Cuts will hurt less if we weed out waste

The cuts will be felt by tenants in their quality of life and by taxpayers if the quality of the social housing stock is allowed to deteriorate. While there is a limit to what the sector can do to increase the size of the pot, there is a great deal each provider can do to reduce the impact of cuts; it need not be as bad as many think.

Since it was formed by 10 London arm’s-length management organisations five years ago, contracting authority CYNTRA has saved its members more than £25 million on their costs. Some of it was saved on decent homes allowing them to invest more, some of it on engineering services such as gas servicing - leaving them with money to spare but more importantly an increase in their safety standards.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. By adopting modern techniques of procurement, open book, contract management, long-term contracts and collaboration, providers will reduce costs and give themselves more choice about how to manage their budget reductions.

These savings are available and proven. In some cases, it will mean bypassing tradition and collaborating more with partners. In others, it will mean reviewing the existing skill sets of staff and growing them.

The real prize is the billions invested in decent homes that has brought much of our social housing up to a ‘decent’ threshold. We must not let this standard slip. Without strategic asset management, and the skills and techniques required to keep the stock in sound condition there is a risk that the cuts will lead to a gradual decline in quality. The challenge ahead is not just to balance budgets; it is to get more out of what is spent.

Mark Prisk, the new construction minister, has made it clear that his two main areas are of concern are sustainability and the promotion of modern procurement. I have seen at first hand that there are considerable opportunities to reduce costs and better integrate the supply side.

There are a number of examples of better practice across government, such as the Olympics and NHS ProCure 21. The minister now wants to ensure consistent improvements across the whole of the public sector. And over in the Communities and Local Government department, the secretary of state, Eric Pickles, has said he ‘believes that a fortune can be saved’ if more councils use their collective buying power to jointly buy goods and services.

The procurement priority for the future is clear. I urge all local authorities, ALMOs, social landlords and housing associations who are not part of a collaborative group to join one now before the cuts really bite.

Salami slicing costs to save money is not the answer; working smarter to remove waste is and we and our fellow social housing consortia across the country are skilled in working with you to make smarter procurement stick.

Professor Peter Woolliscroft, CYNTRA