HCA proposed design and sustainability standards scrapped

Housing Minister Grant Shapps announced last week that the HCA would not proceed with its proposed core design and sustainability standards. When the HCA launched its consultation on the standards last March it said they were a vital to delivering its statutory objectives.

The standards proposed new minimum internal space and storage requirements for the first time since the abolition of the lamented Parker Morris standards, abolished by Margaret Thatcher's government in 1980. They would also have required new homes to meet as a minimum the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4.

Announcing the decision, Mr Shapps said "we're lifting burdens from the backs of builders", claiming the standards would have cost developers an extra £8,000 for every home. Echoing the Department of Health's "responsibility deals", where fast food companies McDonald's and KFC are helping to write government policy on obesity, he announced:

"House builders are the experts at building homes, so I'm inviting them to be in charge of developing a new framework for local building standards - one which enables communities to get the high quality homes they demand, but without causing unnecessary costs and delays for developers."

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) expressed serious concern at the announcement; RIBA President Ruth Reed said:

"This is a deeply troubling decision that will have profound implications for communities across the country.

The proposed HCA standards were designed to raise the overall quality of publicly funded housing and ensure that new homes meet the most basic of lifestyle needs – reform was desperately needed."

The National Housing Federation, which has been lobbying to harmonising building standards across tenures, commented:

"We look forward to working with Government to ensure that the new local standards framework reduces red tape and delivers high quality homes, as well as helping achieve the ambitious goal of all new homes being zero carbon by 2016."

Housing benefit regs - winners and losers

The Social Security Advisory Committee's annual report was published today, and branded the overhaul of the Local Housing Allowance:

"a high risk policy that may have far-reaching adverse consequences, affecting not only the ability of people on low incomes to find decent affordable housing, but the workings of local labour markets and public services."

As widely reported at the weekend, the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2010, laid in Parliament today, include some important changes to the proposals that were included in the Emergency Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review.

Crisis's Private Rented Sector website clearly sets out the main changes, which will allow existing claimants affected by the changed regulations to continue to receive their current rate of benefit until December 2012 in some cases.

However, the reduction in Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile is brought forward from October to April 2011 for new claimants - a change explained by DWP as being "to avoid families being disrupted twice".

As a temporary measure to encourage private landlords to reduce their rents, councils will be able to to make direct payments to the landlord in some circumstances where it will support tenants in retaining or securing a tenancy.

HB cuts to be delayed for existing tenants

Press reports over the weekend suggest that the government will delay introducing housing benefit caps for existing tenants, originally planned for April 2011, until January 2012.

According to the BBC the plans, which will limit the housing benefit payable depending on the number of bedrooms, will still begin next April for new claimants.

Separate changes that will limit local housing allowances to bottom 30 percent of the market were due to come into force next October and, says the BBC, will also be delayed for existing claimants until January 2012. However, the Guardian suggests that this change may be brought forward for new claimants.

It seems that the concession has been agreed by pensions secretary Iain Duncan-Smith because of pressure from Liberal MPs concerned about the impact of the changes so close to the local government elections next May. The delays will also allow councils and affected families more time to plan for the impact of the changes.

The Department for Work and Pension dismissed the reports as 'speculation'. We will learn  the truth later this week when secondary legislation is laid before parliament to implement the changes.

Inside Housing points out that pensions minister Steve Webb gave a hint last week in a written parliamentary answer that the government may also be considering concessions for disabled people to the 10 per cent cut in housing benefit for those claiming Job Seekers Allowance for over a year.

Interim landlord inspection regime extended

The Audit Commission and TSA have issued a joint statement extending interim arrangements for inspection of social housing providers - due to run out at the end of October - to April 2011.

The government announced in August its intention to abolish the Audit Commission, and the review of social housing regulation published in October decided to transfer regulation from the TSA to a reformed HCA.

Under the interim arrangements, inspections are expected to be rare and will only occur where the TSA has reasons to suspect that the TSA standards are not being met. The TSA will commission the inspection, looking first to the Audit Commission but, if it declines the work, engaging another person or body.

The inspection is likely to be short notice and will only include the parts of the KLOE framework that are directly relevant to the focus of the inspection and the relevant TSA standards. The cross-cutting KLOEs will no longer automatically be included.

The TSA plans to engage with stakeholders to develop a future inspection methodology, ideally one that will be sustainable beyond the TSA's demise in April 2012. It hopes to have the new approach settled by April 2011.

TSA drops plans for tower block register

The TSA has announced that it has dropped plans, introduced after the tragic fire at Lakanal House in Southwark, for a register of social housing tower blocks in England.

Back in January when the plans were first announced, the TSA said:

“The register will be a valuable tool, allowing us to build up a comprehensive picture of tower blocks in England. It will allow us to work with landlords to ensure that they are fully complying with their responsibilities to carry out risk assessments and taking appropriate action so that tenants are properly protected from the risk of fire.”

But in the light of the subsequent Review of Regulation carried out by DCLG, the TSA says:

“We are satisfied that tenants’ interests are safeguarded through the current regulatory framework, the powers held by the statutory enforcement bodies and the complementary powers of the TSA to deal with non compliance with the regulatory framework and the TSA Standards.”

Shapps scraps strategic housing inspections

Speaking at an event hosted by Westminster City Council, Grant Shapps told councils that the days of the nanny state are over and called on them to embrace the opportunities offered by localism.

Needing to announce something to illustrate his point, Mr Shapps proclaimed the end of strategic housing inspections. It was like hearing of the death of a long-forgotten actor on the news and thinking 'I thought they died years ago!' Apparently not in this case: the housing minister has told the Audit Commission not to commission any more. He said of the inspections:

"Quite frankly I think they were a waste of your resident's money - nearly one and a half million pounds of the public's cash was going to be spent this year making you work to Whitehall's priorities - not your residents."

Changes at the top: LGA, HCA, DCLG

Following criticism from Grant Shapps and pressure from council leaders, the Chief Executive of the Local Government Association has agreed to a substantial salary reduction until his retirement next summer.

In 2009/10 John Ransford earned £245,000 - a figure swelled to £302,000 when employer pension contributions are added. Grant Shapps said last week “Mr Ransford must lead from the front and do the right thing and take a 10 per cent pay cut.”

Having agreed before the row to stay on beyond his planned retirement date on December 2010 to lead a cost-saving restructure, Ransford has now signed a new contract that will reduce his salary below £100,000 with no pension contribution.

The row came as the LGA published the results of the Local Government Workforce Survey 2010. This reported that 45 per cent of participating councils had remuneration committees to oversee the pay of top officials, a significant increase on the 32 per cent who had committees in 2009. However, Shapps said:

“This report is a devastating expose of how fat cat pay has spiralled out of control in local government. When it comes to public sector pay it seems many councils have taken their eye off the ball.

“For too long the veil of secrecy in local government has allowed spending on chief execs to go through the roof and in too many situations their FTSE 100 salaries have not been matched by performance.”

HCA

Grant Shapps and the Homes and Communities Agency have announced how the HCA will be reformed to reduce running costs. Key elements of the plans, which will be delivered within the CSR period, include:

• a 50 per cent reduction in HCA running costs from over £80m per year to around £40m per year
• reducing the number of HCA Directors from 12 to six, with the potential to reduce this further over time
• a reduction from 17 to four core HCA offices, with locations to be finalised as HCA work within the broader DCLG and public sector estate rationalisation programm

The HCA's current 8 regions will be reduced to 5:

• North East and Yorkshire
• North West
• Midlands
• East and South East
• South West

The London region is already in the process of being transferred to the Greater London Authority as part of government plans to move investment decisions to the Mayor.

Two of the current regional directors will move to new posts within the agency, but South East director David Edwards leaves in December.

DCLG

Permanent Secretary Sir Bob Kerslake has appointed current Directors General David Prout and Richard McCarthy to head the Department's new Localism and Neighbourhoods policy groups. A third DG role in the new top structure - with responsibility for Finance and Corporate Services - will be filled shortly.

Following the announcement of the departure of Irene Lucas, a second DCLG boss, Joe Montgomery, currently DG for Regions and Communities, will leave at the end of January 2011, to pursue a range of business interests in the field of sustainable urban development.

Sir Bob Kerslake said:

"I have worked with Joe in different capacities for well over ten years. He has brought an immense amount of wisdom, skill and humanity to whatever he has done in the job and I wish him well in whatever he decides to do next."

Posts at the next most senior level of Director will be reduced from 21 to 15 before Christmas, with staff warned that overall numbers in the Department may eventually fall by 40 per cent.

A fairer future for social housing?

The Government has published proposals for far reaching reforms to social housing tenure, allocations and homelessness in a new consultation paper 'Local decisions: a fairer future for social housing'. The document also includes measures to improve mobility, tackle overcrowding and under-occupation.

The consultation time has been reduced to 8 weeks, ending on 17 January 2011, to allow for a draft Direction on a new Tenancy Standard to be considered alongside the
Localism Bill.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps and Communities Minister Andrew Stunell say this is the most radical reform of social housing in a generation, with a fundamental shift of power from Whitehall to councils and local housing associations, by:

• making the system fairer, striking a proper balance between the needs of new and existing tenants.
• ensuring that the support which social housing provides is focused on those who need it most for as long as they need it.
• giving local authorities and housing associations new powers so that they can make best use of their housing, in a way which best meets the needs of individual households and their local area.

As many of these reforms require new legislation they will be included the forthcoming Localism Bill. The Bill, which was expected to be published this week, has been delayed by two weeks with conflicting reports about whether this is due to parliamentary congestion or last minute Whitehall disputes.

The CIH has pledged to work with the government to shape social housing reforms to ensure that they are sustainable in the long term and do not penalise low income and vulnerable households. It has produced an extensive briefing on the proposals and its position on the measures porposed.

Commenting on the Government's proposals to reform social housing, National Housing Federation chief executive David Orr said: 'What the Government is proposing is a fundamental change to the way social housing is delivered and managed."

A new dawn for the National Tenant Voice?

Tenant organisations have received £50,000 of Government funding to look at ways to continue the National Tenant Voice Council.

A 50-strong tenant council was set up as part of the £1 million National Tenants Voice (NTV), which was abolished shortly after the coalition's election victory.

The New Dawn Project will involve members of the NTV Council, boards and membership from:

• Tenants and Residents Organisations of England (TAROE)
• Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS)
• National Federation of Tenant Management Organisations (NFTMO)
• Confederation of Co-operative Housing (CCH)

Cora Carter, the former Chair of TAROE, and former Board member of the NTV said, "This grant will enable us to find ways of keeping a National Tenant Council in some form. At a time of proposed major changes to social housing, a strong national voice for tenants is needed more than ever before."

Grant funding will come from the Tenant Empowerment Programme, and 'New Dawn' will have 3 phases:

1. an exploration of available options
2. a feasibility study, with a strong focus on financial viability
3. a consultation on the way forward

The grant will be managed by TPAS, and work will be completed before April 2011.

The John Lewis model for public services

Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude urged public sector workers to form co-operatives to take over the running of services in a speech at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

He said every government department will put in place a right for staff to take over the running of their services, if appropriate guarantees are met. To achieve mutual status staff will be expected to deliver savings to the taxpayer and maintain or improve the quality of services.

Where public procurement processes allow and savings are properly agreed, staff forming a mutual will be awarded a contract to continue providing services rather than going through the full tender process.

Twelve fledgling public service spin-offs were chosen in August to be Pathfinders for the mutuals initiative, and are being mentored by staff from the John Lewis Partnership, probably the country's best-known co-owned business, and from other successful businesses.

The Pathfinders include:

• Mansfield Council's award winning MARS (Multi-agency Rented Solutions) scheme
• A group of NHS employees forming a social enterprise to provide joined up services for homeless people in Leicester.

The Guardian reported that Michael Stephenson, the general secretary of the Co-operative party warned that the government's plans fail to ensure accountability.

"Maude's plan fails to ensure that public service mutuals – where they are monopoly providers – would have consumer accountability.

"Local libraries and swimming pools should be controlled by local people, and run in their interest, not just by the service managers."

Welsh hopes rise for end of HRA subsidy 'injustice'

Jonathan Edwards MP

Plaid Cymru Jonathan Edwards MP last week secured a debate on the injustices of housing revenue account (HRA) subsidy scheme in Wales which lead to a reported £2 billion of the rents of some of the poorest people in Wales being returned to the Treasury.

The figures were drawn from "The Great Rent Robber", a paper written by former Labour Welsh Government special adviser Paul Griffiths for the Bevan Foundation.

Referring to the Local Government and Housing Act of 1989 he said:

"The effect of the 1989 Act was to undermine the attractiveness of public housing by running down its quality, as investment was redirected from local communities. Rents in Wales were lower than those in England - they still remain lower now - and that led to less revenue in general.

"The quality of housing in Wales is also generally poorer. However, under the terms of the Act, local authorities were forced to return any surplus from expected rent, after operational and maintenance costs were met, to the Treasury, rather than investing those moneys in the housing stock."

He went on to explain that an opportunity to improve the situation in 2000, when Major Repairs Allowance was introduced in England, the Treasury decided to make Wales a special case and failed to introduce the Major Repairs Allowance into HRAs in Wales.

Responding for the Government, Treasury minister David Gauke commented that the government would be ending the current HRA subsidy system in England and introducing a new self-financing model for council housing that gives greater power to local councils and authorities.

He said the Chief Secretary to the Treasury had written to the Welsh Finance Minister offering officials to work with Welsh colleagues on developing a similar reform to the Welsh HRA subsidy system.

He concluded "there are differences between the English and the Welsh system, but we are keen to consider the matter and engage in a positive way."

Decent Homes - doling out the dosh

Grant Shapps has announced plans for sharing out amongst councils £1.6bn of the £2.1bn allocated in the Spending Review for Decent Homes funding in 2011-15. The remaining £0.5bn will provided for 'gap' funding of stock transfers.

The money will go to councils who need it most, a move welcomed by councils who have retained their stock and ALMOs that have failed to achieve two stars, but raising fears from other ALMOs that they will be left short of cash to complete improvement works promised to tenants.

Ministers believe the previous system for allocating money was overly bureaucratic, and meant councils spent too much time and expense jumping through hoops, rather than making improvements to social homes.

Shapps said:

"Previously tenants were in the worst homes when landlords were denied Decent Homes cash because they did not play by the previous Government's rules. I believe that's completely unfair - tenants are missing out on vital improvements to their homes through no fault of their own.

"That's why I'm changing the system so from now on the areas that need the money most will get it. And it's why despite the steps the Government is taking to tackle the record deficit, we've set aside over £2bn to make sure these homes are brought up to scratch."

The HCA has published proposals for a process and criteria for allocating the decent homes backlog funding.

Coalition reveals welfare reforms

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, has revealed a range of benefit reforms in the coalition's Welfare Reform White Paper.

Billed as 'Universal Credit: Welfare That Works', the White Paper is designed to simplify the benefits system and encourage people back to work. The BBC described it as, 'The biggest welfare shake-up since the 1940s...'

The new system is designed to ensure that claimants who find work will keep more of their income. Mr Duncan Smith said, "At its heart, the Universal Credit has a simple ambition – to make work pay, even for the poorest. This will finally make it easier for people to see they will be consistently and transparently better off for each hour they work and every pound they earn."

Claimants will be split into four groups - according to how close they are to getting back to work. The groups depend on a system of 'conditionality' and they are described as follows:

• No conditionality – disabled people or those with a health condition that prevents them from working, lone parents or lead carer with a child under age one.
• Keeping in touch with the labour market – lone parent or lead carer with a young child aged over one but under five.
• Work preparation – disabled people or those with a health condition which prevents them from working at the current time.
• Full conditionality – jobseekers.

Tougher sanctions are promised for claimants who do not comply with the system, and the reforms introduce Mandatory Work Activity for some jobseekers, where advisers will have the power to refer clients to up to four weeks of full-time work.

The reforms ensure that social landlords will receive their tenants' housing benefit payments directly, allaying fears that housing associations would lose a stable income stream.

The National Housing Federation (NHF) has broadly welcomed the reforms as they, 'contain reassurances for housing associations that the housing component of the new credit will be based on actual rents rather than a flat notional allowance for housing costs.'

However the NHF is, 'concerned about the implications of increased conditionality within the system, the impact on vulnerable people and any potential increase in homelessness.'

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has written a detailed briefing about housing benefit reforms, setting out the possible consequences for individuals and economic stability.

Some charities are concerned about ministerial plans to enlarge the areas used to calculate housing benefit payments for private tenants, warning that using larger regions, where rents can vary greatly, will drive poorer tenants out of cities into cheaper areas with no jobs.

Irene Lucas to leave DCLG

Irene Lucas, Greg Clark (and the Queen)

Less than two weeks after Sir Bob Kerslake took up his new post as Permanent Secretary at the Department of Communities and Local Government, Irene Lucas, who had been Acting Permanent Secretary from June to October, announced that she is to leave the department next March.

Ms Lucas joined the Department in September 2009 and has been responsible for Local Government Finance, Policy and Performance, and regeneration (including implementation of the sub-national review).

She informed Sir Bob of her plans before he makes the changes that will see the number of Director General posts reduced from six to three. Prior to joining the Department, she was Chief Executive of South Tyneside Council from 2002. After a career in local and recently central government spanning 34 years, she plans to pursue a number of business interests.

Government consults on New Homes Bonus

The Government has published a consultation paper on the details of its promised New Homes Bonus.

Under the initiative the Government will match the council tax raised from new homes for the first six year, with additional payments of £350 a year for affordable homes (including pitches on Gypsy and Traveller sites owned and managed by local authorities or registered housing providers). The payment would be made as an as unringfenced grant and based on net additions to the housing stock and empty homes brought back into use.

The Government expects local councillors to work closely with their communities to communicate the benefits that new development can bring and to agree how the additional grant is spent. For example, the paper suggests, they may wish to offer council tax discounts to local residents, support frontline services like bin collections, or improve local facilities like playgrounds and parks.

Grant Shapps said:

"The New Homes Bonus will ensure that those communities that go for growth reap the benefits of development, not just the costs.

"Councillors will now be able to lead a mature debate about the benefits of development. And rather than being punished for not meeting targets, local communities will now have a reason to say yes to new homes, because they will benefit from better local services, or perhaps the redevelopment of their town centre in return for backing new housing."

£946m has been set aside to fund the incentive payments over this Spending Review period. In 2011-12 this is almost £200m and £250m in each of the remaining years. Funding beyond these levels will come from Formula Grant.

The Chartered Institute of Housing welcomed the consultation but expressed concerns about the impact on regeneration projects. Chief Executive Sarah Webb said:

“Local people who are working hard to make their communities better places to live shouldn’t miss out if they have had to demolish homes no longer fit for habitation.”

In the vanguard of the Big Society

The four vanguard communities who wanted 'more power and control' have started to develop local projects which embrace the government's Big Society principles.

London Borough of Sutton
LB of Sutton has outlined its initial Big Society projects and produced a selection of Big Society case studies:

• How we opened our financial books to the public
• How a volunteer group have replaced a cancelled bus service
• Free winter grit supplies for residents
• New chapter for Big Society

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
The Royal Borough has published a list of Big Society projects and a draft definition of Big Society in the form of a White Paper.

It is developing the idea of "big society reward points" redeemable in supermarkets, high street shops and restaurants in return for community activities.

Eden District Council (Cumbria)
Eden is the rural vanguard area and its main approach to Big Society is through supporting community led-planning.

The initial focus is on three areas within Eden District and specifically on the community plans they have developed:

• Lyvennet Community Plan
• Heart of Eden Community Plan
• Upper Eden Community Plan

These communities want to deliver better value for money solutions to problems ranging from the need for cycle and footpaths to affordable housing to high speed broadband access for every home in the Eden Valley.

At an event in Eden Valley on 5 November 2010, nearly 150 people from community groups took control and put their case for progress directly to civil servants from government departments.

Liverpool
The Liverpool First partnership has the responsibility to inspire change and provide the infrastructure to allow Big Society to happen.

The Community Foundation for Merseyside has conducted a Big Society online survey to seek the views and opinions on the Big Society agenda from 100 experts in the Voluntary, Private and Public sectors of Merseyside.

The report considers the aims of the Big Society and its potential impact in each of the six boroughs of Merseyside; Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St.Helens and Wirral.

An earlier article in Coalition Watch outlines the government's approach to Big Society.

Pickles acted 'unlawfully'

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has lost a High Court battle over his decision to revoke New Labour's regional house building targets.

On 6 July 2010 the Government removed all regional strategies under section 79(6) of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. This states:

'If the Secretary of State thinks it necessary or expedient to do so the Secretary of State may at any time revoke all or any part of a regional strategy.'

Housing developer CALA Homes (South) sought judicial review of this move through the legal system, and the High Court found that Section 79 powers "could not be used" to revoke all Regional Strategies in their entirety.

The Court's Mr Justice Sales ruled that CALA Homes' argument was "well founded", since the developer suggested that primary legislation should have been introduced, giving MPs an opportunity to debate a key planning issue.

The National Housing Federation's Chief Executive David Orr described the decision to scrap the targets as, "a hasty and damaging move" and welcomed the verdict, but the junior communities minister Bob Neil was swift to suggest it "changes very little" as the coalition will shortly be introducing the Localism Bill to Parliament. This, says Mr Neil, "will sweep away the controversial regional strategies."

However, the High Court's ruling temporarily reinstates existing housing targets until the Decentralisation and Localism Bill comes into force. The Home Builders Federation said 'local authorities will need to continue to plan for housing delivery using the existing requirements, whilst the new building blocks of a locally based planning system are formalised and implemented through legislation over the next two years.'

Mr Pickles was quick to comment on the High Court's judgement, and his full statement mirrors Bob Neil's defence. He added:

"It is clear that top-down targets do not build homes - they have just led to the lowest peacetime house building rates since 1924, and have fuelled resentment in the planning process that has slowed everything down."

Approaches to the Big Society agenda

Local Government Leadership has published three new reports around the recent Autumn 2010 party conferences. They examined each party's approach to the Big Society agenda and the role of local government and councillors in it.

• Launched at Liberal Democrat Party Conference 'Community Politics in the 21st century: the challenges and opportunities for community politicians' encourages Lib Dems to not forgo the opportunity presented by the Big Society agenda to introduce Community Politics as a system of governance and embed it as a way of ‘doing government’.

• Launched at Labour Party Conference 'Co-operative Communities: creating a shared stake in our society for everyone' offers a different approach to Big Society based on the co-operative values of fairness, accountability and responsibility.

• Launched at Conservative Party Conference 'Building a Civic Community: the ten principles to delivering the Big Society in Westminster' explains Westminster City Council’s approach to the Big Society and why it believes adopting a Westminster model of the Big Society is needed. It considers the principles that Westminster will use in implementing its approach; those areas where it will look to deliver its approach both internally, within the council, and among the wider community; and initial thoughts on those projects that could be used to kick-start Westminster’s own Big Society.

An earlier article in Coalition Watch outlines the government's approach to Big Society.

MPs investigate Audit Commission abolition

Clive Betts MP

The Communities and Local Government Committee is to investigate the implications for the accountability of local government likely to follow from the decision to abolish the Audit Commission.

Echoing the concerns of the House of Lords over the Public Finance Bill, Committee Chair Clive Betts MP told Public Finance that the abolition of the Audit Commission was a ‘big issue’.

"The government is taking a very hands-off approach to audit and inspection and we want to explore how that will work in practice.

"We will also be looking closely to ensure that the useful work which the commission does through value-for-money studies can be continued, for the good of local government as a whole."

Betts, speaking to Public Finance last week, expressed concern that, if councils were given the freedom to appoint their own auditors, there would be nothing to stop them dismissing firms that issue the reports if they do not like what they say.

The committee is asking for interested groups to submit evidence by 6 January 2011.

Henry VIII, the House of Lords and the quangos

The House of Lords last night gave a second reading to the Public Bodies Bill, which aims to give legislative powers for ministers to abolish or merge public bodies - the so-called 'bonfire of the quangos'.

The Bill is controversial due to what is known as an ‘Henry VIII’ provision: that is, ministers being given power to amend primary legislation by order.

In a report last week the cross-bench Lords Constitution Committee warned:

"The Public Bodies Bill strikes at the very heart of our constitutional system, being a type of ‘framework’ or ‘enabling’ legislation that drains the lifeblood of legislative amendment and debate across a very broad range of public arrangements."

"The Public Bodies Bill is concerned with the design, powers and functions of a vast range of public bodies, the creation of many of which was the product of extensive parliamentary debate and deliberation. We fail to see why such parliamentary debate and deliberation should be denied to proposals now to abolish or to redesign such bodies."

Opponents of the Bill as drafted argued that it would enable ministers to change at the stroke of a pen arrangements that had been carefully debated and scrutinised by Parliament when the arms length bodies were first established. Many participating in the eight and a half hour debate supported the aims of the Bill, but argued that the executive should be required to account to Parliament for the details of how the functions of the deleted bodies would be taken forward.

Promises of a whole series of concessions from the minister Lord Taylor averted defeat and the Bill received its second reading with a majority of 37.

Four year business plans published

David Cameron flanked by Nick Clegg
and Cabinet Secretary Gus McDonald

The Government published a set of departmental business plans yesterday on its new transparency website. Prime Minister David Cameron said the documents will produce "a power shift - a radical redistribution of power from governments to communities and people - and a horizon shift, so that we govern for the long-term".

The business plans were first launched in draft as 'structural reform plans' in the summer. Since then, the DCLG's plan has grown in length from 13 to 40 pages and housing has dropped from second place to fourth of the five coalition priorities for the department.

The plans set out a timetable of actions to achieve the priorities that includes:

• introduce the Localism Bill by November 2010
• implement an 'Affordable Rent' scheme by April 2011
• detailed proposals on HRA reform by January 2011, with final settlements paid by April 2012
• consultation by the regulator on a new mutual exchange standard launched by November 2011
• New Homes Bonus mechanism developed by December 2010 and implemented by April 2012
• develop a programme for empty homes with the HCA by March 2011
• abolish TSA and transfer functions by April 2012

The government claims that publication of these plans will bring about a fundamental change in how Departments are held to account for implementing policy commitments; "replacing the old top-down systems of targets and central micromanagement with democratic accountability".

Every month, Departments will publish a simple report on their progress towards meeting their commitments, and the secretary of state will have to account to the prime minister if they are not on track.

Cameron said that the business plans turned on its head the Labour government's approach where a "target culture pressured people to go for short-term wins at the expense of long-term improvements", dismissing suggestions that he was simply reinstating a target regime under a different name.

"These plans are about running Whitehall effectively so public services are steered by the people who work in them, responding to the people who use them " he said.

"And publishing information about the progress we're making and the effect our reforms are having is not targets, it's just the basic information that the public needs to hold government to account."

The DCLG business plan includes a section on what the department will no longer do.

The spending data in the business plans basically reiterates that in the Comprehensive Spending review, with a little more detail for each year. The Guardian's Data Blog points out that they show only Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL), not total spending. They exclude Annually Managed Expenditure (AME). DEL is mainly predictable costs such as running the department - it doesn't include costs that change, like Britain's welfare bill, for instance.

Towards the end of the business plan comes a short list of input and impact indicators.

Shapps shuts door on squatters

Grant Shapps today launched an online guide for homeowners setting out their rights and what to do if their property is occupied, so they can get their homes back as quickly as possible, saying:

"Recent high profile cases have served to illustrate the distress and misery that squatters can cause. I want to shut the door to squatters once and for all, and for homeowners to know their rights just as well as those looking to take over their properties."

Speaking on Radio 5 Live he criticised the Advisory Service For Squatters for telling people how to take over a property. The BBC's subsequent 'Have your say" page on the topic generated a huge response.

The Evening Standard reports that Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is keen to go further and strengthen the law to give homeowners greater protection against squatters. But the newspaper understands officials in his department have warned this could take time and be complicated.

Peer predicts carnage

On 4 November The House of Lords was the forum for a 'distinguished, illuminating and powerful' debate about the long term impact on housing of the autumn spending review and Budget, and how this could erode the value of housing benefit.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham, who chairs Broadland Housing Association, thanked the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for their 'helpful' Spending Review briefings, before launching a critique of current reforms.

A double-dip housing recession?

The Baroness drew attention to fears of a 'double dip housing recession'. She said:

'Most lending bodies now require a 25 per cent deposit - £40,000 on an average home - which people with university debts as well will find impossible to obtain. In 2006 there were 245,000 mortgages with a 10 per cent deposit; there are now 28,000. Without parental assistance, the first time buyer will now be 38 and will have lingered 10 to 15 years longer in the private rented sector.'

First time buyers

The Baroness went further, saying that first time buyers, 'will be joined by a second group-owners who have become unemployed. Why? Because now, of all times, the Government are effectively halving the mortgage support they give to families on benefit; halving the interest rate from 6 per cent down to 3.65 per cent; halving the capital covered; and doubling the wait before support kicks in.'

'Many families will face arrears and repossession and be forced back into the private rented sector without the hope of ever rejoining owner-occupation.'

Baroness Hollis suggested that the private rented sector will no longer represent 'transitional tenure' for young people, arguing that instead they are likely to remain there for decades, alongside 'hundreds of thousands of poorly paid professionals who cannot buy, joining the many hundreds of thousands of the low-paid who may be on housing benefit but who cannot access social housing.'

The Baroness said, 'How will private landlords respond? Rents in the private sector will probably rise, according to the National Landlords Association. Yet housing benefit will fall, not just capped at the top end but also, far worse, capped to cover not, as now, the average rent of 50 per cent but only rent of 30 per cent. So 70 per cent of rents will be higher than that and unaffordable in the market.'

Linking housing benefit to the CPI

Baroness Hollis outlined the possible long-term effects of linking housing benefit to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rather than the Retail Price Index (RPI). She said, 'By 2020, housing benefit based on CPI will have fallen so far behind private rents that it may cover only 10 per cent of available property.'

Carnage

The peer ended her speech, in which she had frequently referred to the proposals as 'indecent', predicting 'thousands and thousands of families in just a few months will face debt, stress, eviction and homelessness. Weeping children, desperate mothers, defeated fathers-how dare we do this? It is carnage among our own people, and we should be ashamed.'

The debate

As is often the case with debates in the "Other Place", the contributors showed an enviable range of knowledge and experience of their subject matter: speakers included former Director General of Age Concern England Sally Greengross, former chair of the Housing Corporation Brenda Dean and Richard Best, whose housing experience is too long to list. As many Liberal as Labour peers spoke of their concerns.

Government response 

The junior communities and local government minister Baroness Hanham, replying to the debate, described Lady Hollis's speech as 'apocalyptic'.

She said that the housing benefit cap would have "some impact" but that was necessary if the government was to save money to cut the deficit.

"It is true to say that some tenants may need to move from expensive areas. But this is no different to working people who have to move if they cannot afford to live where they want to live," she said.

"There are many, many people of working age who are living out of London coming into London every day of the week, spending a fortune on travel because they cannot afford the rents in London."

Lenders and housebuilders warn of 'mortgage famine'

Mortgage lenders are calling for the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to water down proposed new rules designed to prevent irresponsible lending.

And housebuilder Redrow's boss Steve Morgan criticised the withdrawal of mortgages available to buyers with deposits of 5% or less, predicting that the situation could get a whole lot worse if the FSA’s proposed changes in its MMR come to fruition.

Since July the FSA has been consulting on new rules, set out in its consultation paper Mortgage Market Review - Responsible Lending. The final deadline for comments is 16 November. Some of the key proposals include:

• Imposing affordability tests for all mortgages and making lenders ultimately responsible for assessing a consumer's ability to pay;
• Requiring verification of borrowers' income in every case to prevent over inflation of income and to prevent mortgage fraud;
• Extra protection for vulnerable customers with a credit-impaired history.

Michael Coogan, the director general of the CML, described the new rules as “an overreaction to past problems” and claimed that they would “seriously undermine the mortgage market in the future.” He called on the FSA to redraft the rules.

The Telegraph reported that

"tough new lending restrictions will lead to 2.2 million existing home owners being refused a new mortgage. These so-called 'mortgage prisoners' would be trapped in their homes, unable to remortgage or move.

"A further 3.4 million home owners would be able to obtain a new mortgage, but they would be offered less than the amount they would have been able to borrow previously, forcing them to move to a cheaper property."

The BBC reports that the FSA responded by claiming that many borrowers were only being kept afloat by ultra-low interest rates.

"Almost half of UK households (46%) have had little or no money left after their mortgage and other bills were deducted from their income.

"Even a modest rise in interest rates could lead to a significant increase in the number of families suffering financial distress.

"This is why it is imperative that we ensure lenders act responsibly and do not return to irresponsible practices, in order to protect consumers from taking on mortgages they cannot afford and potentially losing their homes."

Number 10 transparency website

David Cameron has launched a Transparency website to show members of the public how the government is performing.

It links together expenditure with departmental plans and structure charts previously published in different places.

The website, which resides at Number10.gov.uk, is currently in beta form and awaiting data for many juicy items of expenditure.

Most of the information available now is in pdfs or html tables and cannot be 'mashed up' with other sources very easily.

No mention is made about how this Transparency website affects the existing data.gov.uk website, which appears to have the same purpose.

The Guardian has run an article evaluating how useful the website will be going forward.

Select Committee has 'grave concerns' about efficiency targets

The influential cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has cast doubt on the Government's capacity to deliver substantial efficiency savings over the next four years, with the publication of a major report.

The Committee noted that the £35 billion value for money target, which formed part of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), asked public bodies to make sustainable efficiency savings by 2010-11. This target represented annual savings of 3 per cent for each department.

However, the Committee found that by March 2010 departments and local authorities had reported only £15 billion of savings - less than half of the required total.

In fact, despite the high profile of CSR 2007, key departments could not adequately measure which savings they had made, and the Treasury failed to create a sound framework for reliable reporting.

The report notes that the current fiscal environment is very different from that of 2007, and it goes on to say, '...the results from this programme left us with grave concerns as to whether departments are ready to implement effectively a programme of value for money savings.'

'There is a serious risk that departments will rely solely on cutting front-line services to reduce costs, without adequately exploring the potential to reduce costs through other value for money improvements.'

The Select Committee's report is based on an inquiry by the National Audit Office and evidence from the Treasury's permanent secretary. It found that some departments struggled to make any savings at all saying, 'Departments reported savings which did not stand up to external scrutiny, and there were no consequences for senior officials in those departments that failed to deliver savings.'

Paragraph 8 focuses on the CLG's poor performance saying, 'The slowest progress to date is from the Department for Communities and Local Government, which had only reported £40 million of savings at the half-way point, against a target of £987 million. The main reason for this appears to be a factor (see paragraph 3) outside the control of the department...' This 'factor' is cited as a 'downturn in the housing market.'

Chancellor George Osborne has already appeared before the Treasury Select Committee to defend his proposals calling them, "credible and deliverable," using this as an opportunity to announce the date of the next Budget as March 23, 2011.

Press commentary

The Guardian
The Guardian's article contains comments from Margaret Hodge MP, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee.

The Daily Telegraph
The Telegraph's piece quotes extensively from the PAC report, and includes comments by Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude.

The Independent
The Independent mentions the Treasury's apparently 'hands-off role in the delivery of efficiency savings.'

Government to redefine homelessness?

In a written answer to shadow housing minister Alison Seabeck on 1 November, Grant Shapps said the government is considering giving local authorities greater flexibility in how they are permitted to discharge the main homelessness duty.

This was confirmed the following day by welfare reform minister Lord Freud, who was giving evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee inquiry into the changes to Housing Benefit announced in the 2010 Budget. Lord Freud said it could be "quite valuable" to revise the current criteria in place, suggesting that a new definition might exclude overcrowding, and the risk of homelessness.

"Clearly the common view of homelessness is nothing over one's head at all. The statutory definitions are different to that, and they are adequate housing."

Lord Freud defended the government's plans to cut housing benefit, denying that they would lead either to a significant increase in homelessness, or in the use of temporary accommodation.

"We are expecting a large number of people who receive less housing benefit to be able to negotiate their rents downwards, and the landlords will move to the new lower rate. We don't think some of these dramatic figures bear any relationship to what is likely to transpire".

He claimed that private landlords had manipulated the market by charging rents at the maximum of the threshold "When you publish what rate you are prepared are pay, it is not surprising that landlords gravitate to that level."

Those moving to outer London were likely to find work readily, claimed the peer, and the movement of poor families to the suburbs would not put a stress on schools due to the number of excess school places in the capital.

Big Society rewards

Irwell Valley Housing Association introduced the concept of rewards and incentives to the housing world in 1998 with its then controversial Gold Service. Over the intervening years, numerous housing providers have taken up the idea.

It now seems that we were all early adopters of David Cameron's Big Society. The Guardian reports that Windsor and Maidenhead Council, chosen as a Big Society "vanguard", is developing the idea of "big society reward points" redeemable in supermarkets, high street shops and restaurants in return for community activities. The Guardian suggests litter-picking and "tea parties for isolated pensioners" as good deeds that might earn citizens points from an established scheme such as Tesco clubcard, Nectar or RecycleBank. The commercial partner would be asked to donate the points.

Elsewhere, the BBC reported that Care Services minister Paul Burstow had praised a Japanese time bank scheme that allows volunteer carers to store up hours they spend helping others in a personal time account which can then be claimed back when they are elderly or by someone else they choose. The Department of Health said the government was not currently considering a similar system.