COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (276) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 20 November 2008
Sixty councils
will benefit from increased funding to boost their housing and
employment advice options for local residents, announced
Communities Minister Iain Wright.
The Minster revealed the winners of the second round of
'Trailblazers' housing advice programme today. The
twenty projects cover sixty council areas and each scheme will
receive up to £260,000 to develop their housing advice services,
making links to employment advice, and giving local residents more
personalised information about the range of housing options
available to them.
The Trailblazer schemes will offer a greater range of advice to
people looking for housing, whether it is helping people to stay
in their own homes, social and private rented or shared ownership.
The personalised advice service will take into account the
person's individual circumstances to ensure they make the
best choice for their specific circumstances.
Housing Minister Iain Wright said:
"We all know the importance of having all the facts to hand
when making any decision, let alone one of the big life choices
such as choosing where to live and in what sort of home. These
Trailblazer schemes make sure people are fully informed of their
options and able to make the decision that is right for them in
their individual circumstances, not someone else's."
The first round gave twelve councils across the country the
opportunity to develop their services. As well as the twenty
schemes announced in this round a further ten projects will
receive 'kick start' funding to begin developing their
own approach to linking housing and employment advice, using the
mentoring skills and expertise of the original twelve councils to
help them in setting up their schemes.
Notes to editors
1. The twenty 2nd round local authority Trailblazer projects are:
* Greater Haven Gateway - covering Babergh Braintree Colchester,
Ipswich Maldon, Mid-Suffolk Suffolk Coastal Tendring
*
Broxtowe
* Home Options Subregion - covering High Peak,
Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, Amber Valley
* Islington
*
London Learning Disabilities Partnership - Croydon, Kingston,
Merton, Sutton, Richmond, Lambeth, Wandsworth
* County Durham
- Easington, Chester Le Street, City of Durham, Sedgefield,
Teesdale, Wear Valley, Derwentside
* Blackburn with
Darwen
* Cheshire West - Chester, Vale Royal, Ellesmere Port
and Neston
* Manchester
* Salford
* Chiltern and South
Buckinghamshire
* East Surrey - Reigate and Banstead ,
Elmbridge Mole Valley Tandridge , Epsom and Ewell
* Tunbridge
Wells and Rother
* Exeter Partnership - Exeter, East Devon
North Devon West Devon South Hams, Torridge Torbay Plymouth Mid
Devon Teignbridge
* West Dorset
* Redditch
*
Solihull
* Stoke on Trent
* Bradford
* Wakefield
Authorities receiving 'kick start' funding will be:
* Newham
* Hull
* Cambridge Sub-regional housing board -
Cambridge City, Fenland, Forest Heath, St Edmundsbury, East
Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire
*
Harborough
* Mansfield
* Sevenoaks
* Eastbourne
*
Oxford
* Rotherham
* West London Housing Partnership -
Harrow, Ealing, Hillingdon, Brent, Hounslow, Hammersmith and
Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea.
2. The projects will each receive funding over two years starting
April 2009.
3. John Hills report 'Ends and Means: The Future Roles of
Social Housing in England' (February 2007) suggested that
authorities could offer more integrated housing and employment
advice to tackle worklessness. The successful councils will offer
a broader approach to housing advice and employment advice to
ensure that people are more aware of all the options and
opportunities available to them.
On 20 March we published 'Expanding Choice, Addressing Need,
Addressing Housing Need through the Enhanced Housing Options
Approach', (http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/expandingchoice)
which set out the government's vision for the future of
housing options services.
4. The first round of trailblazers was announced by Housing
Minister Caroline Flint in July. Successful trailblazer projects
were: Camden, Croydon, Greenwich, Southwark, Hammersmith and
Fulham, Calderdale, Ashford, Kettering, Blackpool, Bournemouth,
Norwich, Nottingham.
The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is the professional body
for people involved in housing and communities. A registered
charity and not-for-profit organisation, the CIH have a diverse
and growing membership of over 21,000 people - both in the public
and private sectors - living and working in over 20 countries on
five continents across the world. The aim of the organisation is
to maximise the contribution that housing professionals make to
the wellbeing of communities.
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