Halton Housing Trust has come a long way in just two years according to an independent report published by the Audit Commission today (31 July 2008).

The Trust’s concerted efforts to improve services and remain focused on improvement have been recognised after its first Audit Commission inspection judged the housing service provided as being one star (fair) with promising prospects for improvement.

Nick Atkin, Chief Executive of Halton Housing Trust, said: “We are incredibly proud of our first inspection report which positively reflects the extent and scale of our journey to date.

“This inspection judgement acknowledges that the Trust has come a very long way in a short space of time and highlights the commitment of our employees and Board to provide homes and services where customers come first.

“An earlier mock inspection commissioned shortly after transfer in 2006 scored our services as below poor with uncertain prospects for improvement.

“Of course there is still much to do, but this result confirms we are well on the path towards delivering quality and excellence for all.  As an organisation we are committed to continually improving what we do and how we do it.

“We have come a long way but we still have further to go. This report confirms that we have laid the foundations upon which we can now build our long term stability and success.”

On a scale of zero to three stars, the Audit Commission inspection team gave the service a one star ‘fair’ rating.  The report highlights that access to services is convenient and staff are customer focused. It also noted that the Trust has made significant progress improving the quality and standard of services and homes. . 

Within the judgement there are some services that are higher than the one star rating but the inspection uses an overall composite scoring mechanism.

Paul Clarke, the Audit Commission’s Lead Housing Inspector for the North West said: “Halton Housing Trust is a relatively young housing transfer body that has begun to show improvements in services to its customers and has clear plans in place to drive further improvements in the future.”

Key strengths highlighted by the Audit Commission include:  

• The investment programme is well managed. It is on target to deliver Decent Homes and customer satisfaction with the work is high.
• Information for customers about the investment programme is comprehensive. They are well consulted, and their needs catered for.
• Access to services is convenient, staff are customer focused and published information for customers is of a high standard.
• Service standards are in place covering key areas and monitoring information is routinely reported to accountable groups.
• Gas servicing is consistently undertaken and effective measures taken to ensure high level of completion and the Trust has taken positive measures to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in its homes.
• Significant investment has been made to provide aids and adaptations.
• Income collection is firm but fair, collection rates have improved significantly.
• There is effective partnership working in place to improve responses to anti-social behaviour and to ensure support for victims is available.

To see the full report, Click Here.