Contact:
  • Supporting People Team
  • Address:
    PO Box 3343  Bath  BA1 2ZH
  • E-mail:
    Supporting_PeopleTeam@bathnes.gov.uk
  • Telephone:
    01225 477000
  • Fax:
    01225 396268
  • Minicom:
    -
  • Page Updated:
    21/11/2008
  • Author:
    Caroline Clark
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Supporting People

Decision Making

Commissioning Body

The Supporting People Team reports to the Commissioning Body (CB), a group made up of senior representatives of health, housing, social services and probation.  The role of the CB is to provide a strategic steer for the overall programme and to agree the Supporting People strategy and annual financial plan by weighing up competing priorities for Supporting People grant. 

Core Strategy Group

The Supporting People Core Strategy Group (CSG) is a larger group comprising representatives advocating for each service user group included in the Supporting People programme.  The role of the group is to drive forward the development of the Supporting People strategy through collaborative work on needs and supply mapping, consultation and presentations to the CB. 

 SP Providers Forum

All Supporting People providers in B&NES are invited to join the Providers Forum. The forum meets every quarter at venues throughout B&NES and is a place where providers are able to;

  • express views and share concerns eg, funding issues
  • discuss common issues eg, eligibility criteria
  • access training in common areas eg, monitoring and the QAF
  • share skills and experiences
  • discuss how other SP teams are implementing the programme
  • act as a conduit for the views of SP groups, service users and carers and disseminate agreed information on developments and advances back to these groups.
  • convey a unified position to the Supporting People team and the Commissioning Body

The Supporting People Core Strategy Group has two places reserved for forum representatives, one for a local provider and the other a national. This gives providers the opportunity to participate in the development and direction of travel of the local SP programme.  Current representatives are Clive Stangroom (BCHA) and Lynsey Coleman (RNID).

B&NES Supporting People team have commissioned SITRA (voluntary agency and registered charity) to support the development of the B&NES Providers Forum. They have been contracted for a minimum of 1 year to:

  • Contacting the Chair to arrange and plan the forum meeting.
  • Drafting papers on behalf of the forum.
  • Attending and supporting the chair in the smooth running of the forum, including at the June meeting, the election of chair and steering group for the forum.
  • Presenting information and facilitating workshops at forum meetings
  • Supporting the Chair with their role as representative on the Core Strategy Group.

 Regional Groups

B&NES Supporting People team are part of several regional groups, these include;

1. Cross Authority Group

This is made up of the Lead Officers from the four authorities that used to be Avon, this includes B&NES, Bristol City, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. The group has met regularly since 2001 and each member reports back to their local Commissioning Body and Core Strategy Group.

The group has agreed terms of reference and has formal responsibility for the development, implementation, and future direction of cross authority strategy development and commissioning in the four districts. We currently commission a cross authority Ex-offenders Floating Support Service.

The group is currently formulating its statement for the emerging 5 year strategy based on needs mapping and client record information. Until this is finalised we are working to the shadow strategy cross authority statement below.

Shadow Strategy Cross Authority Statement

The four districts are working in partnership in preparing for and implementing Supporting People.

We are committed to ensuring that individual councils do not automatically relinquish responsibility for specific vulnerable groups in their community because of existing provision in a partner authority.

We are currently gathering information about access arrangements to Supporting People services in the four districts. When it is available this information will be used to inform current and future cross authority statements, and to monitor cross authority performance.

In May 2002 all Lead Officers participated in a joint homelessness conference attended by representatives from the four Councils, Registered Social Landlords, support providers and service users.

The outcomes from this conference have informed our priorities for cross authority services for the first year of the SP programme

2. South West Regional Implementation Group

This is made up of all Lead Officers in the South West and representatives from SITRA and the National Housing Federation.

The group meets quarterly in Taunton. It discusses partnership working and considers the implementation of regional agreements. For example, a regional eligibility criteria is currently being considered.

The group share information and identify Local Authority areas that have a high proportion of services in comparison to the rest of the South West. They consider the affects of this on the host authority. For example, North Somerset has a high percentage of drug and alcohol services, consequently large numbers of people migrate to North Somerset. B&NES has a national provider which supports people with a sensory impairment which also attracts service users from out of area.

3. South West Commissioning and Review Officers Group