Smarterbuys launched very successfully on 16th April and is already providing huge discounts for tenants and the facility to apply for credit union loans. We will be telling you very soon about the next deal and about how we hope to be able to work with you locally on more discounted goods for tenants.

The housing sector faces one of the biggest challenges through the changes proposed to the Welfare System, one of the key changes to be introduced will be the introduction of Universal Credit from October 2013 for new claimants.

The introduction of the Universal Credit from October 2013 as part of the Government's proposed welfare reforms, will radically change the housing benefit system, which currently sees a significant proportion of this benefit paid directly to social landlords.

We had a great response to our recent survey looking at the links between housing and credit unions - thank you. The survey will help us develop a toolkit and other support services to promote the work both sectors do to support financial inclusion.

There is a growing interest amongst MPs about the need to support financial inclusion and the role that housing providers can play, including a recent debate in Parliament which strongly recognised the contribution of the housing sector.

Our ezine this week concentrates on financial inclusion, such a critical issue for tenants particularly now as they face the impact of welfare reform. If you have been following our recent ezines you will know that we have been focussing on welfare reform and how dramatic its impact will be for the North.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT)has announced a review of PayDay lending amidst concerns that some lenders may be taking advantage of people in financial difficulty.

We have launched the Smarterbuys website featuring beds as the first deal! The site is offering massively reduced prices on essential household items including white goods and furniture, the site will also sign post shoppers to responsible credit from their local credit unions. The site will offer massively reduced prices on essential household items including white goods and furniture, the site will also sign post shoppers to responsible credit from their local credit unions.

Spurred on by 2012 being the year of the Olympics in the UK, two NHC staff members have decided to take on the challenge of the Great North Run. Jacqui Grimes, Policy & Strategy Officer ran the Great North Run last year for the first time and is looking to beat her time this year. Jen Stevenson, Procurement Officer has recently taken up running as a new year's resolution so this will be her first Great North Run.

We give a quick overview of the conferences held in March.

The Northern Housing Consortium have prepared a On-the-Day briefing in response to today's budget announcements.

How do you avoid enforcement notices, prosecution or ultimately, a jail sentence? The introduction of the new Fire Safety Legislation Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order 2005) on 1st October 2006 brought to the attention of landlords the importance of their responsibility with regard to fire safety in their buildings. This new legislation requires those responsible for fire safety to evaluate, reduce or remove the risk of fire by introducing various measures, including risk assessment. Typically, between 2-5% of a housing provider's stock will be subject to fire risk assessment.

With less than a month until the Smarterbuys website goes live,we are delighted to announce that our first deal offered will be.... beds!

Wednesday 7th March 2012, The Chill Factore, Manchester. The Northern Housing Consortium hosted a popular social media conference this week.

5th March 2012 We are currently finishing our budget submission and many thanks to those who have contributed.

The Office of Fair Trading has announced a review of PayDay lending amidst concerns that some lenders may be taking advantage of people in financial difficulty. The review will consider how the sector is complying with the Consumer Credit Act and the OFT's own guidance on responsible lending.

The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC), alongside Ian Mearns MP (Chair of the APPG for Housing in the North), gave evidence to the Affordable Housing Inquiry chaired by Lord Whitty.

21st March 2012 will see the Chancellor announce his budget. We will provide HMT with a submission from NHC membership and thank you for your contributions to this.

We are very pleased to introduce two new Account Executives, Rachel Collings and Louise Chase, to the Consortium Procurement team.

The Consortium is pleased to announce that it has awarded a brand new framework for asbestos surveying, sampling, removal, training and consultancy.

Recently, we have seen various pieces of research and announcements from government around children and young people and the opportunities provided to them, ranging from early years services and the importance of this in shaping their future, and opportunities around education, employment and training and more recently around the wellbeing of children.

As members may be aware the NHC, the Efficiency Market Place (EMP) is seeking to increase and simplify the trading of goods and services and the way our members do business. Whilst the full trading platform will become effective when our new website goes live in the summer, we are already signing up NHC members and associates to either supply or trade their solutions/expertise

The Welfare Reform will bring some of the biggest changes the housing sector has experienced, Universal Credit which will be introduced in 2013, will affect social housing tenants across the country, where they will experience changes to their entitlements, and for tenants and housing providers a whole new system of administration. Housing providers will need to provide for these changes in advance, and ensure that tenants are well prepared for the proposed changes ahead.

As the Health and Social Care Bill passes through parliament shadow health and wellbeing boards are establishing themselves, producing a new round of draft health and wellbeing strategies this spring. If the boards are ever to deliver better outcomes and value for money as well as tackle complex issues such as persistent health inequalities, there needs to be considerable energy invested in building partnerships with those who have levers over the wider determinants of health.

Around the country shadow health and wellbeing boards are establishing themselves, producing a new round of draft health and wellbeing strategies this spring. But how ready are boards to make good on the vision set by the Marmot review around developing more effective partnerships beyond the

Presentations from the last steering group meeting held at the May Logan Centre, Liverpool on 7th February are available.

The site holding page is now live! With the ongoing recession and impact of welfare reforms, there is growing concern about the likely increases in household debt, particularly amongst low income households. There are also fears about how some of these households will finance the essential things they need for their homes.

It was reassuring to see that the Lords rejected the 'bedroom tax ' yet again last week, though the amendments covered only war widows, disabled and foster carers. We were pleased to welcome Lord Best, who has led the way on this, to one of our dinners recently where he was able to follow up our work and hear first hand the huge problems this will cause if implemented.

On 21st March, the Chancellor will present his Budget to the House of Commons. As in previous years, the Consortium will be making a submission to the Treasury setting out a strong case for housing in the North of England. Last year's NHC Budget Submission was well received, and received coverage in the national media as well as the trade press. We are pleased that one of our major demands last year - an extra £1bn of investment for the Regional Growth Fund - was eventually picked up by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement.

A number of housing associations including RSL's and Local Authorities have been fined up to £20,000 for exposing residents to asbestos during refurbishment works. Consortium Procurement is currently undertaking a procurement exercise to populate a four year framework, designed to deliver a range of associated services for the management and removal of asbestos.

As part of developing our services for contact centres and customer demand, we would love to hear case studies from our members which detail your approach to measuring and learning from avoidable contact/failure demand.

Government plans for a reinvigorated right to buy must take account of varied local housing markets, the Consortium has warned. Responding to the Government's consultation on the 'Reinvigorated right to buy and one for one replacement', the Consortium has argued that the amount of discount available is only one factor affecting levels of Right to Buy sales. Wider economic factors are likely to constrain demand at present, just as a growing economy and plentiful mortgage availability continued to drive Right to Buy sales in the North even after discounts were reduced in 1999.

All Party Parliamentary Group for Housing in the North The APPG for Housing in the North met on the 24th January at Parliament. The theme for the meeting was Challenges and Opportunities to deliver homes in the North. Deborah Mclaughlin from the HCA attended to update parliamentarians on the progress with the HCA delivery programme and gave a very useful insight into the state of the northern housing markets. MP's were particularly interested in the state of the private rented sector and direction of rent levels - we agreed to do some further work on this.

With the ongoing recession and impact of welfare reforms, there is growing concern about the likely increases in household debt, particularly amongst low income households. There are also fears about how some of these households will finance the essential things they need for their homes. Research indicates that social housing tenants are particularly vulnerable to exploitation from the sub prime lending sector, and around 20% of social housing tenants have used a doorstep lender at some point.

The Welfare Reform Bill was returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday 1st February where the amendments which had previously been won by the peers, were overturned by the coalition. Ministers said the defeat would have cost the treasury at least an extra £4 billion by 2015, and on these grounds the coalition have applied for the Bill to be considered for financial privilege, which will deny peers the chance of another vote when the Bill returns to the Lords.

Changing demographics, increasing long term medical and care needs, and the need to realise public sector efficiencies are key drivers for housing services to support vulnerable people to live independently for longer. Practical solutions such as telecare and telehealth technologies provide the tools that enable people to manage at home, sometimes supplementing other support such as social care or assistance from family and friends.

Spring is fast approaching and following mild winter weather, brings with it the need to maintain the appearance of your neighbourhoods and communities. The Consortium Procurement grounds maintenance framework has been designed to meet all of your grounds maintenance needs and includes the provision of grass cutting and specialist planting.

Grahame Morris MP for Easington proposed an early day motion asking MP's to support our campaign for the housing sector to be recognised as a legitimate and fundamental partner in health improvement. The motion, number 2431 - which can be viewed on parliament's website - has received cross party support.

On 21st March, the Chancellor will present his Budget to the House of Commons. As in previous years, the Consortium will be making a submission to the Treasury setting out a strong case for housing in the North of England.

Working with a leading Northern university, we're planning a major piece of research looking at the impact of housing organisations on the Northern economy. While we'll be seeking to involve all members in the project in due course, at present we're looking for a number of members to act as 'case studies'.

Customer services centres (CSC) are dealing with more and more of your customer requests. While most contact centres have technology in place to help measure this, pressures on staff time and interpretation of customer requests can give misleading results.

The country faces a difficult Catch-22. We need to cut spending to lower our borrowing but we also need to encourage economic growth to pay off our deficit. Somewhere in the middle of that, the property and construction sectors have been decimated.

The Energy Bill has reached the report stage in the House of Lords.

In light of the considerable cuts in public sector spending, many organisations will be considering how best to manage cuts and how they could generate savings but not compromise service delivery. Inevitably, the role of shared services comes to the fore.

Two Consortium Procurement Approved Partners, Eaga and The Gas Company, have been recognised in the Morgan and Lambert Service Provider Awards for Excellence.

We are receiving a lot of interest in anticipation of our Cumulative Impact Report. This explores the cumulative effect of the Government's policies on northern communities, and makes for some very interesting reading.We will shortly be forwarding a copy of the report to main contacts within our members organisations.