Audit Commission

'Johnnie' Johnson Housing Trust has a 'balance of strengths and weaknesses' according to a report released today by the independent Audit Commission.

Audit Commission inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of how the North and Midlands-based housing association is managing empty properties and setting service charges.

Riza Yassin, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:

'There are some areas of weakness which the Trust should improve in order to satisfy its customers that all services are of good quality.'

Strengths include:

• Frontline services are accessible.
• the information provided to customers generally meets their needs and customer satisfaction is high.
• Properties are of reasonable quality and let to people who are in need of social housing.
• Customers are consulted about service charges, which reflect the costs of delivering services.

Weaknesses include:

• There are too many empty homes,they take too long to re-let and the Trust has not clearly explained to its customers how it decides on future options for less popular schemes.
• Complaints handling is weak.
• The Trust has not done everything possible to ensure its policies support the diversity of the communities it serves or that all services deliver value for money.

To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:

• improving the way complaints are dealt with; and
• working with customers to drive improvements in equality, diversity and value for money throughout services.

Copies of the report are available from ‘Johnnie’ Johnson Housing Trust or from the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk

The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) is the social housing regulator in England and works with the Audit Commission on the inspection of housing associations. The TSA commissions the Audit Commission to carry out inspections and the results are used by the TSA in its overall assessment of housing association performance.

Notes to editors

1. Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust works in 34 local authority areas across the Midlands and the North of England.  It originally specialised in retirement housing but now provides over 4,600 homes for rent and shared ownership to a broader range of customers and develops properties for low cost sale.
2. The Audit Commission introduced short-notice inspections for housing associations to give inspectors a clearer and more realistic view of the services that tenants receive. Associations are given just five days notice of the inspection before their services are rated on a four point scale - from ‘strengths significantly outweigh weaknesses’ down to ‘weaknesses outweigh strengths’.
3. Within two months of the publication of this report, Johnnie Johnson will provide the Audit Commission with a plan showing how it will implement the report’s recommendations.  The Commission will then assess and publish Johnny Johnson’s prospects for improvement
4. The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone.
5. 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.
6. On 13 August 2010 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced that he plans to disband the Audit Commission.  His intention is to have new arrangements in place for auditing England's public bodies by 2012/13.

For further information or a copy of the full report, please contact: David Rose, Regional Communications Manager - Northern on 0844 798 6654 or d-rose@audit-commission.gov.uk