Lewisham London Borough Council - ENLIGHT Housing Needs

Lewisham LBC Housing Options Centre goes for streamlined approach to advising

The issue
As an inner London Borough, Lewisham handles a large number of housing enquiries and sees a wide range of customers in its Housing Options Centre (and at its sister service, SHIP, which advises young and single homeless people). This year, it is projected that Lewisham will make approaching 1,000 decisions under homelessness legislation, and will advise hunderds of other customers who have routine housing problems, but who might not yet be in crisis. The numbers are rising, as one might expect in the current climate.

Lewisham’s previous structure was a ‘two-tier’ one, in that customers would first see an expert in housing options advising. Later, if the interview revealed that there could be a risk of homelessness, a separate interview would be scheduled with a specialist officer. Full enquiries into the homeless application could then begin.


It has long been acknowledged by many organisations that it is inefficient to pass customers from one section to another (whether the enquiry is about housing or any other issue). Customers welcome the consistency of dealing with one named adviser, and do not appreciate having to explain their circumstances again and again to a succession of officers, particularly if they are under a great deal of stress. Recognising this fact, Lewisham are moving towards ‘generic’ options advising – so that the maximum number of advice cases are dealt with by a caseworker, from first approach to case closure (whatever the nature of the housing problem). This also provides the opportunity for a judgement to be made about the possibility of the client becoming homeless, at a much earlier point in the interviewing process. The officer will quickly spot when there is a statutory duty owed to a customer, whilst also pursuing a raft of homelessness prevention possibilities with them, in parallel. The risk of failing to respond to statutory obligations is much reduced, whilst the customer’s experience is improved, at a very stressful time.


This new model requires the duty officers to have a much broader information base. They need to know exactly what appropriate homelessness prevention tools are at their disposal, whilst also being able to refer to the full statutory framework.


The solution
Sarah Gallacher, Advice and Review Manager at Lewisham LBC, says: ‘ When considering a revised service delivery model, you think hard about training, and set the best possible budget to make sure you get it right. But it is easy to forget people’s on-going information requirements.


I saw a demonstration of Destin Solutions’ ENLIGHT Procedure Manual, and knew it was exactly what we needed to keep the service on the right track. We’ve all worked in offices where information resources are kept in a host of different places and formats – training materials, legislation, good practice guidance, standard forms and letters, policies, procedures – so much time and energy is wasted looking for things (and the temptation is to take shortcuts).


Our ENLIGHT Manual is set out in a very logical way – and has been designed to reflect the way we work in Lewisham right now. The content is highly valuable, both to new or temporary staff, and to managers. You can quickly find exactly what you need, whether it is guidance on dealing with a domestic abuse case sensitively, or case law to help in dealing with a request for review.


There are two things that I liked the most, though. Firstly, the online manual was constructed for us by a highly experienced housing options consultant. This meant that it was built quickly, with the minimum necessary input from staff here, and we had so much help to get the content exactly right for us. Secondly, the content is regularly updated by the same expert. It’s like having refresher training all year round.’


Examples from the content
Users can quickly navigate around, using the table of contents bar, a rich ‘Google’-style search function, and ‘quick link’ buttons within the topics.


The tailored content follows the customer’s journey through the service, from capturing key information at the reception desk, through providing options advice, using homeless prevention tools, homelessness assessment (where appropriate), temporary accommodation placements, ongoing case management, and onwards to dealing with allocations and requests for review.


A comprehensive ‘National Resources’ section pulls together the Codes of Guidance, over 50 Acts and Orders, a catalogue of useful weblinks and a Case Law Digest, with content authored by eminent housing lawyer Jan Luba QC.


Destin’s updating of this material is clearly a key benefit. For example, the Homelessness Code of Guidance was developed in 2002, under a different government. Although the original content is copyright protected and remains unaltered, the ENLIGHT Manual provides clear annotations that describe where there have been later developments. Where the good practice guidance referred to in the Code is outdated or out of print – a note highlights this, and links to updated information are provided alongside.


Similarly, each time a new piece of legislation is enacted, the effect is carefully reflected in the existing text. The constantly-updated case law digest helps users understand how existing legislation is currently being interpreted by the Courts.


Lewisham’s view
Sarah Gallacher again: ‘Commissioning of this Manual was not difficult to justify in cost terms, despite the current budgetary pressures. Providing a better service increases customer satisfaction and reduces complaints. My part of the service must work as efficiently as possible, in order to absorb the increasing demands placed upon it. Destin Solutions have been incredibly easy to work with. I would recommend their services to anyone wanting to run a high quality housing options service in difficult times’.