combined presentations (2.6mb)

Policy Forum 1: The Local Authority strategic role –how can Local Authorities be agents of change?Chair: ALISON BREESE CIHSE Policy Officer and Council Member

STEVE PARTRIDGE Director of Financial Policy & Development, CIH/ConsultCIH

ANDY STANIFORD Housing Strategy Manager, Brighton & Hove Council

www.cih.org

Policy Forum: LA Strategic Housing Role

Challenges and opportunities

CIH South East Conference

3rd March 2010

Steve Partridge

Introduction

• The Strategic Housing Role• Where have we come from and what is it now?

• Funding, government and policy

• Challenges and barriers

• Key messages: sustainability and partnerships

History: from bandings to place shaping…

• Statutory housing function• A decade ago

– Housing Strategies emerging– Bandings indicated success and good practice

• Business planning and ‘Fit for Purpose’– Focus on the document…?– Focus on funding towards landlord issues and social housing

• Recent history -> place shaping– Housing – not just social housing– Communities & places – not just houses– Serving people – providing more for more people

The Role: housing and place shaping

Place shaping is the:

“… creative use of powers and influence to promote the general well-being of a community and its citizens.”

“The local authority strategic housing role is made up of the strategic decisions and activities associated with

effective planning and delivery, in order to meet the housing needs of all residents across all tenures. Strong

performance in this role will support effective place shaping and help ensure delivery of the wider sustainable

community.”

*Sir Michael Lyons 2007*Sir Michael Lyons 2007

The role…

Use vision, leadership, planning and delivery at a strategic level to:

• Assess and plan for the current and future housing needs of the local population across all tenures

• Make the best use of the existing housing stock• Plan and facilitate new supply• Plan and commission housing support services which

link homes to the support and other services that people need to live in them

• Work in partnership to secure effective housing and neighbourhood management on an ongoing basis

… to deliver … and the need to perform

• Delivery– New supply– Good quality existing stock– Economic gain (sub-national review)– Community cohesion– Sustainability (environment & social)– Services to support people in housing

• Performance– Local performance framework– Comprehensive Area Assessment– National targets– Regional priorities

Delivery and performance: mixed picture?

• Audit Commission: “Building Better Lives”– Challenges in delivering an effective strategic housing role– New supply vs existing housing– Responding to the recession

• Positive practice: CAA green flags– Eg Birmingham – Working in partnership to meet housing need,

Poole – Housing development and meeting the needs of residents, Blackpool – Tackling homelessness, Croydon – Economic partnerships for future prosperity, North Yorkshire – Helping older and vulnerable people to keep their independence

• Audit Commission inspection of Strategic Housing function a key driver to improved delivery and effectiveness

Funding: how bad is it?

• Pre-budget report projections for 2009/10• Position…

– Continues into 2010/11– Gap closes from 2011/12 as taxes rise and expenditure falls

Education, 88

Housing/Env, 30Debt int, 30

Other, 190 Social

,protection/servs219

Health, 119

,Income tax/NI235

Excise/VAT, 111

Corp Tax/Busrates/C Tax ,83

Other, 68

Expenditure £676bn Receipts £497bn

HMT Pre-budget report 2009/10 projections

Timetable for recovery…

• Not until 2015/16…• PBR commits borrowing to reduce to 5.5% of GDP in

2013/14 – debt still rising at the end of next CSR cycle• Golden Rules…?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

8/9 9/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

PSND % of GDP PSNB % of GDP

Proportion of GDP that is borrowing and debt: total and annual

PSNDPublic Sector Net Debt

PSNB Public Sector Net Borrowing

PSNDPublic Sector Net Debt

PSNB Public Sector Net Borrowing

Mixed for landlords; challenge for strategic

• Mixed picture (1): Short term ‘gain’ and longer term ‘pain’– The pre- and post-April 2011 prospects

• Mixed picture (2)• Capital: directly affects national borrowing and debt

– Efficiencies and savings– Cost of finance and availability of grant funding

• Revenue: a longer term prognosis– Rental growth (but HB critical)– A better deal for council housing

• For Strategic Housing: capital and revenue constrained equally

Impact for strategic housing

• Staffing and resources– Already under-resourced in many areas

• Requirement for good evidence base– SHLAA / HMA etc– Contracting out and getting it right

• Total Place– Minority of funding controlled via local authority

• Need for partnerships– Could run in opposite direction– Public, private and voluntary organisations pooling resources

Future policy directions?

• Realities of the recession– Domination of economic conditions– Emphasis on restoring growth and mitigating recession impact– Wider ‘priorities’ take a back seat– Fundamentals remain as benchmark

• Housing not public priority - ironically– Focus on recession-related social issues and ‘Housing plus’– Urgent need to build… something somewhere!– New funding models: public equity, private investment– New products: shift to intermediate and private rented

• The new ‘normal’ for housing…

The new ‘normal’ for housing

• Local authority strategy and delivery (co-ordinating and

facilitating funding)

• Co-operative and mutual

• Renting is part of the solution: need more options

• Private rented sector investment and incentives

• Flexible tenure

• Mobility between tenures

• Asset building for renters

• Green homes

It doesn’t matter who’s in power

• ‘Financial constraints’ always win

• ‘Localism’ always wins– But differences of emphasis– If regional tiers are disbanded, issues remain…– Capacity, inconsistency, risk of distortion in supply, where are the

sticks and problems of politics and transition?

• ‘Sub-regional’ always wins– Moving away from national politics to national agencies– Single conversations (or equivalent) across wider areas

Barriers

• Politics and professional expediency not always matched• Public opinion and professional expediency not always

matched• Challenges in making it work: then the recession• Strategic Housing as a professional career direction

– But there are core skills which need greater recognition

• Absence of a good, live (real time), evidence base – What is happening locally and how it is changing

• Officers need support: especially given lack of seniority in many cases

• Getting partners to see beyond their own professional / business interests– Direct and short term

Overcoming barriers• Greater understanding (all levels) of importance of the strategic

housing role– Resources (IDeA) available to support councillors

• More robust ways of working with communities – Developing a collective vision; Connecting communities initiative

• Professional support and development networks – Eg IDeA community of practice

– Champions at different levels; working links between departments

– Detailed understanding of LA and partners’ roles

– Clarity about resources

• Technology and intelligence– GIS and integrating in-house knowledge

– Drawing on partners knowledge, tracking changes and awareness of their priorities

• A senior lead for an essential strategic service

Partnerships and ‘collective thinking’

• LA Strategic Housing Role is a Partnership Role– Co-ordinating evidence and policy– Delivery via partners

• Glass Half Empty– Resource constraints lead to…– Reduction in numbers and status– Retrenchment from partners: it’s all too hard

• Glass Half Full– Recession drives partnerships to greater co-operation and co-

ordination to deliver greater value– Consolidation of regional reforms and/or different government

could drive joint working locally and sub-regionally

Summary: key messages

• Plurality and diversity of provision

• Sub-regional working

• Leadership and capacity critical– Boosting the role and the function

• Partnership – Resources and delivery

Contacts

Steve Partridge

Chartered Institute of Housing and ConsultCIH

Octavia House

Westwood Way

Coventry CV4 8JP

07968 354948

[email protected]

[email protected]

21st Annual CIH South East Conference 2-4 March 2010

The Local Authority strategic role – how can Local Authorities

be agents of change?

Housing & Health

Andy Staniford FCIHHousing Strategy ManagerBrighton & Hove City Councilt: +44 (0)1273 293159 e: [email protected]

21st Annual CIH South East Conference2-4 March 2010

Brighton & Hove

250,000 people in 120,000 homes

High property prices and low incomes

Non-decent housing across all tenures, primarily affecting the vulnerable

22,000 households (≈1:5) in the city have someone with a support need

High proportion of homelessness around mental health and physical disability issues


The Housing Strategy: A Partnership

Housing Strategy 2009-2014:healthy homes, healthy lives, healthy city

A new approach to the strategy:– Moved from local authority to joint LA & Local Strategic

Partnership– Housing & Support Working Groups (Older People &

LGBT People)– Student Housing Strategy– Phased consultation to increase engagement

Health Impact Assessment by Primary Care Trust


Housing & Health: The Shared Agenda

Supporting People

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

Comprehensive Area Assessment

Total Place

Determinants of Health


Health Impact Assessment

World Health Organisation definition of HIA:

– ‘A combination of procedures, methods and tools to judge the potential effects of policy, plan or project on the health of a population and the distribution of these effects within the population’

– HIA provides decision-makers with recommendations to maximise health gains and minimise potential adverse effects on health and well-being


Brighton & Hove Health Impact Assessment

Approach:– review of the national evidence base (WHO four-layer

model)– consultation and questionnaire involving stakeholders

and local people– workshops involving Housing and Public Health Staff– review of the Private Sector House Condition Survey – review of the draft housing strategies

Ensures our housing objectives make an active contribution to improving health and well-being and reducing inequality


Health Impact Assessment Main Findings

Evidence of Cause:– housing quality– noise, damp, repair needs– homelessness– home accidents– anti-social behaviour– lack of support

Evidence of Effect:– mental health (particularly

depression)– physical health– impact on different groups

Interventions:– Lack of primary research– although there are

interventions recommended in reviews by NICE, WHO and GOSE

Overall:– Evidence to show how

housing needs create health needs

– Limited research/evidence to show that resolving housing needs improves health

– A common sense approach?


Outcomes

Health recommendations in the new Housing Strategy

Improved understanding between health and housing

Joint working:– Public Health directorate now joint with Council and PCT– Public Health representation on LSPs Strategic Housing

Partnership– Housing now member of PCT led JSNA Steering Group (and sub

groups)– PCT joining Single Homeless Steering Group– New Housing Health Inequalities Steering Group with

membership from housing, social care and health

Challenge:– Evidencing health improvements from housing interventions to

inform joint commissioning


Audit Commission Research

“Building Better Lives: getting the best from strategic housing”, Audit Commission, Sept 2009

Adaptations– Spending £2,000-£20,000 on

adaptations to support an elderly person at home can save £6,000 per year in care costs

Housing Support– Every £1 spent on support can

save £2 on health, tenancy failure, crime and residential care


CIEH / BRE Health & Housing Calculator

South East Region:

Falls and excess cold:– >33,000 incidents each

year– Likely NHS cost ≈£212m– Cost to remedy ≈£53m

Damp, entry by intruders and overcrowding:– Likely NHS cost ≈£46m – Cost to remedy ≈£155m

South East RegionPrivate Sector Housing Estimated Health &

Housing Costs

£- £50 £100 £150

Stair Falls

Level Falls

Excess Cold

Damp

Entry byintruders

Crowding &Spacing

Millions

Estimated AnnualCost to NHS

Estimated Cost toremedy housing issue

Source: BRE / CIEH - HHSRS Calculator


Inside Housing / CIH


The Housing Strategy: Making a Difference

Over the lifetime of this strategy we would like to achieve:

– Improving the quality of council housing up to the Decent Homes Standard, improving energy efficiency and regenerating deprived areas

– A balance of support and enforcement to tackle social exclusion, anti-social behaviour and improve quality of life

– An Accessible Housing Register of adapted and wheelchair homes– More affordable housing, particularly family housing– All new homes built to Lifetime Homes Standard and 10% of all

affordable housing built to the wheelchair standard– Support being provided to around 4,000 people every year to

help them maintain their independence– Improved access to inclusive housing and support services for

vulnerable people


The Region’s Challenge

Effective housing and support services improve the health of local people.

– How much additional pressure would be placed on health and care economies if housing and support services were reduced?

– What is the potential for the health and care economies to make future savings through targeted expansion of housing and support services?


Thank You for Your Time

Housing Strategy Team, Brighton & Hove City Council, 4th Floor Bartholomew House, Bartholomew Square, Brighton, BN1 1JE

t: +44 (0)1273 293055 f: +44 (0)1273 293168 e: [email protected]