During summer 2023 I had the opportunity to help out on an audit. It was fun. Really. I got to learn things, I got to be professionally nosy and as a bonus (at the end of the working day and I didn’t need to rush home) I was also able to go and see Flint Castle, because I was in Flint and I like castles.

It’s a very tidy castle, the bits that have survived anyway. Started in 1277 during Edward 1’s invasion of Wales it was the first part of what became the iron ring along the coast all the way to Aberystwyth that helped keep the old kingdom of Gwynedd quiet. It’s a stereotypical square but has the detached tower as a keep, which is unique in the UK, but reflects some castle-building practice in 13th Century France. Which makes sense given that the King of England ruled parts of what is now France until the Tudor period. The big raised outer bailey is impressive, and apparently the local jail stood there until it was demolished.

What the Audit Learnt

Following the passing of the Housing (Wales) Act in 2014, every council in Wales have developed a strategy to prevent homelessness as well as supporting people who are at risk of becoming homeless and providing suitable accommodation. In 2022 Flintshire County Council also approved and published its own Housing Support Programme Strategy.

The big problem that Flintshire County Council face is that homelessness services have become much more expensive since the pandemic. In 2022-23 they needed to spend £1.5 million on bed and breakfast and hotel accommodation, but for 2023-24 the forecast was £4.9 million.

Another aspect of the problem is that they don’t have enough of the right kind of housing unit. They are doing their best to rectify this, but it’s not something that happens overnight.

The audit found that Flintshire County Council is delivering a high-quality service, but that it’s unsustainable within the current funding.

If you’d like to read all the details, the report can be found here on our website.

Good Practice

Working for the Good Practice Exchange I couldn’t help but notice some bits of good practice that I saw during the work.

These are things that I saw when I was doing the audit work – but if you know of any similar or complementary (or even something completely different, but roughly in the same part of the galaxy) practice that should be more widely known, then please contact us via good.practice@audit.wales.

We are public servants in the end, so sharing is caring. You might even solve someone’s problem because you shared your work or an example of someone else’s work.

Database

People who work in IT are rightly very cautious when it comes to who has access to what systems and so on. The users are usually the biggest threat to any organisation’s IT security, and the internet is awash with the horror stories that gave IT professionals their thousand-yard stare. Humans are wonderfully unpredictable, unless an organisation’s data security is your responsibility.

That’s why I was astounded when I heard that Flintshire County Council not only had a system that collected housing and homelessness data, but that people from outside of Flintshire County Council also have access to the system!

The system is able to give a near real time picture of homelessness in Flintshire, and allows Flintshire County Council to manage the situation accordingly.

Also providing access to relevant data to partners means that they are working with better information and can adapt more readily to the demands upon them.

On the subject of data, Flintshire County Council have also commissioned more than one study to try and really understand what’s going on in the housing sector in Flintshire. They are really trying to understand the landscape on which they’re operating, and it’s really good to see.

Relationships

An important factor that I noticed was that Flintshire County Council Homelessness Service’s partners all said that they had a mature relationship with the council.

They felt that they could have an honest discussion with the council. They also felt that having a disagreement, or pointing out that something didn’t work wouldn’t affect their chances of renewing their funding or the work relationship with Flintshire County Council.

It’s a little bit depressing that having an open and honest relationship is a piece of good practice. On the other hand anyone who has noticed power dynamics also knows that it’s not that simple, and that disagreement can lead to unpredictable places. Even if that may not be how anyone would like it to be, or thinks it is.

Members of Parliament and the Senedd

Another relationship that needs to be actively managed is the one with elected members. Both the elected councillors of Flintshire County Council, but also the Members of the Senedd and Members of Parliament that represent Flintshire.

The relationship with the councillors is easier to manage, due to being part of the same organisation and because the body they are elected to has ultimately ratified the policies that the Homelessness Service use to help and prioritise service users.

The issue comes when service users, tired of waiting or dissatisfied with the way the policy has treated them, contacts their local MS or MP. Their office then contacts Flintshire County Council’s Homelessness service and adds to the demand on the service.

The solution that seems to work for Flintshire County Council’s Homelessness service is to work on the relationship with the relevant MP and MS’ and their offices. This has worked for Martin, the head of the service in previous posts: Inviting the members’ support staff in and sharing information about how the Homelessness service works, and the competing demands it faces. The demands that came from the direction of the members’ office lessened because the advice they were able to give to constituents was better and more informed by the reality of the situation.

Shelter Cymru

Shelter Cymru provide an information and advocacy service for people who are having difficulty with housing.

Flintshire County Council have had the Shelter Cymru officer who is responsible for the area embedded in the council for 7 years, and the approach has paid dividends. Bringing the officer from Shelter means that issues can be aired and solved quickly and informally and avoid reaching the formal dispute mechanisms.

This means that people who need help get that help as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Conclusion

The good practices that I saw working on this audit was mainly about establishing good communications, building trust and relationships to a point where people and organisations understand each other.

Working on the audit was a very interesting learning experience. I got to talk to people who are passionate about their work, who do their very best, and who are supported as well as can be expected to do their work. It’s nice. And I know not everything, and not everywhere is like that.

I also say as well as could be expected, because for most of the time since 2007, local authorities have had to make savings for one reason or another, be it demographic or austerity.

And that looks set to continue for the time being at least.

About the Author

Siôn Owen is a Knowledge Exchange Officer with the Good Practice Exchange.