An investigation into the controversial supported exempt accommodation sector in Birmingham is probing damning claims that council officials are a 'soft touch' for dodgy landlords. Birmingham City Council has pledged to produce an action plan and recommendations once its investigations are completed.
The council revealed the details of the internal audit currently under way in response to a BirminghamLive Freedom of Information request. The probe aims to assess whether officers are overseeing the sector effectively and handling exempt housing benefit claims correctly.
What is exempt housing?
The Supported Exempt Accommodation (SEA) sector describes a specialist housing sector intended for vulnerable adults, such as people leaving prison, those with addictions or mental health needs, and domestic abuse survivors, who require 'more than minimal' support to live independently. Those eligible can make housing benefit claims that are 'exempt' from standard capping rules, which means providers can charge much higher rents. They do so on the basis that they also provide the required 'support'.
In response to a Freedom of Information request submitted by BirminghamLive, the council has revealed the details of its audit, which it says is still under way.
What will the review do?
It said the audit was requested by members of the council's audit committee, a regulatory cross party group of councillors responsible for scrutinising the council's financial affairs. Said the council: "This review will assess whether Birmingham City Council’s controls, commissioning and contracting, provider oversight, and partnership arrangements are adequately designed and operating effectively, are proportionate, and provide value-for-money."
They say the review will assess whether the controls in place effectively deal with risks, with a focus on governance, approval of contractors and providers, oversight of their performance, the impact on communities and whether there is sufficient enforcement and regulatory action. It will also probe the housing benefit assessment and financial controls involved in the sector.
However, it will not look at day-to-day operational casework for individual households, detailed technical assessments of building safety compliance, issues currently subject to live legal action, or the oversight of children’s supported accommodation, the council said. It will also seek to test the controls, design and operating effectiveness of council operations linked to the sector.
The council also pledges to produce 'detailed findings, root causes and a Management Action Plan setting out agreed actions in a final report. Among those involved in the audit are Stephen Philpott, service director of city housing solutions, Tim Savill, the council's assistant director for revenues, benefits and rents, Sally Burns, director of public health, and Sajeela Naseer, director of regulation and enforcement.
Scale of exempt housing in Birmingham
New data obtained by BirminghamLive reveals the city is now home to 12,166 exempt properties housing 33,904 people, and the vast majority of tenants have no prior Birmingham connections. No other city comes close. Some providers command up to £400 a week per room in enhanced benefits for tenants, on the promise of also providing extra 'support' for them.
The vast majority of exempt provision comes under the umbrella of six providers - five of them do not comply with basic standards of governance and financial transparency. Cllr Marcus Bernasconi, Labour, North Edgbaston, recently described the proliferation of the sector in Birmingham as an 'indictment on the way this council operates, whoever is in charge.'
He said of his concerns: "I've said repeatedly that the source of funding problems lie with the benefits and revenue team at this council, agreeing over 30,000 live claims for enhanced housing benefit and our city signing off on over £400 million worth of taxpayers money that makes its way into a sector ripe for criminality. I've seen correspondence where the benefits team boasts about being the gold standard when it comes to reviewing applications.
"By gold standard they mean the speed at which they approve these applications rather than the scrutiny they subject them to. If a staff member were to investigate the validity of all 30,000 active claims, at one claim an hour, it would take them 15 years to check them all. It has been alleged that the providers themselves have named 'soft touch individuals' they know within this council that have a laissez faire attitude towards enhanced housing benefit approvals," he claimed.
"The bills for Supported Exempt Accommodation are paid for by the Department for Work and Pensions, so don't show on this council's books. At best, there is a total lack of professional curiosity about what is happening here. Or, at worst, it is being aided and abetted by people inside this council. While we try to work out what's happening here, more claims are being rubberstamped day after day."
What the council says
Birmingham City Council has said previously: "The council has robust processes, similar to any other council around supported exempt accommodation and, in some cases, goes beyond other councils. The Department for Work and Pensions has conducted a performance review of Birmingham City Council's housing benefit allocation related to supported exempt accommodation.
"Since the review, the Department for Work and Pensions has approached the benefits service to share the good practice we have in place with other councils. In addition to meeting all statutory regulations and legislation, as required of all local authorities, we also go further by requesting comprehensive evidence to support every aspect of the application process. It is widely known that the supported exempt accommodation sector needs regulation; the council is doing all it can with the limited powers it has. The Government is bringing in new legislation imminently designed to tighten up the way the sector is regulated."
