Inside Housing (19th March 2010) has the story of an 85 year old tenant refusing to pay his floating support charge because his residential warden has been removed from his scheme. Although the council has carried out a consultation, clearly his view was to keep the warden. His story is becoming increasingly typical. According to the story, his wife has dementia and is wheel chair bound. She has a bond with the warden – not with the one of three people who are on the floating support worker rota. Anyone in housing can see both sides of this. The Council is under pressure to save money. The tenant feels the tenancy contract has been altered without his consent. This issue highlights the complex issue of care of vulnerable people. Perhaps it is time for joined up thinking and finance to provide the services needed – the tenant's wife would qualify for care in a care home, but her husband would probably not be admitted. What's the cost of that – as opposed to the cost of the warden, who makes it possible for them to stay together in cheaper accommodation? The problem is the money is controlled by different organisations – social services, local authorities, housing associations. What if we put the needs of our customer first and then sorted a joint process for meeting them? Surely that would save money in the long run, as well as increasing satisfaction to everyone involved.