The Northern Housing Consortium is to set up a troubleshooting squad of housing inspectors to put an end to the spate of "zero-star" ratings received by some of its members last year.
The consortium, which comprises 130 councils and housing associations, has been in close discussion with some of its members – including Sedgefield, Wear Valley and Chester-le-Street – over ways of tackling problem areas identified by Audit Commission inspectors.

Alan Kelly, head of operations at the consortium, said: "We want to set up a performance improvement service. We are not trying to replicate the role of the Audit Commission. We just want to assist councils and associations to get better scores – especially between the initial inspection and re-inspection."

"What we are looking at doing as part of this is pairing up poor and good performing services so that they can share best practice."

Consortium development manager Ian Wright has been trained by the Audit Commission's inspectors over recent months and will soon take part in a "live" inspection.

In the first phase of the initiative, Wright will set up a team of two inspectors.

Kelly added that there may be a charge for the service, but that it would simply cover costs.

It has also asked the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister if it would be interested in funding the scheme. It is awaiting a response.

The consortium hopes to have the service in place "in the summer".

Roger Jarman, strategic policy adviser at the Audit Commission, said: "We are considering our role in this proposal, but obviously anything that results in improved performance would be welcome."

Source

Housing Today