PAPER B1
Committee: SOCIAL SERVICES, HOUSING & BENEFITS
SELECT COMMITTEE
Date: 6 JUNE 2002
Title: HOUSING ANNUAL REPORT 2001/02
REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR,
SOCIAL SERVICES AND HOUSING
________________________________________________________________
1. SUMMARY
To
receive the Housing Annual Report for the year 2001/02.
2. BACKGROUND
2.1 It has been established practice for several years to submit
the Housing Annual Report to the first available Committee following the year
end. The Report for the year 2001/02 is
attached.
2.2 Members questions, views,
comments and observations are welcomed.
3. RECOMMENDATION
That
the report be noted. |
Contact: Chris Binnie Tel:
823061
|
C
WADDICOR Strategic
Director of Social Services and Housing |
HOUSING
ANNUAL REPORT
2001-2002
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Staff
Structure and Accommodation
3. Capital
Funding and New House Provision
4. Homelessness
5. Statutory
Housing Register
6. Housing
Needs and Condition Surveys
7. Home
Improvement Grants
8. Housing
Enforcement
9. Empty
Property and Energy Conservation
10. Best
Value
11. Reviews,
Appeals, Complaints and Audit
12. Other
Housing Issues and Future Developments
13. Acknowledgements
14. Appendices
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Following
Local Government reorganisation on the Island, and the inception of the Isle of
Wight Council on 1 April 1995, the Island’s housing services, previously
provided by the Borough Council’s, were absorbed into Social Services, to
create the Council’s Social Services and Housing Directorate. The Council is a Large Scale Voluntary
Transfer (LSVT) Authority, so it has no permanent housing stock of its own, and
is committed to the provision of housing through Registered Social Landlords
(RSL’s).
1.2 The
largest Island based RSL’s are Medina and South Wight Housing Associations,
created by the former Borough Councils in 1990 to purchase and manage the ex
Council stock. These were in addition
to the already existing, but much smaller, Isle of Wight, Vectis and Island
Cottages Housing Associations.
Swaythling Housing Society and the Parchment Housing Group are also
mainland based development partners.
1.3 Statutory
services, such as homelessness, housing advice, allocations and
registration, home improvement grants,
enforcement of fitness standards, energy conservation and drainage, continue to
be provided by the Council. In addition,
its strategic role entails collecting and collating data, assessing housing
needs, undertaking consultation, developing and producing the Council’s housing
strategy, and working with RSL’s, the Department of the Transport Local
Government and the Regions (DTLR), and the Housing Corporation, in order to
deliver development programmes and to best ensure housing provision on the
Island meets the established highest priority needs.
1.4 Accordingly,
there is a clear divide between the Council as a strategic enabler and the
RSL’s as providers.
1.5 The
housing service is also an integral part of community care on the Island,
particularly in the field of special needs and supported housing, and is also
the provider of Disabled Facilities Grants.
Accordingly, the Council has several special needs and supported housing
strategies, and conversely, the Island’s special needs housing requirements are
represented in the Island HImP.
2. STAFF
STRUCTURE AND ACCOMMODATION
2.1 Throughout
the year, all housing staff were located at the Housing Services office,
located opposite County Hall, at 7 High Street, Newport. This building provides a geographically
focal point for the provision of a housing service to the public. It also provides for much improved security
and safety for staff, and some facilities for disabled customers.
2.2 There
were some changes to the staff establishment during the year. Barbara Holmes, my PA/Secretary retired in
May 2001, so we all wish her well for the future. She was replaced on a part-time basis by Ruth Cake, who joined
us in June 2001.
2.3 The
resultant half post enabled us to appoint a dedicated housing receptionist for
the first time ever, in order to improve the delivery of the front line
service. The successful applicant was
Debbie Townsend, who joined us in September 2001. At the same time, Joyce Adams joined us on a temporary contract
to help with data inputting, in preparation for the setting up of the Common
Housing Register.
2.4 The
staff structure as at 31.3.02 is given at Appendix 1.
3. CAPITAL
FUNDING AND NEW HOUSE PROVISION
3.1 There were two sources of capital funding for new house
provision during the year, (new does not necessarily mean new build, it can be
purchase of existing properties):
(a) RSL’s
own Approved Development Programme (ADP), funded directly by Social Housing
Grant (SHG), from the Housing Corporation.
This can be pre-allocated one or two years in advance. The Council has no direct financial input
into ADP funding, but to have any chance of succeeding, any RSL bid for ADP
funding must meet the local strategy, and have the support of its Local
Authority.
(b) Social
Housing Grant made available by a Local Authority (LASHG), derived from the
Approved Capital Guideline (ACG) element of its Housing Investment Programme
(HIP) allocation.
3.2 In
2001/02, the HIP allocation for the year was made up of an ACG of £1,686,000, a
reduction of £297,000 (16%) on the previous year, and £202,000 for Disabled
Facilities Grants, an increase of £18,000 (9%) on the previous year. Of the £1,686,000 the Social Services and
Housing Select Committee agreed to split the allocation into £936,000 for new
house building, and £750,000 for the Home Improvement Grant programme.
3.3 This
£936,000 was made available to the
Island RSL’s as Local Authority Social Housing Grant (LASHG).
3.4 The
resulting house building/purchase programme for 2001/02 is given at Appendix 2
and, as is usual, some of these were completions of projects started in
2000/01, some were started and completed during the year, while some will not
complete until 2002/03.
4. HOMELESSNESS
4.1 The
Housing Act 1996, introduced on 1 April 1997, brought about changes to homeless
legislation, although the main decision process remained largely
unaltered. The Act did, though,
introduce the concept of an officer “senior to, and not involved in homeless
decisions”, undertaking a review of a decision, when requested by an
applicant. The homeless appeals panel
has to undertake a review in certain very rare special circumstances or, if the
delegated reviewing officer has had to be directly involved in a case.
4.2 If an
applicant is still dissatisfied with a decision, he/she has the right of appeal
to the County Court. Previously, the
only recourse had been the ombudsman or Judicial Review in the High Court.
4.3 Levels
of homelessness on the Island largely increased through the 1990's, reaching
record high levels of 584 applications/322 acceptances in 1997/98. Appendix 3A shows the Island homelessness
levels since 1991/92. These should be
seen against a national decrease in homelessness of about 20% during the
1990’s, but increasing again over the last 2-3 years.
4.4 In
2001/02 there were 475 applications, of which 305 were accepted, an increase of
1.5% over the previous year. Appendix
3B gives the detailed breakdown of homelessness statistics for the year, and
Appendix 3C, the geographical breakdown.
4.5 From the figures it can be seen that,
while the overall level is slightly up on the previous year, the geographic
spread has remained largely static. Homelessness caused by the ending of
private sector assured shorthold tenancies has though increased quite
dramatically, from 40% to 49%. Such an
increase is cause for concern. Ryde, Newport and Sandown/Shanklin remain the
”big three” as far as homeless is concerned, while Cowes/East Cowes has emerged
as the clear fourth. Levels of
homelessness in the rural areas remain relatively low.
4.6 During
the year, 358 families were rehoused by the RSL’s, by way of Council
nomination, compared with 362 the previous year. Of the 358, 191 were homeless families, the balance were either
from the Register, or were Social Services nominations to supported or special
needs housing. The breakdown for each
RSL/year is given in appendix 3D.
4.7 While
homeless levels are not at the crisis point of three years ago, levels are
still very high, and despite all our efforts, the numbers in bed and breakfast
is increasing again. At the end of the
year, there were 72 people or families in Bed and Breakfast, compared with 68
the year before. The average length of
stay in B&B increased from 16 to 18 weeks although it had been down to 12
weeks in 1999/2000. This level of use
of B&B is attracting the attention of the Governments B&B Unit, as it
exceeds their “excessive” criteria.
Even so, a £42,000 saving was made on the B&B budget during the
year.
4.8 It can
be difficult to find both temporary and permanent accommodation for vulnerable
single people, particularly those who have mental illness and/or drug and
alcohol abuse problems. This difficulty
could widen even more, as there will be duty to provide accommodation for care
leavers, and other vulnerable groups under the new Homelessness Act 2002.
4.9 Regretfully,
abuse and threats of violence towards homeless staff is still a regular
occurrence, although the secure interview facilities at 7 High Street, Newport
are relatively safe, so there were no actual, attacks during the year. It has
again been another very difficult year for homelessness, and I would
particularly like to thank all the homelessness staff for their
dedication. I have to say, I do not see
the homeless situation on the Island improving significantly in the
foresee-able future.
4.10 The Council
continued to make support funding available to both the Women’s Refuge and the
Independent Housing Advice Centre during the year, as both make significant
contributions to specific homeless groups and homelessness prevention. The Refuge typically provides accommodation
for 25 women and 35 children each year, whilst the Advice Centre provides the
Council’s statutory housing advice service on a contract/SLA basis, by
typically dealing with about 2000 client enquiries and requests for
assistance. In addition, it arranges
accommodation for about 100 homeless people in the private sector each year, through
their deposit guarantee scheme. These
are mainly single people who are not eligible for statutory homeless
assistance. Both organisations are
congratulated on their successful contributions to housing on the Island during
the year.
5. STATUTORY
HOUSING REGISTER
5.1 The
Housing Act 1996, also introduced the Statutory Housing Register. It has to be open to anyone in the Country
aged 18 or over, who is not a home owner or a Council or Housing Association
tenant, to join and register their housing need. Anyone accepted as homeless is automatically placed on the
register, and everyone on the register is “pointed” in accordance with their
needs and the Council’s published allocation scheme.
5.2 The
principle behind the legislation is that everyone should have the opportunity
to be nominated to a RSL, not just the homeless, so the person with the highest
need, i.e. the highest number of points, is nominated whenever RSL vacancies
are offered to the Council. It is not
a time-based scheme, unless there is a tie on points.
Anyone on
the Register who is offered permanent accommodation in their first choice area,
is expected to accept it, otherwise, subject to any review, the Council’s duty
to them is discharged, and they are deleted from the Register. The priorities built into the pointing
system are in accordance with the Act.
5.3 As at
1 April 2002, there were 1,609 on the register, compared to 1,451 on 1 April
2001, a 10% increase. Obviously many
have joined, and many have been deleted either through their own choice or
because they have been rehoused, and many just fail to renew their
applications.
5.4 Appendix
4 gives a summary of the Register as at 1 April 2002, with a breakdown of
towns/areas, based on applicants’ first choice location, and accommodation
size/type, requirements. Again, this
shows the main areas of demand to be Ryde, Newport and Sandown/Shanklin, with
Cowes/East Cowes fourth.
6. HOUSING
NEEDS AND CONDITION SURVEYS
6.1 The
housing needs and the private sector house condition surveys have to be
undertaken every five years, and DTLR issues strict guidance on how these
should be conducted.
6.2 2001/02 was year five in the Housing Needs Survey cycle, so
the survey was undertaken during the year, and extensively reported to both
Members and the public during February 2002.
A full copy of the report is available on the Council website. The survey is important not only for housing
purposes, but it is also a very important tool for Planners, as it assists them
in both determining applications, and in defending the Council’s affordable
social housing policies at planning appeals.
6.3 The
survey provides detailed information about the Island’s housing market, current
housing provision, future housing requirements, population growth, and
household formation, and crucially, an appraisal of the need for additional
affordable social housing.
Fundamentally, the report shows an anticipated shortfall of 190 units of
affordable social housing each year for the next five years, and confirms that
the Statutory Housing Register seriously understates housing demand on the
Island.
6.4 2001/02
was also year four in the five year cycle for the private sector house
condition survey. Some preliminary
preparation work was done during the year, but the survey will be undertaken
and reported in 2002/03.
7. HOME
IMPROVEMENT GRANTS
7.1 There
are five types of grants available under the provisions of the Housing Grants,
Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
Renovation Grants are essentially for the repair and renovation of unfit
houses, for conversions and for energy conservation works. They are discretionary, there is no
maximum, and they are subject to a means test.
7.2 It has
previously been Council policy to generally only make them available to
owner/occupiers, but they are now offered to private landlords in exchange for
nomination rights, so that they can provide accessible, affordable social
housing. They are a very important
tool in bringing empty property back into use for social housing.
7.3 Common
Parts grants are similar, but available for landlords or leaseholders to repair
common parts (roofs, stairs etc.) of blocks of flats. They are very rare on the Island, and again are discretionary
and subject to a means test.
7.4 HMO
Grants are for repairing, improving, or installing fire precaution facilities
in Houses in Multiple Occupation. These
are large properties split into bedsits with shared bathrooms and/or kitchens. Again, it is Council policy not to approve
HMO grants unless there is an offer of nomination rights or other exceptional
circumstances. Similarly, they are
discretionary and subject to a means test.
7.5 Disabled
Facilities grants are for adaptations (ramps, wide doors, stair lifts, etc.) to
homes of both owner occupiers and tenants (private or Housing
Association). They are again means
tested, but they are mandatory, not discretionary, and there is no
maximum. They can only be accessed via
the recommendation of the Occupational Therapy service.
7.6 Home
Repair Assistance grants are for minor repairs, or for providing energy
conservation works to properties, or for disabled adaptations, but are only
for works up to £5,000. They are discretionary, but are not means
tested, as the applicant must either be in receipt of a statutory benefit to
qualify, or be over the age of 60. As
they can be approved comparatively quickly they are very popular, and where
they are appropriate, they are used as much as possible.
7.7 Inevitably,
there has to be a waiting list for grants, but in 1998/99, this changed from a
simple time-based waiting list to a prioritised, pointed system, in line with
DTLR requirements. At the same time, a
scheme for prioritising the receipt of occupational therapy services, which in
effect introduced a prioritised system for Disabled Facilities Grants, was also
introduced.
7.8 Funding
for grants was changed for 2000/01.
Previously, there had been separate allocations for each type of grant
but from 2000/01 on, there were two elements:
(A) That part
of the HIP allocation, which a local authority itself determines, should be
used for its home improvement grant programme
(B) Specified
Capital Grant (DFG) - for funding Disabled Facilities grants.
7.9 The
programme budgets resulting from the 2001/02 HIP allocation and the Council’s
decisions were:
Home Improvement Grants £750,000
SCG (DFG) £337,000
Total £1,092,000
7.10 A
breakdown of the final 2001/02 programme is given in Appendix 5.
7.11 As at
31 March 2002, there were 115 applicants on the Renovation Grant waiting list,
121 on the Disabled Facilities Grant waiting list, and 306 waiting for Home
Repair Assistance grants.
8. HOUSING
ENFORCEMENT
8.1 All
complaints and requests for advice/assistance received during the year were
responded to, with a visit/inspection and follow up letters. In total, 85 housing complaints were
received during the year, compared to 144 in 2000/01, and 11 “minded to serve”
notices was served. These are often
effective in persuading landlords to take action, so no statutory notices had
to be served.
8.2 Houses
in Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) are large properties split into bedsits with
shared bathrooms and/or kitchens. At
31.3.02, there were 94 known HMOs on the Island. The HMO enforcement team, made up of Housing, Fire and Planning
Officers, continued its rolling programme of joint inspections during the
year. A total of 32 inspections were
made, although of these, 20 were no longer operating as HMOs. In general, standards were found to be
reasonable, but 5 “minded to serve” notices were issued, but no statutory
notices had to be served. In addition
to the ‘team’ inspections, housing officers also undertook 4 revisits to ensure
works had been properly carried out, and standards were being maintained. One HMO grant was completed during the year.
8.3 Housing
also has the responsibility for the Council’s statutory drainage (including
cesspits and septic tanks) enforcement function. As far as is practically possible, a same day, 24 hours service
is operated, but with housing pressures, it is not always achievable. Again, all complaints and requests were
answered, requiring 89 visits, resulting in 50 informal notices/letters and 1 statutory
notice.
9. EMPTY
PROPERTY AND ENERGY CONSERVATION
9.1 The
main objective of the Council’s empty property strategy is to facilitate as
many as possible private sector empty properties being brought back into
use. Wherever possible, this is through
RSL’s taking on the role of managing agents.
9.2 The
main thrust of the year’s empty property campaign has been:
(a) liaison
with letting agencies and landlord’s representatives
(b) production
of an Empty Property information pack;
(c) liaison
with RSL’s regarding funding, leasing and management arrangements;
(d) the
operation of the private sector and supporting people landlords forum
(e) co-ordinating
property availability with statutory housing register applicants, the deposit
loan scheme and the Housing Advice Centres deposit guarantee scheme;
(f) liaison
with DTLR empty property agency;
(g) co-ordination
of renovation grant funding for run down empty properties;
(h) attendance
on Hampshire & Isle of Wight Empty Property Forum.
9.3 Whenever a suitable
property is identified, it is brought up to standard, if necessary, with
renovation grant funding, to which the owner makes a substantial
contribution. It is then either leased
through an RSL, used as a direct private rented tenancy, or nominated to a
family on the Statutory Housing Register as an alternative to bed and
breakfast.
9.4 In total, 31 empty
properties were brought back into use during the year, compared to 23 in the
previous year. 4 of these received renovation grants, totalling £80,706. This included 2 empty spaces over shops,
which were converted to flats.
9.5 The
elements of the energy conservation campaign that were continued during the
year were:
(a) production
of the energy conservation report and strategy, and the fuel poverty strategy;
(b) vice-chairmanship
of Local Hants & Isle of Wight (SHECANE) LA Forum
(c) permanent
display of energy conservation advice and information in Council offices, Age
Concern and other voluntary agencies;
(d) promotion
through IW radio and County Press, Wight Insight, and Meridian TV;
(e) taking
part in an energy conservation roadshows, in conjunction with Solent Energy
Efficiency Advice Centre;
(f) co-ordinating
training events for local installers as part of the Energy Efficiency
Installers Network;
(g) promoting
energy conservation and giving energy advice as part of all home improvement
grant visits, including referrals to Warm Front and other national grants;
(h) using
some of the renovation grant and home repair assistance grants resources,
specifically for energy conservation works;
(i) development
of low cost energy saving schemes in partnership with utility companies;
9.6 As
well as promotion of energy conservation issues, data gathering/monitoring has
to be structured, and this is obtained from energy surveys completed by
visitors to the roadshow, through the private sector house condition and
housing needs surveys, through home repair assistance grant visits, and through
accredited contractors.
9.7 DTLR
has approved the Council’s 2001/02 Energy Conservation report, but added that
energy conservation needs further development for the progress to
continue. In total, £23,268 of grant
funding, for 15 properties, was completed for energy conservation work, during
the year. Targeted funding also
assisted in drawing in an additional £17,000 from utility companies, which
helped improve an additional 46 properties.
10. BEST
VALUE
10.1 There
are six housing Best Value Performance Indicators that are published in the
Council’s Best Value Performance Plan, and these are reproduced at Appendix 6.
10.2 The
Council is a member of the SE Region LSVT Authority Housing Benchmark
Group. This is a group of 23
transferred authorities in the region, who have developed a range of
performance measures to enable each member to compile the performance of it’s
own services with others in the group.
As this is a group of very similar, transferred authorities, whose data
collection is monitored by an independent organisation, the results it produces
are considered to be reliably comparable.
The group average for each of the six Performance Indicators is also
included in Appendix 6.
10.3 The
Group did not undertake a Peer Review exercise in 2001/02.
10.4 The
Council also belongs to a National Unitary Benchmarking (NUB) group, but because
there are far fewer in the group, they are not necessarily similar types of
authority, and they are located all over the country, this data is far less
relevant. Nevertheless, it is also
included in Appendix 6.
10.5 It must
also be noted that the collection, collation and publication of group data does
take several months, so only the 2000/2001 group data is available. The 2001/02 data will not be available until
about October 2002.
10.6 Only
one of the six PI’s, the empty property services, shows an improvement over the
previous years performance, and performs better than the group averages,
although the performance of the HMO inspection service is comparable, with the
other groups. This is disappointing but
it must be stressed that there are accountable reasons for this, and in reality
some of the Indicators are little more than a measure of the demand for
services and of available resources.
Nevertheless, they are mainly national indicators that must be reported.
10.7 Finally,
the fundamental performance indicator for housing is the “rating” determined by
DTLR/GOSE, as part of the HIP allocation.
The five categories are (A), well above average, (B) above average, (C)
average, (D) below average, (E) well below average, when compared with other
authorities in the SE Region. The
rating for the IW Council as determined by DTLR in December 2001, continued to
be (C) average.
11. REVIEWS,
APPEALS, COMPLAINTS AND AUDIT
11.1 During
the year, 16 reviews of homeless decisions were undertaken, 8 were upheld and 8
reversed. This compares with 27
reviews, 19 upheld decisions, and 8 reversals in the previous year. There were also 4 Housing Register reviews
during the year, but all 4 were upheld.
The Homeless Appeals Panel was not required to sit during the year, and
there were no appeals to the County Court.
11.2 The
Housing Department was involved in court action only once during the year, to
defend an appeal against a statutory notice to repair a defective private
sewer. The appellants claimed the sewer
was a public sewer, not private, but the court turned down the appeal.
11.3 Two Ombudsman complaints
were received during the year, both about the way the Department dealt with
complaints of disrepair in private rented or leased properties. One complaint was dismissed by the
Ombudsman, the other was still ongoing at the end of the year.
11.4 Seven other complaints
were received through the Council’s or Directorates formal complaints
procedures. Five related to
homelessness procedures, one involved noisy neighbours and was really about a
housing association, while the other related to Disabled Facilities Grant
administration. Six of these complaints
have been answered to the satisfaction of the complainants, so have been
completed, but one of the homeless complaints has progressed to Stage 2, and is
still ongoing.
11.5 Bearing in mind the sometimes volatile nature of housing and
homelessness in particular, I am reasonably satisfied with the level of
complaints received, even though I would naturally prefer none at all.
11.6 A total
of 27 housing enquiries/representations
were received via the MP during the year, compared with 15 in 2001/02. All were satisfactorily answered. 18 enquiries were received from Council
members, compared to only 6 the previous year, and again all were
satisfactorily answered.
11.7 There
were no District Audits of housing services in 2001/02 but the Council’s
internal auditors undertook an audit of the homelessness services, and for the
first time, this included an audit of the review system. A satisfactory report was received, with no
recommendations for improvements.
11.8 An
internal audit of the private sector housing enforcement service had also been
undertaken right at the end of 2000/01, so the report was not received until
2001/02. Again it was satisfactory with
no recommendations for improvement.
12. INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS
12.1 Considerable
progress has been made on the Common Housing Register (CHR) by the Project
Management Team. The capital funding is
in place, and the CHR should be fully operational by September 2002. This will also include a homelessness IT
system to finally replace the handwritten ledgers that are still being used!
12.2 In advance of the development of the CHR and homeless IT
systems, some of the Departments existing equipment has had to be upgraded in
preparation, so all the homelessness and allocations staff are now on the
Mircrosoft Outlook e-mail system, as well as the management/strategic staff. It is hoped to complete the grants and
enforcement team during 2002/03.
12.3 Another
major development in 2001/2002 has been the use of the Council’s website for
publishing information. The Housing
Strategy, the Annual Report and Housing Needs Survey were all published on the
website, together with information and advice leaflets and housing register
application forms. We are not advanced
enough yet for electronic applications, but at least blank forms and guidance
notes are available to those who have access to the internet.
13. ONGOING
ISSUES AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
13.1 With the
ongoing high levels of homelessness, and the shortage of permanent and
temporary housing, it seems likely that severe demands on housing will continue
for the foreseeable future. Inevitably,
the top priority will have to remain the provision of housing for the homeless.
13.2 The best prospects for real alternatives to B&B are still to develop the private
sector. The Council has been commended
by DTLR for its private sector initiatives, and this includes both empty
property and energy conservation.
There has also been a change of emphasis with the various improvement
grants, from mainly helping owner occupiers, to giving more assistance to
private landlords, in exchange for nomination rights. It will be imperative to
develop more private sector and empty property initiatives over the next two
years, if there is to be any chance at all of meeting the Government’s B&B
Units targets for reducing the use of B&B, and keeping the B&B budget
under control.
13.3 The
Homelessness Act 2002 has now been published, but the full implications will
not be known until later in the year.
It is expected the Act will come into operation in the Autumn, from when
all local authorities will have one year in which to undertake a comprehensive
review of homelessness, in their Districts, and publish their homelessness
strategies. This will be a significant
exercise for all those involved.
13.4 The
duty to vulnerable groups will be extended to more 16/17 year olds, care
leavers, and those leaving an institutional facility such as the armed forces
or prisons. Again the full implications
of this will not really be known until much later in the year, but while the
issues of prisoners has attracted much attention on the Island, I believe it
will be the 16/17 year olds and care that leavers could well have a bigger
resource implication. These groups can
often have other problems such as alcohol and substance misuse, and offending issues,
and it can sometimes be very difficult to find accommodation for them.
13.5 It has
also been recognised that there is a growing need to provide homeless families
with support while they are in B&B and temporary accommodation, and this is
being considered through the Supporting People regime that will come into
operation in April 2003. Negotiations
are taking place with Stonham Housing Association about the provision of
support, and it is hoped it can be put in place during the year.
13.6 The
Government has announced major changes for the private sector renewal regime,
including Home Improvement Grants, for 2003/04. Full details will be published later in the year, but all local
authorities will have to have a new renewal policy in place by April 2003. This will not affect disabled Facilities
Grants.
13.7 Allied to this, it is
possible, although probably unlikely, that the proposed new housing fitness
standard will be introduced during 2002/03, together with HMO licensing. Of the two, the HMO licensing is the more likely
to emerge, as it forms part of a private members Bill, currently before
Parliament. Even if the Bill fails, it
is inevitable that statutory HMO licensing will be introduced eventually, and
like most authorities, it will have staff/resource implications for this
Council.
13.8 Last
but by no means least, later in 2002, the Audit Commission will be undertaking
a Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) of the Council. This will involve a formal inspection of
homeless services, in May/June. While
the homelessness and associated services have been audited on many occasions,
this will be the first independent inspection of any of this Council’s housing
services since the introduction of Best Value, other than the voluntary
Benchmarking Group peer review in January 2001. It will be interesting to see the result of the inspection.
14. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
14.1 As usual, I would particularly like to formally acknowledge and
thank all my staff for their dedicated effort and support during the year. At the end of the day, it is they, not me,
who actually have the job of delivering the front line services.
14.2 I would
also like to thank the Director, Members, and all my colleagues and associates
involved in housing, for all their assistance, support, guidance and
encouragement.
Chris Binnie
Head of
Housing
May 2002
