Whitehall officials are working on a financial modelling tool which will enable local authorities to improve assessment of housing support cash. Baroness Andrews, communities minister, announced the initiative following the CLG's confirmation of local government's financial settlement last week. Within the settlement, the second in a three-year deal, councils stand to receive £1.7bn of un-ring fenced funding from the Supporting People Programme – the first time the grant has been allocated without strings attached. Baroness Andrews said the cash would ‘help the most vulnerable people in communities to live independently, and break the cycle of deprivation'.