Housing Monthly Diary Archive

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January 1998
Court Ruling on Westminster Gerrymandering

Following a High Court decision to uphold District Auditor John Magill's findings of wilful misconduct and gerrymandering, Labour councillors at Westminster CC called for action to be started to recover £27 million in surcharges from the former Council Leader, Dame Shirley Porter and her then Deputy, David Weekes.

The High Court cleared former Director of Housing, Graham England, of any misconduct, as well as the previous Chair of Housing, Peter Hartley, and Managing Director, Bill Phillips. The District Auditor was reported to be appealing against the decision to clear Peter Hartley of wilful misconduct (the Court found him guilty of misconduct, as he oversaw the designated sale policy in the so-called homes for votes affair, but did not conclude it to be wilful, as he had not been made aware that the policy was unlawful).

No action was likely to be taken to recover any money until the appeals process had been completely exhausted.

February 1998
Around the Councils

• Leeds MDC braced itself to face possible legal action for negligence, after a West Yorkshire Coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure on the death of a 10-year boy. The fatal accident occurred whilst the boy and a friend were lift-surfing - the practice of riding on the roof of a lift and using controls there to activate the lift. In recording his verdict, the Coroner pointed out that access to the roof area was only possible if the access trap had been vandalised. The Council was understood to be piloting a new lift security system, which incorporated an immobilising device activated by misuse of the lift.

• Lewisham LBC agreed a housing development and improvement programme with local associations London and Quadrant, Hyde, Hexagon, Family, Beaver and South London Family. The Council was to contribute £1.7 million of its capital receipts allocation for the next year to the partnership. The partner organisations also committed themselves to providing training placements to young people.

• Liverpool CC linked up with Liverpool Community College to create a unique response to youth anti-social behaviour on the Council's housing estates. The new unit had 7 staff, including a solicitor, and had been supported with a £750,000 funding package. Its responsibilities would be twofold - as well as developing a fast-track system of Court action to crack down on offenders, it would also provide new opportunities through training initiatives and courses leading to NVQ and other qualifications.

• Norwich DC served Notice to Quit their moorings on 7 houseboat dwellers, to make way for survey work in advance of a new pedestrian and cycle bridge. The owners intended to contest the Notices.

• Southampton CC created a new task force which would focus on standards for tenants in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and community relationship issues. Membership of the task force included landlords and tenants of HMOs, as well as students and representatives from the community. A national licensing system was an early key recommendation of the task force.

• Westminster CC was reported to be negotiating with an unnamed landlord on the housing of 120 asylum seekers in a former old people's home in Liverpool. The Council currently supported about 3,000 asylum seekers and had repeatedly lobbied for improved central government funding.

• In a separate but related development, the Council adjourned its appeal to the House of Lords against an Appeal Court judgment that local authorities have a duty to provide asylum seekers with food, accommodation and other services. This followed improvements to the grant paid to councils for supporting asylum seekers, which, after having been frozen for two years, was increased from £140 to £165 per week per asylum seeker supported.

March 1998
Around the Councils

• Barnet LBC served Possession Notices on the families of 4 children caught spraying graffiti on the Council's estates. However, the culprits opted to take part in a community cleaning project, rather than see their families face eviction.

• Bassetlaw DC took action under the provisions of the Housing Act 1996 and gained a Possession Order against a tenant for failing to ensure that her home was not used for illegal purposes. The tenant's partner was convicted in 1997 in the Crown Court for supplying and possessing cannabis and, in granting possession, the County Court accepted that she was aware of his actions and profited from them.

• Birmingham MDC launched a consultation programmed on its proposed License to Let scheme, which introduces the first licensing scheme of private landlords.

• The House of Lords refused to give a group of Brent LBC tenants leave to further appeal against previous Judicial Reviews and court rulings that the Council might progress with its planned redevelopment of the Chalkhill Estate in Wembley.

• Derby Council entered into a joint initiative with the local police and housing associations, aimed at combating anti-social behaviour and crime on social housing estates.

• Enfield LBC evicted a single parent and her 10 children for damages to the home, estimated to cost about £20,000. The family reapplied for housing but was assessed as being intentionally homeless. However, a duty remained under the Children Act 1989 and the family was housed in bed and breakfast accommodation by Social Services.

• Leeds MDC signed a pilot leasing contract, which enabled it to lease gas central heating equipment to tenants. The arrangement, which took advantage of relaxations in local authority spending rules, could provide a partial solution to the need to improve the heating in some 44,000 dwellings. It has been estimated that, by linking leasing arrangements to energy efficiency measures and advice, cost implications for tenants could be minimised.

• Two boys were charged with arson following a fire in a Southampton CC block of flats, which left 20 people in temporary accommodation. Six of the 14 flats in the block were damaged - 2 of them badly.

• Southwark LBC lost its appeal in the High Court against a previous ruling that it should spend £60,000 making a block of 19 flats soundproof. Tenants had complained that the soundproofing was so poor that privacy was seriously affected.

• Wansbeck DC piloted an initiative which could resolve the problem it faced with hard-to-let properties. The Council had nearly 200 boarded-up dwellings, costing £300,000 per year to secure. Some of them were to be offered on the open market, but only to buyers indicating an intention to occupy them. If successful, the pilot initiative might be extended.

April 1998
Around the Councils

• Brent LBC transferred two residential homes to Network HA. The 60 residents benefit from modernisation and refurbishment programmes.

• Camden LBC decided to take a tough line with tenants who refuse access for gas safety checks and warned that, if necessary, forced entry will be made. The Council were fined in 1996 for failing to check gas safety and are now determined to ensure that past errors are not repeated.

• Gloucester City Council discovered that, after advising a tenant reporting a boiler failure to leave her cold water tap running, she did and waited weeks for the repair to be carried out. Following the instructions to the letter, she left the tap on for 37 days, consuming a quantity of water that would last the average person three years.

• Greenwich LBC's mediation service is extending its operations to housing association and private sector tenants, after being awarded a grant of £109,000 from the National Lottery Charities Board.

• Hackney LBC joined the growing list of councils that have introduced an on-estate police presence, with its new police bureaux, aimed at directly tackling crime and anti-social behaviour. The first bureau, in the Stoke Newington Neighborhood Office, is staffed by local police.

• Newham LBC launched a 6-months' pilot, offering 24-hour support to tenants in a new professional witnesses scheme targeted at anti-social behaviour.

• Salisbury Council's Housing Department won an Investors in People award, being one of only a few organisations to achieve such status for one single department within an organisation.

May 1998
Around the Councils

• Berwick DC submitted proposals to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions to build 250 new homes, using a £13 million Private Finance Initiative. The Council plans involved North British HA in the development, which needs £1.5 million in Government support from PFI reserves over a two-year period. Whilst rents will be £10 per week higher than those currently paid by council tenants, at £43-£45 per week there will be Housing Benefits savings (compared with housing association rents in the area).

• In a radical change to the way that policy is initiated and controlled, Hammersmith and Fulham LBC appointed six councillors as paid cabinet members, to replace current chairs of committees. Postholders, to be known as deputies, are to have an annual salary of around £30,000 and report directly to an executive mayor, with a salary of some £40,000 per annum.

One of the deputies has overall responsibility for Housing and Social Services, with the other five taking responsibilities in the areas of Regeneration, Best Value, Community Consultation and Social Inclusion. The traditional type of committee system has been abandoned and replaced by committees of backbench and opposition councillors, who will have the power to oversee activities of deputies. The Council estimated that the changes would cost some £500,000, but that this would be offset in savings made in overtime and printing costs for agendas of committees.

• A report from Manchester MDC raised concerns over the way in which introductory tenancies had been used. The report found that, during the first twelve months of introductory tenancies, 185 tenants of the Council were given Notice to Quit because of rent arrears, whereas only six were given Notice on the grounds of anti-social behaviour. The report noted that introductory tenancies could be a means to achieve shorter timescales for a Court processes, with more certainty about the outcome. Whilst homelessness campaigners were quick to point to the findings as evidence that introductory tenancies could be used as a fast-track form of eviction for people in rent arrears, the Council argued that in reality only ten out of over 6,000 introductory tenants had actually been evicted as a result of rent arrears, which compared with 216 out of approximately 70,000 secure tenants evicted for arrears during the same period.

• Rhondda Cynon Taff set up with Girobank a new system that lets tenants pay rent and Council Tax bills via a plastic swipe card. Tenants can take their swipe cards with their cash or cheque payment to any of the 200 post offices in the region. The system presented savings for the Council, as the cards are cheap to produce and they no longer have to regularly print and distribute payment books.

June 1998
Around the Councils

• Amber Valley DC has partnered Broxtowe College in Derbyshire, to offer the Chartered Institute of Housing's National Certificate in Supported Housing. Amber is one of a number of councils teaming up with education institutes to provide housing courses.

• Arson was suspected as the cause of a fire in a Barking and Dagenham LBC flat, which claimed the lives of two sisters who were trying to escape the blaze.

• An external auditor was appointed to look into the circumstances of the sale of Bradford MDC's Thorpe Edge Estate to Keepmoat subsidiary Haslam Homes without being put out to tender.

• Members of Gateshead MDC's Tenancy Enforcement Team have started to accompany police on drug searches. The initiative has already led to criminal proceedings being instigated against three tenants, who have been charged with drug offences following searches.

• Glasgow Council put forward plans for a huge £500 million Private Finance Initiative (PFI), that would see improvements to heating and insulation in over 80,000 homes. Key to the proposals was the freeing up of current debt, estimated at £1 billion - for which the Council sought assistance from the Scottish Office. The Council also had a repair backlog debt estimated at £1.7 billion.

• Greenwich LBC evicted a tenant for a breach of his tenancy conditions, following complaints of a serious racial abuse. The case, the sixth eviction by the Council for racial harassment, was also referred to the Crown Prosecution Service.

• Hartlepool Council made urgent checks on its gas boilers, following an incident where a family moved into a council tenancy and within hours became ill with carbon monoxide poisoning. The Health and Safety Executive also investigated the incident.

• Lambeth LBC issued a warning to more than 40 local letting agents, reminding them that it is unlawful to sub-let council homes. Local authorities can prosecute under the Accommodation Agencies Act 1953 anyone advertising a council property to let without permission. The move followed the success of the Council's anti-fraud section in uncovering four recent cases.

• More than 100 Lambeth LBC tenants took legal action for compensation, following a gas explosion that caused them to be evacuated from their homes on the Ethelred Estate. An offer of £500 each was rejected by tenants.

• Plans by Manchester MDC to introduce a two tier repair service with a minimum level offered to known anti-social tenants, were deferred for further consideration. The proposals were to be considered again at the next cycle of the Council's Housing Committee.

• Tenants of Newport Council's 500 pre-fabricated homes for elderly and disabled people asked the District Auditor to investigate plans for their future. The Council appointed consultants to review options for the homes.

• A consultant's report found that Rhondda Cynon Taff Council had an underspend in its last year's Improvement Grants budget of £900,000, which it blamed in part on inherited problems following reorganisation. Consequently a cut was made in the subsequent Welsh Office allocation to the Council - from £16 million to £12 million.

• A national newspaper article, claiming that Sunderland MDC's housing policies have increased the number of young people being put into care, drew an angry denial from the Council. The article suggested that the local Probation Service had been concerned by the number of council tenants placing children in care to avoid eviction for neighbour nuisance. The Council responded by saying that it had been unable to identify even one such case.

• Westminster CC attracted further criticism, following disclosure of a committee report that recommended the use of temporary homes out of London to accommodate homeless households. The Council had such a policy but it was restricted to single adult asylum seekers. The Council argued that the recommendation was only one of a number under consideration and also pointed to the size of the problem concentrated in a small number of London boroughs - including Westminster.

July 1998
Around the Councils

• Birmingham MDC lobbied the Government to approve a contract for improvements and 15 years of maintenance to its Kingstanding and Brandwood Estates, under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). Other PFI schemes have been used for new developments, but Birmingham's proposals broke new ground with plans for using it for improvements to existing homes. Some 2,500 homes could benefit, being badly in need of repair, updating and improvements.

The Council incurred £12.5 million in costs dealing with legal claims made by tenants last year for repairs under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

• The District Auditor was called in to investigate a £1 million debt incurred by Cardiff Council's Direct Services Organisation, which runs the majority of the Council's repair and maintenance contracts. One source blamed a new computer system, which allegedly failed to monitor spending accurately. Some 30 temporary staff were understood to have lost their jobs.

• More than 300 of Derby Council's tenants received compensation of £20 each because of failings in providing adequate garden maintenance between April and June 1998. The failings occurred in a scheme intended to provide a gardening service to some of the Council's more vulnerable tenants. However, delays in starting a New Deal six months' training programme led to unacceptable reductions in service delivery.

• Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar ordered East Ayrshire Council to wind up its Direct Labour Organisation (DLO) by May 1999, following an internal enquiry which identified losses totalling £3.5 million. A possibility remained, however, of the Council being allowed to re-tender for some contracts at a later date.

• Greenwich LBC launched a plan to save 150 blighted homes on its East London River Crossing. The homes were owned by the Highways Agency, which wanted to dispose of them. A proposal by the Council to allow a local housing association to acquire and renovate the homes was under consideration.

• Hackney LBC entered into an agreement with Pinnacle Housing to take over the management of 5,000 of its homes in the Shoreditch area of East London under a partnership agreement.

• Haringey LBC adopted compulsory purchase regulations, allowing it to acquire properties in severe disrepair in the Borough and which are causing a nuisance or have been vacant for more than two years. This new empty properties strategy could affect some 5,000 homes.

• Hillingdon LBC decided to remove the housing waiting list priority status for victims of domestic violence. A decision by the Council, controlled by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Alliance, voted to stop automatic rehousing of domestic violence victims and proposed to only offer them accommodation if a Housing Officer recommended that it was necessary to do so. It was understood that the Council hoped to save around £150,000 per year by the decision.

• Housing Officers from Liverpool CC took part in a major drug initiative, which resulted in 10 arrests and the recovery of drugs worth some £20,000. The operation, which involved liaison between Council officers and Merseyside Police, was centred in Speke and also uncovered drug cultivation equipment.

• In a separate initiative aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour, Liverpool CC entered into an arrangement with Manchester Council's housing nuisance strategy group, to provide training and support to the newly-formed Liverpool Anti-Social Behaviour Unit. Liverpool was awarded cash from the European Social Fund to run a 2-year project, which involves a partnership with Liverpool Community College. The involvement of Manchester Council was heralded as an illustration of Best Value and a practical example of maximising the use of resources.

• Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar ordered North Lanarkshire Council's Direct Labour Organisation (DLO) to wind up by May 1999, following the revelation in a report produced by auditors Price Waterhouse that it had lost £4.7 million. It was thought unlikely that the unit, which employs 1,600 people, would be allowed to re-tender for contracts and will close permanently.

• North Lincolnshire Council launched a new initiative, which invites home owners over the age of 60 to sell up and move into council accommodation. The Council identified bungalows, flats and sheltered accommodation for the scheme, which is aimed at helping older people to release tied-up capital that could be then used to make their lives more comfortable. The scheme also aims to help people feel more secure and to offer them an environment in which they can live near others who are of a similar age.

• Westminster City Council set up dedicated community protection sub-committee to tackle widespread anti-social behaviour across its estates. The committee has the power to co-opt two police officers, who have no voting rights but sit in an advisory capacity. The Council was successful in its bid to be a pilot authority for new youth justice measures contained in the Crime and Disorder Bill, including the use of special Court Orders to control gangs of youths on estates.

August 1998
Around the Councils

• Alnwick DC was awarded a Possession Order against a tenant who was convicted for allowing his home to be used to grow cannabis. The Possession Order, gained in the County Court, specifies breach of tenancy by knowingly allowing the production of a controlled drug on the premises.

• Barking and Dagenham LBC won legal action in support of its battle to counter the actions of a gang of youths terrorising residents on one of its estates. In one case, a teenage member of the gang gave an undertaking not to cause further disturbance on the estate. The Court awarded Possession Orders against two other residents for holding frequent noisy parties that were attended by the gang.

• Brighton and Hove Council used an obscure, little used law to gain a conviction against a peeping tom private landlord. The Council brought a case against the landlord under Section 1 (3A)(a) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, which prohibits acts that are likely to interfere with the peace and comfort of tenants and which are likely to cause residential occupiers to give up occupation. The landlord had been found to be video recording tenants through a two-way bathroom mirror, which was spotted by tenants who were suspicious of the mottled colour of the mirror and investigated further.

• Camden LBC launched a sheltered housing information booklet, which is a joint project with a number of housing associations active in the area. Associations involved in the project are ASRA, Central and Cecil, Circle 33 and Paddington Churches.

• Kingston-upon-Hull Council was awarded a Crown Court Order against a Birmingham firm of solicitors for actions ruled as negligent and unreasonable. The Council had argued that a prosecution brought by one of its tenants for statutory nuisance for failing to repair his home under Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act was solicitor-driven. The solicitors were considering an appeal. The Government was believed to be considering options for amending Section 82 of the Act, to avoid situations similar to that highlighted in the Hull case.

• Lambeth LBC embarked on a Best Value initiative on three estates, affecting about 100 tenants. Contractors providing cleaning, gardening, refuse collection and repairs services on the estates are subject to the Estate Watch Scheme, which involves result forms being used to monitor any actions agreed.

• Southwark LBC tenants in Casino Avenue lost their battle to have their flats soundproofed, with a ruling in the Appeals Court that the works, estimated to cost £60,000, were not the responsibility of the Council. A previous ruling found that noise levels from neighbouring dwellings were intrusive, inconvenient and embarrassing.

• Both the police and the District Auditor became involved in inquiries at Wakefield MDC, centred on possible irregularities in the management of contracts for estate security patrols.

• Warwick DC agreed to a unique initiative in which the Council underwrite mortgages to finance conversion works above shops. The previous rules which restricted finance to 70% of pre-conversion valuations had frustrated development of residential accommodation above shops by owners. Under this new initiative, Nationwide Building Society will advance owners 70% of the likely value after works have been completed. The loan is guaranteed by the Council, with its obligations ending at the time of letting the accommodation. The Council built a number of safeguards into the scheme, including a control over the estimated valuation of the property, and powers to force owners to complete works or dispose of the property - should problems arise.

• Welwyn Hatfield Council decided on Chiltern Hundreds HA as its partner to develop a new foyer scheme in Hatfield, which when completed will provide accommodation for some 38 young people.

September 1998
Around the Councils

• Birmingham MDC launched a new quality agreement with tenants and leaseholders, which states service standards and invites monitoring of them.

A separate report disclosed that Birmingham MDC had completed an enquiry which revealed that leaseholders had been undercharged for up to 17 years. It was understood that the Council intended to reinvoice to recoup part of the losses for the current financial year, which could see the annual charge for some leaseholders rising by more than £100 to cover planned repairs to their properties.

• Staff of East Ayrshire Council's Building Maintenance in-house team rejected proposals to reduce bonus payments and shed jobs through voluntary redundancies. The ballot followed revelations earlier this year that the direct labour organisations accounts showed a loss of £3.5 million. It was inevitable that the workforce would transfer to a contractor.

• Edinburgh Council amended its allocations policy to restrict the number of offers made to applicants. Previously there was no restriction and the Council had been recording an average of 5 attempts to let a council home. Under the new policy, applicants who turn down 2 homes in succession will be suspended from the housing waiting list for a period of 6 months. Last year, the Council restricted the number of areas that an applicant could receive an offer in.

• A separate report from Edinburgh Council revealed that it had reduced the disability adaptations waiting list from 200 to 9 in just 8 months, following the introduction of a new adaptations team, which was set up specifically to deal with the backlog of applications. The team of five staff dealt with more than 440 minor and 200 major new adaptations and its target is to complete minor adaptations within 4 weeks.

• Gateshead MDC stopped general building through local housing associations, reflecting the fall-off in demand for social housing in the area. The Council's programme would normally see 150 new homes started each year but the moratorium is to stand until long-term demand is re-established.

• A one-day caretakers' strike cost Glasgow Council some £50,000, with vandals attacking security cameras and concièrge offices and wrecking lifts. Particularly affected are blocks of flats in the Gorbals area of the City and Kingsway Court in Scotstounhill.

In a separate report - Glasgow Council agreed to consider alternative courses of action, after some 500 tenants objected to letters requiring them to remove door security grilles put up by them for their own protection. The self-help security action by tenants responded to the growing crime rates on the City's estates. However, it also introduced fire hazards, which the Council could not continue to ignore.

• Hackney LBC launched a video called Your Home, Your Choice - which highlights expectations and concerns of tenants when stock is likely to be transferred. The video details the transfer process and provides information on the Council's estate regeneration strategy.

• Attempts by Haringey LBC to evict a tenant took longer than anticipated when he barricaded himself into his North London flat for 33 hours. The tenant, who had run up rent arrears of over £10,000, threatened to commit suicide but the incident finally came to an end without any injury.

• Hyndburn DC, which had withdrawn from plans to transfer its 4,000 homes to local housing company New Progress HA, declared its interest in securing government funding for an Option Study, aimed at exploring choices for empowerment of tenants and the development of local appropriate models.

• Lewisham LBC consulted tenants of its Aragon Tower in Deptford on proposals to sell the block, rather than spend £3.2 million that had been earmarked to refurbish it. Tenants who had lived in the block for more than a year would be entitled to £1,500 plus disturbance allowance plus removal costs.

• Perth and Kinross Council's in-house maintenance team was restructured, after reporting losses of about £1.5 million. It was anticipated that the in-house team would be reduced, leading to the loss of some 30 temporary staff contracts. The Council predicted that turnover would drop by 50% in the financial year 1999/2000.

• Sandwell MDC co-operated with the local health authority in a programme to instal central heating and energy efficiency improvements in the homes of children who suffer with asthma. A team from Newcastle University studied the project.

• A study by Tameside MDC found that over one-third of privately rented homes in the area had no gas safety certificates, as required by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1994 - which requires landlords to have appliances checked every 12 months and provide tenants with a record.

• Westminster LBC launched its new guide on compulsory purchase orders, which draws on its experiences in using CPO powers for more than 15 years. Contact: Steve Bradley: Tel. 0171 641 2023.

October 1998
Around the Councils

• Following the suspension of three housing staff, Anglesey Council was faced with a second report from the District Auditor, cataloguing further allegations concerning the Council's housing and property department.

• Barking and Dagenham LBC launched an internal enquiry into an overspend of £5.6 million in the first year of a programme to refurbish its housing stock.

• With rent arrears in excess of £9 million, Birmingham Council introduced a new get tough policy. Local housing officers have designated staff to deal with arrears, and targets for rent collection have been increased. The importance of keeping rent paid up to date is emphasised at the point of sign-up, and tenants receive 6-monthly statements of their current arrears. The Council also announced its intention to introduce a poster campaign to encourage payment of rent.

• Calderdale MDC was fined £4,000, following charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive under the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 1994. The case came about following the Council's appointment of a contractor to work on 20 homes. A tenant smelt gas and investigations revealed roof flues disconnected in 16 houses. The Council stopped works and called in the Health and Safety Executive itself. The contractor was fined £8,000 on six similar charges. The Council subsequently amended its procedures.

• Edinburgh Council made £80,000 in grants available to home-owners aged over 60, on a first served basis, to assist in providing basic facilities, rewiring and damp-proofing.

• Hackney LBC launched an introductory tenancy scheme, which requires all new tenants to sign a probationary 12-month contract.

• Lambeth LBC introduced a new policy, whereby it names and shames in local newspapers tenants who are evicted for refusing to pay their rent.

• North Lanarkshire Council's DLO revealed a deficit of £3 million in its 1998/99 accounts. This followed a £4.7 million shortfall within the in-house unit for the previous financial year.

• Redbridge LBC received Government approval to transfer 12 sheltered schemes to associations Anchor, London and Quadrant and Housing 21. The transfer brought £30 million into the Council's capital investment programmes into residential care homes and sheltered accommodation.

• Wandsworth LBC suspended its private contractor and took its Housing Benefit service back in-house. A £3 million 5-year contract had started in July 1996 but was suspended after problems concerning payments and tax collection. The move saw about 100 staff transferring back to the Council.

• Westminster LBC members voted against adopting the new Government proposals to assist councils in buying back homes from leaseholders. The scheme gives councils 25% of the costs of purchasing homes sold under the Right to Buy, with councils having to find the other 75% themselves. The Council argued that it could not support the transfer of resources to homeowners while homeless people and asylum-seekers were waiting for homes.

November 1998
Around the Councils

• Calderdale MDC embarked on a pilot scheme on its Browbottom estate in Mixenden, with the target of reducing the number of empty homes in an area that suffers neighbour nuisance and in which there is generally low demand for housing. The scheme offers a package of decoration, fitted carpets, curtains and security measures. In some circumstances, garden works can also be accommodated. New tenants must agree to be vetted and anyone with unspent convictions for burglary, violence, sex offences and drug offences is not offered accommodation. The vetting process also checks new tenants for any history of anti-social behaviour.

• Camden LBC joined forces with the University of London Union to promote student awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty heaters, with the production of 6,000 information leaflets.

• Croydon LBC set up four panels with membership drawn from tenants, leaseholders and councillors, which have responsibility for managing a £500,000 repair and improvement budget. Over half of the money is spent on localised security measures, with the balance expended on community improvements - such as landscaping and play areas.

• A Dundee council tenant lost her case in Court to force the Council to rid her home of damp. In the first civil action of its kind in Scotland, Sheriff Alistair Stewart ruled that the dampness was not of sufficient severity to warrant ordering the Council to take action and, despite the tenant's claims to the contrary, there was insufficient evidence that the dampness posed a risk to health. He further ruled that the dampness was caused because the tenant could not afford to properly heat her home, which could not be considered the fault of the Council.

• Edinburgh Council launched a helpline for its 10,000 tenants in rent arrears, who collectively owed £2.5 million in unpaid rent. The Council spent £21,000 on a media campaign over a 3-month period to promote the helpline on local radio and public transport in the City.

• Following the death of a resident from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, Fife Council decided to remove 2,500 heating systems from homes at a cost of over £500,000.

• Lambeth LBC introduced a practice of placing notices on the doors of tenants that have been evicted for rent arrears and publishing names in local newspapers. The move was part of the Council's hardening stance, which also saw the introduction of a new distraint policy. The Council had rent arrears of more than £40 million, which is the second highest in London.

• Newcastle MDC won the top prize in the community heating category in this year's Combined Heat and Power Association annual awards.

• Tenants of Northampton BC took part in a pilot exercise, designed to increase tenants' awareness of their influence on housing services. The pilot exercise involved teams of tenants playing a housing game, in which fact-cards explain the options available to tenants and the cost implications of each.

• Oldham MDC were faced with keeping a home empty for a considerably long period of time, following a decision in the County Court that a convicted rapist should be allowed to retain his council tenancy. The Council had made application to terminate the tenancy, on condition that an alternative offer of accommodation would be made when the man was released from prison. However, the Court used existing case law in coming to its decision, ruling that the tenant should be allowed to retain the tenancy if he intends to return within a reasonable time and that an absence of up to eight years to serve a jail sentence was not unreasonable.

• Scarborough DC gave residents on its Edgehill Estate only two weeks to comment on proposals to demolish their homes, arguing that previous schemes to introduce improvements had failed. The plans included the demolition of 250 homes and transferring the remaining 128 properties to Sanctuary HA, subject to support by tenants.

• Westminster CC postponed its appeal to the House of Lords against a Court ruling that reinforced the duty of local authorities to assist destitute asylum seekers. The appeal would have questioned the interpretation of the National Assistance Act 1948 with regard to the obligations of local authorities. It was understood that a key factor in the Council’s decision was its success in attracting £30 million additional funding to relieve its difficulties.

• A partnership between York Council, two local housing associations, residents and the police has drawn up a strategy for combating crime and other antisocial problems. Called the Foxwood Neighbourhood Agreement, the initiative commits participants to improving the environment, training and job opportunities in partnership with residents.

December 1998
Around the Councils

• Leaseholders on five Birmingham MDC estates threatened legal action as the ballot took place to transfer their homes to the newly formed Optima Community Association. A successful transfer was expected to generate about £100 million for improvements to the 2,700 council homes, but the Council insisted that the 140 leaseholders should contribute towards the cost of works to their homes.

• Cardiff Council planned to reduce its Housing Services Department establishment by 66 posts, in a bid to reduce a projected £1.7 million deficit. The Council wrote to the 320 staff in its Maintenance Section, inviting them to re-apply for 254 posts.

• Derby Council was given approval for a Private Finance Initiative project, attracting £6 million of private money towards improving 150 empty homes in the private sector. The homes will be used for rent to tenants nominated by the Council.

• Ealing LBC sought Government approval for a Private Finance Initiative, which will support a 3-year programme to install central heating in 1,600 council homes.

• A Christmas party for elderly residents marked the completion of refurbishment works to three former Greenwich LBC sheltered blocks. The three blocks were transferred in March 1997 to Beaver HS and tenants were moved out during the period of improvements, with the option to return on completion. The refurbishment scheme cost £4.4 million and included upgrading bedsit accommodation into self-contained flats, new roofs, windows, floor coverings and extractor fans. Fire exits were also brought up to current standards in two blocks. Siedle House was the first home completed (April 1998), with Plumstead Common Road re-opening in July 1998. Dave Ramsey House, the third of the schemes, was expected to re-open shortly.

• Hackney LBC launched a £3.2 million bid under the Single Regeneration Budget, which will be mainly used for improving homes on Woodberry Down Estate.

• St Edmundsbury DC officially opened Tayfen House, a development for single homeless people. The project incorporates vocational training and advice, confidence-building and life skills for clients.

• Waltham Forest LBC successfully took Court action against four families in what was believed to be the largest racial harassment case so far brought by a local authority. The Court held parents responsible for continued verbal and physical racist attacks by their children on Afro-Caribbean, Turkish, Cypriot and Pakistani neighbours. Possession Orders were granted against three of the families, with a suspended Possession Order granted against the fourth.

• Westminster CC councillors voted against paying claims for legal expenses totalling £700,000 from several former and current councillors involved in the Homes for Votes affair. The claims came from the councillors after an auditor's investigation found them not guilty of wilful misconduct.

January 1999
Around the Councils

• Following the death last April of a caravan occupier from carbon monoxide poisoning, Angus Council has introduced a range of measures to avoid a similar tragedy. These include warnings to local trade outlets to not supply caravan owners with gas heater fittings that may be used for DIY repairs, the display of notices that warn occupiers of the dangers and advice about the importance of gas safety certificates.

• Edinburgh Council has followed the direction set by two other Scottish councils, by introducing procedures for its housing officers to liaise with the police in combating drug pushing from council homes. Under pilot information exchange schemes being introduced on two estates, housing officers will inform Lothian and Borders Police of any allegations of drug dealing or related crime. Successful police actions may result in the Council taking action against tenants under the terms of their tenancy agreements - which could include eviction.

• Glasgow Council agreed to introduce direct funding for its tenants' organisations. Over £95,000 is to be shared by the Council's 230 tenants' organisations. In addition, they will be able to bid for funding for special projects from a £50,000 budget allocation.

• Greenwich LBC was awarded two Charter Marks for public service during 1998. The first went to its Housing Aid Centre, for the standards achieved in advising and supporting private sector residents and helping to prevent homelessness. The other was awarded to the Council's Supported Housing Service, which collected a previous award as part of the success in 1995 of Greenwich Homeless Services.

• Islington LBC's Direct Labour Organisation is facing up to a projected deficit this financial year of more than £4 million. The Unit lost seven private sector contracts last year, followed by a substantial dip in internal contracts awarded by the Council's Housing Department.

• Newham LBC evicted a family for racial harassment, after a tenant breaches an Injunction. The Injunction, which had been obtained by the Council after the tenant had been imprisoned for assaulting a neighbour, banned him from abusing anyone or contacting his former victims.

• A survey found that over 70% of tenants living on Scarborough DC's Edgehill Estate were in favour of plans to demolish their homes and redevelop the site. The proposals, which also included improvement works and community development, were the subject of an outline Single Regeneration Budget submission.

• Sedgemoor DC awarded the contract to manage its 4,000 homes to Signpost HA. The Association takes responsibility from April for estate management, repairs and maintenance, rent collection and arrears management.

• Councillors at Shetland Islands Council voted to remove from office its Chief Executive, Nick Reiter - because of allegations about his involvement in the homes for votes affair at Westminster CC. Mr Reiter was not surcharged for his role but he had prepared reports on Westminster’s designated sales policy. It is understood that an independent report has cleared Mr Reiter of misleading Shetland Islands Council at his appointment but it criticises councillors for not adequately quizzing him.

• Restructuring of Tower Hamlets LBC's Housing Department is expected to realise savings in the region of £1 million. The changes could involve early retirement for the Council's Corporate Director of Housing, Bob Brett.

• Tower Hamlets LBC has won an award for community initiative from the Association of Direct Labour Organisations, in recognition of the success of its Shadwell Graffiti Project. The project involved graffiti perpetrators - 14-16 year old so-called tag artists - in graffiti patrols and programmes to remove their collective works of art. The success of the project has been such that re-offending rates have been reduced to almost zero, with areas previously targeted for graffiti being free of further problems.

February 1999
Consultation on Beacon Councils

The Government published its consultation paper - The Beacon Council Scheme: Prospectus.

Under the proposals, the Government is to award Beacon status to up to 40 councils in the first year. Beacon councils will have proven track records in one of seven general areas. The two that are particular to housing are:

• Improving housing maintenance.

• Improving Housing and Council Tax Benefit administration.

In April, the Government invited councils to apply for Beacon status for their work in one of the seven areas. Ministers would select Beacon councils on the basis of advice of an independent advisory panel.

Shortlisted councils will be visited to assess their performance and their ability to spread good practice to other councils. The successful applicants were due to be announced in October.

It was intended that this process would be repeated each year, although the service areas for which Beacon status was awarded would vary. Each year, Beacon status would, where possible, be awarded to councils which represent the diversity of local government - urban and rural authorities, unitary and two-tier authorities and authorities from different parts of the country.

February 1999
Around the Councils

• Barnsley MBC is to tackle Housing Benefit fraud, which currently costs it £175,000 per year, with a proposed new wide-ranging programme of anti-fraud strategies. The programme, to be called Shop a Cheat, encourages active whistle-blowing on the part of staff and the public.

• Birmingham MDC introduced a licensing system for private landlords, with the intention of registering all 30,000 privately rented properties in the City. The Council estimates that it receives some 4,000 complaints per year from private tenants who are dissatisfied with their living conditions and the attitude of their landlords.

• Brent LBC ceased funding to the Brent Private Tenants' Rights Group and to Brent Community Law Centre. The Council also axed funding to two Citizens' Advice Bureaux. The decision to cut funding that supports agencies servicing the 24,000 private tenants in the Borough was forced on the Council by budget cuts. The only remaining resource for private tenants is a telephone advice service.

• Cardiff Council announced plans to set up an independent local residential social landlord, which will be a vehicle for developing new homes that the Council will itself manage. The new body will acquire sites from the Council and work with existing housing associations in development programmes.

The proposals differ from those concerning housing companies, in that the new landlord will be a trust - but a stock transfer will not be involved. It is proposed that the new trust will be an independent limited company, registered as a charity, with the Council and tenants each providing a third of the directors and the remaining directors being drawn from independent applications.

 

Under the proposals, the Council will have the initial management and maintenance contract,which will last for 5 years, after which time the new body may take over functions itself or put them out for tender.

 

It was understood that the Welsh Office had yet to comment on the proposals.

• Hackney LBC announced plans to pilot a new photographic record of new tenants scheme, to prevent fraudulent housing applications. The scheme, to take photographs of tenants when they sign their tenancy agreement, is being piloted in one Neighbourhood before being introduced for all new tenancies. Whilst the scheme is to be introduced on a voluntary basis, it has still caused some concerns for tenant representative bodies.

The new scheme is to become part of the Council's overall strategy to prevent unauthorised use of its homes, which includes a dedicated housing inspectorate team to carry out a variety of audits and checks each year.

• The Housing Quality Network commenced a week-long inspection of Liverpool MDC's housing services. The consultancy was invited by the Council to carry out an independent inspection of Best Value, which involves a team of 12 studying two area offices and a homelessness advice centre.

• Manchester MDC cancelled plans to demolish 285 homes on the Two Hundred and Shiredale Estates in the north of the City. Although 125 of the homes were unoccupied at the time, an active campaign by tenants led to a Housing Committee decision to retain them. Previously planned improvements will now go ahead.

• The Welsh Office issued a 3-month ultimatum on Rho ndda Cynon Taff Council, to take action to redress the £2.5 million deficit identified on its Direct Labour Organisation. Whilst the Welsh Office had made no clear announcement on the future of the in-house team, it was thought that the 3-month period was seen as an opportunity to tackle problems and avoid further action.

March 1999
Around The Councils

• In a shake-up of its contracting practice, Bradford MDC decided that its entire housing maintenance programme will go out to tender next April. The decision followed the release of a District Auditors' report, which raised some criticisms of current practice.

• Cardiff County Council announced an operating surplus of £77,000 for its housing direct maintenance services, reversing a projected deficit of £1.1 million for the year.

• Greenwich LBC's rehousing team had to work overtime to meet the needs of witnesses identified in error in the Lawrence Report. The Council had received requests from both council and non-council tenants for rehousing, following the listing of their names and addresses in the appendix to the report.

• Staff at Hackney LBC were issued with guidance on whistle-blowing, in an attempt to stamp out malpractice in the organisation.

• Islington LBC decided to take tough action to deal with rent arrears, which stood at £11 million. The Housing Service Department was evicting up to 20 tenants per month for rent arrears, as well as setting up procedures aimed at reducing the number of cases adjourned by the Courts because of Housing Benefit processing delays.

• Kirklees MBC and Calderdale MBC are working together on a housing needs survey, which involves surveying 30,000 households across neighbouring districts - to form a basis for both Councils' individual housing strategies.

• Lewisham LBC has invited bids from external contractors to run its housing neighbourhood office in Sydenham. The Council has decided not to make an in-house bid.

• Liverpool CC embarked on a private scheme, involving the contracting of a private security firm to patrol about 200 of the Council's 1,000 short-term voids. The pilot, in the Vauxhall and Dingle areas of the City, will last for about one year and involve patrols and the replacing of metal security shutters with net curtains and alarms. The Council anticipates savings from the new strategy.

• A new report suggested that nearly two-thirds of Manchester MDC's housing has either low or no demand. The report argues that lost rental totals £2.2 million and improvements needed to the stock would cost £500 million. The report recommends leasehold transfers as an option for those estates that are not considered sustainable.

• The former leader of Westminster LBC, Dame Shirley Porter, appeared in Court to appeal for the overturn of the gerrymandering charges that resulted in her being surcharged £27 million.

She contested the findings of wilful misconduct in the policy to sell-off homes in marginal wards, with the intention of attracting Conservative votes - arguing that she had taken legal advice before embarking on the policy.

March 1999
Ombudsman:Complaints Of Delay And Indecision

The complainants, a couple, wished to purchase their home under the Right to Buy scheme.

The Council delayed in reaching a decision as to the correct position of the boundary and the complainants withdrew from the sale.

They later made a second application and the Council drew up a conveyance plan, which showed the boundary as it existed on the ground. The complainant believe that the land conveyed to them includes a strip which has been encroached upon by their neighbour. The Council believes that the true position of the boundary remains in doubt.

Ombudsman Jerry White concludes that Plymouth CC's failure to decide on the true position amounts to maladministration. As a result, the complainants have suffered inconvenience and frustration in trying to ascertain whether there has been encroachment on their land.

In his report, the Ombudsman recommends that the Council should:

• carry out a detailed comparison of the deeds of both the complainants' property and that of their neighbour, with an accurate survey of the situation on the ground to decide the true position of the boundary;

• determine, after taking account of legal advice and the views of both parties, whether or not it owns the land between the two properties and, if it does, to whom (if anyone) it wishes to convey the land in question; and

• facilitate, in the light of this decision, the amendment of the title deeds of the relevant property and meet the entire costs of doing so.

The Ombudsman also recommends that the complainants are paid £300 compensation.

Investigation No. 98/B/0181 (Plymouth CC).

Information Note

The Commission for Local Administration in England (the Ombudsman service) provides full copies of Investigation Reports on request. For occasional requests, no charge is made.

However, administrative and postage costs may be charged for frequent or multiple copy requests.

The Commission can be contacted on Tel. 0171 915 3210.

April 1999
Special Needs Services Standards

The Audit Commission published Local Authority Performance Indicators: Services for People with Special Needs, which finds that the performance of local authorities varies significantly across the country.

Some of the key findings in the report are specific, or relevant, to housing, including:

• Homelessness

Overall, the average length of stay in bed & breakfast and hostel accommodation has decreased slightly - 11 weeks in 1994/95 to 10 weeks in 1997/98. However, there was an increase in the average stay findings for London councils. Note, the Audit Commission published a separate report earlier in 1999, which looked at the problem of increasing lengths of stays in bed & breakfast and hostel accommodation in London.

 

There were enormous variations in the time that homeless people spent in bed & breakfast and hostel accommodation. Some of the largest occurred amongst district councils, where for some the length of stay figure was twenty times longer than in similar neighbouring authorities. In 19 district councils, the length of stay was six months or more.

 

Some councils using bed & breakfast and hostel accommodation for long periods, only allocated a small percentage of their available permanent housing to homeless people. The report recommends that these councils examine their allocations policies, to see whether an increase in the proportion of lettings to homeless people could reduce their dependency on emergency accommodation.

 

The length of time taken to assess whether homeless households are entitled to housing also varied significantly between different types of councils. On average, London boroughs took 73 days - compared with 17 days by metropolitan councils. However, some of the larger variations occurred in district councils, where some took ten times longer to assess homeless households than similar neighbouring authorities. The average number of days taken by district councils was 26 and for unitary councils - 24 days (1997/98 statistics).

• Rent Allowance

Nearly 10% of all councils were significantly poorer at paying Rent Allowance on time than at processing other types of benefits promptly. Where a council may be prioritising claims for benefit paid to the council over benefit which is paid to private tenants and their landlords, a policy review is recommended.

 

The report also highlights variations in cost, with the cost per claimant in some councils being up to twice as high as in neighbouring and better performing authorities.

 

The report is available from Audit Commission Publications on freephone 0800 502030: £20.

April 1999
Court Clears Shirley Porter

A Court of Appeal judgment cleared Dame Shirley Porter of gerrymandering charges in the so-called Westminster Council's Homes for Votes affair. The judgment overturned the findings of an inquiry into the sale of Westminster Council homes in the eighties - which concluded that there was an ulterior motive to increase the number of potential Conservative voters in key marginal wards.

The events leading up to this judgment stretch back to 1986:

• In May 1986 there were local elections and the Conservatives were returned to power on Westminster City Council with a greatly reduced majority.

• Between late 1986 and early 1987 the Council discussed a policy of building stable communities, which included an important proposal to increase designated sale - being the sale of council dwellings when they became vacant (in addition to sales under the Right to Buy arrangement).

• In July 1987, the Housing Committee voted to greatly expand the Councils programme of designated sales, with an associated programme of capital grants to be available for purchase of dwellings.

• Critics attacked the policy of designated sales as unlawful and in July 1989 a Notice of Objection was given to the Auditor.

• The Auditor carried out a lengthy investigation and in January 1994 he issued Notices to ten individuals, including Dame Shirley Porter (Leader of the Council at the time of the designated sales policy) and David Weeks ( Deputy Leader at the time of the policy).

• An audit hearing was held between October 1995 and February 1996, at the conclusion of which the Auditor issued certificates in the sum £31.76 million against Dame Shirley Porter, David Weeks and four others.

• In 1997, the Divisional Court allowed appeals by four of Dame Shirley Porter's colleagues against the findings of willful misconduct but the appeals of Dame Shirley Porter herself and David Weeks were dismissed.

• In 1998 Dame Shirley Porter and David Weeks were granted leave to go to the Court of Appeal.

The following extract is an important element of the majority findings in the Court of Appeal:

• If there were sound local government reasons for a decision caused to be taken by members of a local authority, the fact that ulterior motive for that decision was the achievement of an electoral advantage for their own political party by manipulation of the electorate did not make that decision unlawful. The Times: 6 May 1999

Following the judgment, District Auditor John Magill was granted permission to appeal to the House of Lords.

April 1999
Around the Councils

• Dundee Council was reported to have moved away from traditional lettings practice and opened its first Property Shop, which offers homes for letting in a similar manner to an estate agency approach to selling.

• Birmingham MDC agreed a hard-line approach in its strategy to combat anti-social behaviour, including the use of Anti-social Behaviour Orders - introduced in last year's Crime and Disorder Act.

• Glasgow Council relaunched its home contents insurance policy service and wrote to all of its 65,000 tenants to encourage them to join it. The policy was also being made available to leaseholders.

• Resident consultation by Hounslow LBC on the future of five blocks of flats on its Ivybridge Estate produced a difficult situation, with residents in only three of the blocks favouring demolition. The Council's solution was to comply with the wishes of all and use the savings from not having to demolish two blocks to introduce a programme of improvements to them instead. The other three blocks are still to be demolished.

• Newham LBC launched a consultation exercise in five areas, directed at ways of improving neglected estates. The programme includes use of video, depicting typical problems - which also provides for residents' comments to be recorded in a video box.

In a separate development, it was announced that contractor CSL would be taking over the management of the Council's Housing and Council Tax Benefit service in June.

• Four owner-occupiers who bought their properties under the Right to Buy scheme were presenting problems for Sheffield MDC's plans to redevelop its Norfolk Park Estate. The £100 million programme of demolition and redevelopment was being frustrated by failure to come to an agreement with the owners over purchase of their homes. They had already rejected offers of £12,000 for their maisonettes, arguing that they would need considerably more to buy one of the new homes planned for the estate. It was understood that the Council had served a Notice on the families, which left eviction as an option.

• The Appeal Court ruled that Sunderland CC was in breach of copyright law when it placed orders for new doors to flats in 13 high rise blocks. The case involved claims by Pensher Security Doors Ltd., that one of its former employees had taken drawings to another company and these had been used to produce similar doors - being the ones that the Council bought. The Council was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords and the costs awarded against it amount to more than £450,000.

• Westminster Council has responded to the Dixon Inquiry report into the death of a police constable in 1997, which criticised the Council for using bed and breakfast accommodation - often away from a point of medical support - for housing a homeless person with severe mental illness. PC Nina Mackay was killed as she tried to make an arrest of a paranoid schizophrenic in the Council's care.

The Council points to the crisis of having over 2,000 families housed in temporary accommodation - including some 700 asylum seekers. With 180 of those households including members suffering with mental illness, it was impractical to suggest that bed and breakfast accommodation should not be used.

 

• A new pilot scheme saw York CC's Housing Services Team introduce community gardeners, who will be dedicated to maintaining a pleasing appearance on local estates. The community gardening team will be available to residents for small gardening jobs, as well as attending to gardening and grass cutting in communal areas.

April 1999
Ombudsman:Methane Problem Not Disclosed

Ombudsman, Patricia Thomas, issues reports on her investigation of eight complaints against Barnsley MBC, all concerned with housing sales.

All of the complainants bought their homes from the Council. They complained, that at the time, the Council failed to tell them about problems with the omission of subterranean methane in the locality.

The Ombudsman finds that the Council had not properly considered its position over the notification of a problem of which it was well aware and about which the complainants were entitled to know. This, she concludes was maladministration.

With regard to five of the complaints, the Ombudsman finds that the failure to tell the complainants, in the particular circumstances of their purchase, was maladministration with the potential to cause injustice. Injustice is, however, restricted because the complainants would have had at least some knowledge of the problem at the time.

With regard to these five cases, the Ombudsman recommends that:

• The Council should now instruct the District Valuer to assess the difference in value (if any) of the houses as between the Councils evaluation in 1982 and any valuation that would have been made at that time in the full knowledge of the problem.

• The Council should then calculate the present value of that difference. It should pay two- thirds of any difference in valuation - calculated at present monetary values - by way of compensation. It should also pay the complainants £150 each for the time and trouble involved in making their complaints.

• With regard to the other three complaints, the Ombudsman notes that by the time the complainants came to buy their houses, remedial work had been in place for some time and problems appeared to have been abated. In these particular circumstances, the Ombudsman finds that the Council could reasonably decided notification was not necessary and, therefore, that the maladministration had not caused injustice.

Investigations Nos. 98/C/3419, 98/C/3879, 98/C/4917 (Injustice not found) and 98/C/3278, 98/C/3875, 98/C/3876, 98/C/3878, 98/C/3881 (Potential to cause injustice) (Barnsley MBC).

May 1999
Council Performance Indicators - Wales

The Audit Commission published Local Authority Performance Indicators 1997-98: Council Services in Wales, which provides information on how Welsh councils spend about £900 per person per year, how their performance has changed over time and how the performance of councils compares.

The report finds that many Welsh councils improved services between 1996/97 and 1997/98 but significant variations between councils remain and a small number are providing a poorer service. Despite improvements, performance in a number of services is still poorer than before Welsh councils were reorganised in 1996. For example, the number of Council Tax Benefit applications processed within 14 days improved slightly between 1996/97 and 1997/98 but still remained eight percentage points lower than in 1994/95.

In some cases, councils that were already performing relatively poorly have got worse - of the 10 Welsh councils that took longer than average to re-let council homes in 1996/97, six have got worse.

Most councils have slightly reduced the amount they spend per person. While there are wide variations in spending in Wales, on average Welsh councils spend significantly more per person than similar English councils.

May 1999
In-house Team Going Private

The housing management service in Westminster City Council is being re-tendered over the next 12 months and the in-house team - WMS - announced that they are to form a private company to bid (with a joint venture partner) for the new, all-embracing housing contracts.

The contract specification had to be finalised but was likely to require the successful bidder to deliver a full range of services, including housing management, estate gardening, estate cleaning, repairs, planned maintenance and major building projects. The tenderers are also expected to suggest innovative ways in which private sector finance can be injected into the housing service during the term of the new contracts.

WMS was established as an internal contractor two years ago and, as well as servicing Westminster CC, it has also worked for a number of other London councils.

May 1999
Around the Councils

• Cardiff Council has been given £500,000 in supplementary credit approvals for a scheme to refurbish and sell off unwanted homes on its unpopular St Mellons estate. Proceeds from sales are to be invested in improvements on the Estate.

• Greenwich LBC introduced sweeping changes, aimed at improving the service for tenants living in its sheltered housing blocks. All aspects of running sheltered schemes were being brought under the control of the Supported Housing Service, providing one point of contact for all enquiries and problems and a structure for better planning and development of the service - to reflect the needs of its users.

• Hackney LBC's in-house team was awarded a grounds maintenance contract by housing management contractor - Pinnacle Housing. Pinnacle manages 5,000 homes in the Shoreditch neighbourhood of Hackney and the contract includes maintenance of lawns and shrubbery on local estates.

• Hull Council abandoned plans to provide free council accommodation for teachers in the area, following advice that the move might be in breach of national pay guidelines. It still offers teachers homes at normal rents.

• Knowsley MDC claimed a first, with a new scheme that allows tenants to report repairs via the internet. Tenants without access to the internet from their homes can call at local public libraries and use the service there. The new service is graphic-based, which allows the users to click on a particular picture where the problem in the home is, and it then guides them through indicators of faults.

• Lambeth LBC announced plans to introduce a policy that links rent arrears and its repairs service. Under the new scheme, areas with good rent arrear records will receive additional funding for non-statutory repairs, while those with higher arrears will get less.

• Lincoln Council conducted an investigation, following complaints from households that a bogus letter had been circulating - advising tenants that representatives of the Housing Department would be calling to enquire if rooms can be spared to house Kosovo refugees. It was suspected that the objective was to gain access into tenants' homes.

• Manchester CC launched a scheme, which offers residents grants of up to £15,000 for projects that will improve the look of local estates and help to combat crime.

• Newham LBC announced that it would extend its professional witness pilot scheme and increase funding for it to £30,000. The scheme was launched in 1998 to address problems in taking successful legal action in harassment cases. This successfully protects tenants against neighbours who are being prosecuted for anti-social behaviour. The scheme also incorporates a victim support element.

• Nottingham Council gave the green light to plans to set up an energy service company, whichill provide its tenants with lower fuel bills. The Council agreed to allocate £23,500 to set up a finance company, which will supply gas and electricity through the deregulated energy supply market.

• Sheffield MDC decided to contract out its Housing Benefit service to private contractor, CSL, in an effort to make budget savings.

• Westminster CC launched a free phone hotline, to be used by people who suspect fraud against the Council. Callers are not obliged to reveal their identity and all calls are fully investigated.

• York Council won a contract to manage 6 new homes for Tees Valley HA, with a possibility of a further contract to manage another 13 homes. The Council was also in negotiations with North British HA about managing 20 homes for it.

May 1999
Beacon Status Update

Local authorities were invited to apply for Beacon Council Status in an announcement made by Local Government Minister, Hilary Armstrong. The Beacon Council Scheme was launched for consultation in February and it is aimed at raising standards in all councils by spreading best practice. It is the Government's intention that every council will participate in the scheme.

In the first year, around 40 councils are to be awarded Beacon Status, with the objective of developing centres of excellence which others can learn from. This year, councils apply for Beacon Status in up to three of the following seven service areas:

• Community Safety: preventing local shopping and town centre crime and disorder.

• Education: helping to raise standards by tackling school failure.

• Housing: improving housing maintenance.

• Modernising Planning: streamlining the planning process for business.

• Modern Service Delivery: improving the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit administration.

• Social Services: helping care leavers.

• Sustainable Development: dealing with waste.

The Beacon Council Scheme has two phases - the first phase focuses on spreading best practice, the second phase will, in addition, allow new freedoms and flexibilities to be tested. The details of the application process are set out in Beacon Council Scheme: How to Apply, which is available from DETR Free Literature, P O Box 236, Wetherby LS23 7NB. The document is also available on DETR's website at http://www.detr.gov.uk/. Ministers will select Beacon Councils on the basis of advice from an Independent Advisory Panel.

June 1999
Around the Councils

• The responses to 91,000 questionnaires sent to tenants are the basis for new tenancy conditions introduced by Birmingham Council. Changes include more resident responsibility for minor repairs, tighter control on rent arrears and further action to deal with anti-social behaviour. New conditions also allow tenants to keep dogs in flats.

• A survey of housing need showed that, in many parts of Bolton, it is as cheap to buy a home as to rent. Bolton Council is looking at ways of attracting more take-up of council and association property.

• Dundee Council obtained one of the first Anti-social Behaviour Orders against a neighbour, who was responsible for an eight-year reign of terror, including drunken parties, intimidation and threatening behaviour.

• As part of its strategy to deal with anti-social behaviour, Edinburgh Council allocated £130,000 into its community mediation project. The service attempts to resolve disputes between residents before they become unmanageable issues.

• Lambeth LBC was reported to be abolishing its needs-based housing list and points scoring in favour of a first-come, first-served allocations system. Under the proposed new system, applicants are able to specify the type of home they are looking for and obtain advice on the likely waiting times. The Council was also reported to be considering introducing an estate patrol pilot scheme to combat burglary. Under the Home Office-funded, £60,000 pilot scheme, running initially for 12 months, rangers are to patrol the area and be available to advise and assist residents on security matters.

• Lewisham LBC is serving Compulsory Purchase Orders on up to 30 derelict and abandoned private homes in the Borough. Before taking such action, the Council will offer the owners advice on bringing their buildings back into use. Orders will be served on those who refuse to respond.

• North Somerset Council gained an Anti-social Behaviour Order against a tenant for harassing its housing staff. The tenant faces imprisonment or a fine if he returns to the estate before June 2001.

• Oldham Council was reported to be considering a plan to designate certain housing blocks for tenants in particular age groups. The proposal is aimed to respond to problems caused by housing young people in blocks which are mainly occupied by elderly tenants and where there are resulting lifestyle clashes. Only four blocks are believed to be involved in the proposals.

The Council was also considering giving tenants and ward councillors the opportunity to operate a local lettings policy, with the objective of cutting the number of empty homes by allowing flexibility in the interpretation of the Council's allocation rules.

• Wakefield DC obtained a suspended Possession Order against a tenant - a condition of which is that his son-in-law (who is a convicted drug dealer) stays away from the estate on which he (the tenant) lives.

• Dame Shirley Porter, the former leader of Westminster City Council, has to face an appeal in the House of Lords by District Auditor, John Magill. In May, Dame Porter and her former Deputy, David Weeks, were cleared of wilful misconduct by the Appeal Court and the surcharges against them, which totalled £27 million, were dropped.

July 1999
Around the Councils

• A former Birmingham Council officer won a landmark Court case with the award of £67,491 for personal injury caused by stress. The employee formerly worked in the drawing office but later transferred to the housing department, where she came into contact with a number of tenants who were particularly demanding and sometimes hostile. The Council had admitted liability in the case.

• A High Court ruled that Braintree Council was not beyond its powers when it demanded 90% of the open market value of the garden of a former council tenancy. The tenant exercised his Right to Buy in 1988 and then obtained planning permission to build a new house in the garden in July 1995. However, a covenant in the conveyance of the property restricted its use to a single private residence. The Council agreed to waive the covenant only if the tenant accepted the Council's right to demand 90% of the market value of the plot.

• A Bristol Council tenant took unusual measures to resolve his problem. The Council refused to deal with fleas in his new home, so he took a jam-jar full of them to his local housing office and released them. The Council argued that the fleas were caused by the previous owner's pets and the new tenant had moved in by way of a mutual exchange. Therefore, the responsibility was his to deal with the fleas.

• Prospective council tenants moving into a former hostel converted to flats in the centre of Canterbury signed a lease in which they accept the lack of parking available and agree not to buy a car. Land that could have been used for parking spaces was used in the £6 million project to develop two extra homes.

• Dartford Council decided not to renew its contract with DartHomes for housing management services when it expires in March 2000. DartHomes is a housing management subsidiary of Hyde Housing. It won the Council's housing management contract in 1994 under compulsory competitive tendering. Former Council employees who transferred to DartHomes when the contract was won will now return to the Council under the TUPE scheme.

• A Greenwich Council tenant, who claimed to have been harassed, appeared on BBC's programme - Newsroom South East - making a plea for a move from Kidbrooke to another area.

• Hackney LBC entered into a business arrangement with a long-standing group of squatters, with the aid of a £1 million urban regeneration grant from Europe. More than 60 squatters occupied 22 Victorian terraced houses which were run-down and derelict. They had been condemned when the initial squat action was taken in the late 1970s. After numerous failed eviction attempts, the Council agreed to sell the houses at 10% of their value to the squatters, who formed a non-profit-making cooperative with local businesses to raise the purchase price.

• Hounslow LBC announced that it was considering setting up a charitable trust in partnership with financial companies, with the aim of providing low-cost loans to help homeowners afford vital structural works. Using a charitable trust as a vehicle overcomes legal restrictions on a local authority’s lending to private individuals.

• Lambeth LBC was faced with a Court of Appeal ruling, allowing a squatter to take possession of a double-fronted Victorian council house that he had been occupying for 16 years. The man was awarded the £200,000 Council home, after arguing his case that he was entitled to it under Section 12 of the Limitations Act 1980.

The Act provides - if someone trespasses on land for 12 years, they can acquire the legal ownership of it. The owner must not have been in possession, or have asserted any rights over the land.

The squatter had occupied the house for 16 years and claimed adverse possession - meaning that he had treated the property as his own by occupying it and not paying any rent. The Council's argument that the squatter could not establish that he had lived there continuously, having not made any Council Tax (previously Poll Tax) returns, was rejected by the Court of Appeal.

• Liverpool Council is implementing the 79 suggestions for improvement made by a voluntary Best Value inspection team from the Housing Quality Network, although many of them were put in hand before the inspection. High on the inspectors' list of criticisms was the current housing strategy and a new strategy that takes account of latest research into supply and demand was recommended. The Council's repairs and maintenance service also attracted criticism and proposals for abandoning the direct service organisation in favour of a partnership with a private sector firm were being examined.

• Some 4,000 enquiries were made following an offer by Newcastle Council of flats for 50 pence each. The offer involved 10 flats in the regeneration area of North Benwell and buyers agreed to take two flats at 50 pence each and spend £12,000 on converting them into one dwelling. They then qualify for a local authority improvement grant of up to £25,000, which can be spent on further improvement works. The agreements also required guarantees on minimum periods of residency.

• Newham LBC estimated that it had generated £5 million in extra rent and saved £250,000 in bed and breakfast accommodation costs as a result of its empty property strategy. It was estimated that there were 4,000 empty properties in the Borough.

• Waltham Forest LBC launched its new phone service - Housing Direct - which introduced a new customer service team to deal with enquiries from tenants. The new service was additional to the 3 local offices, which remain open for face-to-face enquiries.

August 1999
Around the Councils

• Birmingham CC successfully prosecuted a council tenant for unlawfully evicting a sub-tenant from his Council flat. The tenant was found guilty in his absence and a Warrant was issued for his arrest.

• Bolsover DC introduced a rangers service as part of a neighbourhood managers concept, that reflects recommendations from the Social Exclusion Unit. The rangers are based at each of the four district offices and are available to quickly deal with potential difficulties before they become unmanageable. They handle resident reports of anti-social behaviour and crime and deal with requests from tenants for council services, such as repair and waste removal. The service is available 24 hours per day.

• Camden LBC issued 30 Notices under the Crime and Disorder Act, in a campaign to force parents to control their children and prevent them from committing anti-social acts. The Council was also reported to be preparing four Anti-social Behaviour Orders and considering forfeiture of lease, where leaseholders are involved in anti-social behaviour.

• Cheltenham BC was granted an Injunction against a tenant who had made his neighbour's life a misery. The Council brought the action under its Safer Estates initiative, after numerous complaints from tenants of anti-social behaviour in and around the flat. The Injunction bans the tenant from causing nuisance, annoyance or disturbance and from using his home for selling or taking drugs.

• Lambeth LBC handed over responsibility for housing services on its Ethelred Estate in Kennington to its newly-elected tenant management organisation.

• Manchester CC gained possession against a tenant who has used his home as a base for a prolonged and co-ordinated campaign of anti-social behaviour. Surveillance evidence was a key aspect in the case.

• Waltham Forest LBC launched a specialist team to tackle rent arrears. The 23-staff team make use of a number of strategies, including door-to-door interviews with tenants and the naming and shaming of those evicted for arrears.

September 1999
Around the Councils

• Birmingham Council carried out safety checks to one-third of its 300 tower blocks, to ensure that there would be no danger of collapse if there were to be a gas explosion in any of them. Gas supply was cut off in two blocks and a further 100 towers were cleared by the tests. Residents who rely on gas cookers were provided with electric cookers while tests were undertaken.

• Dover Council agreed with local water companies that repairs to supply pipes in the gardens of Council-owned homes would be carried out in future free of charge.

• Gateshead Council selected Housing 21 (formerly known as the Royal British Legion HA) and industrial and provident society HICA as its partners in providing residential care for older people. The partners are developing new sheltered housing and residential homes to replace 11 homes which do not meet today's standards.

• A joint operation between police and a council's housing equality harassment team saw a Haringey LBC tenant jailed for 18 months, after being found guilty of shouting racial abuse at neighbours through a microphone. The Council also took repossession action.

• Lambeth LBC was fined £75,000 for its role in the 1997 gas explosion at Kerrin Point. The Council admitted two offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which saw it also having to find £50,000 costs. The Council was believed to be considering issuing civil proceedings against the boiler maintenance contractor for alleged breach of contract.

• Mansfield DC planned repayments to over half of its 8,500 tenants who had been overcharged rent over the last 6 years. A complicated points system for rents was blamed for the overpayment, which was thought to be as high as £1.4 million.

• Nottingham Council developed a single strategy to tackle nuisance across the City, following a contribution from local housing associations of £2,000 to support its anti-social behaviour team.

• Sunderland Council offered tenants in its Upper Pennywell area rewards of £50 supermarket vouchers for making a recommendation that led to someone taking up a new tenancy in the area. £30 decorating allowances were given to new tenants on taking up their tenancy.

• A civil action brought by Waltham Forest LBC resulted in outright Possession Orders being granted against five families found guilty of perpetrating a campaign of racial and physical harassment against Asian and black neighbours.

October 1999
Around the Councils

• Residents on Birmingham CC's Druids Heath Estate voted in favour of becoming the largest tenant management organisation outside London. Of the 1,655 residents voting, 1,319 were in favour of plans to form Druids Heath Tenant Management Co-operative to take over the management of the estate from January 2000. The estate was the second in the City to become tenant-managed, the first following an earlier development on the Council's Bloomsbury Estate earlier this year. It is understood that five other estates may also be considering similar developments. The new Tenant Management Co-operative will have responsibility for all housing services, including repairs, maintenance and rent collection.

• Enfield LBC's hard-hitting poster campaign saw a drop in rent arrears of 3% over the last year. The campaign, which includes such slogans as - Pay Your Rent, Keep Your Home, has been supported by improvements to the Council's procedures for dealing with both rent and benefits.

• Lambeth LBC faced possible Court action as a second squatter laid claim to the ownership of a property he was occupying. The squatter alleged that he has lived in the £400,000 house for 16 years. However, the Council argued that he spent part of that time in Australia and can not claim continuous occupation. A separate report suggested that this is not an isolated example and that there are a number of other squatted properties that could be claimed by those occupying them.

• Plans by Lewisham LBC to reduce its 16 neighbourhood offices structure to four management areas attracted criticism from the Federation of Lewisham Tenant and Resident Associations. The Council also plans to centralise management of its caretaking services. In responding to the criticism, the Council pointed out that the number of management areas has no bearing on the number of neighbourhood offices.

• Manchester CC launched a pilot project, which will see a new call centre dealing with all repairs, rent and rehousing enquiries. The new service will also facilitate arranging appointments to visit local housing offices. As part of the initiative, free telephones have been placed in civic centres. Emergency services will remain unaffected.

• Newham LBC started legal proceedings for perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice against a person convicted of Housing Benefit offences. The man was convicted on three counts of providing false information to the Council when applying for accommodation (under Section 214 of the Housing Act 1996). The Court imposed fines of £7,000, costs and compensation. The Council was taking action in relation to false information provided in sworn affidavits to the High Court during proceedings brought by him against the Council when he applied for homeless accommodation.

• Scottish Borders Council was considering innovative arrangements, which could involve merging its stock with that of Eildon and Berwickshire Housing Associations, in a bid to raise the £60 million needed for urgent repairs. The other alternative under consideration is transferring all of its 7,800 homes to a newly created landlord or to the existing association, Eildon.

• Following analysis by Southwark LBC of about 600 responses to its survey of visually impaired tenants, the Council announced that it is introducing braille versions of a number of documents. It was also considering introducing a password system for housing and maintenance officers calling on tenants, in an attempt to combat the problem of doorstep criminals.

• Following the discovery of asbestos by a tenant when demolishing shelves in his 1940s-built house, West Dunbartonshire Council carried out a wider survey and found asbestos in concrete shelves in 70 out of 289 homes examined. The Council planned to inspect the rest of its 16,000 homes for asbestos and has set up a multi-departmental asbestos working group to deal with the problem.

November 1999
Around the Councils

• Bath and North East Somerset Council was forced to assure some 3,000 tenants of homes transferred last April to Somer Community HT that asbestos cement found in their homes is not dangerous.

• Birmingham Council became the latest authority to launch an anti-rent arrears poster campaign. Its new Parklife poster depicts two people sitting on a bench in a park with their belongings around them and the slogan - We evict tenants who WILL NOT pay their rent.

• Brent LBC embarked on a joint initiative with the Local Community Safety Unit to encourage tenants to report hate crimes. Thought to be the first of its kind in London, the campaign encourages tenants to report any racial, sexual, homophobic or domestic incidents or abuse of elderly people to their Housing Office instead of the police. Those reporting incidents will not be obliged to notify the police.

• Camden LBC and Brent LBC were employing the services of Vehicle Clamping Securities to combat the growing problem of unlawful parking. Both local authority and housing association tenants will have their vehicles clamped, if they are illegally parked. The company claims to have some 200 contracts, of which one-third are currently with housing associations.

• Edinburgh Council was reported to be about to set up a local housing company that will invest cash granted as part of the Council's new housing partnership bid in February. The local housing company will access private finance and provide the Council with an avenue for a new-build programme. Additionally, the company hopes to provide accommodation for occupation by disabled people and introduce programmes that help home owners in financial difficulty to avoid eviction action.

• Lambeth LBC lost an appeal against a County Court decision that it should pay damages of nearly £5,000 to a tenant for failing to carry out repairs to her flat. This was despite the tenant owing more than £2,000 in rent arrears. The Council had been granted a suspended Possession Order against the tenant. However, subsequently Lambeth County Court revived the tenancy but ordered the tenant to pay the rent arrears out of the compensation for failure to carry out repairs. This decision has now been upheld in the Appeal Court.

• Sheffield Council was reported to be bringing forward a programme of home safety leaflets that highlight the dangers of gas appliances, following the tragic death of a family from carbon monoxide poisoning. The tenant and her two small children were found dead in their Sky Edge Estate home and initial tests point to a portable heater as the cause of a gas leak, which spread to neighbouring accommodation. Central heating systems have been serviced and were not found at fault.

• A Southwark LBC tenant who allowed his family to cause considerable damages in his accommodation was presented with a £5,000 repair bill by the Council. An Arbitration Panel gave the tenant time to carry out the repairs but, when nothing was done, it ordered the Council to complete them and charge the tenant with the costs.

• South Lanarkshire Council suspended four employees and called in local police to investigate alleged financial irregularities. These are believed to concern invoices from a local builder with regard to ordering materials and carrying out maintenance and repairs at Council accommodation.

• Westminster CC denied allegations that it was delaying a test case concerning service charges. The case centres on the amount of management charges levied and whether, under the lessee’s contract, they are recoverable. The Council successfully applied for an adjournment to March 2000.

December 1999
First Beacon Councils Announced

Forty-two local authorities became the first ever Beacon Councils. In conjunction with the Improvement and Development Agency, they will organise best practice sharing activities for councils all over the country during the period to March 2001. There are seven service areas on which the Beacon scheme is focusing in its first year, of which two are specific to housing. The successful Beacon Councils in those two service areas were:

Improving Housing Maintenance

• Carrick District Council

• Kirklees Metropolitan Council

• Leicester City Council

• Manchester City Council

• City of York Council

Improving Housing and Council Tax Benefit Administration

• London Borough of Camden

• Exeter City Council

• London Borough of Harrow

• Leeds City Council

• New Forest District Council

Notes

The Government established the Beacon Council Scheme to select a number of councils to act as pace-setters and centres of excellence. Ministers selected 33 applications, covering 42 councils (due to a joint application from councils in Hampshire) from an original pool of 269 applications from 211 councils.

The Beacon Council Scheme programme of events brochure - Where to Go and What to See - has been published by the Government. It lists the Beacon Councils and outlines their best practice and their dissemination proposals. It also informs councils how to participate in the scheme.

Copies are available from DETR Free Literature, P O Box 236, Wetherby LS23 7NB.

December 1999
Around the Councils

• Gateshead Council hoped to encourage other councils to back its campaign for a licensing scheme for private landlords. Included in its proposals was the right to withhold Housing Benefit from those landlords who refuse to join a licensing scheme. The campaign reflects the severity of the problem of bad landlords in some areas, which is threatening the stability of local communities.

• Kirklees Council wrote to the Housing Organisation Mobility and Exchange Services (Homes) to advertise its 450 empty dwellings. The initiative aimed to complement moves by London boroughs, such as Westminster CC, which are actively looking to meet their own homelessness obligations outside their own catchment areas. It is likely that a number of other local authorities in the North with high void problems will be closely watching developments at Kirklees.

• Newcastle-upon-Tyne Council was issuing proposals that could lead to 6,600 homes being demolished in a long-term programme concentrated in the east and west of the City. Extensive consultation was programmed and, if supported, the plans could see half of the homes demolished within the next 5 years. The proposals are part of a wider strategy, aimed at revitalising the City with new homes and new jobs.

• Norwich Council won the tender to provide an out-of-hours service to Wherry HA, which took over the dwellings of Broadland Council in 1990. The service will cater for the needs of 1,000 alarm users and 17 sheltered housing schemes

• A new scheme was introduced by Southwark Council, which aims to encourage its tenants who are under-occupying property to move to smaller dwellings. The Council is offering to pay tenants' relocation costs and redecorate their new homes or, alternatively, pay a redecoration allowance of £1,000. A recent survey found that 40% of the Council's larger properties were under-occupied and that a significant number of those tenants would consider a move to smaller properties, if there was an incentive to do so.

• Wear Valley Council carried out an urgent investigation following the discovery of a sheltered housing resident who had been dead in his home for about ten days, despite a resident warden and an alarm system.

January 2000
Around the Councils

• Twenty-four thousand students in Brighton and Hove were to benefit from an initiative between the Council and Brighton and Sussex Universities, which aims to improve the safety and management of shared house accommodation.

• Edinburgh Council was making fundamental changes to its allocations policy, claiming that the current system of allocating by need is failing. In its place, it planned to introduce a new co-ordinated common allocations policy to ensure that its estates, all of which are undergoing or have recently undergone regeneration, are filled with tenants from a variety of backgrounds. The policy will be administered by the 28 housing associations to which the authority's 30,000 homes are being transferred under the New Housing Partnerships strategy.

• Hackney LBC announced its plans to replace its existing mobile patrol teams on four estates in Stamford Hill with permanent caretaker-style residential staff, following a successful pilot on estates in Westminster.

• Central London County Court ruled that squatters in 54 of the Oval Mansions flats owned by Lambeth Council can not claim squatters' rights. Occupants of only six flats are able to provide the proof of 12 years' continuous residence which would entitle them to ownership of the properties, and one case is yet to be decided.

• Leeds Council started an empty property campaign in the Holbeck and Beeston area, as part of its scheme to regenerate residential areas which are in decline, using funds under the Single Regeneration Budget.

• Nottingham Council spent £125,000 on a gang-busting unit to tackle anti-social behaviour among youths on its estates. The unit employs two full-time police officers and it aims to streamline the use of Anti-social Behaviour Orders, and will impose curfews on under-10s, as well as taking part in the local youth crime reduction agency.

• Walsall Council brought successful Court action against two legal firms, who encouraged tenants to bring disrepair cases without fully explaining the financial implications, and was awarded £4,000 costs for the one case. The Council was to pursue costs and bring an in- house action against the second firm.

• More than 20,000 tenants of Wandsworth Council were to be provided with access to digital television, following a deal with broadcaster ONdigital, in what the Council claims is the first scheme of its kind in England.

February 2000
Around the Councils

• The Home Office commended Cardiff City Council's policy - the first of its kind in Wales - which outlines procedures for housing staff when dealing with victims of domestic violence.

• Greenwich LBC claimed a 90% success rate for its pilot scheme to give tenants definite appointment dates for repair calls.

• Following the publication in the Macpherson report of names of witnesses involved in the Stephen Lawrence enquiry last year, Greenwich LBC revealed that it was forced to rehouse 25 families, at a cost of £ 300,000 - which was underwritten by the Home Office.

• Manchester City Council moved up a gear in the race to deliver groundbreaking Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding for council housing regeneration. Six teams have been selected to work with the Council and tenants in drawing up outline proposals to deliver an estimated £90 million PFI over 30 years. In December 2000, one team was to be chosen as the proposed partner.

• A three-year community housing agreement with Mid Wales Housing Association will see Powys Council's housing management performance being compared with local housing associations, as part of the Welsh Assembly's Best Value in Action project.

March 2000
Local Authority News

• Ealing LBC’s Housing Committee was reported to be considering bringing in private expertise to improve the performance of the housing service in Acton. The introduction of an alternative housing management provider into one of the four housing contract areas aims to challenge the way housing management is provided in Ealing. The Acton Housing Pilot will involve private management company JSS Pinnacle running the Acton area housing area for six months. Under the arrangement, senior mangers will be brought in by JSS Pinnacle to run the 5,500 homes contract. This will include rent collection, voids management, customer participation and repairs.

• Lambeth LBC set a national first, with the development of a Security and Environmental Improvement fund for tenants. The £1 million fund will be made available from the Housing Capital Programme to residents' associations and tenant management organisations. Each association/ organisation will receive a minimum of £1000, with larger estates in line for a bigger share of the pot based on an allocation of £30 per property. The money will be earmarked for security and environmental improvement projects - such as fencing, paving repairs, CCTV, play equipment, improved lighting and parking bays.

• Southwark LBC was reported to be seeking a patent for a new method of dealing with boilers that are contaminated by asbestos. The system, developed by its Heating Services Team, involves sealing the asbestos in-situ. The Council estimates that it will save some £2.3 million removing asbestos lagging from 6,500 of its boilers and it is now marketing the system to other social landlords.

April 2000
Around the Councils

• Crawley Council signed a partnership deal with seven locally-active housing associations, to collaborate on a number of schemes with potential funding from the Council and the Housing Corporation.

• Derby Council launched a research project to explore the reasons for the City's rising rent arrears. The study will focus on low-income households and reasons for late and non- payment of rent.

• Hackney LBC and St Edmundsbury Council combined resources to produce an educational pack for schools about wasted land and empty dwellings. The pack - Saving Greenfield Sites - includes a video and a workbook of case studies and ideas for projects. Further details - Tel: 020 7828 8361 (Empty Homes Agency).

• Islington LBC awarded an estate management contract for 6,000 dwellings to Hyde Northside (part of Hyde HA), worth £12.5 million over the next five years. The Council also announced details of new acceptable behaviour contracts, which disruptive tenants will be required to sign to avoid more severe action. The use of such contracts costs about 5% of the average cost of an Anti-social Behavior Order.

• Westminster CC were reported to be about to put its homelessness assessment and advice service out to tender. Included in the contract will be maintenance of the housing register and allocations. The Council plans to let the contract, worth £2.5 million, from April 2001. The initiative is expected to bring savings of about £60,000 per year.

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