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Finance England/Wales

   

Rent policy, rent restructuring and service charges

 

Investment and option appraisal

 

Scottish Housing Quality Standard

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Funding rent income and HB

  • 28 November 2008

    Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2007-08 final outturn

    The latest national statistics on the final outturn of local authority revenue expenditure and financing for 2007-08
     

  • 15 October 2008

    Don't get caught in the the regulation funding loop

    For assistance with board appraisal and training, governance, performance improvement, inspection, business planning, options appraisals and funding solutions HQN is available to help at all stops
     

  • 29 September 2008

    Learning from pilot benefit inspections – web tool

    Through the AC inspections they have identified a variety of approaches to delivering benefit services, and have produced a web tool with case studies to share their findings and to encourage innovation and improvement across local government
     

  • 6 June 2008

    Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2008-09 Budget

    The latest national statistics on the budget estimates of local authority revenue expenditure and financing for 2008-09 were released on 5 June 2008 under arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority
     

  • 8 April 2008

    Housing Benefit Direct Newsletter

    This page links to 2008 issues of the Housing Benefit Direct Newsletter for housing benefit and council tax benefit staff in local authorities
     

  • 8 April 2008

    Discretionary Housing Payments Best Practice Guide

    This best practice guide for local authorities covers the discretionary housing payments scheme, which provides claimants with further financial assistance when a local authority considers that help with housing costs is needed
     

  • 27 March 2008

    Housing association sector turnover up 9.4% to £9.1 billion, according to Global Accounts

    The sector grew faster than in the previous year, with turnover up by 9.4%, the value of housing association properties up 10% to £77.4 billion and surplus before tax grew 8.4% to £270 million despite the challenges faced
     

  • 21 May 2007

    Dealing with personal insolvency

    Network briefing written by insolvency specialist Edward Cook includes explanations of what bankruptcy and IVAs mean; how it affects the collection of rent; and the impact on recovery of overpayments of benefits
     

  • 14 May 2007

    Welfare Reform Bill

    The welfare reform bill has now received royal assent. This includes rolling out Local Housing Allowance and paying Housing Benefit directly to eligible private sector claimants and a HB sanction for tenants who are evicted for ASB and refuse support
     
 

Development

  • 26 November 2008

    History made as Corporation signs first ever funding agreement with an ALMO

    For the first time in the Housing Corporation's history, a social housing funding agreement has been signed between an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) and the Corporation. Stockport Homes has received £1.02m from the Corporation to fund 17 new homes
     

  • 26 November 2008

    Milestone as Housing Corporation signs last funding agreements

    The Housing Corporation has added a further six partners to its list of delivery partners who are now able to proceed with delivering much needed affordable homes. The Corporation has signed over £25m in funding agreements with private sector and other new partners to deliver over 600 homes, as part of the Corporation's £8.4 billion 2008-11 investment programme
     

  • 26 November 2008

    Fourth affordable homes developers report – November 2008

    From January 2008 the Housing Corporation initiated a regular survey of around 100 of the largest developers, seeking to ascertain views on funding and housing markets. The report from the Corporation's fourth survey, undertaken in October 2008, is now available
     

  • 11 November 2008

    Housing and Planning Delivery Grant

    Speech by The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP, Minister for Housing
     

  • 11 November 2008

    Over £100m to help councils unlock their housing market

    Margaret Beckett has announced that Councils will get over a hundred million pounds to help maintain the building of the family and first-time buyer homes still desperately needed
     

  • 14 September 2007

    £500m cash boost for housebuilding councils

    Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper today unveiled a major £500m package of proposals to accelerate the building of the homes families and first-time buyers desperately need - ensuring both that new homes are greener and the focus is on brownfield land.
     

  • 13 August 2007

    Housing Green Paper: financial briefing for local authorities and providers

    Network briefing by Steve Partridge examines the financial implications of the Green Paper
     

  • 20 March 2007

    The Single Regeneration Budget: final evaluation research summary

    Summary report of the final evaluation of the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB). The study evaluates how SRB worked in practice and assesses its achievements against the original programme objectives. The summary also considers how SRB relates to current policy and the lessons that should be incorporated into new programmes
     
 

Efficiency and VFM

  • 3 November 2008

    Need to squeeze out excellent value for money during these challenging times?

    There’s no time like now to reinvigorate your strategies for achieving greater efficiency and value. Whether you’re at the start of your journey and need to get to grips with the whole agenda, whether you have undertaken reviews and need to understand your priorities, or whether you’re ready to make the move from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’, HQN have a team of housing finance and performance management specialists who can bring their expertise to your benefit in taking VfM forward
     

  • 8 October 2008

    Back to front

    Audit commission report on the efficiency of back office functions in local government
     

  • 1 October 2008

    Annual Efficiency Statements - 2007-08 Backward Look

    As part of the local government efficiency agenda, during the 2004 Spending Review period (2005-06 to 2007-08), all councils in England have been required to submit Annual Efficiency Statements to Communities and Local Government
     

  • 5 August 2008

    Hand drill or PDA? A compendium of tools for managing value for money

    Network briefing by Dylan Chipp has brought together the various measures and checklists that HQN has produced to assist asset management practitioners who are seeking to develop, embed and review their approach to VfM
     

  • 25 June 2008

    Associations have secured significant efficiency gains says the Housing Corporation as it launches Operating Cost Index Results for 2007

    Housing associations have delivered around £360m in operating efficiency gains during 2005-07 says the Housing Corporation as it publishes the 2007 Operating Cost Index (OCI) results for the largest housing associations in England. Published for the fourth year, the OCI allows the comparison of costs between associations
     

  • 18 June 2008

    Efficiency is key to riding out credit crunch says Housing Corporation Deputy Chief Executive in Harrogate speech

     

  • 18 June 2008

    Healey urges councils to spend tax as efficiently as they collect it

    Local Government Minister John Healey today praised councils on improving the amount of council tax collected for the eighth successive year
     

  • 19 March 2008

    Healey unveils overhaul of efficiency and improvement support for councils

    Local Government Minister John Healey has confirmed the first step in an overhaul of improvement support for councils, as they work to increase efficiency and improve services to release £5 billion, which can be used to reduce pressure on council tax bills or invest in local services
     

  • 13 February 2008

    Streamlined Annual Efficiency Statements take burden off housing associations

    The Housing Corporation has announced that housing associations will be not be required to complete an Annual Efficiency Statement for 2008. The statement, which has been a sector requirement for housing associations over the past two years, will this year be collected from data supplied by housing associations in their self assessment compliance submissions
     

  • 29 November 2007

    Value for Money toolkit

    HQN’s 2nd edition Value for Money workbook, co-authored by Steve Partridge and Dylan Chipp, takes into account recent CSR announcements and the results of numerous mock inspections and organisation healthchecks

    Additional files:
     

  • 28 November 2007

    Councils should use competition more effectively to cut costs and boost services

    Local councils should develop a more open-minded and creative approach to the market if they are to realise the £4.9 billion efficiency savings required following this year's Comprehensive Spending Review, according to the Audit Commission's report, Healthy Competition
     

  • 5 November 2007

    Annual Efficiency Statements – 2006-07 Backward look

    Backward Look efficiency statements setting out the efficiency gains local authorities in England achieved during 2006-07
     

  • 5 November 2007

    Annual Efficiency Statements - 2007-08 Forward Look

    Forward Look efficiency statements setting out the strategy and key actions that local authorities in England are pursuing to achieve efficiency gains during 2007-08
     

  • 16 October 2007

    Delivering Value for Money in Local Government: Meeting the challenge of CSR07

    Greater value for money - efficiency - will be key to meeting the challenge of improving local services within the resources available. Councils, along with the rest of the public sector, are expected to deliver 3 per cent per annum efficiency gains in CSR07; CLG document outlines the ways in which this expectation may be delivered and the activities planned to support their implementation
     

  • 12 October 2007

    Housing finance and value for money headlines from the pre-budget report and CSR

    Complimentary hf:expert briefing by Dylan Chipp intended to highlight financial headlines and CLG’s expectations of Local Government to deliver HM Treasury’s 3% budget savings target
     

  • 30 August 2007

    Housing with support and the efficiency agenda - a toolkit

    Housing Corporation Toolkit, primarily aimed at assisting housing associations involved in care and support provision to address the current efficiency agenda, whether it be the Housing Corporation's expectations for annual efficiencies to be achieved or Supporting People commissioners' desire to contract with cost-efficient services that demonstrate value for money
     

  • 13 August 2007

    Housing Green Paper: financial briefing for local authorities and providers

    Network briefing by Steve Partridge examines the financial implications of the Green Paper
     

  • 2 July 2007

    Thematic review: Efficiency

    Housing Corporation review which provides an analysis of the Annual Efficiency Statements (AES) submitted to the Corporation in 2006. The AES reporting process provides the means by which associations self-assess their performance on improving efficiency
     

  • 8 June 2007

    Thematic review: Efficiency

    This review provides an analysis of the Annual Efficiency Statements (AES) submitted to the Housing Corporation in 2006
     

  • 6 June 2007

    New Chief Executive for OGC

    Office of Government Commerce (which leads the drive to modernise government procurement and deliver value for money) gets new Chief Executive
     

  • 4 May 2007

    Annual Efficiency Statements 2007

    Associations will need to submit their Annual Efficiency Statement alongside their self assessment compliance statements to the Housing Corporation by 31st July 2007. Please do not hesitate to contact us on 0845 4747 004 or hfexpert@hqnetwork.co.uk for further information or support on efficiency and value for money
     

  • 2 March 2007

    Measuring and reporting efficiency gains

    This guidance sets out all the basic information required by a local authority in order to complete an Annual Efficiency Statement. It builds on the Efficiency Technical Note for Local Government, developing its ideas and providing practical examples on how to measure and report efficiency gains and provide assurance that the gains are genuine
     

  • 22 December 2006

    Annual Efficiency Statements - 2006/07 Mid-Year Update

    The documents that are published on the DCLG website are the 2006/07 Mid-Year Update statements submitted by 174 local authorities (67 of which were submitted voluntarily) and a spreadsheet that sets out the efficiency gains achieved in each sector by each local authority.
     

  • 7 December 2006

    Local authority annual efficiency statements:backward look 2005/06

    Network briefing by Sally Williams compares the forward and backward look to determine where the differences have occurred
     
 

Others/general

  • 31 October 2008

    The Empowerment Fund: Prospectus

    The Empowerment Fund will provide strategic, stable and sector funding for organisations with charitable, philanthropic or benevolent purposes. The result is intended to achieve a stronger relationship across the sector by working closely with 20-25 organisations on helping the department achieve its goals around key themes on the empowerment agenda
     

  • 25 September 2008

    Annual viability reviews of housing associations set to get underway

    The Housing Corporation’s 2008 assessment of the financial viability of housing associations will be overseen by a panel made up of senior Housing Corporation regulation staff and external consultants
     

  • 22 September 2008

    Participatory Budgeting: a draft national strategy: Consultation - Summary of responses

    In March 2008, Communities and Local Government published a consultation seeking views on the draft Participatory Budgeting National Strategy. Specifically, the document sought views on the strategy as a plan to achieve the government's ambition for participatory budgeting to be used in all local authority areas by 2012. This report sets out the common views expressed and the government's response to them
     

  • 8 July 2008

    Cash for councils that lead by example

    Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears, last night announced extra funding to encourage local government to spread their good practice and work - from affordable housing to anti-social behaviour
     

  • 22 May 2008

    Credit crunch checklist

    The current economic climate is affecting all business sectors, including the housing sector. The checklist can be used to test key elements of your organisation, be it a housing association, ALMO or local authority
     

  • 15 April 2008

    Financial inclusion

    Network briefing by Chloe Fletcher outlines good practice and explores the issues raised by financial inclusion
     

  • 28 February 2008

    Area Based Grant

    General guidance 2008
     

  • 11 February 2008

    CLG statistical release

    House Price Index - December 2007
     

  • 10 December 2007

    House Price Index

    CLG - October 2007
     

  • 6 December 2007

    £1.5bn for councils and communities to boost employment

    Local Government Minister John Healey has announced that 66 local and 21 transitional authorities will receive a share of a new £1.5bn fund as part of the Government's drive to turn around long term unemployment in our most disadvantaged communities. This forms part of the almost £9bn funding boost for local government
     

  • 23 November 2007

    Changes to the Capital Finance System: Capital Finance Amendment Regulations Minimum Revenue Provision Guidance

    Communities and Local Government is considering changes to the Capital Finance System, mainly coming into effect in the current financial year
     

  • 13 November 2007

    CLG House price index

    September 2007
     

  • 5 November 2007

    CSR: Challenges and Opportunities for Local Government

    Speech by John Healey MP, Minister for Local Government
     

  • 30 October 2007

    Housing and Planning Delivery Grant Impact Assessment

    The Housing and Planning Delivery Grant is a new £500m fund to incentivise improved housing delivery, including more effective planning, to better address local needs. This Impact Assessment sets out an initial assessment of the likely impacts of these proposals
     

  • 30 October 2007

    Housing and Planning Delivery Grant

    Summary of responses
     

  • 30 October 2007

    The Housing and Planning Delivery Grant

    A new £500m fund to incentivise improved housing delivery, including more effective planning, to better address local needs. This consultation details how the Government proposes to allocate this funding over the next three years. Views from local authorities and other interested parties on this proposed mechanism are invited by 17 January 2008
     

  • 15 October 2007

    House Price Index - August 2007

    CLG information
     

  • 10 September 2007

    New rules on grant recovery and use of Recycled Capital Grant Fund

    New rules on grant recovery and use of Recycled Capital Grant (RCGF) have been announced in the Housing Corporation's National Affordable Housing investment programme
     

  • 5 September 2007

    Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant Guidance 2006-2008

    The Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant provides capital funding for improving and increasing Gypsy and Traveller site provision by local authorities and Registered Social Landlords. Funding for local authority Gypsy and Traveller sites has previously been administered centrally through the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now Communities and Local Government). From 2006/07 onwards, funding will be available from the regional housing pot, which is managed by Regional Housing Boards or equivalents.
     

  • 5 September 2007

    Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant Guidance 2006-2008

    The Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant provides capital funding for improving and increasing Gypsy and Traveller site provision by local authorities and Registered Social Landlords. Funding for local authority Gypsy and Traveller sites has previously been administered centrally through the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now Communities and Local Government). From 2006/07 onwards, funding will be available from the regional housing pot, which is managed by Regional Housing Boards or equivalents.
     

  • 15 May 2007

    House price index March 2007

    Communities and Local Government Statistical Release
     

  • 17 April 2007

    01/07: Treasury management by housing associations

    This Circular sets out the Housing Corporation's expectations of housing associations relating to treasury management
     

  • 23 March 2007

    Optimism bias in appraisal

    Optimism Bias is the term used to describe the demonstrated, systematic tendency for project appraisers to be overly optimistic about project costs, duration and benefits. The Treasury’s Supplementary Guidance on Optimism Bias recommends that project appraisers should make explicit adjustments to the estimates of project costs, benefits and duration based on empirical data to inform project decisions. This guidance helps appraisers to do this
     
 

Business planning for LAs

 

Business planning for HAs