Article: Securing a strong future for housing services and standards! Article Body Securing a strong future for housing services and standards! Background In 2002 the Council worked with tenants organisations to look at how it could bring about improved housing standards across Barnsley in order to meet the Governments decent homes standard. What was agreed was a 10 year plan, which included setting up Berneslai Homes to deliver the decent homes programme and to work with tenants to improve services. This work and improved star ratings on how services were delivered helped the Council to secure major additional funding. This 10 year plan is now drawing to a close, and whilst much has been achieved we still have more to do. So the Government, the Council, Berneslai Homes, and residents have set about looking at housing standards for the next 10 to 30 years to protect and build upon the investment that has been made in council housing. At the Customer Panel in May 2010 we discussed what future services and standards were required by tenants and leaseholders. These comments from you are helping us shape the future of the service. To plan for the future we need to remember what we have already achieved. " Berneslai Homes is rated a 3* excellent organisation. " We have the highest ever tenant satisfaction levels with the Housing Service. " We have invested over £200m in council homes. " Current Decent Homes programme is 96% complete and ends in 2010. " We have carried out a number of major regenerations schemes across the borough. " This year we have started building new council homes again. Planning for the future Yes it is clear we have done at lot, but with more to do the Government has come up with a new idea for the future funding arrangements for the Councils maintenance and improvements to homes and services, called self financing. What is self financing? Self financing does as it says on the tin. The current housing subsidy system under which we operate is complex and as budgets are set annually on a national basis it means we cannot effectively make long term plans for council housing. The Government has consulted councils and resident groups on self financing. How will self financing affect Barnsley Council tenants? Under self financing everyone would remain a Council secure tenant. Future funding is planned over 30 year periods so if self financing is right for Barnsley it would offer security and confidence that we can continue to invest in council homes and deliver excellent services in the long term. How will you know if self financing will work for Barnsley? We did a lot of work to see if it worked for Barnsley. The council, with support from Berneslai Homes, had staff in post working on this project. We set up a Board to oversee the process, with a number of groups working with tenants and residents to supply necessary information, get your views and come up with a recommendation on the best way forward. Following this work the Council responded positively to the consultation in July 2010. The Government has since published a summary of the housing sector response. What sort of information was needed? We reviewed the 30 year plan that tells us what we need to spend to keep properties up to standard during the next 30 years. This is based on what and how many times things need replacing and how much they will cost. What services and standards were proposed? The basic standard for a decent home is one that is warm, weatherproof and has reasonably modern facilities. However people have been telling us what additional priorities to the decent homes standard they want if it is affordable - Very Important - fencing or walls to front boundaries and abutting public land, paths to doors, outhouses that need removing, extractor fans in new kitchens and bathrooms, include external lights on rewiring, environmental projects, giving the tower blocks a facelift, deciding what to do with sheltered housing, community centres, shops, estate offices and garages or even build new sheltered schemes. Important - fencing or walls between neighbours, side paths, repair & maintenance of outhouses, provision of carbon monoxide alarms, wheelie bin storage areas, building specific types of council homes and improving services. Less Important - garden paths, facilitating off road parking, providing showers over baths, washing posts, sprinkler systems in blocks of flats and build lots more council houses. What was used to evaluate what works for Barnsley? We set three themes of evaluation criteria, a strategic theme about the best fit for Barnsley, a finance theme about what figures work and an engagement theme about tenants wishes. Who would manage the council stock under self financing? Under self financing the main options for delivering the housing service are: Stay as we are with Berneslai Homes under existing management / governance arrangements; Stay as we are with an ALMO under amended management / governance arrangements; Return the housing service to the Council. We also would need under any option to ensure that tenants / leaseholders were placed at the centre of how we work and in particular we would wish to work with tenants to further strengthen and align our agreements with tenants. What if self financing doesnt work for Barnsley? The Government has said it will bring about self financing through use of primary legislation as part of the Localism Bill so we wont have a choice. The details of the settlement are expected in the near future. How can I get involved? We tried to capture as many views as possible and talked to the Federation of Tenants and Residents and Berneslai Homes Customer Panel. Once the self financing settlement is known we need to establish the most suitable option for delivering the housing management and maintenance service in future. Our website is regularly updated with the latest information, regular progress reports and opportunities to get involved or you can pose questions to the project team by e-mailing us at strategichousing@barnsley.gov.uk Who makes the final decision on self financing in Barnsley and when will that be? The Council made the final decision on how to respond to the consultation based on a wide range of information taking into account your views and whether the detail of the Governments self financing offer delivered the right security for a strong and solid future for you and your home. The Government has decided that self financing will go ahead using legislation. This means we wont have any choice whether to implement self financing or the terms of the settlement. In terms of timescales, its difficult to say, but we anticipate that self financing will be brought in through the Localism Bill in November 2011 and self financing may start in April 2012. How can I get feedback? You can get feedback via the regular progress reports and opportunities to get involved on our website. Further Information Communities and Local Government Barnsley's response to the consultation Reform of council housing finance consulation: A summary of the housing sector response Tenants and Residents Organisations of England Communities and Local Government: Self-Financing of Council Housing Services Communication Statement- 5th July 2010