What is included?

The overarching aim of Oldham Partnership’s Local Area Agreement (LAA) is ‘increasing life opportunities for all’. Housing plays a major role in this, and Oldham Partnership is one of the only Local Strategic Partnerships to include a housing themed block within its LAA, and a Housing Board to monitor the achievement of related targets.

• The Housing Block contains a total of six homelessness performance indicators to ensure that services to homeless households in Oldham are improved via enhanced preventative work
• A stretch target with a specific focus on reducing the level of homelessness acceptances aims to further improvements to performance in tackling and preventing homelessness.

Important actions

Oldham Council’s Housing Strategy Team worked to build up a case for the importance of tackling homelessness in Oldham by gathering evidence from local service providers. Two key projects in terms of homelessness prevention are the NCH Family Intervention Project and the Depaul Trust homelessness mediation service, ‘Reconnect Oldham’.

The team arranged meetings with representatives of Oldham Partnership to push for the inclusion of a Housing Block and homelessness targets within the LAA, by putting forward evidence on local needs and effective services, and consulting with them on their Homelessness Strategy for the future. The LAA homelessness targets and stretch target were therefore developed to mirror the Homelessness Strategy 2006-2010.

Lessons Learnt

• Effective consultation with service users and partner agencies, and the development of a strong evidence base was vital to winning the case for a Housing Block and homelessness targets within the LAA, and in developing projects since the targets were set
• Consulting with the LSP on the Homelessness Strategy was crucial to the inclusion of the homelessness targets within their LAA.

For further information on Oldham’s LAA and homelessness targets, please visit www.oldhampartnership.org.uk

If you would like further information on their homelessness projects then please contact Helen McCreave or Nina Cooper at Oldham Council’s Housing Strategy Team on 0161 770 3961.