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TECHNICAL APPENDIX

Introduction

1. This section outlines the method used in conducting the research. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods were used:

• review of Communities Scotland Inspection Reports
• survey issued to all social landlords in Scotland
• case studies in 6 local authority.

Review of Communities Scotland Inspection Reports

2. The purpose of the review of Communities Scotland's ( CS) inspections was to assist the process identifying potential areas of confusion and difficulty amongst social landlords.

3. Issues identified in the inspection reports about allocations were collected. These issues included those identified in the original Brief and in Craigforth's proposal but any additional issues were also highlighted. The characteristics of the social landlords were also considered: these included the type of landlord; their area of operation; the local housing market, and stock characteristics.

4. All Communities Scotland Inspection Reports, published between 2005/06 and 2006/07 (up to 31/08/06) and a number from 2004/05 where specific allocations issues had been identified, were reviewed. In total 77 inspection reports were reviewed.

**Note: the research was undertaken during 2006/07. Only those inspection reports available at 31.8.07 were included.

5. The sections reviewed were as follows:

• Contextual analysis
• Housing Management
• Homelessness (Local Authorities only)
• Areas of improvement
• Examples of good practice

6. The review was used to inform design of the subsequent stages of the research, in particular the survey questionnaire, and to provide a context for the research.

The Survey of Social Landlords

7. The survey questionnaire was developed in consultation with the steering group and collected background information and the views of social landlords.

• Allocations system used by the landlord
• Views on the clarity of legislation and guidance
• Views on tensions between policy and practice
• Overall views on allocations

8. The mailing list for the survey was compiled based on the contact details from the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations ( SFHA) and Communities Scotland. These details were then amended where necessary based on Craigforth's knowledge of individual organisations. In some cases organisations were directly contacted by telephone to establish who would be the appropriate person to contact.

9. The survey took place between October 2006 and January 2007. In total the survey was issued to 265 organisations. This included 28 local authorities, 180 Registered Social Landlords and 57 Local Housing Organisations in Glasgow.

Conduct of the survey

10. To maximise response rates a letter was issued by the then Scottish Executive to explain the purpose, importance, and confidentiality of the exercise. This was followed by an email from Craigforth containing a hyperlink to the online survey. An MS Word version of the survey was made available to any organisations which had problems accessing or completing the online survey.

11. A reminder e-mail was issued to all those on the mailing list which had not responded by 9 November 2006 and a further e-mail sent out on the 21 November. Individual organisations were then contacted by telephone throughout December to ensure the maximum possible response rate.

Fieldwork Issues

12. A few issues were encountered during the fieldwork stage of the online survey:

• The initial e-mail mailing list contained some errors. In total 23 e-mails were returned automatically by Microsoft Outlook. Where the initial e-mail was returned 'undeliverable' organisations were contacted to verify the e-mail addresses or new contacts sought if staff had changed jobs.
• The initial e-mail had requested that if the receiver was not the most appropriate person to complete the survey that it should be forwarded to the correct member of staff. In some of the larger organisations this created a situation where the initial information about the survey was passed through a number a staff. Sometimes in the course of this the original hyperlink to the survey got lost. On these occasions a replacement e-mail was sent to organisations when requested.
• Some organisations had difficulty in accessing the online survey. These organisations were provided with Word version. In total, 25 organisations used this approach.

Data Verification and Validation

13. A total of 176 survey forms were returned. This included 4 blank survey forms and 3 duplicate entries where two people had completed the survey for the same organisation. In these cases the organisations were contacted to verify which set of responses should be used. The blank responses and rejected duplicates were excluded from the final survey dataset giving a final analysable total of 169 responses. A detailed breakdown of response by type of organisation is shown below.

14. The returned questionnaires were verified and validated internally by Craigforth.

Variables Added to the Dataset

15. To provide a context for the analysis of survey results, a number of additional variables were added to the survey dataset. These additional variables and where they were sourced, are set out below:

(a) Type - Local Authority, Registered Social Landlord, Local Housing Organisation based on original mailing list

(b) Peer Group - based on Communities Scotland/ APSR categorisation

(c) Total Stock - based on Communities Scotland/ APSR data for Registered Social Landlords and Scottish Executive data for Local Authorities

(d) Size of Organisation - based on survey response (Total Stock)

(e) Number of Lettings - based on Communities Scotland/ APSR data for Registered Social Landlords and Scottish Executive data for Local Authorities

(f) Banded Lettings - Categorisation of Number of Lettings

(g) Stock Turnover - based on Number of Lettings and Total Stock

(h) Banded Turnover - Categorisation of Stock Turnover

(i) Urban/rural - based on Communities Scotland/ APSR data for Registered Social Landlords and Scottish Executive Urban/ Rural Classification for Local Authorities.

16. Inconsistencies in the compatibility of some data sources meant that a degree of interpretation was required to ensure that new variables provide a reliable basis for analysis. This was particularly the case when constructing rurality.

17. The then Scottish Executive Urban Rural classification applies a categorisation to every local authority based on the proportion of population living in urban and rural settlements. The classification has 6 categories.

• Large Urban Areas
• Other Urban Areas
• Accessible Small Towns
• Remote Small Towns
• Accessible Rural
• Remote Rural

18. For the purposes of this study it was necessary to establish an overall classification for each authority. This was done based on whether the majority of the population were urban or rural. Where the proportions of the population were very close a classification of mixed was used.

Literal Analysis

19. The survey contained a number of open-ended questions. The level of response to these questions was varied. For some open-ended questions relating to issues of clarity within the legislation there were as many as 92 responses (54%) whilst for others there were as few as 8 (5%). For the two more general questions allowing respondents raise any other issues they wished there were 34 responses (20%).which allowed respondents to provide more in-depth literal responses.

20. The responses given to these questions were analysed to identify common themes and then coded for analysis.

The Case Studies

21. The purpose of the case studies was to explore in depth the issues and concerns identified in the survey. Six case studies were undertaken.

Case Study Selection

22. The findings from the survey and the analysis of Communities Scotland inspections undertaken for this research were used to inform the identification of criteria for selecting the 6 case study areas. In addition account was taken of the importance of balance and coverage in terms of the types of areas visited.

23. On this basis the following factors were identified and used as criteria for the selection of areas.

• Profile of the area in terms of city/urban, rural or mixed urban/rural
• Homeless presentation rate, and % of priority homeless provided with permanent accommodation
• Degree of pressure within the local housing market (high/low demand)
• Type of allocations policy, specifically ensuring that Choice Based Lettings schemes are included
• Whole stock transfer areas and non stock transfer
• Balance and profile of local authority and RSL provision in the local area (% and specialist/non specialist providers)
• Relative levels of social deprivation.

24. In order to provide a practical basis on which to take forward the process of selection, 3 different levels of criteria were identified - key or primary, secondary and supplementary criteria.

Key criterion:

• Profile of the area in terms of city/urban, rural or mixed urban/rural.

Secondary Criteria:

• Homeless presentation rate, and % of priority homeless provided with permanent accommodation
• Degree of pressure within the local housing market (high/low demand)
• Type of allocations policy, specifically ensuring that Choice Based Lettings schemes are included
• Whole stock transfer areas and non stock transfer

Supplementary Criteria:

• Balance and profile of local authority and RSL provision in the local area (% and specialist/non specialist providers)
• Relative levels of social deprivation

25. Considering then a distribution of the different types of area (urban/rural) we intended that the 6 case study areas should take the following profile

• Case Study Area 1 Urban (city)
• Case Study Area 2 Urban (other, deprived)
• Case Study Area 3 Remote Rural
• Case Study Area 4 Rural (other)
• Case Study Area 5 Mixed
• Case Study Area 6 Another city

26. The 6 areas between them included the full range of other criteria which had been identified as important.

27. Recruitment of the case study areas was in large part straightforward. There were however difficulties in recruiting case study area 2: a number of local authorities were approached but felt unable to participate before this study area was identified. This delayed the completion of the fieldwork.

Conduct of the Case Studies

28. The case studies were designed to give balance and depth to the issues identified by the online survey. To ensure this a mix of interviews and focus groups were used.

29. The general approach followed is set out below. In some areas, a degree of flexibility was necessary in order to achieve the participation required.

Stage 1

• Initial key player interview with the local authority ( LA) to:
  • scope case study
  • identify named contact in LA to act as source of information
  • identify key contacts for interviews in Stage 3
  • confirm RSLs working in LA area and key player contact for RSL
• Key player interviews with RSLs to:
  • scope case study
  • identify named contact in LA to act as source of information
  • identify key contacts for interviews in Stage 3
• Initial information request to LA and RSLs

Stage 2

• Review information sent and request any additional information required

Stage 3

• Telephone interviews with:
  • Policy/Performance Manager
  • Lettings Manager
  • Homeless Manager
  • Manager responsible for resources allocation (housing and support) to applicants/tenants with particular needs
• Analyse telephone interviews to identify key issues for discussion in Stage 4

Stage 4

• Group interviews (2 in total) with:
  • LA operational staff
  • RSL operational staff

Stage 5

• Analysis
• Further telephone interviews/clarification

30. A total of 135 staff participated in the case studies. Of these 26 were senior managers, 39 were middle managers and 57 were operational staff: 13 had other roles. Across the six case study areas a total of 34 Registered Social Landlords were involved. Based on the Communities Scotland Peer group categories, 12 were urban (mixed sizes), 4 were rural (mixed sizes), 5 were small scale transfer, 2 were whole stock transfers, 9 were national and 2 were specialists.

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