As part of the proposed Southwark Labour budget cuts they’ve chosen to close all eight local council housing offices. All housing management will take place from
in the very north of the borough and new offices to be found and rented in the Peckham area in the centre of the borough.
Any contact with council housing officers will be via another telephone call centre, via the internet or face to face at one of these two new housing locations or a pre arranged visit for those less able bodied tenants. It probably spells the end of Area Housing Forums – the Dulwich one is really effective at highlighting local problems, sharing experiences between local estates and getting local councillors engaged.
I can see a lot more time in the future by council officers spent travelling. I get the merits of centralisation for those bits of Southwark that involve few site visits. And for some of the housing function centralising those into one location makes sense. But by definition housing officers should be spending most of their time out and about visiting residents in council homes. Keeping them devolved in local offices makes more sense in helping to keep such officers out there OR they stay in the new central ivory towers and have much less idea of what’s going on.
Finding a new Peckham office to rent seems really strange idea. You only need a smaller local office than the current one.
What do you think possible to reduce costs while creating an even more local service?