EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
In October 2008, the Scottish Government appointed ODS Consulting to undertake an independent review of Care and Repair projects in Scotland. The report was commissioned against a background of the introduction of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 and specifically the requirement on local authorities to produce a 'Scheme of Assistance'. The objective of the study was to provide a contextual analysis of Care and Repair projects in Scotland at the current time, the contribution they make to meeting national housing objectives and the potential role they could play in the future.
Methodology
We undertook the study between October 2008 and April 2009. It involved a desktop review, telephone and online surveys and two stakeholder workshops. We also identified innovative examples of how Care and Repair projects in Scotland are adapting to the changing context. And we briefly reviewed the role and funding of Care and Repair in Wales and England.
Our report identifies the context in which Care and Repair operates and the key themes to emerge from consultations. It then makes recommendations which we believe will strengthen the role of Care and Repair in the future.
The Context and Profile of Care and Repair
The core objective of Care and Repair, as originally conceived, is to support older home owners to remain in their own homes by providing assistance with housing repairs, improvements or adaptations. Today there are 37 Care and Repair projects operating over most of Scotland. Over time the range of services Care and Repair projects provide and their client base has evolved - both in response to changing local contexts and the availability of funding. We found that the overwhelming majority of Care and Repair projects provide services to older and disabled people in the private sector.
The first Care and Repair project was established in 1985 and the latest in 2005. There are considerable differences in size and organisational maturity. The vast majority of their funding comes indirectly from the Scottish Government through Private Sector Housing Grant. However, this will cease to be a ring fenced fund budget in 2010/11 as a result of the concordat between the Scottish Government and local authorities.
Key Themes
The Nature of Care and Repair
Care and Repair provides a range of property based services to support older and disabled people to remain in the own homes that are tailored to the individual's own needs. However, there is a lack of clarity as to what defines Care and Repair, what core services it delivers and what its core client group is. This means that although there is a strong ethos to Care and Repair, it is in many ways ill defined.
Delivering Care and Repair
Care and Repair projects operate across most, but not all areas, of Scotland. But there are considerable differences in the services they provide. And in many areas other organisations are providing Care and Repair type services. This can make accessing services confusing. There is considerable scope for greater joint working at a local authority and regional level to ensure that there is clarity over service provision.
Lack of forward planning over the availability of revenue funding, and on occasion, delays in receiving funding, are cited by projects as the biggest barriers they face to reaching their full potential. There are real concerns that this position will deteriorate with the abolition of ring fenced Private Sector Housing Grant in 2010/11.
Demand for Care and Repair services is generally high and is often greater than the resources available. However there is not always a transparent method of promoting and prioritising services, raising concerns about them reaching those in greatest need.
Strengthening Care and Repair
Care and Repair is underpinned by core values. These are contained within National Standards for Care and Repair in Scotland. But we could find little evidence that the Standards had been widely adopted. Where they have been, projects are not able to objectively demonstrate this.
Accreditation and branding could be useful tools in setting Care and Repair apart from other organisations that provide services that appear to be similar but are not tailored to the needs of individual clients.
There is a range of constitutional models and governance arrangements used to deliver Care and Repair, all of which have strengths and weaknesses. However, not all are supporting projects to meet their full potential and there is a need for these to be periodically reviewed.
The Contribution to Local and National Priorities
Care and Repair contributes to a wide range of local and national outcomes - particularly in terms of the housing contribution to community care and health.
However, it is difficult to demonstrate this. The current method of collecting information on the performance of Care and Repair projects is largely output rather than outcome focused.
There is however considerable scope for Care and Repair projects to assist in delivering the objectives of the 2006 Housing Act and Schemes of Assistance. The shift from subsidies to tailored support fits closely to the ethos of Care and Repair. However, the way in which projects will wish to play a role will vary considerably depending on their size, capacity and priorities.
Supporting Care and Repair
There is demand for a clearer lead from the Scottish Government of the role it anticipates Care and Repair can play. There is also need for strengthened national support for Care and Repair projects to provide practical assistance and a stronger voice nationally.
Recommendations
1. Organisations delivering Care and Repair should be consulted about adopting the term Care and Repair 'agency' rather than 'project' to describe themselves.
2. The Scottish Government should consult with Care and Repair stakeholders to identify and agree core services that all Care and Repair agencies should provide.
3. The Scottish Government should consult with Care and Repair stakeholders to identify and agree the core client groups that all Care and Repair agencies should provide services to.
4. The Scottish Government should issue a national policy statement setting out its expectations of how Care and Repair should be delivered and the minimum level of service that should be available. Current good practice guidance should be reviewed and reissued.
5. The Scottish Government should enter into discussions with CoSLA with a view to directly funding core Care and Repair agencies for an interim period of three years to allow them to develop through a transitional phase. Thereafter funding should be the responsibility of local authorities and other local partners.
6. Care and Repair agencies should establish transparent methods of prioritising their services, taking account of the resources available to them.
7. The National Standards for Care and Repair should be reviewed. A simple accreditation system should be established to allow Care and Repair projects to demonstrate that they operate to the National Standards.
8. Care and Repair agencies should review their constitutional models and governance arrangements on a periodic basis in close consultation with key stakeholders to identify whether they are fit for purpose.
9. The concept of a Care and Repair brand which could be used by agencies providing core services to an accredited standard should be explored.
10. A national performance monitoring framework should be introduced to measure the outcomes of Care and Repair agencies and allow them to benchmark their achievements against others.
11. Local authorities should undertake a strategic assessment of how Care and Repair best fits with the Scheme of Assistance in their area - working jointly with Care and Repair agencies and other partners.
12. All stakeholders involved in Care and Repair should work to promote and make links between the work of Care and Repair and wider health and community care objectives.
13. A national organisation should be established with a remit to support the development of Care and Repair agencies across Scotland and advise on issues of policy.