Audit Commission News

North Devon District Council is providing a good service with promising prospects for improvement. There is a strong focus on customers and the service works effectively with its partners. It has good information to inform its strategic approach and is effectively preventing homelessness, tackling the worst private sector housing and exceeding targets in the delivery of new homes. However, there are some weaknesses in the Council´s strategic housing plans, it takes too long to provide grants and assistance and there has been limited impact on empty homes.

Adactus provides a fair housing service that has promising prospects for improvement. High proportions of homes have been improved to meet the Decent Homes requirement. Responsive repairs meet customers´ needs, but adaptations provision, income collection and value for money require improvement.

Luminus Group has more strengths than weaknesses showing strong customer care, carrying out repairs quickly to a high standard, and with a number of ways for residents to influence the services they receive. There is scope for Improvement around value for money and some aspects of diversity.

Audit Commission inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of how the housing association deals with responsive repairs, repairs to empty homes, and gas servicing. They gave this assessment because repairs performance is inconsistent; it takes too long to relet empty homes; and gas servicing is not always carried out promptly. Overall costs are low, but service performance is unsatisfactory in many areas.

This is a short notice inspection of income collection and resident involvement. These services have a balance of strengths and weaknesses. It is easy for tenants to pay rent in a wide range of ways and Sadeh Lok helps tenants to get suitable benefit and debt advice. The level of rent arrears is high although it is reducing. Tenant satisfaction is generally high. Sadeh Lok increasingly involves tenants, but not with strategically developing services to meet their priorities. Sadeh Lok is not ensuring that all services give value for money.

The report reviews the rigour with which boards of NHS trusts and foundation trusts operate the governance structures and processes to assure themselves that their organisation is operating effectively and meeting their strategic objectives. It includes recommendations for government and trusts as well as questions for board members to ask themselves about their current arrangements.

On a scale from zero to three stars the Audit Commission gave Waveney District Council´s strategic housing service a ´fair´ one-star rating with promising prospects. The service had previously been assessed as providing a ´poor´, zero-star service with uncertain prospects for improvement in a report published in May 2006.

On a scale from zero to three stars the Audit Commission inspection team gave the service a ´poor´ zero-star rating. The Council takes too long to process new claims, is not doing enough to encourage the take up of benefits and the information it provides is not easy for customers to understand. The report shows that the position has deteriorated further due to the economic downtown, leading to a backlog of outstanding claims that will take some eight weeks to clear.

Norwich City Council provides a ´poor´ landlord service that has ´uncertain´ prospects for improvement. The Council has not involved tenants in many of the decisions that it makes. The approach to ensuring that all services can be accessed fairly is weak and performance management is not embedded.