NAO report: Planning for new Homes

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government’s (the Department’s) objective for housing in England is to: “support the delivery of a million homes by the end of 2020 and half a million more by the end of 2022 and put us on track to deliver 300,000 net additional homes a year on average”. The Department has implemented a range of measures to achieve this, including reforms to the planning system.

Here is the report:

Planning-for-new-homes

The planning system is vital to providing new homes as it helps government and local authorities to determine how many, where and what type of new homes are built. The planning system also helps to identify what areas need to be protected or enhanced and to assess whether proposed development is suitable and will benefit the economy and communities.

 

This report is part of a series on housing in England, including Housing in England: overview (2017) and Homelessness (2018). It assesses how effectively the Department supports the planning regime to provide the right homes in the right places by:

  • supporting local authorities to produce plans for how the supply of new homes will meet need in their area;
  • supporting local authorities and the Planning Inspectorate in having effective and sufficiently resourced planning processes and teams to deal with planning applications and appeals; and
  • working effectively with local authorities, other government departments and developers to ensure infrastructure to support new homes is planned and funded.

NAO says in conclusion:

The Department has set out a challenging ambition for 300,000 new homes a year from the mid-2020s, together with supporting infrastructure.

The planning system is a key element in facilitating this. However, looking across the landscape, from the setting of the need for new homes, to the reductions in local authority capability, the under-performing Planning Inspectorate and failures in the system to ensure adequate contributions for infrastructure, it is clear that the system is not working well.

Given these problems, the NAO suggests cannot conclude that the planning system currently provides value for money in terms of delivering new homes effectively.

The Department understands the shortfalls in the planning system and its new planning policy framework aims to address some of these, such as the system for contributions from developers. However, it is too early to say how effective the new framework and proposed reforms will be in bringing about the level of change needed. The Department and government more widely need to take this much more seriously and bring about improvement if they are to meet their ambition of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s.

Big Society Update Jan 19

Updates from the Office for Civil Society:

  1. ‘Smart homes’ to help older and disabled people get digital skills and tackle loneliness in rural areas
  2. Data protection and Brexit – is your charity prepared?
  3. Culture Secretary sets out new measures to boost tech driven by social purpose

 

Updates from other government departments:

  1. ONS publishes guidance on measuring loneliness 
  2. ONS research on children’s and young people’s experiences of loneliness
  3. Home Office announces up to £9 million of grant funding for VCSE organisations working with the EU Settlement Scheme
  4. Government publishes Initial Cyber Security Skills Strategy

 

Updates from stakeholders:

  1. Bethnal Green Ventures launch call for applications for their new Tech for Good programme
  2. NCVO publishes Charity Ethical Principles

 

Updates from the Office for Civil Society

 

1. ‘Smart homes’ to help older and disabled people get digital skills and tackle loneliness in rural areas

A number of ‘smart homes’ with digitally savvy older people demonstrating tech in their own homes are being created as part of an innovative scheme to boost the nation’s digital skills. The homes, to be created in rural West Essex by a partnership led by Uttlesford Council for Voluntary Service, will see home owners become trained ‘digital boomers’ to help others improve their digital skills.

The scheme is one of three to be given a share of £400,000 by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to improve older and disabled people’s lives through the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund.

The fund will also see an app created by the Down’s Syndrome Association to allow people with Down’s Syndrome to monitor their weight and exercise levels from their smartphones to promote good health and wellbeing.

The Weldmar Hospicecare Trust will also explore, for the first time, how the lives of end-of-life and palliative patients can be improved through new technology and skills.

Full story and further information on the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund here.

 

 

2. Data protection and Brexit – is your charity prepared?

If your organisation shares personal data with organisations in the European Economic Area (EEA), you will need to take steps to ensure you continue to comply with data protection laws if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. For UK businesses that only share data within the UK, there will be no change.

These changes will affect organisations both large and small. To help your organisation take the right action now use the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) guidance and follow its 6 steps checklist.

 

 

3. Culture Secretary sets out new measures to boost tech driven by social purpose

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has announced new measures to boost tech driven by social purpose during his speech at Doteveryone in London this morning.

This is part of his vision for ‘tech for good’ which will champion technology as a force to change lives for the better, increase engagement between the social and tech sectors and ensure charities understand how they can use technology to achieve their mission.

You can read the full speech here and press release here. The Telegraph has also today published an op-ed by the Culture Secretary, available here.

 

Updates from other government departments

 

1. ONS publishes guidance on measuring loneliness

In January, as part of her commitments to tackle loneliness, the Prime Minister announced that government would establish indicators of loneliness across all ages and work to build the evidence base on loneliness.

The Office for National Statistics has now published its detailed recommendations on how to measure loneliness, including the first tranche of government surveys that will be adopting the measure.

In practice, this package means that for the first time, loneliness can be measured at a local level, helping those who commission and provide services to measure the impact of their work and make the case for investing in loneliness prevention. The ONS is also working with the What Works Centre for Wellbeing to produce tailored advice for charities and service providers.”

 

 

2. ONS research on children’s and young people’s experiences of loneliness

Responding to an identified gap, the Office for National Statistics, in partnership with the Children’s Society, has published research that explores how children and young people experience loneliness. This gives us a much better insight into what shapes children’s and young people’s experiences of loneliness and what might help to reduce it, something that has not been well understood previously.

The research shows that:

  • 11.3% of children said that they were “often” lonely
  • Children who reported “low” satisfaction with their health said they “often” felt lonely (28.3%)
  • 27.5% of children who received free school meals said they were “often” lonely, compared with 5.5% of those who did not

For the full findings and explanation of the methodology used, visit the ONS website.

 

 

3. Home Office announces up to £9 million of grant funding for VCSE organisations working with the EU Settlement Scheme

The Home Office has announced the launch of up to £9 million of grant funding, available to voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to help vulnerable or at-risk EU citizens needing additional support when applying for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

Ensuring that vulnerable or at-risk EU citizens and their families are supported to obtain a status is a critical objective in the delivery of the EUSS and the grant funding. The Home Office will set out to create a network of funded organisations to ensure that a range of services are mobilised across the UK, so that support and assistance to apply for the EUSS is available to meet those who require the most support. Extensive engagement with VCS organisations has also helped to shape the development of the grant funding.

Following insight gained during the market engagement, there will be two levels of award:

  • Level one – to fund grant projects from £5,000 up to £39,999
  • Level two – to fund grant projects from £40,000 up to £750,000.

Organisations are invited to submit proposals as to how they can support the diversity of needs of a diverse EU citizen population to make their EUSS applications.

The application period for bids will close at 12pm on 1 February 2019. For more information, and to take part in the grant funding opportunity, please click here.

 

 

4. Government publishes Initial Cyber Security Skills Strategy

The UK Government recently published its Initial National Cyber Security Skills Strategy with the mission to increase cyber security capacity across all sectors, to ensure that the UK has the right level and blend of skills required to maintain our resilience to cyber threats and be the world’s leading digital economy.

Publication of the initial strategy introduced a Call for Views, providing all those with an interest in cyber security the opportunity help shape and further refine the strategy proposals.

We would like to invite you to one of the strategy stakeholder feedback sessions during February 2019.

It’s an opportunity for you to put forward your views and discuss with colleagues, including across government, industry, academia, charities and training providers.  To book a place, please register your interest here, specifying your preferred location.

If you’re unable to make any of the events, we would appreciate you completing this short online survey. This sets out the main questions posed in the initial strategy and gives you an opportunity to propose further creative and innovative ideas.

 

Updates from stakeholders

 

1. Bethnal Green Ventures launch call for applications for their new Tech for Good programme

Bethnal Green ventures has launched its call for applications for its spring 2019 programme. BGV is an early-stage investor in tech for good ventures. Twice a year, they run an accelerator programme and provide investment and access to a vast support network for ambitious startups on a quest to use technology to radically improve millions of lives.

Through their investment and support they back great teams with ideas for using technology to tackle tough social or environmental problems. They focus on the areas of health, education, sustainability, work, democracy and society, fair work and employment, and supporting young people, but accept applications from all tech for good ventures.

More information and details of how to apply are available here.

 

 

2. NCVO publishes Charity Ethical Principles

After months of consultation and engagement with charities of all sizes, NCVO has launched a set of Charity Ethical Principles. Governing bodies, staff and volunteers are encouraged to actively consider the principles and how they can integrate them throughout their work.

In response to feedback, the original proposed title of Charity Code of Ethics has been changed to Charity Ethical Principles, to make clear that the guidance is intended as complementary to existing codes such as the Charity Governance Code, and also makes clear its status as a voluntary framework.

NCVO has stressed that it sees the Charity Ethical Principles as a ‘living document’ and wants to continue the conversation with voluntary organisations using the principles in their work, encouraging them to email policy@ncvo.org.uk with any comment.

Scrutiny.Net 23rd January 2019

Thanks to Southway for hosting today.

 

Presentation, demonstration and discussion

Making use of film and video in tenant engagement and communications

Emma Gilpin, Weaver Vale Housing Trust

Here is Emma’s contact details:

Emma Gilpin Consultant Summary 

Here are the links to attendees in all glory when you were interviewed by Emma:

https://youtu.be/4vwl9en4s1w – for the full public video

https://youtu.be/TxK-I_UY_RQ – for the promo clip

 

Presentation and discussion

Shelter report – Building for our future: A vision for social housing

Yvonne Davies

Shelter report

Generally the report was well received:

https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/campaigns/a_vision_for_social_housing

some debate over the proposal for a building regulator, a social  housing regulator for consumers being separate and additional to RSH.

we discussed the consultation which we had all missed from the Housing Ombudsman on a greater role for them on complaints.

That closed last year, but the government has not yet published its response.

There were some concerns about the proposal to formalise tenant panels as many regular panels had become stale and it was felt that more task and finish work might achieve more for residents, quickly. There is insufficient data on what was proposed in the report.

Presentation and discussion

Now that the Hackitt review accepted in full by government – what does this mean for involvement?

Yvonne Davies

Hackitt revisited 23.1.19

Some great practice was emerging from landlords in the room, including:

  • Great Places: Compliance Booklet designed with residents
  • Incommunities = serf service access to risk assessments on line
  • THT: High rise safety tips and review of compliance through the scrutiny panel
  • Leeds CC reviewing purchase of electric notice boards
  • THT: Neighbourhood champions in high and low rise but not yet achieved  for all blocks and questions on what shoudl be on notice boards
  • Great Places: Draft to scrutiny panel for comment on what they might like to see on fire safety assessments, documents, and maintenance on home safety
  • Advice on use of balconies supported by local consultation groups
  • Firmer purpose to consultation during refurbishment -more formal offer
  • Tenant Liaison Officer open meetings and social value being pursed and shared relating to contractor work and an enhanced resident offer under refurbishment
  • THT doig electrical checks in homes
  • Greater Mancs Fire – investigating compartmentalisation and key suppliers like BT and Sky who may be able to breach fire regulations to contain fire.
  • Landlords still have waking night cover patrolling blocks, awaiting clarity on new and appropriate materials to replace existing cladding with, many have taken off the bottom layer of cladding.

The Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS)N comprehensive consultation in Feb 2018  on complaints and redress

Stregthening_Redress_in_Housing_Consultation

Nothing on the website yet to summarise the responses received.

Here is the latest consultation which we also missed which was open for consultation until Dec 2018:

HoS corporate-plan-2019-22-consultation-document

HOS post is currently vacant which may exolain the issue.

Generally there is discussion, over whether the HODS could hear direct from residents in complaints not responded to

There is also a discussion on whether they could take on the consumer standard role.

All is likely to be revealed int he spring white paper on housing.

 

The HOS current consultation on business plan priorities 2019-22

HoS corporate-plan-2019-22-consultation-document

 

More notes to follow of the discussions ” On the Couch” – information requirements and sharing

  • Reaching out to Groups who do not want to attend regular meetings – How can we achieve their engagement
  • Recruiting to Panels – ideas for good approaches
  • Responses to the Green Paper – a C1 from the regulator? MHCLG responses not yet published

 Watch this space for discussion notes!

 

Future events

  • NHC Resident Involvement Conference, 19th June 2019
  • NHC Tenant Panel Conference, 21st November 2019

                          

Volunteers to host for 2019/20 please – April, July and October and January 2020!

Fairness and equality in social housing

Keep your eyes peeled for the full report – due out soon!

Fair for All – Human City Institute – see more information below

equality-and-diversity-in-social-housing

summary113th-december-2018-equality-and-diversity-in-social-housing

On line engagement – challenges and advice

For organisations looking to better understand what customers care about, the move to a dedicated online engagement platform is an easy choice

………………….But finding the right platform is not without challenge.

Bang the Table  give some insight here into the biggest challenges – from data security and privacy to system integration – and how to make the best choice.

www.bangthetable.com/blog/7-big-challenges-selecting-online-community-engagement-platform/utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter-NOV18

Inclusive futures

Inside Housing Top tips from their Inclusive futures challenge – why not sign up?

Inside Housing is calling on organisations to sign up to an inclusive future by taking five steps:

  • Prioritise diversity and inclusion at the top: commitment and persistence from chief executives, directors and chairs in setting goals and monitoring progress.
  • Collect data on the diversity of your board, leadership and total workforce and publish annually with your annual report. Consider gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, age, and representation of tenants on the board.
  • Set aspirational targets for recruitment to the executive team, board and committees from under-represented groups.
  • Challenge recruiting staff and agencies to ensure that all shortlists include candidates from under-represented groups.
  • Make diversity and inclusion a core theme in your talent management strategy to ensure you support people from under-represented groups to progress their careers

Based on the answers of close to 7,000 social tenants, a survey revealed only 42% of BME tenants were satisfied with the overall service, compared to 58% of white tenants.

While the largest disparity in satisfaction exists between BME and white tenants, the survey discovered that groups protected by the Equality Act, including BME, disabled and LGBT people, are across the board less likely to say they are satisfied with landlord services

THE CASE FOR CHANGE from Inside Housing:

34% of housing association chief executives are female

1% of housing association executives have a disability

1.6% of housing association board members are LGBT

Women make up 46% of the UK workforce, but Inside Housing research found they are under-represented on housing association boards (36%), executive teams (39%) and among chief executives (34%).

Almost a fifth of working-age adults have a disability (18%), yet associations reported only 1% of executives and 4.5% of board members with a disability. Many were unable to provide details.

Nationwide, 14% of the working-age population come from a BME background, climbing to 40% in London and Birmingham. Yet our research found that 6.8% of board members identified as BME, compared with 4.5% of executives.

Statistics on representation of LGBT people in the workforce are in short supply, but official statistics suggest that 2% of the total UK population identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, rising to 4.1% for 16 to 24-year-olds. Our survey found that 1.6% of board members and 10 executives were LGBT – but most organisations were unable to provide figures.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL RESEARCH from Inside Housing – thanks

Decision making in asset management

Here is some good advice from Meers and Inside Housing:

“Social landlords are facing challenging conditions when it comes to repairs and maintenance. Grenfell has firmly thrown the spotlight on safety, while the 1% a year rent cut has forced many to look at savings. Finding the right balance has required renewed scrutiny of the different solutions available.

“Outsourcing is a very cyclical business. There will be times when local authorities or the government put out more outsourcing and then that comes back around,” says Gary Jackson, director of communications and customer success at Mears.

An Inside Housing survey in association with Mears had more than 130 responses, and asked landlords and developers what type of repairs and maintenance they were using. Nearly a fifth (19%) of landlords had directly employed repairs operatives for all repairs and maintenance provision. Nearly a third (31%) outsourced their repairs and maintenance provision, while the remaining half used a combination of both.

When asked how confident they were in their chosen solution, the vast majority – 84% – believed that they had made the right decision, with just 11% and 5% respectively admitting to being “not so” or “not at all” confident. Breaking down those who were confident, 17% expressed themselves “extremely” confident, while around a third (34% and 33%) were either “very” or “somewhat” confident respectively.

Respondents were asked to rank their top three priorities when it came to repairs and maintenance. Although there was a considerable spread of answers, the most popular were “quality of service” and “value”. “Safety” was also high on the priority list – a sign of the ongoing fallout from Grenfell, suggests Mr Jackson.

“All local authorities have had to look at safety since Grenfell; they’ve had to look at individual contracts. If you look at the criticism of what happened there, it was so broken down it was not clear who was responsible for what in the end. I think that is the safety aspect coming through,” he says.

Value for money

Value for money and tenant satisfaction were also high on the agenda. “Local authorities are legally obliged to get value for money, which is often the reason why they choose outsourcing – because it comes out cheaper,” says Mr Jackson.

“Tenant satisfaction is again coming from Grenfell. If you look at the government’s Social Housing Green Paper, it talks about ‘tenant voice’ a lot; how residents in social housing can feel more valued. Really, none of the current mechanisms are good enough for involving tenants, and their right to complain to the ombudsman is very limited. There is that element of people feeling excluded from the democratic process,” he adds.

In-house or outsource?

These priorities will often colour the choices landlords and developers make in terms of whether to go down the in-house or outsourced repairs and maintenance route, the survey showed. More than four out of 10 (42%) agreed that they would “definitely” affect their decision, with 35% saying they would “to a great extent”, 18% saying “to some extent” and just 5% “not at all”.

When it came to gauging whether or not an in-house, contractor or shared service solution was sustainable, “performance” was the top factor, cited by 47% of respondents. Other considerations included “cost” (15%), “cost transparency” (8%), “customer service” (8%) and “tenant feedback” (7%).

Looking to the future, how do landlords and developers feel the contractor relationship needs to develop?

A total of 28% said “greater collaboration between landlord and contractor” is needed, closely followed by “openness regarding costs incurred” and “effective use of IT systems and processes” (both 22%). “Greater transparency of a contractor’s financial viability” was deemed important by 9% of respondents, along with “sharing of contract performance information” and “new financial models” (both 3%), and “greater risk sharing” (2%).

Sponsored by Mears

Decision making 2

Closer working

Yet in the post-Grenfell climate “greater collaboration” means – or needs to mean – much more than simply working closely with commercial partners, emphasises Mr Jackson.

“I think it is genuinely about providing tenants with a voice and ‘ownership’ over their community. You see big, big estate regeneration’s that have been probably going on for 20 years on and off but haven’t really involved the residents or provided a real community space and community housing,” he says.

“Then, in terms of safety and repairs, hopefully what we’ll see is this being a turning point where residents have a lot more faith that their property will be generally well-maintained and will have an understanding when a contract is signed about what that really looks like.

“This should be a positive thing for all decent landlords to do, too. Because, we would argue, the more planned the maintenance and the more involved the residents are, the less money you will spend in having to do crisis repairs. I think it benefits everybody, this collaboration point,” says Mr Jackson.

“Social value” was also included by some respondents within their list of top three priorities, albeit at the lower end of responses.

“Social value as a concept used to be quite popular in the late-1990s; if you were a contractor or outsourcer coming in, you’d want to prove your added value. How does what you’re doing affect the community you’re working in, how does it bring a community together, how does it make a community feel part of a decision-making process? We’re seeing the rise again of social value with developers. That cyclical wind is blowing in favour of social value,” says Mr Jackson.”

Big Society Update Nov and Dec 18

Here is the latest from our friends in the Office of Civil Society in December:

1. Show your support for #LocalCharitiesDay!

 

Local Charities Day, celebrating the fantastic work that local charities do to build thriving communities across the country. We are showcasing the incredible work of small charities and their volunteers on our social media channels and we want you to do the same to show your support!

 

2. Safeguarding Training Fund launched

 

As part of the wider Government strategy to improve safeguarding practice across the voluntary sector in England, DCMS in partnership with Big Lottery Fund are investing a total of £1.14 million to improve access to training, support and advice.

The Safeguarding Training Fund will provide funding in two phases until 2022. For the first phase we are seeking an organisation or partnership of organisations with the track record and knowledge to develop high quality resources which will be freely available to the voluntary sector to improve safeguarding practice.

This will then be followed by a second phase which will fund a small number or organisations or partnerships to share the resources developed during Phase 1 and support grassroots charities and community organisations to improve their safeguarding practice.

Phase 1 applications are open now. We are inviting applications of up to £570,000 and the submission deadline is Monday 14 January at 12.00pm.

Find out more and apply here.

 

3. Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner

 

The Home Office has announced it is launching recruitment for a Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner to to help the government transform its response to domestic abuse.

The commissioner will be charged with standing up for victims and survivors, providing public leadership on domestic abuse concerns and driving the response to issues.

The candidate will give recommendations to the government and local bodies on how provisions could be improved and highlight where best practice is taking place. The Commissioner will also look at the needs of victims and survivors from minority or marginalised groups, and children affected by domestic abuse.

For further information on the recruitment campaign visit the Cabinet Office website.

 

 

Here are the November highlights:

Updates from the Office for Civil Society in November 2018:

  1. Local Charities Day – 14 December 2018
  2. Charities safeguarding measures bolstered through new dedicated fund
  3. New Digital Leadership Fund now open for applications
  4. Charity Digital Code of Practice published today
  5. Mims Davies MP appointed as new Minister for Sport and Civil Society
  6. Tender and Expression of Interest for the Innovation in Democracy Programme are now open
  7. Tender and Expression of Interest for DCMS’ Growing Place-based Giving Programme open for applications

UPDATE from OCS in March 2019

lease note that this month’s edition of For Info was missing the link to the VCSEs: a bidders guide to working with government document. You can access the guide here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/781069/VCSEs-_a__bidder_s_guide_to_working_with_central_and_local_government.pdf

In addition to this, we have subsequently announced the launch of Fair4All Finance, the new organisation focussed on financial inclusion that will be funded by dormant assets money and which the Secretary of State for DCMS announced in the Civil Society Strategy in August.

The organisation will support the financial wellbeing of the most vulnerable groups in our society by increasing access to fair, affordable and appropriate financial products and service

 
From contacts:

Jennie Noble and Paul Schofield 
Office for Civil Society
Local Team North
jennie.noble@culture.gov.uk
07515 629 307

IPPR’s Social Contract for the 21st centrury

From IPPR:

“A decade on from the crash and the subsequent all-out assault on Britain’s welfare state, politics has radically changed. The global rise of populism brings to the fore questions of where the boundaries of citizenship lie and the relationship between citizens and the state. Our public services and social safety net are in need of reinvestment and re-imagining.

This issue explores what a modern, emancipatory welfare state would look like. Progressives will need to recast both policy and statecraft for the politics of the day: only then can we recover from the damage of the previous eight years and realise a better future for all.

Managed migration of universal credit

A cross-party group of MPs has urged ministers to delay the next parliamentary vote on the migration of Universal Credit until after the government’s benefit policy watchdog has assessed its plans

Here is the report:

Managed_migration

According to Inside Housing:

“In a report published today, the Work and Pensions Select Committee said the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), MPs and peers need more time to assess changes to the regulations for the managed migration of Universal Credit issued this month.

The committee said the new rules are “much improved” – but it still has “major areas of concern” about the government’s plans to transfer around four million benefit claimants onto Universal Credit by 2023.

And it echoed the SSAC and National Audit Office’s calls for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to set and meet tests on its readiness for the next phase of managed migration before the transition begins.

The government has said it will not set tests until 2020 – a year after the managed migration pilot begins – but the MPs’ report said that timeline “is simply not good enough”.