In a bid to improve an "ineffective" support system in England, the Big Lottery Fund has this morning announced a £100m fund to encourage civil society organisations to collaborate and "fill the gaps" in services for people with multiple support needs.

The funding represents around one seventh of the funder's total annual grants for the whole of the UK. Funding of between £4m and £10m over five to eight years will be available to new partnerships formed between organisations tackling homelessness, reoffending, addiction and mental illness in 15 areas* of England. Each partnership will be led by a voluntary and community sector organisation.

There are an estimated 60,000 adults in England with multiple needs. The 15 areas have been identified as places where there is a significant number of people dealing with multiple needs, which can include anything from eating disorders to drug and alcohol abuse.

Nat Sloane, BIG chair, said the funding "is aimed at improving the stability, confidence and capability" of these people. On a financial level he highlighted the cost that is absorbed by the current inefficiencies in the services they receive:

"It is not just people, but communities that are impacted by ineffective contact with support services, Department of Health figures suggest it is four times more expensive for hospitals to care for homeless people. Also Home Office research suggested a problem drug user costs the government £10,400 a year in reactive expenditure and in social costs around £35,450."

Improving a flawed system

BIG hopes to "gather evidence" over the eight-year initiative to shed light on a more effective way for organising and delivering services to vulnerable people.

The funding is backed by evidence of the successful work by Turning Point's complex needs service in its Hertfordshire centre. An independent study by the London School of Economics found that for every £1 invested in a client through the service there was a net reduction in demand for public services of between £4.40 and £28.

Victor Adebowale, chief executive of Turning Point said the funding will help improve a flawed system of support:

"Organisations successful in bidding for this money will be able to develop innovative solutions that provide people with multiple needs access to the high quality, tailored services they deserve," he said.

"People with complex needs often fall through the gaps in provision due to a lack of integrated funding and commissioning. Currently there are pockets of excellence where services are working together. This initiative can provide an opportunity to really test and share learning from integrated services across geographies to stop people being trapped in a cycle that's hard to break." 

The funding has been welcomed by civil society organisations big and small. Mitch Winehouse, whose daughter Amy died one year ago today after years of suffering from multiple social issues including drug and alcohol abuse, added his voice to celebrate the funding announcement: "I am extremely pleased to hear that BIG is investing this money to bring organisations together to offer people of all ages more tailored support to deal with all the different needs they may have," he said.

BIG advises that it expects the majority of the funding will be spent on helping organisations capture data, staff posts, training and other capital costs. While there will be the possibility of using the funds for 'small scale refurbishment' a spokesman advised that funding was not to be used for new buildings or hubs as it wants services to be built around existing assets. 

BIG will fund partnerships in the following 15 areas:

• Great Yarmouth
• Nottingham
• Lambeth, Lewisham and Southward
• Camden and Islington
• Newcastle/Gateshead
• Tees Valley (including Middlesburgh)
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Blackpool
• Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne and Hastings
• Bristol
• Plymouth
• Stoke on Trent
• Birmingham
• West Yorkshire

BIG has provided over £4.4bn of funding for good causes since 2004. If ticket sales continue to be buoyant the funder expects to make awards in excess of £700m per year to 2015 across the whole of the UK.