Supporting People programme delivery partners

Contingency  arrangements which will be taken to support Supporting People funded services to continue to deliver services during the COVID-19 outbreak are detailed in the plan below:  

• Supporting People Programme Covid19 Contingency Plan (PDF 184KB)

Housing Executive Homeless Services have outlined contingency arrangements, escalation measures and protocol for dealing with outbreaks, to support Homelessness and Supporting People funded services to continue during the containment and surge phases of the COVID-19 outbreak.You can access the plan and protocol below:

• Housing Executive Covid19 Surge Plan (PDF 466KB)

The following protocol has been developed to enable prompt and effective responses to instances of outbreaks of Covid-19 in Homeless Services:

• Protocol for dealing with Outbreaks of Covid-19 in Homeless Services (153kB)

New delivery partners who are applying for Supporting People grant for the first time need to be accredited before funding will be paid to them. 

Find out more aout: 

• Accreditation

If there is a requirement for a new Supporting People service accredited providers who are eligible to apply will be invited to take part in a competitive selection exercise.

We aim to work in partnership with Supporting People funded organisations to enable them to deliver excellent services to vulnerable people.

Find out more on how we manage Supporting People funding agreements in our section about:

• Contract Management

We make payments to Supporting People delivery partners in line with funding agreements. Payments are made in arrears, based on a 4 weekly payment timetable. 

Find out more on how payments are made in our section about:

• Payment to Delivery Partners

In line with funding agreement requirements delivery partner organisations are required to submit:

• Annual Financial Returns
• Accreditation Returns 
• Performance Returns 
• Outcome Measurement Returns 

A multi-agency Strategic Advisory Board (SAB) oversees strategic decision making in relation to the administration of planning and delivery of the SP programme.

SAB is supported in its decision making by four multi-agency Regional Thematic Groups (RTGs) relating to Homelessness, Older People, Younger People and Disability services.

You can download summary minutes from recent SAB and RTG meetings here:

• Minute Summary SAB  (PDF 152kB)
• Minute Summary RTG Young People (PDF 142kB)
• Minute Summary RTG Older People (PDF 69kB)
• Minute Summary RTG Disability (PDF 39kB)
• Minute Summary RTG Homelessness (PDF 130kB)

The Provider Investment Fund (PIF) is a competitive fund that aims to support improvements to the delivery of Supporting People Programme. Existing Supporting People providers can bid for support to help them improve their delivery of the Supporting People Programme.

• Provider Innovation Fund Awards 2021/22

• Provider Innovation Fund Awards 2021/22 (Tranche 2)

This framework provides a guide to managing the process of exploring the potential termination of funding and the actual termination of funding.

The framework can be downloaded here:

•  Framework for Termination of Grant Funding (pdf 558kB)

The Housing Executive are managing arrangements to supply PPE to Supporting People services. 

Please find the following forecast and order forms below:

PPE Order Form (Excel Spreadsheet 109 kB)

PPE 3-month Rolling Forecast (Excel Spreadsheet 13 kB)

PPE Stocktake Form (Excel Spreadsheet 15kB)

The Housing Executive Supporting People team are administering payments to organisations, to enable payments to be made to staff as part of the Special Recognition Scheme announced by the Minister for Communities.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be found in:

• Special Recognition Payment FAQs

The following template should be used to inform Supporting People of client updates in respect of Universal Credit (Housing Costs element):

• Universal Credit Template - Supporting People

The Health and Social Care Board (now the DOH/HSCNI Strategic Planning and Performance Group) and Supporting People undertook a review of Jointly Commissioned Supported Accommodation Projects for Young People. 

You can download the full report: