Andy Winter's Blog

Please note that Andy Winter's Blog has moved to a new Wordpress site

Andy Winter has worked for BHT since 1985, and has been Chief Executive since 2003. This Blog contains his personal views of events, both local and elsewhere.

The Recession – The Worst is Yet to Come (06/03/09)

It has been many months since I have made an entry on my blog. Since then, the recession has really bitten. There are already almost two million people out of work and I have for the first time seen predictions that unemployment could reach four million. The Department for Work and Pensions has already increased staffing at Jobcentres.

Research by the TUC reported that 30 per cent of people who became unemployed during the last recession remained unemployed for more than 12 months. When they did find employment again, it was usually at a lower skills level and the experience that they had gained was lost to the economy.

Like other organisations, BHT is feeling the impact of the recession. Income levels are not matching expenditure, and we are having to take some actions that are not pleasant. However, failure to do so would result in significant redundancies in two or three years time. This would be no good for staff concerned nor for service users who we could no longer support, accommodate or advise.

Unemployment is the key cause of mortgage related repossessions of homes. At BHT we represent several thousands of households facing the repossession of their homes. We have advisors based at County Courts in Haywards Heath, Lewes, Eastbourne and Brighton.

The message is, as always, get advice early, but it is never too late to seek help. However, the earlier help is sought, the better the prospect of a positive outcome.

We prevent a household becoming homeless every 47 minutes of the working week. But that was before the credit crunch. I fear the worst is yet to come.

BHT's 40th Birthday (19/10/08)

This is the start of a big week for BHT - its 40th birthday on Thursday. The last month has seen a lot of work preparing for the event planned for Thursday evening. Everything seems to be in order.

This weekend there is a three page 'spread' in the Brighton Argus. For me it felt a bit uncomfortable with the focus being the 'human interest' slant - me! Fortunately there was quite a lot about BHT and its work. At one point the article described me as "bursting with pride". Absolutely. It is a great moment in BHT's history. There is a huge amount to be proud about looking back over 40 years. So many people have given so much to making what BHT has become.

My main disappointment from the coverage was the images used. The images themselves are impressive but the majority are taken from a book The Regency Project which recorded the appalling standards of the former Regency House Hotel. The photographs were taken by the talented local photographer, Richard Rowland, and are simply amazing.

In 2002 BHT, in partnership with William Sutton Homes, acquired the building and refurbished it to the highest standards. It has won awards for design and for environmental standards. I just hope that nobody, reading the Argus, will think that these are standards that BHT has in its houses.

The future is uncertain - no one can say quite how the financial crisis will impact on us or anyone else for that matter. BHT is already coping with huge cuts as a result in the government's 3 year Supporting People programme settlement. I imagine there is more to come.

But for this week, we should celebrate what we have achieved, and commit ourselves to a future where BHT continues to combat homelessness, creates opportunities and promotes change.

Yet Another Housing Minister (03/10/08)

Today we have had appojnted the third Housing Minister in under 10 months. Yvette Cooper gave way to Caroline Flint in January 2008 and today Margaret Beckett has been appointed as part of Gordon Brown's reshuffle.

I have nothing against Mrs Beckett. In fact she is very experienced and competent. It would be good, however, if the Housing portfolio was not seen as a temporary posting until something more important comes up. Hopefully Mrs Beckett will survive for at least a year and see through some initiatives that will inevitably follow.

Learning Lessons (22/09/08)

This evening I gave a talk to a group of Swedish students. My theme was the economy of Brighton and Hove and the work of BHT. How boring, you might think. How uninspiring for a group of thirty 18 and 19 year olds!

I have actually done this talk, in one form or another, to groups of Swedish students for the past ten or so years. The feedback is encouragingly positive.

From my point of view I really enjoy it not least because of the way the students engage. Tonights group are in Brighton for just a week, primarily to improve their already excellent English. During the week they will all work for local charities – Stopover, the Crew Club, Emmaus, to name a few.

In fact, the one charity they don’t work in is BHT, not because we don’t value volunteers, but because we tend only to use as volunteers people who use or have used our services as part of work and learning programmes.

There are two things that particularly impress me about the students I meet: