Following a public competition, the Local Government Minister Barbara Follett confirmed that Dr Jane Martin has been named as the preferred candidate for appointment as the next Local Government Ombudsman.
Communities Secretary John Denham has written to the Chair of the select committee, Dr Phyllis Starkey, asking her to invite Dr Martin as his preferred candidate to appear before the Communities and Local Government select committee.
Dr Martin has to appear before the select committee for a pre-appointment hearing to discuss her suitability for the role, her key priorities and the selection process. This is necessary before her appointment is recommended to Her Majesty The Queen.
Dr Martin is currently Director of Policy & Engagement and Deputy Chief Executive at the Local Better Regulation Office.
The following are summaries of selected local authority inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during October.
Dacorum Borough Council
Housing Benefits Service: Zero-star poor service with promising prospects for improvement.
Gary Hammersley, Audit Commission senior manager, said:
Rising unemployment is making Dacorum's Housing Benefits service even more vital for local people. However, the Council has not done enough to help people to meet their housing costs. It has not been paying Housing Benefit promptly, nor has it been encouraging more people to claim.
"To its credit though, the Council has recognised that customers deserve a better service and it now has plans in place to make improvements."
Strengths identified in the Audit Commission report include:
Weaknesses noted include:
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East Devon District Council
Housing Benefits Service: One-star fair service with uncertain prospects for improvement.
Martin Green, Audit Commission senior manager, said:
"I am pleased to see the improvements the Council has made in its Housing Benefits service in the last two years.
"In particular it is deciding and paying claims much more quickly. This is important, as more people need help in the recession. The service is good value for money.
"But the Council needs to do more to find out what local people want - for example office opening times - and make changes to meet those needs. Senior managers and councillors need to get better at checking the quality and cost of the service in future."
Strengths noted by inspectors include:
Weaknesses identified include:
The Benefits Service is run in-house with 30.7 full time equivalent staff.
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St Georges Community Housing
Housing Management Services: Two-star good service with uncertain prospects for improvement.
Mark Elsworth, the Audit Commission's Lead Housing Inspector for the East, said:
"St Georges Community Housing responded positively to our previous inspection report and overall it is now delivering services to a good standard. In particular, residents are experiencing better customer care and the repairs service is effective.
"However, its plans are not always led by a clear strategic approach. This, together with gaps in performance management, creates some uncertainty about the potential for future improvement."
The inspectors found a number of strengths in the service. These include:
Issues identified as still to be tackled include:
Set up by Basildon Council in April 2007, St Georges Community Housing is an arm's-length management organisation (ALMO) that manages the Council's 11,440 homes.
Registered social landlord inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during October included those summarised below.
Moat Homes
Moat 'has an excellent approach to gas safety', according to a report released by the independent Audit Commission.
The Commission's inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of how the Dartford-based housing association is responding to: repairs that tenants report; the repair of empty homes; and the servicing of gas appliances.
The inspection found that the Association repairs its homes relatively quickly, to a good standard, and customer satisfaction is high. Repairs to empty homes are undertaken to a good standard. Annual gas servicing of customers homes is up-to-date.
Strengths noted in the inspection include:
Weaknesses include:
Moat Homes provides homes throughout Kent, Sussex, Essex, Hertfordshire and South London, which are mostly general needs housing. It also has a number of sheltered housing schemes for older people.
Moat also provides supported housing, shared ownership properties, and is the Government's HomeBuy agent for in Kent, Sussex, and Essex.
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One Housing Group
A short-notice inspection concludes that the Group has 'a balance of strengths and weaknesses' in how it enables residents to get involved in shaping how services are run.
The inspection of the Group's involvement practices found that it offers a range of ways for residents to be involved in shaping the services they receive. The Group is strongly committed to improving resident participation and investment over the past 18 months is starting to enable residents to influence and inform future plans and how services should be delivered.
Hugh Boatswain, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:
"Overall, we found that that One Housing Group is providing reasonable opportunities for residents to participate in helping to shape and improve services. The Group has invested in this area to enable residents to influence services and drive improvements. This should help improving levels of resident satisfaction.
"The Group now needs to build on how it communicates with all residents, and how it uses residents' views to inform its approach to value for money and diversity."
Recommendations made in the report include:
One Housing Group is a non asset holding parent company that was formed in September 2007 bringing together three housing associations under a group structure: Community Housing Association, based in North London with 4,000 homes working predominately in the London Borough of Camden; Island Homes created as part of the stock transfer of nearly 2,100 homes on the Isle of Dogs from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London; Toynbee Housing Association based in East London with over 3,000 homes in management across eight London Boroughs and Berkshire.
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Paddington Churches Housing Association (PCHA)
PCHA has 'a balance of strengths and weaknesses' according to an report released today by the Audit Commission, following a short-notice inspection.
Inspectors examined how well PCHA is responding to incidents of antisocial behaviour and managing service charges. The report shows that services are generally accessible, the approach to supporting vulnerable tenants is strong and tenants are developing a better understanding of services they pay for.
However, while PCHA is proactively looking to improve services there is still some uncertainty as to the quality and efficiency of service charging and the approach to antisocial behaviour is not robust.
Strengths noted by inspectors include:
Weaknesses include poor file management of complaints and written correspondence is not dealt with promptly. The report also notes that overall the management and performance reporting of antisocial behaviour is not consistent or effective.
Paddington Churches Housing Association (PCHA) was formed in 1965 and provides services to around 13,000 homes across London, the south east and east of England. It concentrates its services on general needs, supported housing, leasehold and shared ownership homes.
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Riverside Carlisle
Housing Services: One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
Ann Bennett, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:
"The current performance of Riverside Carlisle has a number of strengths but some significant weaknesses remain.
"We are confident that Riverside will continue to improve because services for tenants are getting better, future plans address the right areas, and the organisation is committed to delivering more customer focused services."
Inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:
In April 2009, Carlisle Housing Association became a division of the Riverside Group and is now known as Riverside Carlisle. It is governed by a divisional board comprising four customer members, four ward councillor members, three independent members and two group appointments.
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Solon South West Housing Association
The Association has a satisfactory approach to ensuring annual gas safety checks and repairing empty properties. But, its approach to day-to-day repairs is unsatisfactory and there are weaknesses in the way it responds to tenants' needs.
Audit Commission inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of how well the Bristol-based Solon South West HA is responding to repair requests, reletting empty homes and undertaking gas safety checks.
The report shows that the Association has some of the basic requirements in place but is falling short of the level of service that the best performing organisations demonstrate.
Strengths listed in the report include:
Weaknesses listed include:
Solon South West HA is a charitable housing association set up in 1974 to develop and manage affordable rented housing for people in housing need. It now provides around 1,100 homes in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Mendip, Bath and the Forest of Dean.