Section: Best Practices & Standards
Beacon Scheme Update
Applications opened for local authorities to submit schemes for Round 10 of the Beacon Scheme.
This year, the twelve themes include several of interest to social housing providers:
- Homes for the future: How authorities are working to ensure that citizens have the opportunity to live in strong safe communities, with quality, sustainable and affordable housing (now and with new builds).
- Supporting independent living for disabled adults:
How authorities use creative, innovative approaches to support vulnerable disabled people, using people centred and talorised approaches that increase independence, fulfilment and a chance of an ordinary life.
- Positive engagement of older people to support and promote greater independence and wellbeing in later life: How authorities are promoting greater independence and well-being for older adults, and getting them involved in healthier, fulfilling activities and roles in society.
- Preventing and tackling child poverty: Assessing how authorities and a collective of partners are using a range of interventions to help tackle and eradicate child poverty, and improve the life chances of our children.
- Digital inclusion - tackling exclusion and promoting life chances: Information and Communication Technology in transforming the lives of excluded people.
- Cohesive and resilient communities: How authorities have risen to the challenge of change and celebrate and use cultural richness and legacy to support, integrate and empower new and host communities.
- Raising economic prosperity through partnership: Seeking the best authorities that have a grasp of the benefits of a strong economy and empowerment, who work in partnership to tackle problems such as long term unemployment, low skills, poor housing, sub-standard transport and environmental degradation.
Local authorities can only submit three final applications in each round. The closing date for applications is Friday 11 July 2008.
LA Stars
Copeland Borough Council
The strategic housing services provided by Copeland Council are of a zero star poor standard and have 'poor' prospects of improving, according to an independent report released by the Audit Commission.
The inspectors found:
- There is little culture of customer care.
- The Council does not understand the diverse needs of its customers.
- There are gaps in understanding the housing market, insufficient work has been done to translate sub-regional strategies into plans for the Borough and it has not delivered the intended outcomes of the strategies which are in place.
- The Council is not making the best use of the Borough's private sector housing stock and is not contributing to reducing homelessness by tackling the problem early.
- Development has not met the specific requirements of some groups and there has been little partnership working to enable new housing provision.
- The Council does not yet have a good understanding of the relationship between quality, performance and cost in achieving value for money in housing services.
Inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:
- Providing strategies and systems for delivering a fully functioning housing service for local people.
- Improving performance management and relationships between council departments to support the service.
- Improving the approach to equality and diversity, customer care and access to the service.
- Improving value for money in the service.
Other LA Reports
Other local authority inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during April 2008 included:
- Thanet District Council (Strategic Housing Service): One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
- Forest of Dean District Council (Planning): One-star fair service with uncertain prospects for improvement.
RSL Performers
Registered social landlord inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during April 2008 included:
- Wirral Partnership Homes (Housing Management Services): One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
