Section: Best Practices & Standards
Top Award for Sheltered Housing Team
The
Sheltered Housing Team from Stoke-on-Trent Council took the top honour in the Housing Team category at the Public Servants of the Year Awards
2005 at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. The team beat tough competition from two other finalists:
- Charter HA's Nuisance
Prevention Team, which works to combat anti-social behaviour affecting residents in Newport; and
- Caerphilly Community Lettings, a
unique council housing provider.
The Sheltered Housing Team was short-listed for providing an efficient and effective sheltered
accommodation service. By recognising the residents' needs and involving them in the decision-making and budget-setting process, the team
has
ensured customers' needs are met while making the best use of the resources available.
The Public Servants of the Year Awards are in
their fifth year and are run by Public Finance Magazine in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the
Cabinet Office, and the Office of Government Commerce.
New Audit Body for Wales
From 1st April 2005, Wales will have its
own audit office, independent of government, to ensure public services at every level are held to account. The Wales Audit Office (WAO) was created
by a merger of the Audit Commission in Wales and the National Audit Office (NAO) in Wales.
WAO will take over responsibility for the
inspection of Welsh housing providers, previously undertaken by the Audit Commission in Wales. Following pilot inspections earlier in 2005, formal
inspections will start in the summer. The early programme will see inspections scheduled for:
- Family
HA
- Pembrokeshire HA
- Pennaf HG
- Pontypridd & District HA
- Valleys to Coast
Housing
Visit the WAO website at www.wao.gov.uk.
LA
Stars
The following summarises some of the key issues raised in a selection of Audit Commission local authority inspection reports
released in April 2005.
Knowsley MBC
In June 2004 the re-inspection of the Homelessness & Housing Advice Service found it to be
a fair one-star service with excellent prospects for improvement. Early in 2005 a further inspection was carried out which assessed
Knowsley as having progressed to providing a good two-star service that has promising prospects for improvement. The report finds
that the Council has built upon the strengths identified by the previous inspection. In particular:
- Access to the service has been
strengthened.
- A Choice Based Lettings service is being piloted.
- The service is much more customer-focused.
- Staff
training has been improved and there are effective policies and procedures in place.
- New literature for both staff and customers has been
produced, including a customer care charter.
- The Council has developed a corporate approach to equality and diversity.
- There
is a sustained focus on homelessness prevention.
- The quality and level of temporary accommodation has been
increased.
Lewisham LBC
The Repairs & Maintenance service delivered by the Council was assessed as being
fair with uncertain prospects for improvement and awarded one-star in an Audit Commission inspection report. Positive
aspects noted included:
- There is a wide range of access to the repairs service.
- Tenant participation has
improved.
- The work on major regeneration schemes delivers tangible benefits to customers.
- The responsive repairs service is
achieving its targets in a number of key areas.
- Empty properties are re-let fairly quickly.
Improvements listed as
needed include:
- Statutory gas servicing requirements have not been met.
- The 2010 Decent Homes Target may not be
met.
- Achieving value for money cannot be shown.
- Some surpluses made in the Housing Revenue Account are being transferred to
the General Fund, which could be used to help improve tenants' homes.
- The Council does not always comply with its own policies and
procedures.
- There is a lack of robust systems to manage and monitor pre- and post- inspections and
variations.
Wychavon DC
The Housing Services provided by Wychavon District Council were awarded an excellent
three-star rating with excellent prospects for improvement in a report released by the Audit Commission.
The inspection team
gave the service the high rating because services are easily accessible, homelessness preventative work is effective, and a high degree of care is
being provided to vulnerable people. The Council provides disabled grants rapidly, helping people maintain independence, and is providing high
quality temporary accommodation for homeless people in priority need. Strengths highlighted in the report include:
- High quality
community contact centres with extended opening hours and excellent facilities.
- A welfare benefits and money advice service that has
brought in over £1 million in extra benefits for vulnerable people.
- Partnership working with housing associations is delivering good
quality houses for rent.
- Disabled people who need adaptations to their homes receive them quickly.
- Housing Benefit services
are responsive, effective, and innovative.
- Highly effective work is being undertaken to minimise and prevent
homelessness.
Other Reports Issued
- Derwentside DC (Repairs & Maintenance)
Fair one-star
service with promising prospects for improvement.
- Greenwich LBC (Supporting People Programme)
Fair one-star
service with uncertain prospects for improvement.
www.audit-commission.gov.uk
RSL Performers
Audit Commission housing association inspection reports
issued in April 2005 included the following:
Haig Homes
The housing service provided by the Association is fair and has
poor prospects for improvement. The report released by the Audit Commission awarded the service one-star.
The report
concludes that Haig Homes provides a number of basic repairs and housing services adequately, and it has a high tenant satisfaction rate. Its
performance in some areas, however, falls short of what is expected of an organisation of its size and resources. Key findings
include:
- It is easy to report repairs, but repair appointments are left up to the contractors.
- The Association carries
out an annual inspection on the condition of all of its properties, but the visits are not always well planned.
- There is a high level of
rent collected with prompt action on rent arrears.
- Estates are well designed and kept clean.
- There is not any system to
compare performance with other social housing providers.
Thames Valley Housing
This was a joint inspection of Thames
Valley HA and Thames Valley Charitable HA. In the report the two associations are jointly referred to as Thames Valley Housing (TVH).
The
report concludes that TVH delivers a good two-star service that has promising prospects for improvement. Strengths noted
include:
- The service is accessed through an efficient customer service centre that deals with a wide range of housing management
and leasehold enquiries.
- There is a service promise to residents that states the standards of performance that are
expected.
- There is a good interactive website, newsletters for different resident groups, a tenant handbook, and a leasehold handbook -
all of which contain a wide range of information.
- Residents are involved and consulted on policy development.
- There are
customer satisfaction surveys for repairs, allocations, gas servicing, and other service areas.
- There is an overarching policy for
anti-social behaviour and separate policies for hate crime, domestic violence, and racial harassment.
- There is a service reward scheme to
encourage residents to pay rent, maintain agreements to pay arrears, and keep to their general tenancy conditions.
- Pursuit of rent arrears
is customer sensitive. TVH funds the CAB to provide independent welfare and financial advice.
Other Reports
Issued
- Plus Housing Group
Good two-star service that has promising prospects for
improvement.
- Whitefriars Housing Group
Good two-star service that has promising prospects for
improvement.
www.audit-commission.gov.uk
