Audit Commission

The strategic housing services provided by Durham 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 whilst recognising that further work is still needed to address previous weaknesses in some areas.

Domini Gunn, Audit Commission senior manager, said:

'The Council has managed the creation of a single strategic housing service for the county well since it was set up in 2009. Housing is given a high priority and its importance is championed by senior management, partners and elected members. There is a clear focus on meeting housing needs including those of vulnerable people. The Council knows that there is further work to do, including agreeing a county wide strategic approach for some areas, particularly private sector housing, diversity and affordable warmth.'

Inspectors found the following strengths:

• Housing is a high priority and effectively championed by senior management, partners and elected members.
• Plans are joined-up effectively to ensure a shared focus on economic regeneration and partners and service users are involved in a range of ways.
• The Council understands the needs of vulnerable people and responds to them. Vulnerable households are supported to remain in their homes.
• Research is used effectively to understand overall housing needs.
• Extensive improvements to private sector housing and successful selective licensing schemes have turned around areas where there was previously low demand for housing.
• The Choice Based Lettings scheme is extending housing options and initiatives are preventing homelessness.

Weaknesses include:

• The county-wide strategic approach is weak in some areas particularly private sector housing, diversity and affordable warmth.
• The Council is not engaging effectively with some private sector landlords and needs to do more to help some hard to reach groups.
• There are limited options for people with housing needs to access private sector homes.
• Service standards are not challenging enough.
• The Council does not have a thorough understanding of the costs for strategic housing services and cannot be sure that it is achieving value for money.

To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include:

• confirming county wide strategic plans to improve private sector housing;
• ensuring all households get the help they need to live in a properly heated home;
• aiming to increase the number of affordable homes in rural areas and increase the number of empty homes brought back into use;
• improving access to services and customer care by making sure that all sections of the community are involved in the development and delivery of services; and
• improving performance management and reporting.

Durham County Council is a new unitary local authority, formed in April 2009 through the Local Government Reorganisation process from the seven former district councils and the county council. The new Council took responsibility for their strategic housing function. It is now the largest council in the North East region and home to around 506,000 people. There are 15,000 people waiting for social rented housing in the county with 22 per cent of these housed each year.

Copies of the report are available from Durham County Council or from the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk

Notes to editors

1. 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.
2. 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 more details about the role of the Audit Commission visit www.audit-commission.gov.uk