Regional Housing Strategies

1

• Regional Housing Strategies
• Positive Planning Through Regional Partnerships
• Summary of events

2
Introduction

• The Department for Communities and Local
  Government, the Care Services Improvement
  Partnership and the Housing Corporation
  commissioned Matrix Knowledge Group in
  association with Kate McAllister Consulting, to
  host a series of events to investigate
• Positive Planning Through Regional Partnership
• These events which were held in Birmingham,
  Bristol, Manchester, London and Cambridge in May
  and June 2008.
• The workshops were intended to explore good
  practice examples of how the housing-related
  health and social care support needs of
  vulnerable groups are taken account of and
  facilitated at a regional level.

3
Research Programme

• The events comprised the second stage of the
  research programme
• They investigated
• Examples of positive partnership working for
  commissioning housing-related support for
  vulnerable groups in the English regions
• How Regional Housing Strategies have been used to
  promote and support this agenda
• How local and regional partners are using the new
  performance framework to promote the housing
  interests of these groups

4
About the Events

• Representatives from the following agencies and
  services were invited to attend
• Supporting People
• Health
• Social Care
• Housing Associations
• Regional Assemblies
• Regional Development Agencies
• Government Offices, the Housing Corporation and
  the
• The Third Sector
• Between 30 and 40 delegates attended each event

5
Appreciative Inquiry
Positive practice and how this has made a
difference
Our ideal in terms of regional housing plans for
these groups
Practical steps to bring dreams into reality
Helping to make things happen commitments,
offers, requests
6
Expected Outputs

• Using an Appreciative Inquiry approach delegates
  engaged in the following activities
• Sharing examples of good practice on how to
  ensure appropriate levels of housing-related
  support and social care for vulnerable groups are
  provided
• Defining the parameters required to realise
  housing-related support and social care for
  vulnerable groups and
• Designing possible future projects and discussing
  future approaches to improving the commissioning
  of housing-related support for vulnerable groups.

7
Discovering

• The first stage of the process is Discovering
• Delegates were invited to discuss examples of
  positive practice and where they had worked in
  partnership to deliver innovative services
  locally or regionally
• These examples were then shared with the group
  and delegates identified the key themes

8
Positive practice across the regions
An online network of homeless agencies working
across Yorkshire and Humber provides a one-stop
point of access for information about the
region's VCS homeless agencies
12 pilots were commissioned to provide assistive
technology to vulnerable groups. The resulting
savings attributable to AT provision will be
recognised and reflected in mainstream funding
The Regional Housing Board has worked with the
Regional Implementation Group to undertake a
joint needs mapping to inform investment
decisions
A Registered Social Landlord worked with the
County Council, five Borough Councils and two
care providers to design and deliver a supported
housing scheme for deaf people with a learning
disability
A local authority provided land at a 1
peppercorn lease to provide wheelchair accessible
supported housing for older people
A Shared Ownership scheme with independent living
support was commissioned for thirty service users
with learning disabilities
9
Positive practice across the regions
An 'in touch' service was commissioned to provide
a free service for older people needing minor
adaptations
A Supporting People team undertook a survey of
all service development plans in the local area
to validate local strategies, HC allocations and
form a basis of preferred provider agreements
with Supporting People partners
A benchmarking framework was developed which
allowed 14 local authorities across a region to
share experience and information
During the reconfiguration of services, service
users who had experienced a change of provider
before, spoke to others who were anxious about
the same process
A Local Authority used Geographic Information
Systems to overlay health and social care data in
order to improve understanding of service needs,
and the factors that may affect them.
By sharing an assessment framework, the home
adaptations team and occupational therapy
services reduced a two-year waiting list
10
Positive practice across the regions
Older people were involved in the development of
housing strategies, service specification and
tender evaluation for a range of sheltered, extra
care and Home Improvement Agency projects
A housing/hospital link worker post was funded to
work with older people leaving hospital who
require support to find suitable housing.
Outcomes included reduced hospital admissions,
shorter stays in hospitals, greater independence
for older people and financial savings for Adult
Services
A service provider overcame strong local
opposition, by working with local politicians,
Housing Associations, Voluntary Organisations,
CLG and the Housing Corporation to provide a
purpose built 'state of the art' project for
rough sleepers
A partnership between an emergency accommodation
provider and a local authority youth service has
reduced the re-referral rate for young people's
access to emergency accommodation by 70 to 5
over one year
11
Dreaming

• The Dreaming stage required delegates to work
  in teams to share their aspirations
• This was a creative process where delegates
  expressed themselves without concern for
  practicalities

12
Dreaming Wishes for the Future

• Dreams featured several key themes
• Person-centred services
• More effective partnership work with different
  sectors
• Reach a wider range of vulnerable groups
• Simplified structures, less bureaucracy
• Better access to and sharing of data

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Dreaming- other themes

• Addressing inequality and disadvantage

• Early intervention and prevention

• Flexible and creative grants

• Informed choice for clients

• Realistic strategies

• Political sign up

• Incentives for innovation

• Accessibility of services

• Jargon-free, common language

• Measure happiness/well-being as an outcome

• Measurable outcomes

14
Designing

• In the Designing stage, delegates were asked to
  examine their dreams and begin to explore ways in
  which they could move them towards reality
• The focus was on practical steps that delegates
  themselves could take to create progress

15
Designing- what should it look like?
16
Delivery

• In the Delivery stage, participants discussed
  how to develop their designs into plans of action
• Delegates were asked to break a plan down into
  discrete activities, to discuss what resources
  would be needed and the timescales involved, and
  to identify a relevant individual to take it
  forward
• The following are examples of plans that
  delegates outlined on the day

17
Delivery planning for the future

• Develop a shared outcomes framework with soft and
  hard outcomes

• Ensure that the next regional strategy has a
  simple overview, clearly stating the purpose and
  relevance, with an 'idiot's guide' to regional
  structures

• Develop senior management understanding of the
  regional strategy within the PCT, Local
  Authority, Trade Bodies and Social Care

• Improve quality of information about choice-based
  letting for vulnerable groups

18
Delivery planning for the future

• Develop a users guide to housing-related support
  with a definition of terms and how they are used
  in different contexts.

• Develop a regional planning framework with a
  values statement promoting flexible models of
  practice

• Workforce development for staff, users and
  carers- to facilitate understanding of the
  commissioning process

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Delivery- planning for the future

• Make regional data (qualitative and quantitative)
  accessible online, with information sharing
  protocols

• Promote user involvement in commissioning, tender
  panels and choice based letting.

• Develop the JSNA to inform the Regional Housing
  Strategy

• Develop a communication plan for the regional
  strategy, with tailored local events, a team
  responsible for cascading information and
  inclusive local forums

20
Delivery

• A model for capital and revenue funding of
  housing related support

21
Offers and commitments

• Some examples of the tangible offers and
  commitments for future actions made at the end of
  the day

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Key Learning from the Events