Five priorities: how the next government can help tackle multiple and complex needs
With just 20 days to go until polling day, this week saw all of the parties launching their manifestos for the General Election. Not to be outdone, today we have launched our own version – a ‘Revolving Doors Agency Manifesto’ setting out five priorities for an incoming government.
In three weeks today we will know the result of the election – although with the polls giving nobody a clear lead we may still be waiting on a series of negotiations to find out who forms the next government. Whichever party (or combination of parties) does so, however, they are likely to be planning some focus on improving the coordination of support for some of the most excluded people – those facing multiple and complex needs.
People in this situation face a combination of problems at once, including poor mental health, substance misuse issues, homelessness, and offending. Mainstream support services, focusing on one problem at a time, struggle to respond, and these people often end up in a negative cycle of crisis and crime, coming into repeated contact with emergency and criminal justice services but with nobody coordinating the help that they need.
With recent research by LankellyChase conservatively estimating the cost of ‘severe and multiple disadvantage’ at £10.1 billion a year, and significant cuts to public services set to continue well into the next parliament, we simply cannot afford to have vast sums of money tied up in these repeated failed interventions.
No wonder, then, that there is a growing consensus on the need for a more effective approach. The Coalition’s final budget of the parliament included a focus on integrating services for people facing multiple needs, building on the Autumn Statement commitment to “look to develop and extend the principles of the Troubled Families programme to other groups of people with complex needs from the next Spending Review”. Meanwhile the IPPR’s Condition of Britain report, linked to Labour’s policy review, made a similar call for a ‘Troubled Lives’ programme for individuals facing multiple and complex needs.
This consensus provides a real opportunity. So what should the next government do to seize it? While acknowledging that many of the solutions lie at a local level, our Manifesto sets out five clear priorities developed in partnership with members of our National Service User Forum:
1. A national programme to coordinate better support for people facing multiple and complex needs, which promotes a holistic and person-centred approach in every area and builds on the best aspects of the ‘Troubled Families’ programme
2. Earlier identification and diversion into support for people facing mental health problems, extending coverage of mental health liaison and diversion services and expanding access to counselling and mental health services for the most excluded groups
3. Effective community-based rehabilitation and reparation for offenders with multiple and complex needs, including developing a distinct approach for key groups such as young adults (18-24) and women offenders
4. Improved infrastructure and opportunities for service user involvement, championing a greater role for the most excluded individuals in the commissioning, design, and delivery of the services that they use
5. A system that supports long-term recovery, including the journey towards employment, including an immediate review of the impact of welfare sanctions on vulnerable groups, and more tailored employment support for people facing multiple and complex needs.
The evidence suggest that by taking this approach, and supporting holistic and coordinated support for people facing multiple and complex needs in every area, the next government can help to improve the lives of some of the most disadvantaged people in society, and save public money in the long-run. With a case that, tackling multiple needs must be a key priority whoever makes up the next government.
