Inform, Empower, Engage : Creating a 'Charter of Rights' with residents of supported exempt accommodation in Birmingham

HCRG Where Next for Public Housing Seminar Series

• Thea Raisbeck, Honorary Research Fellow, Housing and Communities Research Group, University of Birmingham. Introduced by Councillor Sharon Thompson, Cabinet Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods, Birmingham City Council
• Janette Beckett, Director of Support Services and New Business, Spring Housing

Seminar Outline

In 2019 Spring Housing were asked by Birmingham City Council to develop and produce a Charter of Rights for residents living in, or considering living in, non-commissioned exempt accommodation. 

This 18-month project was commissioned after extensive research and engagement work carried out within the non-commissioned exempt sector over the previous three years. The most significant pieces of work around this were two reports published in 2018 and 2019. The first report ‘Risk, Safety and Wellbeing in Non-commissioned Exempt Accommodation’ (Raisbeck, 2018) was commissioned by Birmingham Safeguarding Adults Board and carried out by The Housing and Communities Research Group at the University of Birmingham, in partnership with Spring Housing. The second report, ‘Exempt from Responsibility?’: Ending social injustice in exempt accommodation’ (Raisbeck, 2019) was commissioned by Commonweal Housing, and carried out by Spring Housing and the Housing and Communities Research Group. 

In this seminar Thea Raisbeck will discuss the background and theory behind the project, examine the participatory methods used to co-produce the Charter alongside over 50 exempt accommodation residents, and reveal some of the lessons learned during development. Thea will also review the content of the Charter, and set it within such wider contexts as the National Statement of Expectations for supported housing and the Social Housing White Paper.

Janette Beckett will then present a short review of an ongoing pilot project to track the use and implementation of the Charter by a cohort of exempt accommodation providers in Birmingham.

View the Charter and Provider Guidance  

Watch the seminar