Kellie Beirne provides a personal critique.
‘Local Authorities are the only organisations equipped to take a comprehensive overview of the needs and priorities of their areas and to lead on all actions required to meet them‘ (National Housing Strategy 2001)
‘LHAs are being asked to develop a more ‘interventionist stance’ as strategic authorities…‘ (HACAS/Chapman Hendy for JRF 2002)
‘LHAs have a key strategic role supported by effective partnerships in ensuring that people in their area have access to a decent home in a sustainable community‘ (NAfW 2001)
‘…understood that a key objective behind distancing Council’s landlord function through stock transfer, arms length companies etc, was to strengthen the cross-tenure strategic housing role of local authorities‘ (CIH 2002)
And so on and so forth. How many proclamations and commitments have you seen enshrined in legislation, strategies, textbooks and the housing press over the past few years, highlighting the importance of the local authority strategic housing role? Although the strategic and enabling function of local authorities dates back some time, recent years have undoubtedly seen increased emphasis on this role. The arrival of the long-awaited Local Government Act 2003 has moved matters along considerably, albeit in the form of a few short lines, by affording the housing strategy-making process some much needed statutory force. Local Housing Strategies (LHSs) herald a more radical approach to the strategic planning process in Wales. With the need to develop and deliver strategies for all housing in their area, local authorities can no longer afford to ignore the private sector. So, now the icing is finally on a cake which has been around for some time. But … and there is a but …, whilst we all surely uphold the view that a robust strategic core is an essential prerequisite in terms of achieving both local and national housing objectives, (not least in coping with the Assembly requirement for a multitude of other strategies and plans), what are we actually doing to make sure we have the right strategic building blocks in place to deliver? Do we merely talk the talk in terms of our strategic role? Is this important ‘interventionist’ role we talk so much about more than just words?
The strategic and enabling role
Developing and promoting the ‘enabling’ role requires very different ways of working to the conventional model of local authority direct service provision. The strategic housing function today represents a shift in balance in terms of the type and scale of interaction required between public and private sectors to deliver effective housing services across the board. Understanding the workings of local housing markets, regarding every local household as a potential ‘customer’ and recognising that genuine partnerships are the only means of delivering, are just some of the challenges facing us. Enabling blanket social housing provision will not be an adequate response. Rather, delivering a range of affordable housing ‘products’ in a number of different contexts requires innovative, diverse and proactive approaches in order to respond to the requirements of individuals, for many of whom, local authorities have not previously had direct responsibility. In markets where affordability, homelessness and support needs are increasingly prominent – attracting much speculation and debate, ‘not doing’ the strategic housing function for many of us is unthinkable.
Under-capacity
What doesn’t seem to be attracting the same level of scrutiny as the importance of the strategic housing role, is the severe under-capacity of housing departments to effectively put the role into practice. How many of us struggle to maintain the profile of what we are told is our ‘principal’ role, forging ahead as strategic lone rangers? Why is it so frequently the case that so fundamental a function is so ill-resourced?
The National Housing Strategy advocates a separation of the strategic and landlord functions, which many authorities have carried out, eager to try and hike strategy up the local agenda. But what has this achieved? Isn’t it time for the Assembly to get off the fence, stop ‘advocating’ and lend some serious support to the case? In England, strategic ‘fit for purpose’ criteria have been issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, enabling Housing Strategies to operate within a structure geared up towards meeting key strategic objectives. The National Housing Strategy, we were told, is a flexible and dynamic document, capable of responding to change and emerging policy issues. So let’s firm up the missing link in Better Homes between having sufficiently robust strategic centres and the achievement of both national and local strategic and operational housing objectives. Research programmes on developing the strategic housing function, best practice advice and identification of resources to create local ‘enabling budgets’ must support this. If we follow the Assembly’s perspective and view the council landlord function as just one local housing provider operating amongst many, then it becomes increasingly apparent that the onset of stock transfer will expose the issue anyway. Transfer will clearly shine the light on the enabling role, focussing on the non-landlord services provided by Councils. But why should we wait for stock transfer just to get our acts together – isn’t this important enough to address now?
Low profile
Local authorities themselves are not free of blame. The strategic role suffers a real lack of understanding and profile, both amongst officers and politicians. Seen alongside the more visible and tangible landlord role, a traditional political power base within local communities, the problem is exacerbated. The enabling role is often perceived to be ‘complex’ on the strength of it being far removed from the days of traditional in-house provision. A lack of awareness regarding the powers open to local authorities, in particular around private sector housing and the forms which intervention can take, are further contributing factors. Arguably, the biggest failure to grasp the fundamental nature of housing strategy is highlighted by the fact that many posts in the field continue to be funded from the Housing Revenue Account. Does the General Rate Fund realise it will need to be waiting for us with open arms on the other side of stock transfer?
And what next?
Although probably raising more questions than it has answers, the issue needs maximum exposure as the first step. The second step is some coherent guidance and directive from the Assembly; clearly setting out the stall for the strategic housing role within the National Housing Strategy. The research gaps must be addressed immediately in order that best practice be quickly identified and disseminated. Profile and promotion needs to start at the national level in order to spread the message that good strategy underpins effective service provision and delivery. Evaluation of the first round of Local Housing Strategies also presents a significant opportunity to address key issues, in particular those around capacity and resources. However, the Assembly must concern themselves more with the frameworks and processes we put in place, rather than the written documents. At the local level, it is incumbent upon us to ensure true partnership approaches to both the development and delivery of Housing Strategies, opening dialogue with as many stakeholders as possible. Promotion, public relations, innovative methods of consultation, demonstrating firm linkages with other key corporate strategies and celebrating outcomes must become second nature. The Audit Commission Report Life After Transfer: the local authority role is a document with which we must all become familiar. But, the message from me is that, whichever side of the transfer issue we end up on, we need to act now to ensure the strategic housing role occupies the place it deserves and moves with the market, rather than being dragged along behind it.
Kellie Beirne is Housing Strategy Manager at Torfaen County Borough Council, email: kellie.beirne@torfaen.gov.uk