Standards, Audit and Accreditation – Frequently Asked Questions
Is the online training in housing law compulsory and is it part of the Standards?
No, it is not compulsory and is only one means of accessing adviser training in housing law. The training was developed as a resource for agencies. There are other forms of training that can be accessed.
How does the online training fit with the audit? Is it part of the audit?
The training is not part of the audit. However, as with any other training, the quality of advice auditors will take into account certification of advisers as evidence of the agency providing the support and training required to meet Standards 5.3 and 5.5.
If advisers complete the online training, are they accredited?
No, it is the agency that is accredited. Advisers are certificated as having the knowledge required to advise on housing issues.
What are the costs of putting an adviser through the online training?
All prices are per trainee, exclude VAT and are applicable for 2008-2009.
HomePoint Certificate
Training in 6 or fewer topics at Type I: £165 + VAT
Training in 7 topics or more at Type I: £197 +VAT
Training in 6 or fewer topics at Type II/III: £440 +VAT
Training in 7 or more topics at Type II/III: £578 + VAT
SQA Professional Development Award
Training in 3 units at Level 6: £179 + VAT + SQA Admin fee £37.50
Training in 5 unites at Level 6: £213 +VAT + SQA Admin fee £62.50
Training in 3 units at Level 7: £476 +VAT + SQA Admin fee £37.50
Training in 5 units at Level 7: £625 + VAT + SQA Admin fee £62.50
Training in 6 units at Level 8: £720 + VAT + SQA Admin fee £75.00
Is this a recognised qualification?
In addition to the HomePoint training, Shelter Training also offer a Professional Development Award (PDA) which closely mirrors the HomePoint training. The PDA is a recognised qualification which is accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and is available at SCQF Level 6, 7 and 8. Staff who have already completed HomePoint training back to April 2006 are also eligible to upgrade to the PDA. If you would like further information about this, please contact Shelter on 0844 515 2477.
What are the best ways of keeping advisers up to date?
Post training (see HomePoint’s Practical Assistance Guidance), supervision and an up-to-date library of resources, access to current legislation, together with a means of keeping up to date with any changes in legislation, and so on, which may necessitate further training.
What do you mean by ‘Type’?
Type refers to activities which have been broken down into three principal categories of advice giving and intervention.
Type I – Active information, sign-posting and explanation
Type II – Casework
Type III – Advocacy, representation and mediation at court or tribunal level
There is a more detailed explanation of the Types given in the Standards manual.
Can an agency offer a mixture of Types of law?
Yes, an agency may advise in the topics across a mixture of Types, i.e., you do not have to categorise your agency into one particular Type.
What’s the difference between ‘active’ advice giving at Type 1 and ‘passive’ advice giving?
The Standards make the distinction between the passive provision of information, for example through providing leaflets in public places, and the active provision of advice and information to individuals seeking help from the service. Active provision requires specialist knowledge in the subject area.
How does the self assessment checklist relate to the Types?
There are two self assessment checklists: one for Type I and one for Type II/III. If an agency advises at Type I only then they should complete the Type I self-assessment checklist. If, however, an agency advises at any area of law at Type II/III, even if most of the other areas of law are at Type I, they should complete the self-assessment checklist at Type II/III. Each of the Standards is followed by a set of indicators that highlight the evidence services need to provide to demonstrate compliance with the Standards. Indicators for each Standard may differ depending upon the type of service offered by the provider – this is reflected in the self-assessment checklists. The self-assessment checklist has recently been revised and up-dated so that, for those agencies which wish to proceed to audit, the checklist can be used as the basis of an application for audit and accreditation.
The Costs for 2007/08
What are the costs for the audit?
Please refer to the Sliding Scale Charges document.
Why are the costs the same irrespective of the size of the organisation?
The audit process and the number of days that the auditors spend in an organisation is the same, regardless of the size of the organisation. The sliding scale illustrates the various costs to organisations based on the number of areas of law that an organisation wishes to be audited on.
What if my organisation has various outlets of advice?
If your organisation has various outlets providing advice, the audit will be tailored for the number of days required. For example, if you have five outlets, more days will be required to conduct the audit. This would result in an increase in the audit price, but this does not necessarily mean that the cost would be five times the normal price.
How were the Standards developed?
The Standards were first compiled in 1995 from good practice from many agencies and with the support of the advice sector. Reviews of the Standards completed in 2000, 2003 and 2006 also involved full consultation with advice agencies and sector representatives. The more recent review has resulted in money advice competences being included (following a pilot process with advice providers). The Standards were re-launched in November 2007. They are available from HomePoint or can be accessed on HomePoint’s website at www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk.
Are the Standards applicable to England?
The Standards were developed in and for Scotland; there is no equivalent, as yet, in England. However, many English authorities have used the Scottish model to develop their information and advice services.
Who owns the Standards? Are they copyrighted?
The Standards are owned by, and copyrighted to, Communities Scotland.
Is it mandatory to work to Standards and to be audited?
No. However many funders now require it as evidence of the quality of service they are funding.
What support is in place for working with the Standards?
HomePoint provides:
• help to interpret the Standards;
• advice on planning to meet them;
• seminars with other services;
• materials to support implementation;
• support for networking;
• training for advisers; and
• advice on going forward for accreditation, when you are ready.
How do the Standards apply to registered social landlords?
The Standards apply as they do to any organisation giving housing or money related information and advice. Communities Scotland Regulation and Inspection unit regulates agencies against a single set of Performance Standards published jointly with CoSLA and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations. These set out the expected standards of performance in each regulated area of activity. There is a guiding standard and activity standard in relation to information and advice. To avoid duplication in regulation, there is a protocol between Regulation and Inspection and HomePoint.
How do the Standards apply to local authorities?
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, Guidance on Advice and Information states that:
While there is no single model for delivery of advice and information services, local authorities should ensure provision meets the standards set out in HomePoint’s ‘Scottish National Standards for Housing Information and Advice Services’.
How do we carry out community profiling?
Standard 2.2: All services must undertake a regular exercise to determine the profile of their local community and any special needs that may exist.
It is not a requirement for each individual agency to undertake a separate community profile. However, each agency must be able to evidence that they have access to information about the community they serve, in order to ensure they are providing the service that suits and meets the need.
The obvious place to get this information is from relevant local authorities.
Local authorities produce strategic plans and assess local need. They hold statistical information about the geographical community that other providers can access. This information can be used as a planning tool either to extend or tailor services for future need or other provision in the area. This information is updated and reviewed annually.
What resources should we have in place to comply with the Standards?
The Standards require agencies to consider the support mechanisms that they have in place to ensure the quality of advice delivered. The Standards include a set of competences which give you a framework for supporting competence in your organisation. These include agency competences which tell you more about the resources you should have in place to support good advice giving in your service.
How should CABx work towards complying with the Standards?
CAS is responsible for introducing bureaux to the Standards and assessing their appropriateness to the particular bureau in question. A briefing for CABx is available from HomePoint, Communities Scotland.
Where do we start?
Your starting place is to complete the self-assessment checklist and be at a point where you are confident you can evidence that you are complying with the Standards. In addition to helping you identify how you move forward in complying with the Standards, the checklist now doubles as the main part of the application for audit.
There is some additional information which you will be required to submit before your audit application is complete. This includes details of the areas of law which you are applying for and the Type at which you are applying for each of these. You will also have to provide information on the staff involved the delivery of information and advice giving and a summary of your agency’s remit. The forms for submitting this information will be sent to you when you think you are ready for audit.
What should we do when we feel we are ready for audit?
You should contact HomePoint. They will want to find out more about where you are at with your work on the Standards and make sure that you have done enough to make it practical for you to come forward at this point in time.
If it looks like your service is at a point where accreditation is a possibility, HomePoint will refer you to Michael Bell Associates, the independent company which HomePoint has contracted to carry out the audits.
What is the difference between a quality of advice and a process audit?
The purpose of the quality of advice audit is to assess the quality of advice given by the agency. The key mechanism for this is case file review. The quality of advice audit primarily covers Standards 2.1, 4.1, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 5.4, and 5.5 with the remainder covered by the process audit. The audit may touch on other Standards, where appropriate.
The process audit is the second of the audit visits. The purpose of the process audit is to review evidence of documented process and procedures which underpin the delivery of a good quality advice service. It will consist of one process auditor visiting your offices for up to two days on site.
What evidence is required for the audit?
The auditors will look for evidence that you are complying with the Standards. The evidence will consist of records produced from working to your documented systems and processes. This will include, but not be limited to, well organised casework files, information about staff induction and training, minutes of meetings, casework review records, and so on.
During the audit the auditors will want to see examples of this evidence. They will also want to see evidence of how you are meeting the adviser and agency competences included in the Standards.
How do you audit CABx?
The separate membership audit carried out for all CABx by Citizens Advice Scotland covers the HomePoint audit elements except for the following Standards: 2.1 (agency remit), 4.4, 4.5, 4.6 (covering casework procedures and systems) 5.3, 5.5 and 5.6 (covering adviser competence, training and development and advice work supervision). This means that a shortened audit process applies to CABx, comprising a quality of advice audit only.
Can you be accredited as meeting an area of law if you do not have evidence through casework?
There may be instances where an agency is competent in several areas of law and feels competent at meeting an additional area or area(s) of law but there is insufficient evidence of this through casework. In these instances, auditors may test the knowledge and competence of the agencies advisers by putting a series of scenarios to them and assessing their responses.
How do you audit multi-site agencies?
Auditors will consider this on an individual agency basis. There will be instances where they will want to visit a number of sites to check that there is consistency of practice across the organisation in terms of quality of advice and the documented polices and procedures being work to. In other cases the auditor may request that workers from another site attend the main site to be interviewed.
What happens after the audit visits?
Once the audit visits have been completed, the audit team will prepare a draft report covering the quality of advice and process elements of the audit. The report will contain their findings and indicate whether or not the agency has fulfilled the requirements of the Standards.
The agency will then be sent a copy of the report, with a time period within which they can comment on any factual corrections required. Once the report has been agreed, a bound version will be sent to the agency together with a letter formally notifying them of the audit outcome.
If the agency is found to have fulfilled the requirements of the Standards, a Certificate of Accreditation will either be included or arrangements for a formal presentation discussed.
What are the possible outcomes?
The outcome of the audit may be that the agency is:
• accredited; or
• conditionally accredited; or
• not accredited.
What is the process if the agency is not accredited?
There are two options available where an agency has not been accredited as one that fulfils the Standards:
Conditional accreditation
Where the auditors find that the deficiencies identified during the audit can be rectified within a reasonable period (normally within 6 months) and that allowing time to do so would not lead to the public receiving potentially dangerous advice, the report will indicate what the agency needs to do in order for accreditation to be awarded. A follow up visit may take place at a future date to verify that these steps have been taken.
Not accredited
If the auditors’ opinion is that the audit findings have exposed significant problems in the quality of advice given by the agency and/or in the systems designed to support this function and that there is no prospect of an early improvement, the agency will be ‘not accredited’. In these instances, a new application for audit will have to be submitted by the agency should it wish to obtain accreditation at some point in the future.
How long will the accreditation last for?
Accreditation against the Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers is for a period of three years. However, it is recognised that much can change in this period. Therefore an interim validation exercise will take place about 18 months after the award of accreditation.
What is interim validation?
The interim validation exercise is based upon three core actions:
• self-validation by the agency;
• mystery shopping; and, (where problems have been identified); and
• selective process audit and/or selective file review.
For some agencies mystery shopping may not be appropriate (for example, Registered Social Landlords who only provide the service to their own tenants). In such cases the process will move straight to selective process audit and/or selective file review.
What is the role of the Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers Panel?
The accreditation service is overseen by an independent panel of experts, supported by HomePoint at Communities Scotland. This National Standards Panel is responsible for:
• overseeing and monitoring the accreditation process;
• approving changes to the Standards;
• the final phase of the appeal process;
• reporting progress to Ministers on an annual basis; and
• advising on the strategic direction of audit of advice agencies.
How does the appeals and complaints process work?
The accreditation service has separate complaints and appeals procedures.
Agencies have the right to make a complaint about any aspect of the audit process. Details about how to do this are set out in the complaints procedure which is sent out to all audited agencies.
There is an appeals procedure available where an agency is not happy with the overall findings from the audit. Details on this are sent to agencies with their draft accreditation report.
Who are the audit reports shared with?
To ensure public accountability, the Panel has decided that all final audit reports will be publicly available. This includes the reports of those who secure accreditation and those who do not. An application for audit implies consent to the publication of the audit report.
Summary versions of all reports are published on the Communities Scotland website.
Where do the money advice competencies fit?
The Standards remain the same and are applicable to any advice giving organisation. However, the Standards manual now incorporates topic specific competences for money advisers.
