Action team spurns plan for New Deal wardens

The neighbourhood wardens policy action team were asked to consider how warden jobs could become an option for New Deal trainees.

But the team has largely rejected the proposal. Team member and Shepherd's Bush chief executive Paul Doe revealed that members "backed away" from the idea and were keen to ensure that wardens are "properly trained."

He said: "You've have to be a particular type of individual that can handle a potential neighbourhood dispute one moment, youths the next, or an elderly group. It's not something you can just throw a New Dealer into after six weeks of NVQs."

He added that there might be some scope for New Deal involvement, but revealed that members including government officials did not want to promote the idea.

A draft version of the report seen by Housing Today gives only qualified backing to neighbourhood wardens and expresses concern about how they would be funded.

It says: "Warden schemes cannot be the only solution for every residential area. Local agencies, including the residents themselves, need to consider carefully whether a warden scheme is the right answer".

Some team members wanted a more enthusiastic backing of the idea.

Treasurer of TAROE and team member Gary Glover said: "It could have been really special, but at the end of the day it was a bit cautious."

Team member Stuart Whyte, regional manager of Bradford and Northern HA which has already used wardens on three estates, said: "There are very few instances where they don't work. There was a general view amongst the housing representatives on the group that we should be doing all we can to support this idea."

The comments follow the bitter disappointment expressed privately by members of the housing management team (Housing Today, issue 137). But the neighbourhood wardens team insist that their team had no such split.