The housing management and maintenance service provided by arms length management organisation (ALMO) West North West Homes Leeds Ltd is 'good' and has '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 service a 'good' two star rating. This was because tenants are involved in decision making, services meet the needs of most customers and significant improvements are being made to thousands of homes to bring them up to modern standards.
Domini Gunn, the Audit Commission's Lead Housing Inspector for Yorkshire and Humberside, said:
'West North West Leeds has done a lot in the last eighteen months to improve the service from one to two stars. It has a strong commitment to service improvement and customers can have confidence that services will continue to get better.'
Strengths include:
- clear information for customers and comprehensive service standards;
- services are delivered to meet individual needs, particularly for vulnerable tenants;
- successful delivery of housing management and property maintenance services to most customers;
- customers are involved in driving service improvement in all areas; and
- the services provide value for money and significant savings have been made.
Weaknesses include:
- some customers wait too long for repairs and adaptations to their homes;
- performance in recovering rent arrears is weak; and
- some sheltered schemes for older people have poor quality accommodation and the support service they receive is inflexible.
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include:
- Improvements to ensure office locations and opening hours suit local people
- Improvements in planning and performance management to ensure they focus on the things which matter most to customers
Notes to editors
- West North West Homes Leeds Ltd arms length management organisation (ALMO) was set up by Leeds City Council in 2007 to manage a third of its housing estates. The ALMO is paid over £28 million per year by the Council to manage 22,000 homes. It has almost completed its improvement programme and should achieve the government's Decent Homes Standard by 2010. The ALMO is led by a Board made up of four residents, four council nominees and four independents. It employs 377 staff.
- 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.
For further information please contact: David Rose, Regional Communications Manager (Northern) Tel: 0844 798 6654 Email: d-rose@audit-commission.gov.uk