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REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF HOUSING AND PLANNING
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TO THE LEAD MEMBER FOR HOUSING
ON 19th October 2006
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TITLE:
Community Housing Briefing – Commissioning &Projects Team
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RECOMMENDATIONS: That Lead Member for Housing note the updates on the
work of the Commissioning and Projects Team
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Commissioning and Projects Team is currently a team of 14 officers, covering a
wide remit of Commissioning and Procurement, Affordable Warmth and Energy
Efficiency, Added Value and Partnering, Monitoring and Best Practice of Compulsory
Purchase Orders, Home Improvement Agency and Capital Build projects. The team is
currently recruiting to 5 other posts which will cover Smoke Free Homes, Housing
Options for Older People and to further support the Affordable Warmth programme.
Its remit within the Strategy and Community Housing Team is to deliver the physical
aspects of housing provision for older and vulnerable people needing support.
The report sets out specific information to allow Lead member for Housing to increase
awareness and understanding of progress and successes within the specific projects
and to predict support and decisions required which may arise in the short or medium
term.
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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
No background documents were used in the preparation of this report.
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ASSESSMENT OF RISK:
Varied – The diverse nature of the work undertaken by the Projects Team means that
the risks associated with each project differ both in their nature, potential
impact and likelihood. Therefore at the start of each project a risk
assessment is carried out not only to quantify the associated risk but also to
ensure that appropriate mitigation measures are put in place.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING:
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Housing Capital Programme – Private sector
Housing Capital Programme - Public Sector
Department of Health
Safer Stronger Communities
HRA
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LEGAL IMPLICATIONS:
Varied – The Project Team works closely with colleagues in Legal Services on all
projects to ensure that Standing Orders and relevant legislation and regulations are
complied with fully.
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The Team is responsible for the delivery of a total capital budget of £3,135,000 in the
current financial year.
The revenue costs of staff within the team total £613,000
COMMUNICATION IMPLICATIONS:
The work of the Team covers a wide range of projects each with their own
diverse communication issues ranging form the need to promote the new
citywide Handyperson Service to potential customers to the need to
appropriately engage local communities with regard to sensitive and potentially
contentious projects to meet the needs of vulnerable groups.
As a result of this the Team has established a close working relationship with
the Council’s Corporate Marketing and Communications Team. Specific
communications strategies have been put in place for a number of projects
and communication issues are highlighted as part of the established process
for commissioning a project with the team
VALUE FOR MONEY IMPLICATIONS:
The Team is responsible for the delivery of a total capital budget of £3,135,000 in the
current financial year, of which £1,030,000 is derived from specific external funding
attracted to the City to support individual projects.
Annually the Affordable Warmth programme levers in over £1,000,000 from an
average council investment of less than £100,000 via the private sector and
major utility companies.
CLIENT IMPLICATIONS:
There are no client implications relevant to this report.
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PROPERTY:
Varied – Some of the projects delivered by the team require the disposal of City
Council Assets (SWOSS) and others the acquisition of property by the City Council or
one of our partners (EMMAUS). Where this is the case the Team works closely with
colleagues in Urban Vision.
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HUMAN RESOURCES:
The work of the Team in delivering its responsibilities is fully reflected in both
team and individual workplans that are actively managed in line with the
performance management framework.
CONTACT OFFICER:
Clare Ibbeson – Projects Team Manager 0161 922 8710
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WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S):
All Wards
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KEY COUNCIL POLICIES:
The work of the Commissioning and Projects Team cuts across a the key Council
Policies, including the Housing Strategy, Well-Being Strategy, Supporting People
Strategy, Crime and Disorder Strategy, Human Resources Startegy.
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DETAILS:
Background
1. Strategic and Community Housing’s Commissioning & Projects Team
currently consists of 14 people delivering the property related aspects of
supported accommodation.
1.1. The Team manages;
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Affordable Warmth
Home Improvements
Project Management of Capital Builds
Added Value
Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO)
Commissioning and Procurement
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1.2. In addition the team is currently recruiting into two new areas of work
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Smoke Free Homes
Link Age Housing Options Project
1.3. Appendix 1 shows a full structure of the team and summaries of their
areas of responsibility.
1.4. The team has some strategic responsibilities, for example for the
Affordable Warmth Strategy and it has statutory functions, for example
carrying out CPO’s to the legislative standard. The team project
manages time-bound projects funded by both capital and revenue, for
example the Extra Care unit conversions as well as procuring services
for Strategic and Community Housing, for example the new
Handypersons service.
1.5. The team also has operational responsibilities for the Home
Improvement Agency (HIA). £500,000 is made available through the
Housing Capital Programme annually to the HIA to provide home
improvements that assist older people and other vulnerable people to
live in safe, manageable and warm housing of their choice. The policy
under which funding is made available to the HIA has recently
undergone a major change and the team is carrying out a mahor
review of the HIA model and delivery mechanism, in order to secure its
long term position.
1.6. Practical services like this, the handypersons scheme, affordable
warmth or the Housing Options Project are of critical importance in
facilitating independence and physical and emotional well-being as
people age as well as reducing the burden on high cost medical and
care interventions, making housing choice a reality for many of the
City’s more vulnerable residents.
1.7. The development of effective partnerships and joint working with a wide
range of internal and external partners is a key theme to much of the
teams work, both in procurement of external funding for schemes, the
realisation of added value within projects and the delivery of projects in
line with set requirements.
The Projects
2. This section of the report contains brief descriptions of the major active
projects that the Project Team is managing, a more in depth register of
projects, associated with the officer in charge of the project is attached at
Appendix 2 that describes partners, stakeholders and provides specific
milestones;
2.1. Commissioning and Procurement
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2.1.1. The Project Team has successfully launched the new Citywide
Handypersons Service in May 2006. It is being run by “Helping
Hands”, a local Salford business, sited in Swinton. The service will
perform the usual Handyperson tasks, plus they will provide free
minor repairs, from capital funding to the value of £250,000
provided by the Housing Capital Programme. The vision for the
service is to contribute to Housing Services’, Community Health
and Social Care’s and the Primary Care Trust’s agendas to
improve health and safety in the home and to enable older and
disabled people to maintain their independence for as long as they
want.
2.1.2. Work has been undertaken with Salford Direct to provide
telephone support to the service. A communication strategy has
been compiled with the aid of the Marketing team to ensure people
eligible for free works are targeted, these are older people, families
with children under 5 years and disabled people, (on a means
tested benefit). The service has been promoted in the Salford
Advertiser and the Manchester Evening News as well as appearing
as a full page spread in Life IN Salford and on the City Council’s
own website; leaflets are handed out at all related events in
Salford.
2.2. Capital Build Delivery
2.2.1. The Project Team supports a number of capital builds, including
the proposal to develop a new build scheme of 8 x 2 bedroom self
contained flats for vulnerable women at a site on Florence Street,
Winton, known as the Salford Women’s only Support Scheme
(SWOSS). The scheme will help meet a gap in housing for Salford
women needing extra support to live independently. The
Department of Health is funding four schemes nationally and
Salford is the beacon scheme for the North West. A proposal that
was included within the delivery plan for the Safer, Stronger
Communities programme to implement improved security
measures within the area including additional street lighting,
alleygating, CCTV and enhanced fencing around current NPHL
blocks has been approved and so the scheme and the local
community is benefiting from £225,000 crime reduction measures.
2.2.2. Other capital projects include improvements being carried out to
3 sheltered schemes funded by the Department of Health to
convert them to Extra Care schemes. Contractors have mostly
completed on site and finishing touches are being put to the
projects.
2.2.3. The team is also responsible for project managing changes to
Pennine Court, a sheltered housing scheme in Pendlebury
managed by English Churches Housing Group (ECHG) to develop
an integrated project of extra care housing for people with learning
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difficulties, and improved accommodation for older people. They
will be fully equipped with a standard Assistive Technology
package, which will have flexibility to be enhanced to each
residents needs. The team is working with Disabled Facilities
Grants team to enhance the personalisation of the products
provided.
2.2.4. The team is supporting St Vincents HA who have secured
funding from the Housing Corporation to deliver eight specially
adapted bungalows for families with a wheelchair user in the Irlam
& Cadishead area. Work is progressing well on these sites.
2.2.5. HMR Homelessness Pilot development is an innovative pilot
project to return empty properties within the regeneration areas
back into use on a temporary basis for families in acute housing
need. Contour HA will act as the project lead for the Homeless
Team and will be supported by the team.
2.2.6. The Project Team is taking the lead in delivering the Council’s
corporate commitment to support the establishment of a new
Emmaus Community in Salford to provide a place of work and a
home for Homeless People. The Team is working in partnership
with the Emmaus charity and is currently focused on identifying a
suitable site for the community.
2.2.7. The team has supported both a pre launch and a full launch
which Terry Waite, the President of the charity attended and the
resulting good news was reported on BBC Radio Manchester, in
the Guardian, Manchester and Bolton Evening News and the
Salford Advertiser as well as a range of other local promotional
materials.
2.3. Affordable Warmth
2.3.1. Salford’s Affordable Warmth Strategy (AWS) is managed from
within the Project Team. The strategy’s first progress report is
ready to be published and will be presented to Partners IN
Salford’s Social Inclusion Executive & Salford’s Strategic Housing
Partnership. The AWS will also be updated to reflect the
achievements of the strategy and to re-evaluate plans in light of
new government legislation during 2006/7.
2.3.2. The Affordable Warmth network has been set up to connect
vulnerable households in need of help on fuel costs to relevant
bodies fighting fuel poverty. Our partners participating in the pilot
will be: Pension Service, Welfare right & Debt Advice Service.
Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, Home Improvement Agency and
Housing Service’s Affordable Warmth Team.
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2.3.3. To support the AWRN two new grants have been developed,
Warm Front Top Up grants & Emergency Heating grants to help
the most vulnerable in the communities, both of which have been a
great success with 100% take up.
2.3.4. The Project Team’s Affordable Warmth programme is making
good progress with excellent achievements in 2005/2006 including
HeatStreets, Central and West Salford insulation schemes with
Powergen, Scottish Power and EAGA partnership (improving fuel
efficiency measures in over 1000 homes). It is our responsibility to
review energy efficiency schemes on a regular basis to ensure a
consistent citywide coverage and to maximise the uptake of energy
efficiency related financial resources by the people of Salford. In
2006/7 we will prepare the 10th HECA Progress Report for DEFRA
for submission in October (Salford is one of only a few LA who
submit full progress reports), develop new schemes for Central
Salford and Broughton Park and launch British Gas’s Council Tax
Rebate Scheme with SCC’s Customer Services.
2.3.5. Salford’s Solar Energy scheme has supported Salford residents
to install 10 photovoltaic systems, through a combination of SCC
and NPHL investment and grants from DTI, alongside an
investment from homeowners. The scheme has just been
enhanced by taking into account the Government’s new ‘Low
Carbon Buildings’ initiative and approved to be rolled out for a
further year.
2.3.6. In addition to the key components of the Affordable Warmth
programme already described, the Project Team manages training
for school-age children in climate awareness and holds an Annual
Energy Efficiency Art Competition for local schools, various
awareness raising events in libraries and at public events
throughout the year in the City. This part of the service puts Salford
at the forefront of enabling vulnerable people or people on a very
low income to remove themselves from fuel poverty. The
Affordable Warmth service has invested £80K in energy efficiency
but has successfully released over £1.5m from the private utility
companies to support further reductions in fuel poverty in Salford
during 2005/6 and is on target to increase this leverage of
investment into Salford during 2006/7.
2.4. Added Value and Social Inclusion
2.4.1. The Projects Team works with Housing’s partner constructors,
under the Egan-style partnering arrangements, to ensure that local
labour is recruited to fill the vacancies created by the regeneration
and investment programmes across Salford. This has been
achieved not only directly with the appointed partners but also
through their supply chains. Agreements have been incorporated
by Housing Services through the Framework Agreements, which
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monitor these partnering arrangements, to ensure that this will
continue throughout the life of the agreement that could last for 5 –
7 Years.
2.4.2. STEP 1 IN Salford is an employment and training initiative aimed
at open access for the unemployed people of Salford, funded by
Housing Services and delivered by our partners, registered social
landlords Contour and Great Places (Manchester Methodist
Housing Association) and managed from within the Projects Team.
The first group of clients were recruited onto the training element
on the 6th March at Salford College and the 12 successful trainees
were placed into jobs with STEP employers on the 15th May. A
second group of 18 trainees were placed into training in June and
have also been placed into employment, fulfilling the initiative’s
targets for the year. A particular success of this scheme has been
to train and place into employment, 3 of the top 50 prolific offenders
in Salford. The Step programme has been promoted in The Times
and is currently being submitted for 2 awards - The North West
Regeneration Top 100 and the RENEW Exemplar Awards.
2.5. Cross-cutting corporate themes.
2.5.1. The Projects Team will be managing Housing and Planning
Directorate’s bid to gain Investors in People award and chairs a
Steering Group and facilitates staff and manager forums which
support the IiP ethos and framework.
2.5.2. The individual Compulsory Purchase Order projects explained in
more detail in Appendix 2 are part of the larger programme of
CPO’s and clearance areas supporting market renewal and
regeneration in the City and the Projects Team is responsible for
supporting all Housing Market Renewal officers involved in CPO
and for researching national, regional and local material in support
of the Housing Market renewal Fund CPO programme.
2.5.3. The Project Team also supports the Council’s move towards the
Egan partnering approach (Rethinking Construction) with
representation on the Framework Groups at all levels and provides
training for officers involved with delivery and managing partners at
the local area level. It is a key remit of the Projects Team to devise
protocols, tools and mechanisms to encourage added value and
social inclusion across Housing and Planning directorate and the
regeneration initiatives and to encourage appropriate and robust
evidence within policies and procedures to secure value for money.
Forward Look
3. Projects pending further development include the replacement of the
Homeless Families Unit (Belmont) and possibly work upgrading the
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sheltered housing stock for fire upgrades and accessibility. The Team is
commencing support to the development of the new scheme for Teenage
Parents in partnership with the Primary Care Trust and Supporting People.
3.1. The Team will be working with the new housing organisations during
2006 and beyond to set up links to support and promote energy
efficiency, compulsory purchase orders, social inclusion and added
value into the mainstream repertoire of the new organisations. In
addition the we will be offering to establish protocols to enable the new
organisations to commission work from the Commissioning and
Projects Team.
3.2. The Projects team will also be hosting the corporate Health and WellBeing Manager, who is a joint appointment between the City Council
and the PCT, reporting to the Director of Public Health. The manager is
responsible for getting Housing Service’s (and other directorates when
they host the appointment) buy-in and action to improve smoking
prevention and cessation and reduce levels of obesity. A Smoke Free
Homes Coordinator will also be hosted by the team for two years to
support the work of the Health and well-Being Manager.
3.3. The team is running recruitment at the moment to fill the Principal
Officer Added Value post, left vacant due to retirement and has
successfully recruited two new administration staff through the
corporate clerical and administration pool.
3.4. The team is also recruiting staff at this present to fulfil Community
Health and Social Care’s Link-Age programme targets, by delivering
the Housing Options project. The Housing Options project aims to
develop and then manage an innovative service to assist older people
to review their current housing circumstances and to make an informed
choice about their sustainable housing future. It will work to ensure the
most appropriate housing solution and will provide practical assistance
and advocacy for older people for whom the chosen solution is to move
home, regardless of tenure. This could include working with the
financial sector and the private housing market as well as making links
with the support and care sectors.
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