Section: Best Practices & Standards
Entries Invited for Sustainable Communities Awards
The awards for sustainable communities were opened for entries by Iain Wright MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at Communities and Local Government.
The awards are managed on behalf of Government by the HCA Academy. To reflect the Academy's move into the new Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the scheme will now be known as the Homes and Communities Academy Awards. The awards scheme has been running since 2003, formerly as the Deputy Prime Minister's Award for Sustainable Communities and latterly the Creating the Future Awards.
The Homes and Communities Academy Awards celebrate successful developments and community-based projects in the public, private and third sectors. They promote organisations, partnerships and individuals helping to transform cities, towns, villages and neighbourhoods.
The categories for the 2009 scheme target priority areas in the delivery of sustainable communities:
- Empowered communities - Supporting local people to improve their neighbourhoods.
- Investing in young people - Developing tomorrow's active citizens.
- Leadership of place - Developing strong local partnerships for better homes and communities.
- Low carbon development - Creating a sustainable future through building innovations.
- New ventures - Delivering growth and renewal in challenging markets.
- Outstanding commitment - Demonstrating community spirit and encouraging involvement from others.
- Places for all - Strengthening communities through culture and heritage.
- Reducing carbon - Improving sustainable living in existing homes and communities.
- Skills for better places - Investing in the workforce to improve delivery.
The winners will be announced at a dinner event in London on Thursday 4th June 2008. All information, guidance and forms required to enter the awards are available from the HCA Academy website at www.HCAacademy.co.uk/awards.
Regulator Recruits Tenant Assessors
The Scottish Housing Regulator, which has the responsibility for regulating and inspecting registered social landlords and the housing and homelessness functions of local authorities, launched a recruitment campaign for volunteer tenant assessors.
A panel of tenant assessors already work with the Regulator on a voluntary basis, to bring a service user perspective to the inspection process. The recruitment campaign is aimed at expanding the panel.
Tenant assessors work with inspection teams to review and comment on the services provided by social landlords. While the work is unpaid all expenses are reimbursed.
A tenant assessor can be involved in inspection work in a number of ways, including:
- talking to and gathering the views of tenants;
- shadowing landlords' staff on estate and home visits;
- talking to staff and members of housing associations' governing bodies; and
- reviewing and commenting on literature produced by landlords for tenants.
John Jenkins, an Inspection Manager at the Scottish Housing Regulator, said:
"We aim to include at least one tenant assessor on each inspection we carry out and are looking to add to our current panel of tenant assessors.
This is an excellent opportunity for tenants to get involved in influencing the quality of landlords' services.
We would particularly welcome applications from young people, tenants of local authorities and people from minority ethnic backgrounds, as they are currently under represented on our present panel of tenant assessors."
LA Stars
Bridgnorth District Council
Bridgnorth District Council is providing an 'poor' service and has uncertain prospects for improvement, according to a report released by the Audit Commission during December.
The inspection team gave the service a Zero-star rating.
Weaknesses listed in the report include:
- Services are not easy for everyone to access and lack customer care, with little customer influence on how they are designed or delivered.
- Services are not tailored to the individual needs of customers, with those needing aids and adaptations, in particular, suffering from discriminatory practice
- Significant parts of the service are unable to show that customers receive value for money.
Recommendations made by the inspection team include:
- Improving the way services are designed with customers, to more closely meet their needs and preferences.
- Ensuring services are provided in a fair way to everyone.
- Improving value for money, so that savings can be re-invested in services customers most want to see get better.
- Better leadership to plan improvements and monitor results more effectively, so that the best possible performance is achieved.
Other LA Inspection Reports
Other local authority inspection reports issued during January included:
- Cambridge City Council (Landlord Services): Two-star good service with excellemt prospects for improvement.
- Dartford Borough Council (Strategic Housing Services): One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
- Ealing Homes (Ealing Council ALMO): One-star fair service with poor prospects for improvement.
RSL Performers
Lee Housing Association
Housing management services at Lee Housing Association are 'poor' but have promising prospects for improvement, according to a December report released by the Audit Commission. The inspection team gave the service a Zero-star rating.
The inspectors found weaknesses including:
- Limited communication with residents.
- Variable standards on estates.
- Targets for voids and rents are not being met.
- A lack of a strategic approach to value for money.
- The Association cannot evidence learning from best practice.
- Monitoring of service standards is weak.
- There is limited information on the needs of tenants and the office is not fully accessible.
- The approach to asbestos is weak.
However, inspectors also found strengths, including:
- A good level of personal customer care.
- A high proportion of properties meet the Decent Homes Standard, and the handyperson service is effective.
- There is capacity at senior management and board level to drive improvement.
Other RSL Inspection Reports
Other registered social landlord inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during December included:
- Eastend Homes (Housing Management Services): Two-star good service with promising prospects for improvement.
- North Somerset Housing (Housing Management Services): One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
Scottish Inspections
The Scottish Housing Regulator published its inspection reports on two councils:
- Aberdeenshire Council: An "excellent" A rating for its asset management and repairs, a "good" B rating for its housing management and a "fair" C rating for services to homeless people.
- The Moray Council: An "excellent" A rating for its housing management, a "good" B rating for its asset management and repairs and a "fair" C rating for services to homeless people.
