Link to about us section link to advice and information link to news section link to publications section link to site map
link to handyperson section link to healthy homes healthier lives section link to housing action section link to housing options section Link to learning Disabilities web pages
news menu.gif
link to what's new section link to facts and figures section link to events section link to policy information link to newsletter section link to events section link to facts and figures section Link to website links


 

NEWS AND POLICY UPDATE:

Autumn 2006

Information for the providers and commissioners of housing related services for older and disabled people

HOUSING

  • ENGLISH HOUSE CONDITIONS SURVEY 2004 ANNUAL REPORT PUBLISHED
    Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) have published this more detailed report about housing conditions in England following their short Headline Report (published in March 06).

    The cost of making homes decent is of particular significance. The average cost of bringing a non-decent home up to standard is £6,650, but only £1,884 is needed for those failing solely on thermal comfort. For the 1 million private sector vulnerable households living in non-decent homes the average cost of making the home decent is £8,028, rising to over £15,000 for the half million of this group whose homes require work beyond thermal comfort measures.

    Older people of 75yrs+ are the group most likely to be living in non-decent homes when compared with families with children, lone parents, ethnic minorities, workless, people with a long term illness or disability, even though many of those groups are more likely to be living in poor quality environments.

    In this report it is also announced that the English House Conditions Survey and the Survey of English Housing will be integrated from April 2008. It is to be hoped that the same level of detailed analysis of the state of the stock will be maintained when this happens. www.dclg.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1155387

  • GOVERNMENT’S NEW OLDER PEOPLE’S HOUSING STRATEGY
    Work has started on the creation of the new older people’s housing strategy with a number of ‘scoping’ meetings personally chaired by DCLG Under Secretary of State Baroness Andrews. Luke O’Shea has been appointed to see through the project. Previously at the Social Exclusion Unit, Luke O’Shea was responsible for the SEU report ‘A Sure Start to Later Life’.

  • AGEING – KEY REASON FOR GROWING HOUSING DEMAND
    Increasing longevity and more people living alone are fuelling a housing shortfall on a scale to match the pensions’ crisis, according to the Town and Country Planning Association in their new report, ‘Housing the Next Generation’. Of the projected increase of 213,000 households pa, 58,000 are due to increased longevity, 55,000 due to immigration and 52,000 due to divorce. Among divorced/widowed men aged 75+, 90% continued to live independently in 1991 vs 65% in 1961.

    To help to meet the housing needs of this ageing population the TCPA recommends the application of ‘Lifetime Homes’ standards whilst more generally calling for new housing to be designed to “the highest environmental standards to ensure we are not simply building the slums of the future”. Details of report: www.tcpa.org.uk

  • SUPPORTING PEOPLE – OUTCOME MEASURES BEING DEVELOPED
    A change which will have a significant impact on all SP funded services is the shift to outcome based measures as the basis of evaluating provision, due for introduction in 2007. DCLG is currently working with a range of organisations to create a national framework of outcomes based on earlier work by the Social Exclusion Unit. It is anticipated that a draft set of outcomes will be piloted during the Autumn.

  • SUPPORTING PEOPLE – HOUSING AND HEALTH LINKS
    Many organisations in the housing sector are trying to develop their evidence base with regard to the impact of housing on health, largely in anticipation of a tight Comprehensive Spending Review and a continuing Government prioritisation of health improvement. SP have been looking at various aspects of SP/health links and have published three reports about the SP Health Pilots, - an Evaluation, Key Findings and a Guide to Partnership Working. See spkweb or www.cat.csip.org.uk/index.cfm?pid=187

  • CONDITION REPORT DROPPED FROM HOME INFORMATION PACKS
    After extensive media pressure the DCLG has announced that Home Information Packs will no longer have to include the home condition report. Energy performance certificates will still be required as these are part of an obligation under a European directive coming into force in 2009. http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1002882&PressNoticeID=2207

  • BLUEPRINT FOR HOUSING FOR OLDER PEOPLE?
    The ‘Wel Hops’ project, a European initiative around independence for senior citizens, has published examples of "best practice" designs of housing suitable for older people drawn from Sweden, the UK, Spain, Italy, Hungary and Lithuania. Further detailed guidelines are planned to build up a "manual" for building new homes and renovating existing ones. See Photos/design information: www.welhops.net

  • HOUSING CHOICE FOR OLDER PEOPLE – NEW REPORT FROM HELP THE AGED
    Help the Aged is currently developing policies on a range of housing issues, including housing advice and information, homelessness, housing conditions and information on housing provision. It’s latest report, “Housing Choice for Older People", provides both a comprehensive analysis of the state of play re: housing for an older population, and also a range of policy and practice recommendations to help improve the current situation. Help the Aged website (www.helptheaged.org.uk search Housing)

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE NEWS

  • CHANGES TO PROVISION OF COMMUNITY EQUIPMENT AHEAD
    The Prime Minister has indicated his support for a greatly expanded role for the voluntary sector in the provision of community equipment. There will be a review of all aspects of delivery of these services, including needs assessment, equipment commissioning, procurement, delivery and installation, with the likely introduction of competitive tendering.

  • LONDON GUIDELINES PUBLISHED
    The London Boroughs Occupational Therapy Managers Group have published Guidelines for Major Adaptations to the homes of people with disabilities 2006. Available as a PDF- £25 to London Boroughs and £30 for all others. For copies/further information contact Ruth.Pink@hounslow.gov.uk

  • TARGETED ACTION FOR PEOPLE WITH LONG TERM CONDITIONS A SUCCESS
    People with long term medical conditions such as heart and respiratory conditions are benefiting from innovations to integrate services eg. community matrons and early intervention teams. ‘Improving Services For People With Long Term Conditions Through Large Scale Workforce Change’ details the findings of a 10-month national programme involving more than 60 organisations from across the NHS, social services and the voluntary sector in England. The organisations reviewed the services they provided to patients with long term conditions and found they could dramatically improve patient care and free up hospital beds at the same time. http://www.nhsemployers.org/aboutus/mediacentre-listing.cfm/pressrelease/112

  • SOCIAL SERVICES OVERSPEND ON ADULT SERVICES
    The County Councils Network claims that county councils are spending 20% over budget on adult social services. They believe that the one of the main reasons is the cut backs by primary care trusts, with over half the counties surveyed reporting PCT funding cuts. Increased demand for learning difficulty and older people’s services were also cited as reasons. A number of counties are now only providing services to those whose needs are assessed as critical. Report: www.lga.gov.uk/ccn/

MONEY

  • USE OF UNCLAIMED ASSETS DEVELOPMENTS
    It is estimated that several hundred million pounds are lying dormant in bank and building society accounts. The Chancellor has for some time been calling for the these funds to be used for community investment and a number of proposals have now been put forward by the Commission on Unclaimed Assets and the Unclaimed Assets Charity Coalition . NCVO has put together a short consultation summarising the main recommendations of each body and is asking the voluntary sector for its views on these. www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/policy

  • MAJOR CHANGES TO WELFARE SYSTEM
    There has been a mixed reaction to the government’s Welfare Reform Bill, with disability charities the most vociferous opponents. Amongst the range of planned measures are the national roll-out of Local Housing Allowance (replacing Housing Benefit for private tenants) and replacement of incapacity benefits with Employment Support Allowance linked to returning to work. Age Concern England has expressed concern about the position of people over 50 who find it particularly difficult to obtain work. www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/welfarereform/

  • WINTER FUEL PAYMENT
    Anyone aged 60 or over on or before 24 September 2006 may qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment of £200 per household. Households with someone aged 80 or over could get a payment of £300. Most of those eligible (eg. who received a payment last year or who are in receipt of State Pension or other social security benefit) will receive their payment automatically, but those outside these categories need to claim. Details on the Winter Fuel Payment website – www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/winterfuel, Helpline on 08459 15 15 15 (0845 601 5613 for textphone users).

  • NEW RoSPA HOME SAFETY GUIDANCE ON ACCIDENTS IN THE HOME
    This new home safety guidance is useful for anyone undertaking home safety check work and accident prevention. www.rospa.com/homesafety/advice/olderpeople/accidents.htm.

NEWS

  • UNDERSTANDING DEMENTIA FACTSHEET
    As increasing number of people with dementia are supported to live in their own homes for as long as possible, it becomes more important for those who work with clients and families to support their independence understand the condition. This free fact sheet gives relevant and concise information on a variety of issues surrounding dementia including causes and prevention of decline. http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/page.cfm?pageurl=dementia.cfm

  • AGE DISCRIMINATION LEGISLATION COMES INTO FORCE
    From 1 October 2006 the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations make it unlawful to discriminate against workers, employees, job seekers and trainees because of their age.

    The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (acas) has published guidance on age and the workplace, which provides information on how to implement the regulations, and advises individuals who have experienced discrimination or harassment as a result of their age. www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid37

  • COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING REVIEW
    The Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, due to report in 2007, is the biggest review of government funding for a decade. It will set departmental spending priorities from April 2008 to April 2011. There are a number of cross-cutting reviews that will inform the CSR, including the Department of Health funding review (focusing particularly at the impact of increasing longevity, the increased life-spans of people with learning disabilities and the impact of policies such as individual budgets) and the Third Sector Review, which is looking at the potential future role of the voluntary and community sector as service providers . For more information about the latter see www.ncvo-vol.org.uk

  • RANK FOUNDATION FUND TRAINING FOR VOLUNTARY SECTOR
    The Rank Foundation is funding up to 75% of the course fees for a number of charity and voluntary sector courses at the London South Bank University. From February 07 some of the courses will become available in the North of England. The courses covered are Masters Degrees in Voluntary Administration, Charity Accounting and Financial Management, Charity Marketing and Fundraising, plus a Certificate in Charity Management. http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/fees/financialHelpLSBU.html#rank

  • POPULATION AGEING
    The number of people 85 yrs+ grew by 6% in 2004-5 to reach a record 1.2 million, a growth rate of ten times the rate of increase in the general population. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=949

    This News and Policy Update is produced by Care & Repair England
    The Renewal Trust Business Centre, 3 Hawksworth Street, Nottingham, NG3 2EG
    Tel/ Fax: 0115 950 6500
    info@careandrepair-england.org.uk
    www.careandrepair-england.org.uk

    Every effort has been made to ensure the information above is correct. However, Care & Repair England cannot accept any responsibility for errors and omissions.

    Care & Repair England is an Industrial and Provident Society with Charitable Status Reg 25121

    Previous Newsletters
    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Summer 2006 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Spring 2006 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Winter 2005 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Autumn 2005 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Summer 2005 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Spring 2005 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Winter 2004/05 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Autumn 2004 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Summer 2004 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Spring 2004 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Winter 2003/04 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update (Winter 2002/03 edition) can be viewed here.

    • The Care & Repair England News and Policy Update briefing paper (Spring 2003 edition) can be viewed here.