Housing support not cost-effective
A 2005 report from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Benefits Realisation of the Supporting People Programme, effectively concluded that, in economic terms, using Supporting People to help drug users with accommodation was not worthwhile.
The report concluded that:
the financial benefits to the exchequer do not break even’. At an estimated £22.5 million, the cost of providing Supporting People services to drug users would not be counterbalanced by equivalent benefits in terms of an impact on crime reduction, savings to the health service or tackling homelessness.
ODPM, Benefits Realisation of the Supporting People Programme: Working Paper 8: People with Drug Problems, 2005.
The report acknowledged that providing better housing to drug users could well result in some reduction in the number of visits to Accident and Emergency, the use of acute mental health services, the number of arrests for drug offences and acquisitive crime and the number of days in prison, the numbers of tenancy failures and the social care costs of looking after the children of drug users. However, these reductions and the related savings would not amount to £22.5 million.