Supporting People

About us

Caerphilly county borough council has established a small Supporting People team that is responsible for the administration of the Supporting People Grant and the review of all schemes that receive funding from the grant.

We produce the annual Supporting People Operational Plan, commission new Supporting People services and administer a grant of £5.1m to fund services from 36 agencies from the voluntary, private and statutory sectorsThis scheme is one of the largest in Wales. The total budget for Supporting People services in the County borough exceeds £6 million, which includes the Supporting People Revenue Grant funding paid directly to accredited providers.

Who is in the Supporting People Team in Caerphilly?

  • Malcolm Topping, Project Manager
  • Tracey Evans, Assessment and Monitoring Officer (part-time)
  • Rachel Baker, Assessment and Monitoring Officer (part-time)
  • Shelly Jones, Commissioning and Development Officer
  • Tiffeny Davies, Project Officer
  • Edwin Yhap, Review and Monitioring Officer
  • Mike Thomas, Admin Assistant

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Why Supporting People?

The aim of the Supporting People programme is to enable people to remain in an independent living situation, avoiding institutional care such as hospital, prison or in the extreme, life on the streets. It also aims to help people in institutional care move to a more independent and stable home in the community.

The programme came into operation in April 2003. It rationalised the funding that was previously delivered in an ad hoc way through Housing Benefit as well as replacing many complicated methods of obtaining funding.

It replaced the Transitional Housing Benefit Scheme (THB), which was the main method for claiming housing related support.

What is Housing-Related Support?

The Supporting People Programme does not cover all services people might consider to be supported. It focuses on services that are related to ensuring people can manage to live safely and securely in their own home. The support is tailored to individual needs and includes:

  • Maintaining the security of the dwelling (support 'which assists the claimant in maintaining the security of the dwelling he occupies as his home')
  • Maintaining the safety of the building (support 'which assists the claimant with maintaining the safety of the dwelling he occupies as his home')
  • Compliance with the tenancy (support 'which is directed at assisting the claimant with compliance of those terms of his tenancy concerned with:
    Nuisance, rental liability and maintenance of the dwelling in an appropriate condition for the period for which the tenancy is granted.
  • The provision of general counseling or other support, which assists the claimant with contact with individuals or professional or other bodies with an interest in ensuring the claimants welfare.
  • Helping vulnerable people to manage their budgets and to access welfare benefits so they don't accrue rent or mortgage arrears and lose their homes.

The above list is not exhaustive, but it shows the type of support services considered to be housing related. However, the Programme does not cover health and social care services such as community meals and personal care such as bathing, toileting etc. Nor does it cover housing management and maintenance.