The unwieldy 641 performance standards for housing and council tax benefit, which every local authority in the country failed at the first attempt, have been jettisoned in favour of a new system.

The changes, to come into effect in April and widely welcomed within the sector, will replace the original standards with 19 “performance measures” and 65 “key enablers” – strategies and activities that should be in place in every authority.

The changes were introduced after every authority in the country was believed to have had problems making the grade under the old pass-or-fail system, which focused on the process of administering housing benefit.

Councils will now be asked to report quarterly to the Department for Work and Pensions and carry out annual self-assessments against the “enablers”. A graded assessment of performance has also been introduced, and emphasis has shifted to the speed and accuracy with which benefit is paid.

Sam Lister, policy officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing, welcomed the changes. He said: “The system is now a bit clearer on what the priorities are. With 641 [standards], there wasn’t really any priority on anything.”

Source

Housing Today