£8m in DHP Funds Left Unspent By Councils

Councils across Britain failed to spend nearly £8m in Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) last year.  Councils have claimed that they failed to spend all of their allocations in anticipation of benefit changes, however, there are suggestions that reductions in housing benefit staff is hampering councils' ability to administer the funds.  A spokesman from the DWP said a decision was made last year to allow councils to carry-over any unspent DHP funds into the next year. Many had decided to do this, he added, as a strategy to face the planned benefit changes. This year's DHP pot is £60m. Next year's will rise to £165m but the year following will see the fund drop down to £145m.  Read more on 24dash.

ALMO Sheds Senior Staff to Save £400,000 a Year

Appointments have been made in a restructure of senior management at Barnet Homes that will generate savings of around £400,000 a year. The ALMO has stripped back its senior management team as part of an ongoing drive to become more efficient and deliver better value for money for residents. The second tier of management under the Chief Executive has been cut from four posts to two posts. The third tier of management has also been reduced from 11 to seven posts. It says the savings resulting from the restructure will help Barnet Homes maintain its record of delivering year-on-year efficiencies. In its first five years it has cut £4.5million from its management agreement with Barnet Council – a 15 per cent year-on-year reduction, with consequent savings to the taxpayer. Read the full story on 24dash.

Staff Cuts at ALMO That Axed Entire Board in Chief Exec Row

An ALMO which saw its entire board axed last month is planning to make up to 32 members of its staff redundant. Six Town Housing, which manages 8,000 homes on behalf of Bury Council, is formally consulting with its workforce over redundancies. Last month, the council removed the board at Six Town Housing after a row about the ALMO’s chief executive. The board had suspended Sharon McCambridge following allegations about her conduct from two members of staff. The council decided to remove the board as it did not believe the allegations were substantial enough to merit suspension. Read more on Inside Housing.