Agenda item

Disabled People’s Housing Strategy 2021 sets out the approach for meeting the housing needs of disabled people through the provision of a co-produced housing service shaped and influenced by, and for, disabled people.

7.1           Councillor Richardson introduced the item which demonstrated positive resident engagement in H&F and was an excellent example of coproduction. The strategy, launched in July 2021, set out an approach for meeting the housing needs of disabled people through the provision of co-produced housing services informed by the views of disabled people.

7.2           Glendine Shepherd explained that strategy was inclusive and coproduced with residents and embodied the council’s approach of doing ‘nothing about disabled people without disabled people’ (Disabled People’s Commission, June 2018).  The strategy was innovative in the way in had been informed by the voice of disabled residents and extended beyond the provision of an accessible housing register or adaptions.  Tara Flood outlined her role as one of the leads on coproduction together with Kevin Caulfield. The support and contribution of disabled resident Jane Wilmot, a Disabled People’s Commissioner was commended for leading the work on coproducing the strategy which was a unique in local government. Tara Flood briefly outlined the work of the commission, which she had chaired, and which sought to identify barriers to decision making and improve influence in housing services, a key priority given the difficulties experienced by many disabled residents.

7.3           Gerry Cowley outlined the key principles which were supported across four distinct objectives within the strategy: coproduction, working with residents; improved and clearer access to housing information; improved housing services (adaptations); and more accessible housing.  This was an innovative and challenging agenda to deliver and prioritised the needs of disabled residents. Tara Flood continued that the next stage was to implement the strategy, together with other initiatives.  A resident led disabled people’s housing strategy implementation group (title to be confirmed) would be chaired by Councillor Lisa Homan, Cabinet Member for Housing and which also included Victoria Brignell as a member. The group had recently met and was in the process of agreeing its remit and approach. As this work continued to evolve, it was important for the group and the implementation of the strategy to align with the service transformation work that was taking place within Adult Social Care on independent living. Glendine Shepherd anticipated that the group would steer and prioritise action plans devised for each of the four objectives.

7.4           Councillor Richardson thanked officers for their work and commended the innovative and ambitious aims set out in the strategy.  The measures section provided for each objective was an excellent provision as it built in evaluation and progress monitoring. It also facilitated engagement with disabled people’s organisations as the measures sought to include engagement data, including fresh voices, and teaching them advocacy skills.  Councillor Richardson welcomed an opportunity to be more engaged with the work, helping with feedback and scrutiny but given the challenges, she asked whether there was capacity to implement the strategy. Glendine Shepherd acknowledged that funding was an issue, but it would be the role of officers to engage with and navigate the process by securing either Cabinet or scrutiny member support to advocate for additional funding. A dedicated team would work with the implementation group, but the strategy would be supported corporately utilising resources already in place, ranging from adaptations to planning and across the council. 

7.5           Keith Mallinson commended the work of the housing services team with whom he routinely contacted.  In his role as an advisor (Shepherds Bush Families Project), many clients with housing issues also presented with mental health or disability problems.  His experience was that housing service officers routinely responded with empathy and compassion, working well with external organisations.

7.6           Councillor Bora Kwon echoed earlier comments commending the time take to develop the strategy, acknowledging the unstinting commitment of residents and officers who had supported the process. She asked what outcomes officers would expect to see that might indicate that the strategy had been successfully implemented and how long this might take.  Glendine Shepherd explained that the implementation group had been set up for an initial 12 months and would identify success factors at its next meeting, both short term “quick wins” and longer term goals, but it would be difficult to frame within a specific timescale.  Details of this would be shared with the committee.  Tara Flood added that from a resident’s perspective the level of success would correspond to the degree of ownership that was felt of the process.  Coproduction was embedded within the foundation of the strategy, and this was exemplified in other areas of work such as the long term development of the civic campus which included support and input from disabled residents. The commitment to have the views of disabled residents informing the development allowed a sense of purpose and being part of something significant for the borough. The strategy would similarly allow disabled residents to develop skills through their experience of working in partnership with the council.

7.7           Councillor Lloyd-Harris welcomed the report and asked how the strategy and its objectives would be shared with housing association tenants in a format that was both inclusive and accessible. A further question was asked about proportion of new planning applications that were required to offer affordable housing options and how many of these that were available to disabled residents. Clarity was also sought about resourcing given the difficulties and costs of poorly maintained, old and adapted buildings. Glendine Shepherd confirmed that the information would be communicated and available in an accessible format (the strategy was available on the council’s website in various formats including British Sign Language). Information about the proportion of affordable homes that could be allocated to disabled residents would be provided by officers from the Growth and Redevelopment team following the meeting. It was also reported that Cabinet had recently approved a capital investment programme to invest in council housing stock, ensuring repairs and maintenance was undertaken. The strategy would be implemented and align with the capital programme.

7.8           In commending the work of officers and residents, Victoria Brignell, as the Chair of Action on Disability, thanked Tara Flood and Kevin Caulfield for their support in driving the initiative and maintaining momentum. She also encouraged disabled people to get involved with coproduction and to engage with the many opportunities to work in partnership with the council to shape resident services.  Tara Flood also encouraged younger disabled people in particular to make contact (contact details for both Action on Disability and the councils coproduction leads were available on the council’s website or on enquiry).

7.9           Councillor Coleman commended the report and the commitment of officers and disabled residents in developing the strategy.   H&F was committed as an inclusive council to ‘being the best’ for all residents, and to shape services directly with disabled residents successfully should also translate across the piste. Coproduction, as highlighted in the report was a step change in the way things were done. He felt encouraged and assured that the implementation group would be responsible for identifying success factors.

ACTIONS:

1.          Information about the percentage of affordable homes made available to disabled people under new planning agreements to be shared with the committee; and

2.          The Committee to receive a progress update on the work of the implementation group

RESOLVED

That the report was noted.