Meeting documents

Appendix 1

Report to Executive

4-Monthly Performance Report

SCOPE OF REPORTING AREA

Adult Residential Care

Housing Services

Homelessness

Main achievements

A7 A bid for beacon status has been submitted in conjunction with housing colleagues from Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The bid features the sub regional work that has been completed in relation to the provision of affordable housing. The unique aspect is the joint working the authorities have undertaken to achieve consistency on planning for affordable housing and the new HomesWest development partnership.

A7 As part of work with the Fire Service to improve fire safety in residential properties a 93Chip Pan Amnesty94 was implemented in September. Traditional style open chip pans which heat on top of cookers are known to be the main source of fires in the home. Under the Amnesty householders are encouraged to swap their old chip pan for a far safer electric deep fat fryer. In the first month of the Amnesty 18 chip pans were handed in.

A7 The review of the Housing Renewal Policy has successfully passed through the democratic process. The policy continues to focus on disabled, low-income, elderly and otherwise vulnerable homeowners; however there is also limited financial assistance for other housing issues including voluntary property accreditation, energy efficiency and the recovery of void and empty properties.

A7 The Homelessness Review & Strategy 2003-2005 have been assessed by the Housing Quality Network on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). The review, carried out by a multi-agency working group, is `thorough, detailed and inclusive' and the work around repeat homelessness described as excellent. Improvements are suggested around user-involvement, costed and measurable outputs and the level of detail on monitoring and evaluation and will be taken into account in when the Strategy is reviewed in the next few months.

A7 The second annual Housing Conference took place in July with over 80

A7 The Council's Property Accreditation Scheme, for improving housing

standards in the private rented sector, continues to go from strength to

A7 The Supporting People strategy consultation has been completed, including tailored consultation for service users.

A7 The Council received very good inspection reports from the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) for three of our Elderly People Homes (EPH's): Hawthorn House; Sunnyside; and Goldney.

A7 The Affordable Housing Capital programme has approved by the executive member.

A7 The Housing Standards Team successfully defended an appeal in the County Court against enforcement action taken on a landlord of a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO). The landlord was fined A34000 and the Council was awarded A31000 costs.

Planned Actions not achieved

A7 Bids for the DoH extra care challenge fund for 2005/06 were not submitted because the extra care housing which forms part of the Midsomer Norton Community Resource Centre is already funded and the Keynsham extra care housing scheme does not start on site until the financial year 2006/07 and is not, therefore, eligible for funding from the 2005/06 extra care challenge fund.

Development Opportunities

A7 A new Homes Loan Scheme has now been agreed. In the next month ten Local Authorities, including Bath and North East Somerset, will sign up to this Scheme, which provides low-interest loans to assist low income home owners fund repairs and improvements to bring their homes up to a good standard. This Scheme has been developed using funding secured through a joint bit to GOSW for A32.65 million over two years of which Bath & North East Somerset has been allocated A3225,000 over two years.

A7 The first meeting of Homes West, a sub-regional delivery vehicle for affordable and intermediate market housing, took place at the end of May. The Homes West Partners are Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucester Councils; Somer, Sarsen, Sovereign and Knightstone Registered Social Landlords (RSL'S) and the Housing Corporation.

Potential threats

B7 Recent figures from the Department for Constitutional Affairs show that the number of homes being repossessed by mortgage lenders is at a three year high. If this trend continues then the increased demand on our service could have an adverse effect on achievement of Bed & Breakfast targets.

Update on Corporate Projects

A7 Work to develop new roles in social care, which is receiving pilot funding from TOPSS, is progressing well. The NVQ 3 in Care units and training specification have been agreed with partners and training providers have been appointed. The next step will be to select those staff who will undertake the training.

A7 Works have started at St Johns Court, Bath. The programme of work at St John's Court includes the infilling of the under storey parking area to form a new dining room and commercial kitchen, the upgrading of 27 flats to provide for a higher level of care and access works to achieve compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act. The project is valued at A31.3m and will last for 46 weeks. Planning Permission for Carrswood Community Resource Centre and Day Centre for People with Learning Difficulties has been submitted.

2. Reporting on targets and commitments made in the Performance Plan

Note 1: Clarification on the guidance relating to this BVPI has enabled us to widen the scope of properties made fit. In particular, properties which are brought up to standard through our voluntary property accreditation scheme have now been included. In addition a recent house condition survey has shown a reduced level of unfit properties within the district, thus inflating the final BVPI figure. Taking this into account it was decided the targets for 2004/05 needed to be revised. Therefore they are now higher than those previously published.

Note 2: It is not appropriate to compare against the top 25% of English Councils for this BVPI because of the two part nature of the indicator and the different use made of B&B and hostel accommodation in different authorities. The averages (mean) for English Councils in 0203 were 7 weeks and 15 weeks for parts (i) and (ii) respectively.

Note 3: Because the target for 183(i) was not achieved in 2003/04 therefore it was decided to set a new target for 2004/05 that was higher than previously published but more realistic.

3. Disability and Ethnicity - Reporting Housing & Supported Living Staff

Access to Services by BME and Disabled People

We have the following information on access to services: