This section includes papers relating to the development of a formula to allocate central government's revenue funding for Supporting People services.
SPAF
Development of a formula began in 2001 with the publication of a consultation paper "Developing an Allocation Formula". This led to a proto-type formula under the acronym of SPAF - Supporting People Allocation Formula which was published in September 2001 Click below for papers on SPAF: SPAF.
SPDF stage 1
Work on SPAF was deferred in early 2003 as estimates of the cost of the Supporting People programme increased. An independent Inquiry into the programme was commissioned which reported in January 2004. The inquiry made a number of recommendations relating to the future of the programme, but supported the basic premise that future funding of Supporting People services should be based on a single grant to local authorities, which should be influenced by levels of local need.
Work on the formula was re-started under the acronym SPDF - Supporting People Distribution Formula to help distinguish it from the proto-type formula. Work on SPDF was taken forward from June to the end of 2004 and developed to the point that it could be used to identify outliers - that is, those authorities that would be likely to see increases or reductions in the longer run, under a range of plausible scenarios. For these limited cases, the formula was used to adjust allocations to Administering Authorities in 2005/06 at the margins. Click below for papers on the development of SPDF to December 2004: SPDF stage 1.
SPDF stage 2
In 2005 we are taking forward work on the distribution formula in co-operation with the Association of London Government and the Local Government Association with the aim of finalising a formula to inform allocations from 2006/07 onwards. Click below for papers on the development of SPDF since December 2004: SPDF stage 2.
SPDF stage 3
In November 2005 we consulted on a refined version of the Supporting People distribution formula. Following further analysis of the responses to that consultation and consideration of the comments received a number of changes have now been made to the formula. Click below for the summary of responses and invitation to refresh responses to the consultation paper on the formula.
Given the provision of a 3 year settlement the formula now includes projected population data. This section also includes the three models used to arrive at the indicative grant allocations for 2008/09, 2009/10 and 20010/11: SPDF stage 3.