A commissioners' guide to reducing eviction and abandonment

Reducing eviction and abandonment: a free half day event for commissioners

Reducing evictions and abandonments provides an opportunity to prevent homelessness in your local area and achieve better outcomes for the services you commission. The approach, ethos and policies of local services are key factors in reducing rates of eviction and abandonment. As a commissioner, you are perfectly placed to enable the services to develop this approach and to co-ordinate action across your local area to achieve the wider benefits it can bring. 

Why should you get involved in reducing evictions and abandonment?

The case for reducing evictions and abandonment is outlined in section one of the toolkit: Why reduce evictions and abandoments?.
 
As a commissioner you are perfectly placed to become involved in achieving these benefits: 
  • You have overview of services across your locality so are well placed to take a strategic approach to reducing unplanned moves
  • You can build on the existing quality measures and reporting tools you use to embed expectations and standards around reducing unplanned moves
  • You can facilitate joint working to implement a preventative approach, and share effective practice across the services you commission
  • You can improve accountability through better data monitoring which will help services focus on improving their rates of planned moves
  • You can take the lead in considering alternative accommodation pathways for those who are multiply evicted
The findings from our pilots have shown that better outcomes can be achieved without requiring additional investment. As local authorities face increased financial pressure to achieve ambitious targets around housing need, this is a key opportunity to provide more efficient services.
 

How can you reduce eviction and abandonment?

There are several ways you can support the providers you commission to reduce evictions and abandonment.
 
Coordinate a review into causes of eviction and abandonment
By taking the lead in coordinating a review, you not only make it clear to providers that it is an area in which you want to raise standards, but you are also able to identify trends across providers, as well as examples of where individual services are working particularly well. This can lead to greater sharing of practice between services, and helps you to identify where needs are not being met in your provision.
 
Facilitate individual action plans for services
As highlighted in our research and supported through our pilot projects, some managers stated that having to report evictions, abandonments and serious incidents to their commissioner or another external person is important in enabling a discussion about approach. It is important that commissioners use the data they receive intelligently to identify where practice can improve, rather than simply imposing a target on services without supporting them to find alternative solutions.
 
Develop local protocols
Some commissioners have developed multi-agency protocols outlining consistent standards, guidance and good practice in preventing eviction and abandonment. Such protocols rely on having a clear focus and leadership from the commissioner, but also on individual services having ownership of the protocol through being actively involved in its development. It is important to remember that a protocol is a means to provide focus and consistency to achieve a particular aim, rather than being the aim itself.
 
Step-by-step guide to developing a protocol to reducing unplanned moves
This guide is supplemented throughout with materials used by LB Lambeth during its development of a protocol to reduce evictions and abandonment. For further information on the project in Lambeth, click here.
  • Discuss the idea of developing a protocol with all providers who you expect to sign up to it, in order to clarify your aims and means of achieving these, and discuss any concerns. Click here to see the presentation given in Lambeth.
  • Look at existing policies and procedures in order to identify good practice, common standards, differences and gaps that you want to include within the protocol.
  • Introduce time-limited active reporting in order to establish current practice in addition to policies and offer support regarding individual cases. Click here to see the active reporting form used in Lambeth.
  • Convene a reflective meeting with all partners to discuss a selection of individual cases, with the aim of identifying themes, good practice and ideas for inclusion within the protocol.
  • Draft a protocol and consult with partners on its content.
  • Make revisions and launch at an event where all providers are present. This gives an opportunity to ensure that all partners are familiar with the protocol, know what it means in practice for them, and can feed in any extra support needed from the commissioner or across services. At the Lambeth launch, services were given copies of all materials from the event, so that they could roll out the information on the protocol to staff. This included the session plan, the presentation from the day, case study scenarios, a discussion template, a warning template, a copy of the protocol itself and a summarised wall chart of the protocol.
  • Monitor the effectiveness of the protocol and identify any issues arising through regular feedback at either a specially created, or already existing, meeting of providers.

What other support is there for you?

 
For information on the direct support we are able to offer throughout 2011 please click here. For other guidance, tips and resources relating to reducing eviction and abandonment click here.