Tag: Department for Levelling Up

A formal notice has been issued to South Cambridgeshire District Council to ensure taxpayers’ money is well spent after concerns were raised over its four-day working week trial.

A Best Value Notice, issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, formally sets out government concerns around the council and whether the trial offers value for money, including the removal of up to a fifth of the authority’s capacity.

It requests evidence on the trial to consider whether the council is meeting its Best Value Duty, including on: staffing; costs; service delivery; resident feedback; overall performance since the start of the trial; should a four-day working week continue.

The Notice follows repeated requests from the Local Government Minister, Lee Rowley to end the trial, as well as the publication of guidance to the sector setting out why this practice should not be adopted.

Local Government Minister Lee Rowley said:

“We are extremely concerned South Cambridgeshire District Council continues to experiment with taxpayers’ money by offering full time pay for part time work.

“We have been clear that the Government does not support the so-called four-day working week and, despite issuing clear guidance, this council has chosen to ignore it. The Government is making clear this needs to end and, although we hope not to have to, we will take further action should that prove to be necessary.”

The Best Value Notice is a formal notification of South Cambridgeshire District Council’s compliance with its Best Value Duty under the Local Government Act 1999, and will remain in place for six months to cover the remainder of the trial and allow for further analysis.

The Department will review the Notice and determine whether further action is needed. It may be ended early or escalated at any point based on the available evidence. This could include the use of additional powers that the Secretary of State has to request information, or to inspect or intervene in the council.

Guidance issued to the sector last week set out the Government’s position that removing 20% of a local authority’s potential capacity does not offer value for money for residents. It makes clear that value for money for taxpayers is paramount and no further focus should be given by councils on this issue.

The Government continues to support an individual’s right to request flexible working, which allows individual employees to apply for changes to the hours, timing, or location of work, which is clearly different to a blanket four-day working week on a full salary, across the whole organisation.

The government has agreed a pledge with five sector-leading insurance brokers, which could mean thousands of leaseholders in buildings with identified fire safety issues see a significant reduction in their insurance premiums.

Each broker is committing to stop the practice of sharing commissions with those parties who place or arrange buildings insurance, such as property managing agents, landlords, and freeholders.

They are also promising to have a cap of 15% on the proportion of the premium that brokers take to compensate for their work in arranging the insurance. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) report on broker remuneration found that this amount can be as high as 60% of the cost of the premium paid by leaseholders.

The FCA’s findings have strengthened the Government’s resolve to see a ban on the practice of sharing commissions, as announced by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, in January 2023. This pledge is an important step towards implementing that policy.

Minister for Building Safety, Lee Rowley, said:

“I strongly welcome the decision of these brokers to step up and demonstrate their willingness to do more on bringing premiums down.

“These brokers are to be congratulated on their decision; we now need to see further action from others in the broader insurance and broker industry to accompany it.”

The brokers that have individually taken the voluntary decision to sign up to the pledge are: Lockton LLP, Bridge Insurance Brokers , Brown & Brown Insurance Brokers (UK) Limited, PIB Group Insurance Brokers/ St Giles, and Willis Limited (WTW).

The pledge will benefit leaseholders who are living in buildings over four storeys or 11m in height with identified fire safety defects, which have been made known their insurance brokers.

The brokers who have signed up to the pledge have also confirmed their commitment under new FCA rules, from 31 December 2023, to share information about the buildings insurance policy with leaseholders if requested.

These companies will act with immediate effect for new policies and the Government will monitor the adherence to and impact of the pledge.

Department officials stand ready to discuss the pledge with any relevant broker and expect to see the numbers of responsible brokers increase over coming weeks.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove is urging tenants in social housing to put pressure on failing landlords to improve their living conditions, with the government’s latest launch of the ‘Make Things Right’ campaign going live today (9 October 2023).

Social housing residents are being encouraged to report issues and make complaints to address hazards in their home in the next phase of the England-wide advertising campaign.

Residents should feel confident to challenge unacceptable conditions and notify their landlord when things go wrong. The government wants to inform tenants of their rights and ensure they escalate complaints to the Housing Ombudsman if concerns are not addressed swiftly or appropriately.

Building on the success of previous campaigns, the £2 million campaign will see adverts promoted across radio and social media.

Landlords have a responsibility to take action when complaints are made and support will also be available for them, to ensure they are supporting residents in the best possible way.

Given that 10% of social homes failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard last year, this is a serious wakeup call for landlords who must do better to provide decent and safe homes for their residents.

Housing Secretary, Rt Hon Michael Gove MP said:

Social landlords who fail their residents time and time again must be held to account.

The continued success of our Make Things Right campaign gives residents a greater voice to bring about real change – making sure they know their rights to stand up to bad landlords and go to the Ombudsman when issues remain unresolved.

Our Social Housing Act is now law and Awaab’s Law remains a firm reminder of the importance for all tenants to have the right to live in safe and decent homes while being treated with fairness and respect.

Social Housing campaigner, Kwajo Tweneboa, said:

I have said from the very beginning, nobody should live in a home that’s falling apart or unsafe. If a landlord wouldn’t, neither should their tenants.

Report to your landlord, complain to your landlord and if they still refuse to take action report them straight to the Housing Ombudsman.

As part of the government’s mission to improve the quality of social housing, the Housing Secretary has been naming and shaming landlords who have not taken their responsibilities seriously.

Ground-breaking changes through the Social Housing Regulation Act, which has now received Royal Assent, will introduce new powers for unlimited fines and emergency repairs that landlords will have to pay for.

Following the tragic death of 2-year-old Awaab Ishak, it is more important than ever to hold landlords to account when they have clearly failed their tenants.

New reforms will mean residents can better understand their rights and strict time limits will be introduced to take swifter action in addressing hazards such as damp and mould.

A new consultation is now open for views to help deliver part one of Awaab’s Law, improving tenants’ access to information about their rights when the Housing Secretary issues a new direction to the Regulator. A further consultation to address hazards will follow in the coming months.

Since last year, it has been quicker and easier for residents to raise complaints directly with the Ombudsman, removing requirements to write to an MP or local councillor first and wait 8 weeks after completing the landlord’s process.

Referrals to the Ombudsman have spiked in demand with a 78% increase in March compared to the same month a year before.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said:

Effective complaint handling is vital to ensure issues are resolved at the earliest opportunity.

A landlord’s complaint process should be accessible for any resident that wishes to make a complaint. The process gives landlords a fair opportunity to put things right for residents when things have gone wrong, whether that be through a repair, apology or offer of compensation.

If residents are still unhappy after the landlord’s final complaint response, they can bring their complaint to us at the Housing Ombudsman. We’re free, independent and impartial in order to help residents and landlords find a resolution to their complaint.

Further information

The campaign will run across England from today to 31 March on social media and online search. There will be two phases of more intense advertising with adverts on commercial radio, digital audio, and community radio in non-English languages; the first until November and second from February 2024.

Adverts will give tenants key information about their rights, the responsibilities of their landlord, and give step-by-step advice about how to make a complaint via the Make Things Right campaign website.

Social media advertisements – in image and animation formats – will target social housing residents on Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and NextDoor.

Radio advertisements will run across commercial radio stations (including Capital, Gold, Heart, Hits Radio, Kiss, Magic, Smooth and more). The adverts will also run on community radio broadcasting across regional and national stations in English and also translated in Arabic, Polish, Romanian, Urdu, Punjabi, and Bengali.

Advertisements will also run on digital audio streaming platforms such as Spotify, Amazon Music, and SoundCloud, as well as on podcasts across the platforms.

Paid search advertising via search engines such as Google and Bing will be leveraged to drive users to the campaign website, which gives advice on how to complain.

A communications toolkit for landlords and partners (like advice organisations, charities, and community groups) have been made with printable posters and leaflets, as well as social media posts.

Commissioners have been appointed at Birmingham City Council to tackle its serious financial and governance problems after a five-year intervention was confirmed by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove today (October 5).

The team of six commissioners will be led by Max Caller CBE, an experienced local government professional and former commissioner, and will be able to provide advice and challenge the council whilst making decisions directly, if necessary. They will have powers relating to governance, finance and recruitment and bring expertise in local government improvement, finance, HR, equal pay, housing, ICT and commercial projects.

The commissioners will be joined by Lord John Hutton, a former Defence Secretary and Business Secretary, and former Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs as political advisers to the council. The advisers will not have the legal power of commissioners but will support the political leadership of the council as they take the difficult decisions that will be required.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove:

Residents have been let down by Birmingham City Council’s failure to get a grip of the significant issues it faces, from its equal pay liability to the implementation of its IT system.

We are always committed to protecting the interests of taxpayers and we will take whatever action necessary to ensure this happens in Birmingham.

That’s why today I have taken the decision to intervene and appoint a team of commissioners to help return the council to a sustainable footing moving forward.

A package of intervention proposals were outlined in the Oral Statement made to Parliament by the Levelling Up Secretary last month (September 19), which stated the Government was ‘minded to’ intervene to protect residents and taxpayers in the city. The plans were subject to a representation period of five working days with views from stakeholders considered before the final decision was made today.

It comes after Birmingham City Council issued a ‘section 114 notice’ on September 5 – an admission its backdated equal pay liability, estimated by the council as being up to £760 million, along with an in-year budget deficit that includes the costs of implementing an IT system are larger than the council’s available resources

The local authority subsequently issued a ‘section 5 notice’ and a further ‘section 114 notice’ on September 21 because it failed to secure a decision relating to its equal pay liability.

A local inquiry will be launched in due course. It is anticipated it could look at the fundamental questions’ about how the issues facing Birmingham have developed and would examine the council’s ongoing management of issues identified in Lord Bob Kerslake’s review of the authority in 2014, and the non-statutory intervention afterwards.

The independent review, commissioned after the ‘Trojan Horse’ investigation into a number of Birmingham schools, found successive administrations had failed to tackle deep-rooted problems – and highlighted a culture of sweeping problems under the carpet, rather than tackling them head-on.

Further information:

• Max Caller CBE was the Chief Executive of the London Boroughs of Hackney and Barnet, and a Chair of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. He has experience in multiple interventions, including having previously been Lead Commissioner at Slough, Lead Inspector for the Liverpool and Northamptonshire Best Value Inspections, and a Commissioner at Tower Hamlets. Mr Caller also has experience of working with Birmingham City Council, having been appointed by the Council as one of their Non-Executive Advisors following the non-statutory intervention.
• John Coughlan CBE has significant expertise in local authority governance, is the former Chief Executive of Hampshire County Council and has extensive experience of local government interventions especially in children’s services. Mr Coughlan has been asked to focus on broad improvement, by supporting cultural change and transformation and driving forward work on the long-term sustainability of the Authority. His role will operate alongside his role as Commissioner for Special Educational Needs and Disability services in Birmingham, for which he reports to the Secretary of State for Education.
• Chris Tambini is the former Director of Corporate Resources at Leicestershire County Council, where he has held other roles including Section 151 Officer and Head of Strategic Finance. He was the President of the Society of County Treasurers and also worked at city unitary councils. Mr Tambini will focus on the financial position and recovery of the Authority. This will include supporting the Authority’s work to develop and implement a plan for managing the significant equal pay liabilities that led to the Section 114 notices, and overseeing the steps needed to manage other budget pressures for 2023/24 and beyond, and to return the Authority to a position of long-term financial sustainability. It will also include considering what action may be necessary to ensure the Authority has appropriate and effective processes, governance and capacity in relation to its overall financial management.
• Pam Parkes FCIPD is the current Executive Director for People and Transformation at Essex County Council, is a FCIPD qualified senior practitioner and was part of the Best Value Inspection Team in Thurrock Council. Pam Parkeswill focus on supporting Birmingham to improve its Human Resource and Organisational Design capacity and to find solutions to the Equal Pay issue, including ensuring that appropriate steps are being taken at the required pace to address and manage its equal pay liabilities, in a way that is both sustainable and represents value for money.
• Jackie Belton is the Chief Executive of the London Borough of Bexley, the former Executive Director of Operations at the London Borough of Newham where she was responsible for Housing, Planning, Regeneration and Environment, and was Assistant Director of Housing Strategy at the London Borough of Camden. Jackie Belton will focus on supporting the Authority’s housing function.
• Myron Hrycyk is the Cabinet Office’s Crown Representative for Oracle, IBM and Microsoft. Myron Hrycyk has held prior senior executive roles as Group Chief Information Officer and Chief Procurement Officer at Severn Trent Water and as Chief Information Officer at Yusen Logistics. Myron has worked in a range of sectors including Financial Services, Technology, Utilities and Logistics. Myron will focus on supporting the Authority to rectify its Oracle issues, improve IT and provide commercial insight.
• Lord John Hutton held roles as Defence Secretary and Business Secretary under the previous Labour Government. In 2010 he led a major review of public sector pension provision, and more recently he was appointed Chair of Make UK. He is currently the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Turkey and a current member of the House of Lords.
• John Biggs is the former Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets and held prior roles there as Leader of the Labour Group and Council Leader. He has also served in the London Assembly. He has now retired from elected politics.