Agenda item

report by Mrs Angela Slaven – Director of Youth and Community Support Services, Communities)

(1)       The report presented the Kent Supporting People Strategic Review of Investment for the period 2010-2015. The report set out details of current investment and potential future investment levels and noted these would depend on the level of area based grant received from the Communities and Local Government Department.

(2)        Because of the prevailing funding uncertainties some financial modelling had already been undertaken based on possible grant reductions to the Programme of 13% and 20%. However it was not at this time possible to predict with any real accuracy what exact percentage reduction would need to be applied. However for this current financial year a grant reduction had already been made by the Government to the administration grant which amounted to £735k.

(3)       Angela Slaven said the grant reduction in administration costs had only very recently been announced and was a direct consequence of the wider in year reductions in grants which the government had made. The immediate effect was that the funding for the Kent Supporting People Team was now in jeopardy and therefore it was proposed that the funding for the Supporting People Programme Team should be met from reserves. Subsequently consideration would need to be given to a proportion being found from the main grant to enable the Supporting Programme to be administered. This would be proportionate to the level of grant funding received by the County Council from Central Government via area based grant.

(4)       During the course of discussion several members of the Commissioning Body expressed their concern that whilst they understood the funding dilemma which the grant reduction to administration costs had presented, nonetheless there should have been some prior notification and a brief assessment submitted to the meeting so that members could have had some form of analysis before them showing what effect the grant reduction would have on the administration of the Programme, not just over the next few months but into the longer term.

(5)       Mr Hill said that the circumstances were such that this reduction had to be dealt with now and he believed the best way was to deal with that through the use of reserves in order to prevent the work of the Supporting People Programme slowing down or even possibly coming to a halt. The situation was therefore urgent and had to be dealt with as such. Having said that he agreed that how this shortfall in grant would be met into the medium term had to be fully assessed. He also agreed that until those decisions were taken then the call on the reserves would need to be shown as an over spend.

(6)       On this basis The Commissioning agreed:

(a) that the reductions made in the Supporting People administration grant should for the immediate future be met through the use of reserves and that this should be shown as an overspend.

(b) there would be a report to the meeting of the Commissioning Body in September providing an analysis of the current costs of administering the Programme and putting forward options to secure those costs into the medium term 

(c) Subject to (a) and (b) above the Commissioning Body also agreed the recommendations contained in the exempt report and noted in particular that should the funding levels be less than those outlined then an extra ordinary meeting of the Commissioning Body would be arranged to assess what impact that would have for the Kent Supporting People Strategy.

(d)  In addition to the report referred to in paragraph (b) above a draft of the Supporting People Annual Plan 2010/11 would be submitted for approval to the meeting of the Commissioning Body in September 2010.