£21M Lincolnshire’s Service For Vunerable Gets Zero Rating

Services for the elderly, homeless and teenagers in care have seen no significant improvement. Lincolnshire’s Supporting People programme to help the sick, the poor and the needy has been given a zero rating by inspectors.

The Audit Commission has ranked the £21m service as “poor” but with “promising prospects for improvement”.

An 86-page report released today catalogues the service’s failure to deliver on its promises since it was created in 2003.

There are still gaps in provision and a postcode lottery of care still exists across the county, say inspectors.

In response, managers say they have already made significant improvements.

Lincolnshire County Council is the administering authority for the programme in the county, working with city and district councils, the NHS and probation services.