Communities Minister Iain Wright announced increased funding for sixty councils, to boost their housing and employment advice options for local residents.
The Minster revealed the winners of the second round of 'Trailblazers' housing advice programme today. The twenty projects cover sixty council areas and each scheme will receive up to £260,000 to develop their housing advice services, making links to employment advice and giving local residents more personalised information about the range of housing options available to them.
The Trailblazer schemes will offer a greater range of advice to people looking for housing, whether it is helping people to stay in their own homes, social and private rented or shared ownership.
The personalised advice service will take into account the person's individual circumstances, to ensure they make the best choice for their specific circumstances.
The first round Trailblazer schemes gave twelve councils across the country the opportunity to develop their services. As well as the twenty schemes announced in this round, a further ten projects will receive 'kick start' funding to begin developing their own approach to linking housing and employment advice, using the mentoring skills and expertise of the original twelve councils to help them in setting up their schemes.
he twenty 2nd round local authority Trailblazer projects are:
Authorities receiving 'kick start' funding will be:
The projects will each receive funding over two years starting April 2009.
