Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2021 to Question 130681 on Supported Housing: Inspections, which local authorities are in receipt of the £3.1 million funding; and what the budget headings are for that funding.
My Department is funding five local authorities to test approaches to improving quality and value for money in supported housing . The five are Birmingham, Bristol, Blackpool, Blackburn and Hull.
All five areas are receiving funding to undertake three core activities: enforcement action through multi-disciplinary teams to improve accommodation standards; enhanced scrutiny of Housing Benefit claims and making improvements to support provision; and data collection to underpin a strategic local need and supply assessment.
Each area is also undertaking additional activities to drive up quality in their area, developed to meet their specific needs. For example, Birmingham City Council has been developing a set of Quality Standards for supported housing and a Charter of Rights for residents that will be launched shortly. We will use data and information from these to inform our future thinking about national approaches.