Circular SWSG7/94 5458 - Community Care - The Housing Dimention

SECTION 2 - ROLES IN COMMUNITY CARE

SOCIAL WORK

2.1 Social Work Authorities are the lead agency for planning and arranging for the provision of community care. They also have responsibility for securing the provision of social care.

2.2 Social work authorities are responsible for preparing community care plans for their area, drawn up in conjunction with their planning partners, including health boards, housing authorities and other housing providers. They also have lead responsibility for assessing an individual's need for care (including residential homes and nursing home care), in collaboration as necessary with other service and accommodation providers, and with users and carers; and in designing packages of services to meet the assessed needs of those individuals and their carers in collaboration with other service providers.

2.3 Social work authorities are responsible for enabling the delivery of a range of social work services - mainly domiciliary, day, respite and residential care and provision of information, advice and counselling. These may be provided directly by authorities, or by other bodies either under contract to authorities or independently. As enablers, local social work authorities have a duty to ensure that quality, value for money and client choice are incorporated in the development of a "mixed economy" of care services.

HEALTH

2.4 Health Boards' prime responsibility is to ensure that the health needs of their resident populations are met and, in community care terms this means 2 things, (1) developing community health care structures and, (2) releasing their social care function to social work authorities which means a move away from institutional care to care based in the community.

2.5 Their responsibility is met by placing contracts (ie purchasing) for services provided by NHS Trusts or other health service providers, the private sector or other bodies. Working in close co-operation with clinicians and local social work departments, Health Boards must assess and determine the number of patients who are inappropriately placed in institutions, ie not in need of continuing specialist medical and nursing care, and plan to secure an appropriate and co-ordinated range of alternative health care or support services from more local community settings. This requires Health Boards developing a shared understanding with their social work and housing partners of the spectrum of services needed for their populations, both for those already in the community for whom admission into hospital should be a last resort, and for those being discharged from hospital care.

HOUSING

Housing bodies

2.6 Housing bodies have a dual role, providing or securing the provision of housing required by community care client groups; and in the case of those which are landlords allocating and managing such housing.

2.7 There is a large number of statutory and voluntary bodies concerned with housing, whose different contributions need to be linked both within the housing field, and with the contributions of health and social work agencies. They can be divided into 3 types, strategic bodies which have the strategic planning role; enabling bodies which influence and support provision by other housing providers; and housing providers. Housing authorities belong to all 3 types and Scottish Homes to the last two.

Local Housing Authorities

2.8 Local housing authorities have statutory responsibility for ensuring the assessment of housing need in their area including housing for community care client groups (section 1 of Housing (Scotland) Act 1987). Proposals for meeting these needs should be included in housing plans, housing management plans and annual policy statements and capital programmes.

2.9 Housing authorities are therefore responsible for planning and securing the provision of special needs housing for community care groups, or in appropriate cases mainstream housing to which health and social work services can be delivered. Housing authorities should act as enablers and influencers to secure the provision of community care housing through Scottish Homes, housing associations, and the private and voluntary sectors; and through systematic land use planning including the provision of sites. Local housing authorities who are also local planning authorities can also make use of their local planning powers; and all housing authorities can assemble land packages, and make grants to the private sector - for instance for Care and Repair and adaptations for those with physical disabilities.

2.10 As housing providers, local authorities play an important role in community care. They provide and allocate houses for community care client groups and provide housing management services. Houses can also be made available by local authorities through nomination arrangements with other housing providers. Housing management includes arrangements for the delivery of in-house or external support services, participation in community care assessment as required, and referrals as appropriate to social work and health agencies.

Scottish Homes

2.11 As Scotland's national housing agency, Scottish Homes fulfils its enabling role by funding housing associations, giving grants to the private sector, and working with most

local housing authorities through strategic agreements of investment priorities. Through its research and information programme it is able to support planning processes for community care and the development of initiatives.

Other Housing Providers

2.12 As a landlord Scottish Homes has the same role as local authorities and other providers of rented housing. It is embarking on transfer of stock to the independent and private sector; but has a proportion of its stock sub-let to support care agencies, and will ensure that this is maintained or improved upon transfer to "new" landlords.

Housing Associations and Co-operatives

2.13 Housing associations and co-operatives registered with Scottish Homes are a growing sector, which currently accounts for over 3% of the Scottish housing stock. Many housing associations have a dual role, acting as carers as well as housing providers.

Voluntary Housing Sector

2.14 The voluntary housing sector, and the non-profit making sector, consists of housing associations not registered with Scottish Homes, and charitable organisations. There are many agencies in this field with both specialist housing support, and care, expertise.

New Town Development Corporations

2.15 New Town Development Corporations have their own housing stock, and land for housing development. (Note Development Corporations will have to be wound-up by December 1996 and their housing stock and land for housing will be sold by this date.)

Private Sector

2.16 This includes both the rented and owner occupied sectors. Scottish Homes is seeking to encourage the involvement of the private sector in community care provision. Local housing authorities which have planning powers may use them to encourage private sector activity. They can also, in some cases, secure suitable community care provision for individual owner occupiers (or small scale landlords) using initiatives like Care and Repair which is linked to home improvement grants.