Housing gets little prominence in the new Children Bill, but even so the implications for the sector should not be underestimated (see pages 26-28). Hailed as the biggest shake-up in children's services in the last 30 years, it is designed to foster greater integration and more sharing of information between all those agencies that come into contact with children, including social services, education, health and police.
The hope is that better coordination will prevent a repeat of the Victoria Climbié tragedy where four London borough social services departments, two hospitals, two metropolitan police child protection teams and three housing departments missed 12 opportunities to save her.

Exactly how the bill's measures will affect those working in housing is still unknown, but its general thrust is that housing could play a bigger part in children's welfare across the board – from sharing information to providing better facilities. On a strategic level it could also lead to more housing departments being subsumed under the wings of the now mandatory posts of directors of adult social services and children's and education services.

Requiring housing providers to be one of the links in the information chain makes sense. The 1977 Housing Act went as far as recommending that councils pass on details to other boroughs if they place vulnerable families in temporary accommodation in their areas – which then gets passed to social workers. But how many councils do this? A new law should help make it a higher priority.

One of the general concerns about the bill is the lack of extra resources being allocated to implement its proposals. Sending the housing director to a meeting with peers in education and health is time-consuming and, without careful planning, could leave less time spent making sure repairs are done and voids filled.

For housing staff reporting children at risk there’s a fine line between intrusion and negligence

Another obvious difficulty is the expectation that frontline housing officers play a more active role in reporting children they suspect of being at risk. Although no one would want to turn a blind eye to a child they think is being abused, it can be a fine line between intrusion and negligence and one which many housing staff will need clearer guidance and training on.

Where housing providers should really grasp the nettle is in providing better facilities for children, particular those associations flying the flag to be In Business for Neighbourhoods. Councils such as Leicester have already set up pioneering family support teams. And in the housing association sector, Places for People is trying to fill the gap for better childcare and has branched out into children's nurseries.

Source

Housing Today