Wednesday 28 January 2015

“Trust me, I’m a housing professional...”

This week at the Welsh NHS Confederation conference, the menu of topics is interesting and timely. How do we set up our workforce in an integrated way? How do we bring about meaningful change for those we serve? How do we move from rhetoric to reality?

As a policy professional working in the housing association sector in Wales, I’m keenly interested in all of the above. I was recently invited, on behalf of Community Housing Cymru, to contribute to Welsh Government’s “Making Prudent Healthcare Happen” online resource, which is a collection of essays exploring the challenges and opportunities of this new way of working.

The services provided by housing associations, in terms of high quality housing, care and support services, community initiatives, employment and skills, and digital inclusion, are but some examples of the broad work taking place to improve health and work to reduce the number of people requiring the services of their GP or local A&E. The housing association sector and people working within it are able to provide legitimate solutions to the mounting challenges faced by the NHS and, more broadly, public services in Wales.

Housing associations work in some of the most deprived communities in Wales. When we think about how we work as public facing services to combat factors such as unemployment, education, and inactivity which we know have a substantial impact on health and wellbeing, housing associations are a key part of the formula for addressing such issues.

But the carpet is being pulled from underneath us as a housing sector. Salami slicing cuts to vital services such as the Supporting People Programme are threatening to further push people into NHS services who may otherwise have received a preventative, person centred service at a far earlier stage.

The Welsh Government budget for 2015/16 confirmed a £10m cut to Supporting People, reducing it to £124m. In real terms, this means that over 4,000 people will now go without the support they could have accessed if the fund were protected. The £10m cut is the equivalent of annual funding to provide all services for men and women at risk of domestic abuse and young people with support needs in the Vale and Cardiff. In addition, supporting people services provide a well-used referral route for hospital move-on teams, freeing up hospital beds and resources.

At a time when we need a strong “prevention sector” in Wales, we cannot afford an environment of disinvestment that undervalues the key work of organisations delivering Supporting People services.

Although the prudent healthcare work demonstrates the value, the opportunities and the enthusiasm for things to change, these words mean nothing without action from all sides.

If through prudent healthcare we’re entrusting people to look after themselves and to make positive health behaviours part of their regular habits, then it’s also vital to trust the ability of the housing association sector to support and work closely with the NHS in meeting the challenges it faces both now and in the future.

In our recent economic impact report you can see some case studies (p16-18) which demonstrate the prudent nature of the housing associations sector. Taff Housing addressing delayed transfer of care, and Melin Homes working with a collaborative to re-invent Continuing Healthcare packages in Gwent. Consistency is key, however, and we will know we are on the right track once we are able to call projects such as these common practice rather than best.


Matt Kennedy
Policy Officer: Care, Support and Health  

Thursday 22 January 2015

Out of Stock: The Future of Right to Buy in Wales

Right to Buy, introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980, has helped thousands of people in Wales to buy their social homes at a discounted rate. However, this has come at a detriment to Wales’ struggling social housing stock. Over the lifetime of Right to Buy, more than 130,000 homes have been bought at a discount and removed from the social sector altogether, accounting for a 45% decrease in the number of social homes across Wales. This is something Wales simply cannot afford. Affordable and social housing are a vital safety net for the most vulnerable in our society and, with Wales being disproportionately affected by welfare changes, this safety net is now more important than ever. Right to Buy has contributed to a lack of availability and to the backlog of people languishing on housing lists across Wales.

The Community Housing Cymru Group welcomes Labour’s proposal to end Right to Buy, should they win the next Welsh Assembly elections, with the reservation that this measure is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted – we have an affordable housing crisis in Wales and ending Right to Buy will not build more homes. Ending Right to Buy needs to be part of a bigger approach to tackling Wales’ chronic housing problem including more use of public land for affordable housing development, more planning freedoms and a sustained programme of investment. The Legislative Competence Order already provides Welsh Ministers with the power to allow councils to refuse Right to Buy requests in areas where there is high demand for affordable housing, as has been done in Carmarthenshire. CHC has signed a Housing Supply Pact with the Welsh Government and will continue to work with members and Welsh Government to deliver the affordable housing target of 10,000 homes by 2016 to help ease the pressures of low housing stock and a backlog of unmet housing need.

To own a home is a great ambition but to have a home to go to is essential – ending Right to Buy will help meet the needs of many but it is only a small part of what is a big problem.

The Welsh Government has opened a consultation on the future of Right to Buy and Right to Acquire which will close on 16th April 2015.


Liam Townsend
Political and Administration Assistant


Wednesday 14 January 2015

Confensiwn Cyfansoddiadol Torfol

Ar gyfer y rhai ohonoch a oedd yng Nghynhadledd Flynyddol CHC ym mis Tachwedd y llynedd, efallai y cofiwch i Matthew Taylor a Lee Waters ill dau ein herio fel sector i roi'r gorau i aros i eraill newid neu wneud pethau a mynd yn ein blaenau a'i wneud ein hunain ..

Daeth y galwad ar amser pan oedd yr addewidion cyfansoddiadol a wnaed i bobl yr Alban yn dilyn y refferendwm yn ysgogi trafodaeth llawer ehangach am y pwerau sydd gennym ac, yn bwysicaf, y pwerau rydym eu heisiau yma yng Nghymru. Ynghyd â'r heriau sy'n ein hwynebu ni fel sector a thenantiaid, ymddangosai y byddid yn colli'r cyfle a ddaw yn sgil yr Etholiad Cyffredinol nesaf pe na wneir y galwadau cywir yn y meysydd hynny nad oedd wedi eu datganoli sy'n cael cymaint o effaith ar ein cymunedau. Felly, oherwydd hyn, penderfynodd CHC ddod yn bartner yng Nghonfensiwn Cyfansoddiadol Torfol y Sefydliad Materion Cymreig.

Mae hon yn drafodaeth am ddyfodol Cymru. Nid yw cyfeiriad teithio'r drafodaeth hon yn rhywbeth pendant a gwahoddwn bobl i ymateb i'r drafft gynllun. Bydd CHC yn cymryd rhan ym mhob agwedd ond byddwn yn benodol yn hwyluso'r drafodaeth am 'Beth sy'n gwneud Cymru yn wlad decach?' Rhagwelwn y bydd rhai rhannau o'r wladwriaeth les yn ffocws allweddol yn y drafodaeth yma. Yn CHC, rydym eisiau trosi'r trafodaethau am y cyfansoddiad, datganoli a phwerau i realaeth darpariaeth. Fel sector, mae gennym ddealltwriaeth fanwl o'r polisïau, prosesau a gweithdrefnau presennol sy'n ymwneud â meysydd allweddol llesiant ac yn hollbwysig yn deall eu heffaith uniongyrchol ar unigolion a chymunedau. Felly, pan ofynnwn 'Sut olwg ydyn ni eisiau ar ein cymunedau?', byddwn hefyd yn gofyn, 'Beth sy'n ein hatal rhag cael hynny?' a 'Beth sydd angen ei newid?'

Felly yn ystod yr wyth wythnos nesaf, gobeithiwn y byddwch yn cymryd rhan ac yn annog eich cydweithwyr, cyfeillion a'ch teulu i ddweud eu barn ac ymuno â'r drafodaeth i lunio Cymru decach.

Dewch yn eich blaen, am beth ydych chi'n aros? ... Caniatâd?!


Sioned Hughes
Cyfarwyddydd Polisi ac Adfywio

Crowd Sourced Constitutional Convention

For those of you who were at CHC’s Annual Conference in November last year, you may recall both Matthew Taylor and Lee Waters challenging us as a sector to stop waiting for others to change things or stop waiting for others to do things and get on and do it ourselves...

This call came at a time when the constitutional promises that had been made to the people of Scotland following the referendum were generating a much broader debate about the powers we have and, more importantly, the powers we want here in Wales. Couple this with the challenges we as a sector and tenants are facing, and it seemed that the forthcoming General Election would be a lost opportunity if we didn’t make the right calls for change in those non devolved areas which have such an impact on our communities. So, for this reason, CHC made the decision to become a partner in the Institute of Welsh Affairs' Crowd Sourced Constitutional Convention.

This is a debate about the future of Wales. The direction of travel for this debate is not set in stone and we are inviting people to respond to the draft plan. CHC will be involved in all aspects but we will specifically be facilitating the discussion around ‘What makes Wales a fairer country?’. We anticipate certain parts of the welfare state being a key focus in this debate. At CHC, we want to translate the discussions around constitution, devolution and powers into the reality of delivery. As a sector, we have an in depth understanding of existing policies, processes and procedures surrounding key areas of welfare and crucially understand the direct impact they have on individuals and communities. Therefore, when we ask ‘What do we want our communities to look like?', we’ll also be asking, 'What’s stopping us from getting there?' and 'What needs to change?'.

So during the next eight weeks, we hope you will get involved and that you will encourage your colleagues, friends and family to share their views and join the debate to shape a fairer Wales.

Go on, what are you waiting for? ... Permission?!


Sioned Hughes
Director of Policy and Regeneration

Tuesday 13 January 2015

A call for action!


We have always maintained that the UK Government’s welfare reform programme will have devastating consequences for communities in Wales.

It therefore came as no surprise when a recent Wales Audit Office report published evidence stating that welfare reform is having an adverse and disproportionate effect in Wales. The report found that a greater proportion of Welsh social housing tenants have had their housing benefit reduced than elsewhere in the UK, with 51% of tenants reporting an increase in personal debt. This was backed by evidence from social landlords showing a £5.3m increase in rent arrears in the first six months of the removal of the spare room subsidy and the introduction of the benefit cap.

For some Welsh social housing tenants, the welfare changes will have created a level of hardship and a spiral of social and economic deprivation that will be hard, if not impossible, to break.

This is easier to understand in the context of:
·                     higher (on average) unemployment than anywhere in the UK
·                     a heavy reliance on the public sector as an employer
·                     households paying 5% more for electricity than the rest of UK 
·                     higher rates of digital exclusion than other UK regions - 39% of social housing tenants have no access to PC 
·                     a five-fold increase in the use of foodbanks over the last 2 years – 29.7% by people who had experienced welfare benefit delays
·                     a £4.1m cut in specialist advice services, despite increasing need 

In 2013, the Welsh Affairs Select Committee also published evidence highlighting how the spare room subsidy had been a “policy failure” in the Welsh Valleys where, effectively, a social housing tenant moving to a smaller property in the private rented sector would cost the tax payer more money.  
  
So what are social landlords doing?

60% of Welsh social landlords have reported an increase in management costs as they refocus their resources to manage welfare changes. Most landlords are also prioritising tenants affected by the spare room subsidy to move, more tenant profiling, providing low level money advice and budgeting services, and investing significant amounts of money in awareness raising, and have programmes in place to help tenants back into work. A rise in rent arrears and the increased costs of managing welfare changes still means, however, that Welsh housing associations and local authorities are struggling to find effective and sustainable solutions to the challenges they face.

These challenges will be exacerbated by direct payments and the roll out of Universal Credit unless action is taken now. We need more control over welfare and the flexibility to provide: 
·                     choice to tenants about payment options 
·                     more investment in specialist services such as Your Benefit Are Changing - a service that demonstrates high levels of success in mitigating the worst effects of welfare reform
·                     local solutions tailored to local needs  

CHC and others have been highlighting the negative impact of welfare reform on Wales for some time and we will continue to make the call for a fairer welfare system for Wales to prevent further deprivation. Prevention is always better, and definitely more cost effective, than cure.



Amanda Oliver
Head of Policy and Research


You can read the CHC Group’s response to the report 
here, and you can read the report itself here

Thursday 8 January 2015

Prepare for the future with Dŵr Cymru

Providing customers with reliable water and waste services is a priority for Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. But expanding our network to support economic development is also an important part of our role.

Welsh Water’s Developer Services team help customers to connect to the network, offering 15 different services which support them through every step of their development.


Connecting with You

In June 2014, we held our first dedicated Housing Association Forum. The prime objective was to receive feedback from customers, which will allow us to improve our services.

Attendees told us that the forum provided an excellent opportunity to engage openly with Welsh Water and said they would like to see further links between Welsh Water and the RSL sector. With support from CHC, we plan to hold additional workshops in the coming months.


Preparing for the Future

We’ve all had challenges to face over the last few years, including the introduction of new legislation, such as mandatory build standards. We need to continue to engage with our customers so that we can meet future challenges together.

Over the next six years, the population of Wales may grow by around 100,000. Preparation is key to being ready to support this growth. Welsh Water plans to increase network capacity to enable us to continue to support development. And we want to engage with you now to ensure that we can continue to support your future projects.

If you have an upcoming project you would like to discuss with us or need advice on your development, call 0800 917 2652 or email developer.services@dwrcymru.com



Ian Wyatt, Head of Developer Services
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water