Innovacion

Andy Rumfitt appointed to advise the Southwark Housing Commission

Andy Rumfitt has been appointed as part of the Smith Institute team to provide secretariat services to the Independent Commission on the Future of Council Housing in Southwark which will look at housing issues beyond 2015/16. Chaired by the nationally acclaimed housing lawyer Jan Luba QC, the Commission will find innovative and deliverable long-term solutions to the issues created by the unprecedented demand for council housing in the heart of London. While Southwark Council is the largest local authority social landlord in London managing 54,000 homes, the current waiting list now exceeds 19,000. The Commission will invite and hear evidence from key stakeholders, tenants, leaseholders, residents, housing associations and all those who are involved and interested in providing housing across the borough. The Commission will report in October 2012.

 

The Regional Growth Fund - Regional, sure, but Strategic?

The Local Growth White Paper which includes  the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) suggests that the coalition is very much committed to regional rebalancing. The RGF will be deployed along with Tax Incremental Finance (TIF), more local controlled business rates, as yet undefined Growth Hubs and new Technology and Innovation Centres which are to be set up by an expanded Technology Strategy Board. However the first Round of the RGF (£325 million of £1.4 billion) feels like it is being done very much on the hoof (it only has a full application stage) and the workshops in London come almost after the 21 Jan 2011 deadline. Though anyone in London will do well to secure these funds and even the weight of a potential London-wide Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) may not help much. However the RGF suggests there is a clear desire to stimulate the private sector in areas of high public sector employment dependency and this extends to aspirations for high levels of cash support from the private sector and social enterprise in bids to the RGF (60% is suggested as being achieved in Wales). The assessment criteria are drawn from the Treasury's Green Book on value for money so the first round bids will have to be at a well developed stage and have this detailed financial information easily available. The fund seems to be flexible and include capital and revenue elements but bids from the public sector alone are not permitted. However a number of questions emerge:

• Will this approach actually bring forward the right and the right scale of projects rather than the projects that can meet the RGF criteria? Theoretically middle ranking (and urban?) areas in the regions where there is more private funding available may actually do better if this is a key metric. It may also favour those areas with well established public-private partnerships.
• It is not obvious how a sub-£1 million social enterprise project can genuinely be compared with all the other areas expected to be funded from the RGF including housing and infrastructure? And £325 million may not go very far if there are chunky capital projects.
• Projects with less evidence of tangible financial benefits may suffer from this approach (e.g. social inclusion, sustainability)?
• Is any existing strategy being used to co-ordinate these "competitively assessed" projects?

And the RGF is not to be confused with the Business Growth Fund.  In parallel the £1.5 billion Business Growth Fund (relatively small considering the Goldman Sachs bonus pot is £8.3 billion this year!) that has been pulled together by the six largest banks is providing equity finance (£2m-£10m) to firms with turnovers of £10m-£100m though a programme of free mentoring from former bank employees is being offered.

Innovacion review Extra Care Housing demand in North Yorkshire

Innovacion and Atkins have been commissioned to review the forecasts and assumptions used for a housing need analysis for extra care housing provision across North Yorkshire and its seven Local Authorities. The study is the first stage in the development of an Outline Business Case (OBC) by North Yorkshire County Council to consider the merits of developing further schemes in addition to the existing 12 ECH schemes that have been successfully developed since 2003.  

Making sense of housing - best practice from CAA green flag local authorities

With 2.5 million council tenants currently and an additional three million homes planned by 2020 local authorities play a major role in the management and development of housing locally. Local Authorities are having to respond to future challenges including how to provide more (affordable) housing in better designed places, how to reduce homelessness levels and how to respond to demographic trends. The CAA Green Flag authorities of Blackpool, Corby and North Yorkshire County Council have undertaken a range of innovative and successful housing activities. Blackpool Council has substantially reduced its levels of homelessness through a range of initiatives. Corby Borough Council has 16,000 new homes planned or built and has secured £2 billion of investment. Working in partnership with seven district councils, housing associations and other partners North Yorkshire County Council has developed 11 new Extra Care schemes which provide a new independent living option for its ageing population.

Download the case study produced by Innovacion for IDeA from the Work Together site 

Best Pratice in Local Government: Social Media, Housing and Community Engagement

IDeA have commissioned Innovacion to produce three case studies looking at leading edge use of social media in three Local Authorities (Brent Council, Devon County Council and Kent County Council) to assist IDeA in their development of a new Knowledge Hub application. Innovacion are also developing two Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) Green Flag case studies examining best practice in housing (Blackpool Council, Corby Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Hambleton Council) and community engagement (Lewisham Council, Wiltshire Council and East Riding Council).

Coulsdon's Economic Future reviewed by Innovacion

Innovacion and EDP Associates have been commissioned by Croydon Council to review the economic, demographic, property and commercial conditions of Coulsdon which is a district centre in the south of the Borough. The study aims to set a baseline for any future local regeneration and development strategy and, in particular, guide any discussions with strategic partners around the redevelopment options for the nearby Cane Hill site.

Andy Rumfitt appointed to Yorkshire Design Review Service

Andy Rumfitt has been appointed as a panel member of the new Yorkshire and Humberside Design Review Service being established under the Integreat Yorkshire programme which is run by Yorkshire Forward.  

The Design Review Service panel will discuss projects in the context of criteria of good design and provide views of how well or otherwise that the project addresses those criteria. The aim is to assist the project team by providing useful feedback to enable improvements in their design proposals.

The Design Review Service will provide advice on a wide range of built environment issues including new buildings, masterplans, green spaces, urban frameworks and other planning and spatial strategies.

How Lincolnshire County Council is helping vulnerable people at risk of losing their homes

Lincolnshire County Council has been able to help a struggling housing support service to develop new and innovative services that help to prevent homelessness just as the issue has been rising rapidly up the political agenda.  Using dedicated innovation funds local service providers developed new ideas to address housing support service gaps and prevent homelessness.  Projects included a court repossession referral service and an expansion of credit union services.

Read more in Innovacion's case study in IDeA's Partnership and Places library

How housing is supporting the Community Strategy, Local Area Agreement targets and Local Strategic Partnership in Hull

Hull City Council has closely integrated their new Housing Strategy with their Community Strategy, Local Strategic Partnership and a range of national indicators from their Local Area Agreements.  This was made possible by having four clear outcomes in the Community Strategy which were supported by two objectives in the Housing Strategy.  Hull City Council identified the direct and indirect impact of housing services on the four outcomes by reviewing international and national evidence, secured full Cabinet support at an early stage and completed a comprehensive consultation programme to develop the Housing Strategy.  The benefits have been much improved understanding amongst all Council staff and partners about the contribution of housing, more inquiries handled at first point of contact by housing staff and increased joint working both internally, especially with Hull City Council’s Children and Young People’s Services, and externally with partners including the Primary Care Trust.

Read more in Innovacion's case study in IDeA's Partnership and Places library