Care & Repair Cymru Response to Welsh Assembly Government Budget

The Welsh Assembly Government has announced its draft budget for 2011/12- 2013/14.

Chris Jones, Managing Director of Care & Repair said: "We are delighted to see that the Rapid Response Adaptations (RRAP) capital programme will be protected in full, and the recognition within the draft budget that this programme helps enable older people to live independently in their own homes, at the same time saving money in Health and Social Care by reducing the need for residential care and hospital treatment, as well as speeding up discharge from hospital. Our own estimate is that the Rapid Response Adaptations Programme saves £7.50 for every £1 spent.

"From the draft budget figures and commentary, we are also optimistic that the revenue streams that help fund front line Care & Repair services across Wales will be minimally impacted. Care & Repair Cymru, and the Care & Repair movement across Wales is committed to ensuring that efficiency savings through collaboration and smarter ways of working will also ensure that our vital front line services for vulnerable older persons living in some of the poorest housing conditions across Wales are protected in the coming years.

"Fuel poverty is a huge problem for older people across Wales, with the Chief Medical Officer for Wales recently reporting 2500 more winter deaths in Wales in 2008/9 compared to other months of the year. We are therefore very pleased to see significant investment continue in schemes such as Home Energy Efficiency (HEES) and ARBED in Wales, coupled with the winter fuel payment protection announced in the comprehensive spending review.

"Our biggest area of concern lies with the potential for a reduction in spend by Local Authorities on Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG), due to the general reduction to local authority capital allocations. DFG pays an important role in helping older people to remain living independently at home, and we hope that Local Authorities will weigh up the cost benefits of spending on DFG compared to the more expensive alternatives of residential care or even hospitalisation. For example, the average cost of a hip replacement is currently around £30,000, and residential care costs between £17,000 and £36,000 per year, compared to a £6500 average cost of a DFG".

Nick Bennett, Group Chief Executive of Community Housing Cymru added: "Today's announcement that Social Housing Grant(SHG)  in Wales will be cut by 30%  next year, reducing the budget to just over £69m with proposed cuts of 15% and then 20% for the following two years comes as a bitter blow to the sector.

"This figure is presented as having an increase of £9.348m from this year's SHG budget, although taking into account that this year's SHG budget line was affected by the bringing forward of capital (£12m into 08/09 and £28m into 09/10) - SHG in 2010/11 (including the £40m) should stand at £99.9m - therefore a cut of over 30%.

"We knew after the publication of the Comprehensive Spending Review that capital spending for the Assembly Government would be under massive pressure so as a sector we realise the importance of being innovative to ensure we build more affordable homes for the thousands of people currently on housing waiting lists.

"Community Housing Cymru's members challenged the Assembly Government in 2007 by using a pan sector proposition that Welsh Housing Associations would borrow an additional £112m over four years in return for an independent review of housing policy and regulation in Wales. That review led by Sue Essex resulted in 43 recommendations most of which have been implemented for example, £95m of Strategic capital investment funding for housing over the past 3 years, an announced £35m of European Regional Development Funding for ARBED 2 (the next phase of retrofitting) and £110m of European Investment Bank lending

"The review gave the sector the freedoms to innovate and this month we are holding urgent meetings with our members who want to explore whether a Welsh Housing Investment Trust can deliver more efficiencies. If it can help us do more with less, then let's make it work, but if it cannot, then our search for innovation in the face of a 30% capital cut next year won't end there. We will continue to explore with WAG and other partners, innovative approaches that help us do more with our asset base - we have a moral duty to do so.

"But if we are to use our asset base, Housing Associations have to be able to service the debt and now is the time for us to embark on a real review of rents in Wales for a system that is fair and transparent, but in contrast with recent developments in England does not simply move us to a solely intermediate rental model.

"Following the Comprehensive Spending Review in England the front page of Inside Housing featured "the end of social housing 1945-2010". Well I for one expect social housing and the commitment to social rents in Wales to continue. With an innovative mindset we can achieve this."

Some dates to note:

17 November- Assembly Government's draft budget published

23 November -draft settlement for local government will be published

Late January or early February 2011-Final budget

The draft budget, and the anticipated effects on policies and services, will then be examined by the Assembly Finance Committee and Scrutiny Committees.

The budget proposals will also be the subject of Equality Impact Assessments by each spending department, and these are likely to be scrutinised by the Assembly's Equality of Opportunity Committee.

Unlike the Whitehall CSR, the 2012/13 proposals onwards will be dependent upon the wishes of the Welsh Assembly Government.