Social housing and worklessness

The Department for Work and Pension published an informative piece of research this week, looking at the link between social housing and unemployed households. The study seeks to understand the impact the sector has on the working lives of its tenants and the barriers to work experienced by social housing communities. The report itself is 150 pages long, but the 6-page summary is well worth a read. The points that stand out include:

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• Being a social tenant actually offers work incentives, such as lower rents and tenure security.
• This is counterbalanced by workless tenants personal or family problems, such as mental health issues, childcare or alcohol abuse and a lack of experience or skills.
• Such problems act as a barrier to secure or better paid work. The work that is available is often casual, low paid and offers no incentive to move off benefits.
• Tenants highlighted difficulties in moving between work and benefits. Bureaucratic delays over the payment of Housing Benefits (for example) created rent arrears.
• Tenants in the private sector experienced more barriers to work, higher rents and unsympathetic landlords to the tenant’s changing financial conditions
• Few respondents would move from their area in search of work. The benefits of a secure social network outweighed the potential job prospects

The report goes some way to taking the emotion out of the debate about the long-term unemployed as well as hinting at possible future solutions. Simplifying the benefit system, cutting beauracracy and offering an  immediate support net when jobs end would help dismantle some of the fears about working. This has to be matched by a comprehensive training program, addressing the individual’s problems and giving them the chance to train for higher-paid work.

Whilst the current lack of jobs does not help, there was a stubborn core of workless households even before the recession. Until this group is given the support and skills to make them more employable, every other state action (e.g. reducing benefits) will not succeed.

None of these conclusions are ground-breaking and many social landlords will have already reached them. We would be interested in hearing your stories, from housing benefit bureaucracy to ways you promote work. Do ASBO’s and other court orders  prevent people from working?

The report is available on the DWP website at http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep521.pdf

By Natalie Phillips

When complaints save money

ASB problems in multi-storey flats can quickly get out of control. Image by lassi.kurkijarvi

 

Two articles from Scotland this week highlighted the potential for Housing Associations to save money through their complaints procedures. In Dundee, the Council is being criticised for ignoring tenant complaints about their upstairs neighbour in a multistory block of flats. After repeated reports of vandalism and urination on the stairwells, the rogue tenant decided to wreak his flat, flooding two homes underneath. Rehoming the victims and repairing the damage is proving more costly than dealing with the problem in the first place. 

Meanwhile, Fife Council is paying the bill for tenants laziness. When complaints comes in about a rubbish-filled, weed infested garden, the Council team clean it up and invoices the tenant. This process can continue indefinitely, with just one tenant getting the clean-up service three times in the year (and ignoring the bill). Whilst courts are unlikely to evict over an untidy garden, the local councillor wants the messy families moved to flats. Given the costs involved, the Council could use their complaints system to name the persistent offenders and enforce the tenancy agreements in batches – before using the clean-up team. 

What do you do with your complaints? Are they processed and forgotten, or used to improve the service? We want to hear from you, either on this blog or at one of our events and webinars. 

Goodbye to the ASBO

Theresa May has announced the end of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBO). She wants to see them scrapped in favour of “simpler measures”, claiming they put young people “on a conveyor belt to prison”.  Recently release figures suggest a 55% breach for ASBO’s are running at 55%, so the replacements need to be more effective and easier to enforce, if they are to work.

“The Home Office will now review the future of existing anti-social behaviour powers, with the home secretary raising the prospect of their replacement with ‘restorative justice’ measures such as teenagers fixing the damage they have caused or carrying out community activities. ‘We want a complete change in emphasis, with communities working with the police and other agencies to stop bad behaviour escalating that far,’ said May”. Guardian, 28^th July 2010

 This sounds very similar to a community order, usually applied to over-seventeens. So will the coalition Government be extending this power to include younger children? Or looking at something else entirely?

It’s worth noting that one legal measure alone does not change entrenched bad behaviour. Social landlords who have successfully tackled ASB have put in place wide-ranging programmes, from community engagement to individual prosecutions. For example, Vicinity reduced crime by 21% in its Liverpool pilot  scheme: Making Waves.  It was not quick or easy – they had to set up anonymous reporting and build links with the police  to support the victims – but it has made a noticeable difference in the community.

What’s really being done to tackle anti-social behaviour?

Do you ever wonder how much is being done to tackle ASB? As you know, registered providers (RPs) hold a key part in delivering a balanced approach to taking action against ASB as well as preventive measures. According to a recent online survey carried out in partnership by the TSA and CIH, where RPs and local authorities were allowed to take part; priorities and innovative ideas were seen to be key in making a difference, these findings will be used to shape the work of the newly formed ASB Action Team. This team has been created to identify good practice and share those innovative ideas in taking action towards ASB. Over 300 ALMO’s, housing associations, voluntary housing agency, large housing groups and local authorities took part in the survey, reflecting the importance in sharing ideas, working with communities and tenants to overcome the challenges we face in society today.

At the CIH Housing Conference at Harrogate last week, I saw two brilliant examples of the effective and innovative work being carried out already – Glasgow Housing Association Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), which helps tackle gang violence/knife crime in Glasgow’s East End, targeting 55 gangs and over 700 young men. and the Cobalt’s initiative ‘Making Waves’ aims to help turn the tide of crime and antisocial behaviour in the Croxteth area of Liverpool. Both share very strong messages and have tracked the successes of their programmes, for further information http://www.vicinity.org.uk and www.gha.org.uk

As we know, there are a wealth of ideas currently working to help tackle ASB and many more that will follow suit with the new ASB action team in place and multi-agency thinking; by working together, sharing ideas and embracing change to overcome challenges, I’m sure we will continue to see positive changes.  

For further information about the new ASB team visit www.cih.org/asbactionteam

Just add common sense

There has been a lot of media speculation over next week’s Government Budget, ranging from the death of the TSA to reductions in affordable housing schemes. It’s a good time to remember social landlord’s successes in the community, demonstrated by recent examples that use common sense, as well as cash.

Greenfields Tunstall Residents’ Association in Staffordshire has halved ASB complaints on one of their estates, thanks to an increased police presence and engagement with young people. By organising litter picks and rewarding participants with sporting activities, complaints have gone down, whilst contentment has gone up.

As one resident pointed out; “After two hours playing football, they aren’t interested in causing any mither. We wear them out so they are tired and they go home. Their attitude has changed as well. The kids seem to be taking a bit of pride in the estate”.

The residents want to create a football team and give the young people their own committee so they have a say in how the estate is run, with more facilities being planned.

Consultations do work, as long as they are backed up with action. A new case study from Solihull Community Housing demonstrated how they achieved ASB Accreditation through work with their residents.

The meetings went beyond lip-service, by giving complainants safety packs and support whilst their ASB cases were resolved or taken to court. This included an out-of-hours service for severe cases, a graffiti hotline, and a one-stop shop for reporting ASB that could be used by anyone in the area, whether a home-owner or tenant.

It’s not just the housing associations who consult with homeowners. A recent police operation in Blyth targeted specific drinking areas after talking to local residents, resulting in a 20% drop of anti-social behaviour.

Here at ReACT, we are seeing more of our customers using the ASB management software to work with councils, courts and police from the start – an approach that requires more effort, but gets long-lasting results. If this appeals to you, please give the ReACT team a call on 0121 384 2513, to discuss the practical implications of these partnerships.