Like many public service providers,the social housing sector is holding its collective breath at the moment. The new comprehensive spending review will be complete in a couple of weeks, and many people are fearing the worst. Many social housing providers will be busy re-writing their business plans and consulting with their tenants on how they can preserve service levels and even bring about imporvements where possible. Other issues will soon be on the horizon - the end of the HRA subsidy system for council housing; new regulatory and inspection regimes; and the prospect of time-limited tenancies being introduced at some point in the future. So, is this a good time to be commissioning training for housing staff? It is often said that in times of hardship, the training budget - being an easy target - is the first casualty. Thankfully, this is not as true as it perhaps used to be. Many organisatons are coming to the conclusion that more than ever before, they need their staff to be highly trained and equipped with the skills and knowledge in order to perform their own jobs to the highest degree, and also to be able to undertake wider roles, with new challenges and tasks. The sector is becoming more competitive. The abolition of the TSA and the Audit Commission has not yet happened - and even when they have gone, there will certainly be no opportunity to relax and to go with the flow. In fact someone said to me recently that the only thing that goes with the flow is a dead fish! Not something that any of us would want to emulate...
David Wardle
www.learning4housing.co.uk
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