LOCAL AUTHORITY OBSERVATORY PRAGUE Cities and Active
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LOCAL AUTHORITY OBSERVATORY PRAGUE LOCAL AUTHORITY OBSERVATORY PRAGUE Cities and Active Inclusion: Housing Active Inclusion through Housing Services / Markéta Voborová / City of Prague, Prague City Hall, Social and Health Care Unit, [email protected] / Kater˘ina Alinc˘ová / Researcher Acknowledgements With thanks to all of the NLAO partners: City of Bologna (Flavia Pesce and Nicoletta Ratini); City of Rotterdam (Kris Luijsterburg and Aat Brand); City of Sauthampton (Su Mihelic and Christopher Hawker) City of Stockholm (Anna Mattsson and Christina Groenberg). For their guidance and support, thanks to our colleagues at EUROCITIES: Silke Moschitz, Anke Thiel and Daniela Amadio. Finally, for their time and openness, we would like to thank all those who agreed to be interviewed as part of the project. Cover design by: fuel. - www.fueldesign.be Active Inclusion through Housing Services National report on the role of housing services for the active inclusion of people furthest away from the labour market Local Authority Observatory on Active Inclusion Prague Foreword The City of Prague is a partner in the EUROCITIES-Network of Local Authority Observatories on Active Inclusion (EUROCITIES-NLAO) project running from March 2009 to August 2010. This project is managed by EUROCITIES, the network of major European cities in cooperation with the cities of Bologna (Italy), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Southampton (United Kingdom) and Stockholm (Sweden). Each city has set up a Local Authority Observatory on Active Inclusion (LAO) that carries out policy research on how the EU’s Active Inclusion strategy is being implemented and working at a local level. The aim of this project is to share experiences and to use comparisons and examples of good practise in an attempt to influence future policy. The project is co-financed by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Active Inclusion is a comprehensive strategy for combating poverty and social exclusion across Europe, based on common objectives and principles shared by all EU Member States. This strategy involves three elements: an adequate minimum income, inclusive labour markets, and access to good quality social services. The Active Inclusion policy must facilitate the integration into sustainable, quality employment of those who can work and provide resources which are sufficient to live in dignity together with support for social participation for those who cannot.1 The role of social services in the stimulation of active inclusion thus has two elements: 1) to help the target group to become employable, and 2) to support anyone who is unable to work to live a dignified life by providing advice, funding and care and establishing reasonable living conditions. The Commission is of the view that the following social services are particularly relevant in respect of the active inclusion concept: social assistance services; employment and training services; housing support and social housing; childcare; long-term care services; and health services. The EUROCITIES-NLAO project is a pilot project which is investigating two of the above areas: housing and employment. The five LAOs deliver a national report on each service area which form the basis for a comparative policy analysis by EUROCITIES. The focus is on the third pillar of Active Inclusion: the provision of quality of services available to people furthest away from the labour market. The project aims to identify key and common qualities in the provision of social support services at local level that can influence future European and national strategies; and to share examples of good practice in the provision of quality services. This report is the result of the work of LAO Prague in the first area of research. It has been drafted on the basis of desk research (see resources section) and interviews with experts from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Local Development, NGOs, Prague City Hall, and the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic. A draft version of this report was discussed at a stakeholder seminar held on November 12 in Prague with housing specialists who drew the conclusions and suggested the recommendations. The written report was submitted by Marketa Voborova (Project Manager) and Katerina Alincova (Project Analyst). This publication is supported under the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (PROGRESS 2007-2013). The information contained in this publication does not reflect the opinion of the European Commission and all responsibility for the content lies with the authors. 1 EC Recommendation on the Active Inclusion of People Excluded from the Labour Market, 3 October 2008 2 Table of content FOREWORD .............................................................................................................................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENT ............................................................................................................................................3 1. POLICY FRAMEWORK.....................................................................................................................................4 1.1. HOUSING POLICY AND URBAN CHALLENGES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC ............................................................4 1.2. SOCIAL HOUSING IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC.......................................................................................................6 1.2.1. Regulatory context.....................................................................................................................................6 1.2.2. Actors in social housing ............................................................................................................................7 1.2.3. Funding of Social Housing........................................................................................................................8 1.3. SUPPORTED HOUSING IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC................................................................................................8 1.3.1. Regulatory context.....................................................................................................................................8 1.3.2. Actors in supported housing......................................................................................................................9 1.3.3. Funding of Supported Housing ...............................................................................................................10 1.4. ROLE OF MUNICIPALITIES IN SOCIAL AND SUPPORTED HOUSING AND COOPERATION BETWEEN PUBLIC AUTHORITIES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS .................................................................................................................10 2. PROVISION AND COMMISSIONING...........................................................................................................12 2.1. SOCIAL HOUSING PROVISION ...........................................................................................................................12 2.1.1. Target groups and allocation criteria.....................................................................................................12 2.1.2. Availability and needs assessment ..........................................................................................................14 2.2. SUPPORTED HOUSING PROVISION ....................................................................................................................14 2.2.1. Target groups ..........................................................................................................................................15 2.2.2. Availability and needs assessment ..........................................................................................................16 2.3. PLANNING FOR SOCIAL AND SUPPORTED HOUSING .........................................................................................17 A NEW APPROACH: COMMUNITY PLANNING OF SOCIAL SERVICES/SUPPORTED HOUSING...............................17 3. QUALITY AND MONITORING......................................................................................................................20 3.1. QUALITY STANDARDS AND INSPECTIONS ON THE HOUSING MARKET .............................................................20 3.1.1. Quality standards related to Social housing...........................................................................................20 3.1.2. Quality standards related to Supported Housing ...................................................................................20 3.2. QUALITY MONITORING ....................................................................................................................................21 3.3. USER INVOLVEMENT AND TENANT/USER RIGHTS............................................................................................22 3.3.1. Social housing..........................................................................................................................................22 3.3.2. Supported housing...................................................................................................................................22 4. RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................................................24 5. CASE STUDY ......................................................................................................................................................28