Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

p 38 London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO)
Action taken Activity 2003/04 Activity 2004/05
Eviction 10 11
Injunction 8 4
Professional Witness Deployment 8 6
241 HFI actively publicises ASB initiatives and outcomes within area offices in order
to indicate to tenants that ASB will not be tolerated. There has been positive local
press <strong>report</strong>s on its action to deal with antisocial behaviour and, this is linked to
pro-active work in sustaining tenancies such as mediation A mediation service
based in Camden provide a relatively successful service as 55 per cent of cases,
where residents engaged with the process, <strong>report</strong>ing no further problems.
However, outcomes of some cases were not always <strong>report</strong>ed to HFI.
242 There are strong connections between the estate services officers and ASB
teams - they attend monthly ASB meetings, work on joint initiatives with the ASB
and IASB teams to ensure links are made with staff working out on the estates.
243 HFI currently operates a neighbourhood warden scheme to supplement the work
of ASB officers in the Holland Walk area. The wardens are resourced through
neighbourhood renewal funding (NRF) although consideration to mainstreaming
the service will be given when this funding runs out in March 2005. The original
warden scheme finished when the funding stream ended, a further year's funding
was secured by Holland Walk from the NRF but a different scheme was chosen
that allows the wardens to be more mobile and focus on areas where there is the
worst recorded incidents of ASB. These wardens link to both the ASB area officer
and the IASB team and are used to target ASB hotspots within the scheme area
and are considered relatively successful.
244 Case files we reviewed were found to be well ordered and following the ASB
procedures. Details of ASB issue are clearly identified and actions recorded with
a spreadsheet tracking live cases. A four to six weekly review of live cases takes
place with the area team leader to address any outstanding issues and develop
follow up actions or agree closure of cases. There are also local performance
monitoring processes which include the mapping of harassment complaints and
identify hotspots for action.
245 Consideration is also given to staff safety and risk assessments are carried out
and staff are advised to ensure their movements are known. They have mobile
phones and do not work alone if they consider they are putting themselves in a
dangerous situation.
246 Post tenancy visits are carried out for new tenants within four weeks of the
commencement of tenancy. This visit is used to identify potentially failing
tenancies which can be referred to the housing support officer.
247 Around 400 risk based tenancy audits are carried out annually to identify illegal
occupants. Tenancy management advisors check proof of identity and where the
outcome is suspicious cases are passed to the housing investigation team (HIT)
for further action. This is made easier because all new tenants have a
photograph taken at sign up and at mutual exchange sign ups. These digital
photographs are retained on the house file and are used to clearly identify legal
occupants.