

  • CHANCELLOR’S PRE- BUDGET STATEMENT CONFIRMS TIGHT SPENDING ROUND
    The Chancellor’s pre-budget statement confirmed the target in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review of a 3% saving pa across central and local government. (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pre_budget_report/prebud_pbr06/report/prebud_pbr06_repindex.cfm) Reference was made to “sustained investment in housing in the next spending round whilst noting that ‘DCLG is reviewing its housing investment programme to lever in greater private sector investment.’

    Most ‘new’ money was targeted at children and education. The Chancellor noted that pensioners are now no more likely to be poor than other sectors of the population (see item below) so pensioners may well be less of a priority for future expenditure. Despite massive fuel price rises, the Winter Fuel Payment stays the same (£200 for pensioner households of 60+ and £300 for those of 80+).

    With regard to news impacting on the voluntary sector, a new Community Assets fund of £30m was announced to enable communities and groups to take on the management or ownership of local authority assets (Local Government White Paper www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1137789). The vision of the third sector taking an ever greater role in service delivery was reiterated, as was the aim of three year funding agreements becoming ‘the norm rather than the exception’. The interim report on the Review of the Third Sector and an action plan for third sector involvement in public services were published the same day as the chancellor’s statement. (www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/)

  • SUPPORTING PEOPLE – END OF RINGFENCING
    Supporting People funding will be delivered through Local Area Agreements (LAAs) by April 09 and will not be ring-fenced. Consideration is being given to possible mechanisms to ensure minimum standards such as guidance and statutory duties. The SP Strategy is expected to be published in the New Year.

  • NEW PLANNING POLICY STATEMENT (PPS3) NOW MENTIONS OLDER PEOPLE
    Planning Policy Statements set out the Government’s national policies on all aspects of planning in England, and PPS3 sets the framework for delivering housing objectives, thus it is highly influential in determining the pattern of housing development across the country.

    Draft PPS3 caused consternation amongst those concerned with older people and housing as it did not mention older people at all. The final version is a significant improvement in that it mentions the importance of demographic change and includes a number of specific references to older people eg. it advises that Regional Spatial Strategies should set out the region's approach to achieving a good mix of housing on the basis of the different types of households including having particular regard to ‘current and future demographic trends and profiles’ and ‘the accommodation requirements of specific groups, in particular, families with children, older and disabled people’.

    Whilst the emphasis remains on affordable housing and family housing, this is a significant improvement on the draft version. www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1504592

  • MAJOR CHANGES TO PLANNING SYSTEM AHEAD – BARKER REVIEW PUBLISHED
    The focus of the recommendations in this review is very much on speeding up the planning process to facilitate economic development, eg. reducing processing time to 18-24 months rather than the current 3 yrs +. Use of the green belt is one of the more controversial proposals. With regard to domestic dwellings, reduced requirement for planning permission for minor changes is suggested as a way to cut the volume of applications. www.barkerreviewofplanning.org.uk

  • SURVEY OF ENGLISH HOUSING: PROVISIONAL RESULTS FOR 2005/6 PUBLISHED
    This first Summary of the annual survey contains little analysis of housing and older people, but further reports are due out from Jan 07 onwards. This Summary notes the ongoing rise of the private rented sector and ‘buy to let’ growth – social rented housing now accounts for only 18% of households, 12% private rented, 70% owner occupation. Equity release is now being tracked by the Survey, which reports that 4.5% of owner occupiers released an average of £33,000, primarily for repairs and improvements (56%) but that 17% released equity by trading down. It would be interesting to see an age breakdown of this information. Second home ownership abroad has more than doubled over a decade with most of the growth taking place in the last few years. www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1504593

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE NEWS

  • LIFE EXPECTANCY AT ALL TIME HIGH – BUT LARGE INEQUALITIES IN ONSET OF DISABILITY
    Life expectancy at retirement has reached an all time high, according to the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics, with a significant reduction in the gender gap. At 65 men could expect to live for a further 16.6 years, women for 19.4 years. There is a particularly large difference between areas for disability free life expectancy. For men there is an 18 year difference between the worst area (Easington) and the best (Hart), and 16.4 yrs for women (Elmbridge vs Merthyr Tydfil). www.ons.gov.uk

  • MONEY TO IMPROVE RESIDENTIAL CARE
    £67 million has been allocated by the Department of Health to improve care homes for older people. The money will be used to ‘improve the physical environment of care for older people, help older people living in care homes to do so with dignity, and enable care homes to be more responsive to the needs of older residents’. Details of allocations and criteria expected soon on www.dh.gov.uk

  • FALL IN EXCESS WINTER DEATHS – BUT BRITAIN STILL AMONGST WORST IN EUROPE
    In the winter of 2005/06 there were an estimated 25,700 more deaths in England and Wales compared to levels in the preceding non-winter period. This was a decrease on the number seen in the previous winter but was not as low as that seen in 1997/98 (22,900 more deaths), which had the lowest winter mortality in the past 10 years. Older people experience the greatest increase in winter deaths - 20,200 among those 75 yrs+ compared with 5,500 among those under 75. www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=574&Pos=2&ColRank=2&Rank=448

  • LESS PEOPLE IN RESIDENTIAL CARE
    The number of people in council funded residential care fell by 3% in 2005-6. www.ic.nhs.uk

  • LOW LEVEL CARE – FUTURE OF DECLINING PROVISION?
    The Local Government Association has set out the main challenges for local authorities trying to meet the growing needs of ageing populations with decreasing resources. Clearly aimed at the Comprehensive Spending Review, the report highlights a dramatic reduction in preventative care for older people with low or moderate needs and reports that without a significant increase in resources only those with substantial and critical needs will receive any help in the future. www.lga.gov.uk/Documents/Publication/meetingthechallengesautumnstatement06.pdf

  • FUTURE OF COMMUNITY MATRONS IN DOUBT
    A study published by the British Medical Journal looking at the effectiveness of community matrons in keeping vulnerable older people out of hospital has concluded that there has been no significant impact on emergency admissions, length of hospital stay or mortality as a result of the initiative. The government decision to go ahead with the recruitment of 3,000 community matrons in advance of a thorough evaluation of early pilots was controversial and it is now unclear what the future of the initiative will be.

  • URGENT CARE – SOCIAL CARE ROLE ACKNOWLEDGED
    Anyone involved in Home from Hospital or Hospital Discharge provision might find the current Dept of Health consultation ‘Direction of Travel for Urgent Care’ of interest. Despite a range of initiatives, emergency admissions to A&E continue to rise by 5% pa, and the most frequent admissions tend to be older people with long term conditions. The consultation document does recognise that urgent care can only be effective if able to respond to urgent health and social care needs in an integrated way. However, the key role of housing still needs to be acknowledged. www.dh.gov.uk/Consultations

MONEY

  • REDUCTIONS IN PENSIONER POVERTY
    The New Policy Institute has produced its annual report analysing poverty and social exclusion trends. It concludes that the government’s anti poverty strategy has resulted in a big fall in pensioner poverty, down from 27% in the 1990s to 17% in 04-05 (down from 33% to 17% amongst single pensioners) but that the target of removing 1m children from poverty has not been reached.The report notes that health inequalities by social class seem to be more impervious to change than almost any other forms of inequality, with no sign of any decrease. www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/1979.asp

  • NEW REGULATIONS ON HOME REVERSION SCHEMES
    The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published the final rules for the regulation of home reversion plans and Shariah compliant home purchase plans. Both are due to become regulated products on 6 April 2007. The rules are designed to ensure that people who wish to take out either of these products enjoy consumer protection comparable to that already in place for equivalent products. www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2006/108.shtml

  • SUSTAINABLE FUNDING: FREE INFO PACK FOR VOLUNTARY SECTOR GROUPS
    The Introductory Pack on Funding and Finance designed for small and medium-sized voluntary and community organisations has been published by NCVO. It covers funding options and highlights key messages about financial management and sustainability. The six guides include case studies, tools, and signposts to resources to assist organisations in their search for long-term financial sustainability. Free download of the six PDFs at www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/sfp/index.asp?id=3199

  • GUIDE TO GRANTS FOR INDIVIDUALS IN NEED – NEW EDITION PUBLISHED BY DSC
    This detailed guide gives details of more than 2,280 national and local charitable trusts which together give over £300 million a year towards the relief of individual poverty and hardship. Costs £34.95 or annual subscription to online version is £99 before 31st Jan 07, £150 thereafter. www.dsc.org.uk

  • LOWER COST TECHNOLOGY FOR CHARITIES
    Charity Technology Trust has launched its CTX Programme, distributing donated MICROSOFT software and other donated technology products to UK charities. All the most popular Microsoft products are available to charities for a nominal administration fee. The products include operating system software, productivity software such as Microsoft Office, publishing software and server software and hardware products. www.ctxchange.org/ctx/about_ctx/default.asp

NEWS

  • EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION – FREE RESOURCES
    With the recent introduction of a range of new employment related legislation, including the age equality rules, it can be difficult for small organisations to keep up to date. The NCVO employment HUB is a useful free resource. Briefing topics include information on TUPE, occupational pensions and retirement age. www.ukworkforcehub.org.uk/hrnews

  • £20M FOR AGEING RESEARCH
    The New Dynamics of Ageing programme is a five year multidisciplinary research initiative with the ultimate aim of improving quality of life of older people. The programme is a collaboration between five UK Research Councils - ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC - and is the largest research programme on ageing ever mounted in the UK. One of the preparatory networks funded is headed by Frances Heywood of Bristol University to look at a new, inter-disciplinary methodology to quantify the benefits of housing interventions for older people. www.newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk/

  • SEMINAR: OUR AGEING SOCIETY, THE CHALLENGES OF APPROPRIATE, SUPPORTIVE TECHNOLOGY
    Organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology in collaboration with the DTI and SPARC, the aim of the seminar (31st Jan in London)on is to review the most important challenges and recent developments in the field. There are just a few places left at this free event so those quick off the mark may just get in. www.theiet.org/events/event/1DB3D5F5-D29B-D3FF-17F900F3FEF2A5C8&i=1

  • RANK FOUNDATION FUND TRAINING FOR VOLUNTARY SECTOR
    The Rank Foundation is funding up to 75% of the course fees for a number of charity and voluntary sector courses at the London South Bank University. From February 07 some of the courses will become available in the North of England. The courses covered are Masters Degrees in Voluntary Administration, Charity Accounting and Financial Management, Charity Marketing and Fundraising, plus a Certificate in Charity Management. http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/fees/financialHelpLSBU.html#rank

  • POPULATION AGEING
    The number of people 85 yrs+ grew by 6% in 2004-5 to reach a record 1.2 million, a growth rate of ten times the rate of increase in the general population. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=949

    This News and Policy Update is produced by Care & Repair England
    The Renewal Trust Business Centre, 3 Hawksworth Street, Nottingham, NG3 2EG
    Tel/ Fax: 0115 950 6500
    info@careandrepair-england.org.uk
    www.careandrepair-england.org.uk

    Every effort has been made to ensure the information above is correct. However, Care & Repair England cannot accept any responsibility for errors and omissions.

    Care & Repair England is an Industrial and Provident Society with Charitable Status Reg 25121

    Previous Newsletters
    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Autumn 2006 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Summer 2006 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Spring 2006 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Winter 2005 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Autumn 2005 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Summer 2005 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Spring 2005 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Winter 2004/05 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Autumn 2004 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Summer 2004 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Spring 2004 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Winter 2003/04 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Winter 2002/03 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update briefing paper (Spring 2003 edition) can be viewed here.