The high-profile housing academic who recommended a fundamental shake-up to Birmingham council's housing is to revisit the city to see how her plans are being implemented.
Anne Power, professor of social policy at the London School of Economics, is scheduled to return to Birmingham by January 2004, although an exact date for the visit has yet to be agreed with the council.

Last year, Power led an independent inquiry into the future of Birmingham's housing after tenants overwhelmingly rejected stock transfer in April 2002. The report, published last December, advised the council to transfer the management of its housing to 35 community-based housing organisations.

Since the report's publication, two pathfinder CBHOs have been established, but the city's housing department has suffered further turmoil as its repairs and maintenance service received its second damning inspection report in two years.

Power said: "The main purpose of the visit is to look at plan's progress of the pathfinder CBHOs and how they link in with the other work being done by the department."

Power added that she did not expect her plan for community-based housing organisations to be adversely affected by the council's commitment to devolve control of many services to 11 constituency areas.

However, she did express concern about the shake-up of the housing department in the aftermath of September's zero-star inspection report, which saw Birmingham's director of housing, David Thompson, depart to the Local Government Association on secondment.

"The housing department was fully behind the plan, but the loss of David Thompson leaves a question mark over whether the new people will be equally committed," said Power.

Source

Housing Today