| Friday 27th May 2005 |
(ref: 188/2005) |
Housing bosses are celebrating after their services were officially rated as 'good' by an independent government watchdog.
The Audit Commission's Housing Inspectorate put Wigan and Leigh Housing under the spotlight during a two week inspection at the end of February.
It looked at all the services provided by the company, which manages council housing in the borough for Wigan Council and deals with homelessness and housing support for vulnerable people.
The inspectors say that services delivered to tenants are good overall and in some areas are excellent. They were particularly impressed with the way that the £250 million programme for improving homes in the borough was being managed, and said the way that residents were involved was also 'an area of excellence'.
The borough's clean, tidy and well-maintained estates, and good advice and support for vulnerable customers were among other key strengths.
There were some criticisms in the report and the inspectors thought there were some barriers to improving the service. They made a number of recommendations to address what they found.
Peter Gee, chief executive of Wigan and Leigh Housing, said:
"We are pleased that the services we provide have been judged to be good but we will not be content until they are rated excellent. We have been studying the report carefully and will use it to inform how we move on from here.
"This has been a very demanding time for Wigan and Leigh Housing, not only during the inspection period but also in the months leading up to it. We had, for example, to provide over a thousand documents in advance."
Councillor Keith Cunliffe, Wigan Council's cabinet member with responsibility for community protection added:
" We are pleased that this result confirms that Wigan and Leigh Housing are doing a good job.
"As in any organisation there is always more than can be done, we will learn from the report and will be working closely with them in the coming months to make services to our tenants even better in the future"
Further information: Peter Gee, 01942 827401.