Supporting People Service Users

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Supporting People: Service Users and Carers

Glasgow City Council's Supporting People Team is keen to develop these Web pages in consultation with representative groups of people who use housing support services and their carers.

In the meantime, noted below are some frequently asked questions about the Supporting People Programme.

See also FAQs in following languages. These are available in portable document format for downloading. The Adobe Acrobat reader can be freely downloaded from: http://www.adobe.co.uk/

Arabic | Bengali | Cantonese | Farsi | French |
Kurdish Sorani | Punjabi | Turkish | Urdu

What is the Supporting People Programme?
What can I get help with?
Who can get this help?
What is Transitional Housing Benefit and is it different to Supporting People money?
What happens if I am already receiving help from other services such as Social Work?
Can I receive housing support on its own even if I do not need any other kind of help?
Will it affect my other benefits?
Who decides whether I receive this help or not?
Will I have to pay?
What happens if I no longer want this help?

What is the Supporting People Programme?
Supporting People is a new source of money, which is available from April 1^st 2003. Supporting People can pay for support to help you with day-to-day tasks to help you to be independent and to run your own home. This help is called housing support.

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What can I get help with?
For example, housing support can include help:

To make sure that you can live safely in your home
With cleaning your home if you cannot clean it yourself
To prepare meals
To learn to manage your money
To fill in benefit claim forms
To arrange visits for example with your doctor and to arrange contact with your friends and family

You can receive help if you are over the age of 16 and are assessed as needing housing support either on an

ongoing basis or to help you through a period of

change in your life. The Supporting People Programme can assist for example:

Older people
People with learning difficulties
People with mental health problems
People who are chronically ill
People who have a sensory impairment
Women fleeing domestic violence
Young homeless people who may never have had a tenancy
People who are struggling with their tenancies

Until 31st March 2003, Supporting People money was paid through Transitional Housing Benefit (THB).

Starting in April 2003, housing support will be linked to you, not to where you stay or to whom you live with. Supporting People will mean your housing support can move with you, so you won’t lose it if you change your address or landlord. From 2004, people who own their own home will also be able to receive housing support services through the Supporting People Programme.

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What is Transitional Housing Benefit and is it different to Supporting People money?

No, Transitional Housing Benefit and Supporting People Programme money are one and the same thing. In order to help councils get ready for the introduction of the Supporting People Programme a scheme called Transitional Housing Benefit (THB) was put in place from April 2000. THB allowed charges for housing support to be calculated and paid for through the Housing Benefits system until April 2003 when the Supporting People Programme commenced.

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What happens if I am already receiving help from other services such as Social Work?

You can still receive housing support even if you are receiving help through social work or health care. You may also be able to increase the amount of help you receive even if you are already receiving some housing support.

You should contact your social worker and ask for more details or contact the Supporting People Team on
Phone: 0141 276 5905 or e-mail address
sw_supportingpeople@glasgow.gov.uk

Can I receive housing support on its own even if I do not need any other kind of help?

Yes. Many people of all ages and abilities may need practical support to help them to become or to carry on being independent in their own home. The idea behind the Supporting People Programme is that you have the main say in deciding what kind of support and help you would like (providing that it is the kind of support that Supporting People Programme can pay for) and how you would like that help to be arranged so that it meets your needs and preferences.

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Will it affect my other benefits?

No. Supporting People will not affect any other benefits you may receive, for example Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance.

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Who decides whether I receive this help or not?

In order to be able to receive Supporting People Programme money to pay for housing support services, each person has to have an assessment of their needs to see what kind of housing support they might need. This involves asking you some questions to find out what kind of help you may need. This assessment can be carried out either by your social worker if you have one, or by the Supporting People Team.

If you need housing support you have the right to be fully involved in deciding who you would like to provide your support and how you would like to have the support provided. For example, if you wanted help to learn to manage your money better you might decide you would like someone to come and help you every day or you might like to have someone to go over money matters with you once a week.

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Will I have to pay?

If you are eligible for Housing Benefit then there will be no need for an additional charge to you for Housing Support. If you do not receive housing benefit at present a check will be made to find out if you may have become eligible for Housing Benefit. If you are still not eligible for Housing Benefit you will be advised what the charge will be for Housing Support service and you can then decide if you wish to take the service. This will be done after the initial assessment.

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What happens if I no longer want this help?

You can decide at any time that you no longer want to be helped.

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