Be careful what you wish for

Read this by Mick Kent, CEO at Bromford Housing...

"The rationing of social housing, more and more in scarce supply, and its allocation according to greatest need and vulnerability, has led to a 'race to the bottom' and a focus on what customers CAN'T do rather than what they CAN do. This in turn has led to a dependency culture and caused deep and untold damage to society. I offer these views as a CEO who spends major amounts of time listening to front line colleagues and meeting customers face to face, on home visits, sign ups, interviews and on the 'shop floor'. And I say this with great sadness, as someone who has devoted his working life to social housing, but in the last 20 years we have been party to creating a dependency culture where qualities like enterprise, self-reliance, perseverance, skill and above all service to others, have been steadily devalued. Of course many of our customers through their own admirable efforts have still achieved great things. However I question whether collectively we have failed our fundamental mission and purpose, which is way beyond bricks and mortar - to inspire people to be the very, very best they can be."

I couldn't agree more. I suppose such a dependency culture begins with handing a free house to anyone who knows how to game the system. But it seems Staffordshire County Council have been playing close attention, as we now learn from the Express & Star that "More than 80 people have been told their jobs are at risk under ‘shocking’ county council cuts which have wiped 70 per cent from a housing group’s budget." That would be... Bromford Group.

John Wade, Bromford’s director of support, called the decision ‘extremely disappointing’.

I am sorry to hear that. Very sorry indeed.