Date

^13th November 2002

Reporting Area

Housing

Lead Director

Jane Ashman

PROGRESS MADE

ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED

STATUS/ WHO?

Leadership

Staff involvement in the development of the Strategic Housing Service Plan has taken place.

Jane Shayler

People Management

The move of non-operational staff to new office accommodation at Plymouth House went ahead on 14 October.

Arrangements for movement of operational staff to and within Lewis House are still to be finalised.

Colin Keane

The IT problems delaying the Choice-Based Lettings pilot have now been resolved. An implementation plan has been agreed and a `go live' date of 4 November is anticipated.

Colin Keane

Work to establish baseline information and to identify targets for increasing the Service's representation of black and other minority ethnic employees and disabled employees by 5% relative to turnover is well under way.

Need to establish the best ways of achieving these targets including adopting best practice in other services and organisations.

Jane Shayler

The Spa Care Line monitoring service has now closed. Interim call monitoring arrangements have been put in place until the end of the financial year. Bath & North East Somerset Community Alarm Service has been awarded Chartermark, which will be presented at the end of November.

A review of the Community Alarm Service is underway and will report by the end of March 03.

Steve Wakefield

Policy and Strategy

The Housing Strategy was approved with amendments by Full Council in September. It has now been submitted to GoSW for consideration. A review of the targets identified in the Strategy will begin in the New Year.

Ann Robins

The Supporting People Shadow Strategy was approved by the Executive and signed off by Bath &North East Somerset PCT, Avon & Somerset Probation and Social & Housing services before being delivered to ODPM at the end of September.

October milestones have been submitted to ODPM on time along with reports on contracting activity and "sizing the pot" data. Selection of an IT provider for the software to run the programme is proceeding well. A supplier should be selected by the end of October.

Work has started on the review of homelessness and formulation of a Homelessness Strategy, as required by the Homelessness Act 2002.

Bath & North East Somerset Council is working with Bristol City, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Councils to develop a strategic regional response to homelessness. The University of the West of England has been tasked with scoping the strategy.

The review and strategy have to be completed by July 2003.

Sarah Shatwell

Sarah Shatwell

Ann Robins

Ann Robins

Contracts have been issued to service-providers implementing the Single Homelessness Strategy. A review of the targets contained in the Strategy will start in November 2002.

Ann Robins

Resources

Capital expenditure on affordable housing development is below target. (Approx. £3.5m in 2002/03)

The housing market in Bath & North East Somerset remains very strong which impacts upon affordability and housing needs. It also means that developments can become more expensive and the average cost per unit of providing new affordable housing rises. Delays in some of key schemes in the planning and start-on-site stages are holding up grant-spend and completions.

Colin Keane

ODPM allocated £27,000 to Bath & North East Somerset Council for the implementation of the Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) Order. This will be used to cover work arising out of the review of homelessness, meeting our targets around B&B use, promotion of the Housing Options & Advice Service, prevention of homelessness and the regional strategy.

Jane Shayler

Negotiations are still on-going to appoint a trainee through Centre for Employment & Enterprise Development (CEED) to look at the housing support needs of service-users and carers, especially in the black and other ethnic minority community.

Sarah Shatwell

Processes

A revised Housing Grants Policy was approved by the Executive Member for Community Safety, Housing and Consumer Services on 5 August.

Work to establish baseline information on access to housing services by black and other minority ethnic people and disabled people is progressing well. The new housing IT system will make the collection of information on access to Housing Options & Advice services much easier than was the case with the old system.

Graham Sabourn

Ref.

Indicator

2000/01

Actual

2001/02

Actual

Current

2002/3

Target

Status*

Comment

62

Proportion of unfit private sector dwellings made fit or demolished as a direct result of action by B&NES

1.1%

1.4%

0.7 %

1.5%

Amber

A housing fitness survey is required to provide a more accurate baseline figure for number of unfit properties - deferred due to financial situation.

64

The number of private sector dwellings that are returned into occupation or demolished during 2002/032 as a direct result of action by the local authority

5.2%

6.1%
(10)

4

8

Green

67

Percentage of homelessness applications on which B&NES makes a decision and issues written notification within 33 working days

76.5%

79.4

77.1%

85%

Red

183

Average length of stay (in weeks) of homeless households with children in:
a) B&B
b) hostel

-

-

7.1

8.5

-

Green

New indicator - no targets yet.

New affordable housing units

139

92

21

88

Amber

See text (resources)

Percentage of new affordable housing units on brownfield sites

94%

84%

100

60%

Green

Percentage of new registered social landlord homes achieving `lifetime' standards

76%

47%

3.5%

60%

Red

2001/2 target not met due to high % of refurbished property and planning gain sites

Number of new call alarms provided to elderly and vulnerable people so they can raise help if needed

306

311

154

250

Green

HP3

Provide 600 additional social housing units over by 2005

139

92

21

88

Amber

See text (resources)