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The strategic housing services provided by Northumberland County Council are ‘fair’ and have ‘promising’ prospects for improvement, according to an independent report released today by the Audit Commission.
On a scale from zero to three stars, the Audit Commission inspection team gave the Council a ‘fair’, one star rating. The Council understands local housing needs and is developing plans to meet them.
Domini Gunn, Audit Commission senior manager, said:
‘The Council has come a long way in the short time since it was set up. Local people can be confident that the Council understands their housing needs in the current economic climate and is developing plans to try to help address them with its partner organisations. Further work is needed to make sure that future local housing needs can be met and the Council is making good progress.’
Inspectors found the following strengths:
- there are strong partnerships with organisations to provide new housing and regenerate existing neighbourhoods;
- most of the social rented housing in the county meets the government's decent homes standard and energy efficiency is being improved in the private sector; and
- it is easy to apply for social rented housing and the Council is successful in preventing homelessness.
Weaknesses include:
- there are still some gaps in plans to improve housing; and
- the Council cannot always demonstrate that it is delivering a value for money service.
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include:
- ensuring all plans are comprehensive; and
- ensuring the most vulnerable people get the support they need.
Northumberland is England’s most sparsely-populated county. The housing market in Northumberland has seen a significant drop in sales but not in prices since the recession began. The annual income required to buy an average home in the county is still more than double the average local income. There are 10,000 people waiting for social rented housing in the county and only 15 per cent of these are housed each year.
Northumberland County Council took responsibility for the strategic housing function from six former district and borough councils when it became a unitary authority in April 2009.
Copies of the report are available from Northumberland County Council or from the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk
Notes to editors
- The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone.
- Our work across local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services means that we have a unique perspective. We promote value for money for taxpayers, auditing the £200 billion spent by 11,000 local public bodies.
- As a force for improvement, we work in partnership to assess local public services and make practical recommendations for promoting a better quality of life for local people.
- Further details about the role of the Audit Commission can be obtained from www.audit-commission.gov.uk
For a copy of the full report or further information please contact David Rose, regional communications manager, North of England, at The Audit Commission on 0844 798 6654 or d-rose@audit-commission.gov.uk