Robert Lynch House Sheltered Accommodation Scheme tenants survey
We asked
We carried out a consultation to hear from tenants in the sheltered accommodation scheme, Robert Lynch House, about how they use the role of the Scheme Manager and the night-time sleep-in service. There has been a long-standing funding arrangement for Robert Lynch House and its housing association, Eldonian Community Based Housing. This originated as part of the Supporting People Programme. This central government programme was discontinued in 2010. The Council has however continued to provide the funding despite there being no duty to do so and with no formal contracts for services in place at Robert Lynch House.
A review of the services by the Adult Services and Health Directorate has identified that the service provided by these organisations does not appear to have been commissioned to meet any eligible social care needs as defined under Section 18 of Care Act 2014 for residents based in the properties. It is considered to be discretionary rather than mandatory funding.
The consultation commenced from 25th January to 8th March 2023. The survey was distributed to all tenants in the scheme with a covering letter. The survey was also accessible online. In addition, we completed a site visit to meet with tenant’s face-to-face to explain the purpose of the survey and to understand what impact any potential changes may have. It was important to have a face-to-face meeting to be able to communicate with tenants the purpose and objective of the consultation.
You said
The consultation was hosted on Liverpool City Council’s consultation hub and letters sent to each tenant in the scheme through Liverpool City Council's mail room.
We received 0 online responses and 14 total paper surveys. The survey was completed by 50% male and 50% female. The consultation was available to tenants in Robert Lynch House only. The highest age percentile to complete the survey was 75 to 79 at 35.71%.
The responses received allowed the Council to understand how people living in the scheme would be affected If changes to funding was implemented, as well as an understanding on the demand of such services.
Key themes highlighted the following:
- 9% of tenants that completed the survey indicated the role of the scheme manager was an important part of the scheme. Tenants demand for the role was identified as reporting repairs, faults, and seeking advice on tenancies and service charge commitments.
- 1% of tenants that completed the survey stated that they did not have demand for the Scheme Manager role.
- The consultation highlighted that 71.43% of tenants were on housing benefits. This supports the Council's recommendation to assist the landlord to apply for enhanced housing benefit for identified individuals. This means that people living in the scheme who qualify can still receive housing related support. For the remainder of tenants that self-fund, the changes will not affect them.
- 71% of tenants that completed the survey currently or have in the past used the night-time care worker service. The theme of responses for people who use the service were: help while awaiting ambulance to arrive, falls and medication support.
- The consultation also evidenced that 64.29% of tenants that completed the survey almost or never used the night-time support service.
- 29% of tenants that complete the survey reflected that the night-time service was used a couple of times a month to every few months.
- We asked if tenants would be affected if the Council used technology or equipment aids to help people with assessed need at night. 30.8% of people who completed the survey said they would be interested in this type of support.
Lastly, different delivery methods may need to be considered when consulting with individuals beyond face to face, online and paper-based approaches. Feedback from the consultation highlighted that the online survey was difficult for some people taking part due to barrier with feeling confident online and having access to computers/laptops.
In addition, lessons were learnt when completing survey questions around protected characteristics particularly when considering legal marital or same-sex civil partnership status. The survey completed did not have the option for participants to select widow/widower as an option which would have made the survey more inclusive. We had a number of people write on the form that they were a widow or widower and as this status is important to consider for this age group, we will consider this for any future consultation
We did
This consultation has provided an understanding of people’s views that live in the scheme and the impact that any changes will have on them.
The findings from the surveys will help define the next steps for Liverpool City Council. There will now be changes made to the funding arrangement that is in place between the Council and Robert Lynch House sheltered accommodation scheme.
Next steps
During the consultation, the landlord accepted that those tenants on housing benefit should be able to claim enhanced housing benefit towards the scheme manager posts to provide housing support.
The outcome of the consultation is that the discretionary funding for the housing support for scheme manager is stopped on 30.06.23 to allow tenants time to claim enhanced housing benefit and the landlords to reassess how they fund the positions.
During the consultation process Mersey Care Julie Ann, the provider of the night care, informed the residents at the consultation meeting that they are not prepared to continue providing the service at the current rate as this has not been raised since 2017 and that they believe the service is not required.
The Council will cease to fund the generic night carer service at Robert Lynch House following a 4-week notice period agreed with the care provider. The Directorate will review any resident at Robert Lynch House with eligible care needs, to see how they want to be supported within their personal budget allocation. The funding for the care at night cover at Robert Lynch House will be stopped on 31.05.2023
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and feedback with us.