Case studies for comissioners
Preston Care & Repair’s handyperson scheme won the ‘Excellence in delivering handyperson services’ category of the Foundations Home Improvement Agency Awards 2009.
Preston Care and Repair has provided a successful handyperson service to older and disabled householders in Preston for six years. The strengths of the service includes the diversity of provision and the strong network of referrers, funders and service providers
The service includes:
minor repairs and maintenance
home security
minor disability adaptations
Falls Free (removing trip hazards, enhancing lighting, rearranging furniture or power-washing paths)
Healthy Homes (assessing health hazards in the home and taking action or referring clients to other services where applicable)
fire prevention (fitting smoke alarms, fire guards and carbon monoxide testers)
caseworkers to support in cases where appropriate
technical officer assistance for diagnostic and design work, and
a Hardship Fund for clients who are unable to pay for work or materials.
The agency takes an open approach to referrals and does not rely on or expect referrals from one or two voluntary or statutory partners. Referrals are received from the usual statutory and voluntary partners but also from less obvious sources such as hairdressers, postal workers, window cleaners and local building contractors. This open, community-based approach increases the potential reach of the service and ensures the agency doesn’t rely on one or two referral routes. The service has a wide range of funders and is not overly reliant on one funding stream allowing the service to be sustainable.
Staff are trained so they can take a holistic approach when assessing clients and through this the handyperson service provides an important link to health services, adult education, befriending schemes and a host of other local services. Facts and figures Cost of the service: £124,000 a year to run
Number of jobs: 1,500+ a year
Cost to clients: Clients pay up to £10 for up to two hours’ work (plus the cost of materials), which equates to around 25% of the market cost
Client satisfaction: Recent client satisfaction and feedback surveys showed that 100% of clients rate the service as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
A handyperson technician visited a frail lady in her late 80s in response to her simple request for the back door to her property to be ‘eased’, as she was having difficulty closing it. The technician noted that the property was cold and draughty with insecure doors and windows, and that her cooker was in very poor repair. She also mentioned in conversation that she had not been able to use her garden space for several years due to uneven pathways and overgrown shrubs.
The back door was planed down and new locks fitted to the doors and windows. Grants were secured to provide new heating and a cooker and to resurface her garden pathways. The invasive shrubs were cut back and patio areas repaired and power washed. With her permission, colleagues checked her financial situation and helped her to apply for relevant benefit, also arranging for her to join a local ‘buddy’ scheme. Having noted her apparent breathing problems, a Red Cross volunteer was contacted to help and encourage the lady to visit her general practitioner.
She now has a warmer, safer and more secure home, can use her outside space and has substantially more income through benefits for which she had never applied. Her respiratory problems are much improved and she has started to go to bingo and her local day centre again with her new ‘buddy’. As well as the positive impact of these simple interventions on her physical and mental health, she now feels able to socialise without fearing burglary or falling. The reassurance of feeling that she has paid towards the services also enables her to maintain her dignity and self-worth.
Devon and Cornwall Housing Association was commended in the Foundations Home Improvement Agency Awards 2009 for its handyperson scheme aimed at gypsy and traveller communities in Cornwall.
The agency was asked to assist in delivering a project to improve housing conditions on gypsy and traveller sites in Cornwall. A relatively small amount of funding was available for the work. The steering group had been struggling to identify work required and find contractors who would work on the sites. The agency carried out site surveys, prepared schedules of work (or reports if repairs were not cost-effective) and obtained quotes. Completed works were all inspected before signing off. From this work, it became apparent that a longer term, more sustainable solution was required.
Although the agency had been involved on the sites for Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) work, many other occupants needed minor work carrying out but would not be eligible for the agency’s handyperson service. The required work also tended to be larger than the handyperson service would carry out. The home improvement agency prepared a budget for a Minor Works Service, providing a dedicated service to people living on authorised sites. This was based around the existing handyperson service, but with the ability to carry out larger scale work (for example replacing a WC pan, or creating a ramp). A funding application was submitted to the Supporting People team by the county council’s Gypsy & Traveller Liaison Officer, which was successful. The agency was commissioned to deliver this service for two years.
The funding is £55,000 a year for the two years. The budgeted cost was £43,000 a year (higher than the usual handyperson scheme because the agency offered a higher salary to attract someone with the ability to carry out more complicated work). The surplus is used to meet the cost of specialist work (gas or electrical work). Clients pay either £5 (plus VAT) or £10 (plus VAT) per hour, depending on their entitlement to benefits.
Care and Repair Black Country Housing Group was commended for its application in the Excellence in Delivering Handyperson Services category. Their application outlined their ‘Handy Person Service’, a three-way partnership between Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (the funder), Black Country Housing and Sandwell Council for Voluntary Organisations.
The service was set up to provide minor work and gardening for vulnerable homeowners, and those in the private rented sector, who are disabled, receive means-tested benefits, are elderly or have long-term health conditions.
The services and materials are provided free of charge to the clients, and funding of £350,000 was provided by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council for 2008/09. The minor repairs scheme has three people allocated to provide the service. Given the strengths in the team, all trades can be called upon so staff can handle complex and demanding jobs as well as routine ones. The gardening element has two teams with an experienced supervisor and three assistants, who have been long-term unemployed, and can undertake large hard-scaping works (walls, fencing and so on).
The service is provided in a person-centred way. The teams arrange to visit at a convenient time to assess the work and then attend at an agreed time to carry out the work to a high standard. They tidy up after the work is finished, leaving no mess for the client and causing minimum disruption. This level of customer service is an essential part of providing the ‘Handy Person Service’.
During 2008/09 over 1,520 jobs were completed.
An average of 100 jobs are completed per month for clients
80% of clients have work started within one week of the assessment
98% of clients have the work completed within four days of commencement
Satisfaction levels are 100%
Cases identified where minor work is insufficient to meet the client’s needs are referred to the caseworker team for other forms of assistance (such as energy and warmth initiatives or loan-based housing assistance).
A close working relationship with Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council also enables urgent cases to be prioritised for health and safety reasons.
Excellent working relationships and regular meetings held between the partners help to quickly resolve any issues that arise and to make adjustments to the service where, and if, necessary.
Supervisors liaise closely with partners from Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and also Sandwell Council for Voluntary Organisations in relation to referrals to and from the gardening scheme as well as many other agencies and services.
This year Black Country Housing Group have distributed over 100 Winter Warmth Bags promoting a ‘Keep Warm Keep Well’ safety message to the vulnerable clients they visit. This supports Sandwell Primary Care Trust’s Winter Warmth Campaign and demonstrates the benefits of partnership work.
Black Country Housing Group and Sandwell Council for Voluntary Organisations are also part of the Home Safety and Support Partnership to enhance the identification of clients with multiple needs. This new project, which is being developed to generate cross-referrals more efficiently using a virtual electronic ‘hub’, will enhance the effective delivery of multiple services to the most vulnerable people in the borough. Being an active member of this partnership, the Handy Person Service will be able to make referrals to a wider range of other agencies and partners, and will also be able to identify potential work. Through close liaison with other agencies this will result in clients receiving a comprehensive needs-related multi-service package.
The gardening scheme helps long-term unemployed people gain essential skills that enable them to access full-time paid employment, improving their lives and contributing to the economy whilst reducing unemployment and social isolation.
