To ask you to support Women's Aid in the government consultation on supported housing funding?

[toomuchtooold]

Women's Aid are asking people to respond to the government's consultation on changes to how supported housing is funded.

Just been listening to them talking about it on Radio 4 - as things stand, women who use refuges are entitled to supported housing funding that goes to the refuge. These payments account for about half of refuges' funding, and currently it's their only source of guaranteed government funding. The government wants to take that away and instead give a pot of cash to local authorities who will then decide how the money is to be spent. There's no detail about how big the pot will be compared to the funding that refuges currently get through this supported housing funding, nor whether they would actually get any of the funding at all.

The consultation ends today so there is still time to get your comments in. Women's Aid have provided a template comment at the link above. AIBU to ask you to check out the Women's Aid page and submit a comment to the consultation?

Doesn't ring-fenced money lead to poor spending decisions and simply add red tape and bureaucracy?

I'm a fan of trusting adults to make good decisions whereas a nanny state with divided resources makes no sense. Different authorities will have different needs and priorities and enabling them to make the best decisions for their residents is beneficial.

I don't think societies function well when there's a person at the top trying to control every decision.

Under the new government proposals the money will just be ringfenced in a different way, with local authorities making the decisions rather than the money going directly to the organisations that women actually go to.

Actually, forget this, I've cocked up - just read the Women's Aid template in detail and they are only asking refuges and refuge users to respond. Aargh. Sorry.