The report catalogues poor management control and a lack of performance monitoring "where it seems to matter little if action plans are ignored and targets missed".
The council commissioned the report from Pennington Consulting after two damning Audit Commission investigations into its sheltered housing service, which covers a third of the council's 3600-strong stock.
Pennington was also brought in to offer ways forward. It found that, of 11 key tasks set out for the service to April 2002, only three had been done in time. "Others appear not to have been addressed at all," the report says.
Among the issues that had not been tackled were calculating the impact of rent restructuring on individual tenants, and consulting tenants. Pennington found the IT system was not capable of implementing the tasks, putting at risk the council's ability to meet government deadlines.
Pennington's report also found that tensions had been sparked by councillors' involvement in operations, and that the blanket exclusion of certain groups of housing applicants left the council at risk of legal challenge. The lack of an asset management plan was also highlighted.
The consultant made dozens of recommendations, including allocating council staff as "customer champions". A report on stock options is due out next month and Audit Commission inspectors will return later this year to check progress.
South Derbyshire head of community services Sandra Whiles said a plan to improve services within a year had been agreed. She said a service had been set up to monitor performance monthly and specialist staff had been taken on.
She added: "Pennington has produced a diagnostic report that provides a clear tool to set priorities for improvements. We are on target to make changes and improvements in the department. Staff are fully involved and are determined to provide a better service for our tenants."
South derbyshire’s problems
- IT system unlikely to be able to implement rent restructuring
- Tensions caused by councillor involvement in housing service
- Blanket exclusion of groups of housing applicants, leading to risk of legal challenge
- No asset management plan
- Lack of performance monitoring
Source
Housing Today
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