Winter Newsletter

No 38
CORE
Winter Newsletter
In this Issue:
 An update of what has happened in CORE since
our Summer Newsletter in July 2014 (No 37)
 DCLG guidance and summary of log changes
for 2015-16
 2014-15 Reporting Status/ Time table




2013-14 Annual Statistical Release
UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) Compliance
System Changes – DCLG update
Data Disclosure Review - Options for
accessing data
CORE update [August – March]
The Autumn & Winter period has seen significant activity covering the annual & quarterly publication of
data, DCLG’s preparation around the 2015-16 Log Review, UKSA – National Statistics designation, Data
Disclosure Review:
2015-16 Annual Log Review
The CORE 2015-16 Log Review process
has been completed following
consultation with stakeholders. A
number of changes have now been
agreed as a result, which are detailed
later in this newsletter.
2013-2014 Annual Statistical
Release
The annual statistical release for
lettings and sales [April 2013- March
2014] was published on 16 October
(Sales) and 16 December (Lettings) and
organisational pdf reports are available
on request from the CORE helpdesk.
2014-15 Quarter 2 and Quarter 3
The organisational level quarterly pdf
reports were published in November
2014 and Feb 2015. Following the data
Disclosure Review (also detailed below),
PDf reports are available on request
from the CORE helpdesk.
Data Disclosure Review
DCLG undertook a review of data
disclosure practices following
consultation with the ONS, which has
implications for how providers and
sector stakeholders access CORE data.
UK Statistics Authority
The annual publication ‘Social Housing
Lettings & Sales, England’, based on
data collected by CORE, has officially
been designated as National Statistics.
DCLG Guidance on Log Changes
for 2015-16 [April 2015 – March
2016]
Each year a review takes place to identify
necessary updates to CORE Logs to reflect
changes in social housing activities and to meet
policy and provider need.
The review sought proposals from, and was
informed by, discussions with key stakeholders
within DCLG, across Government and across social
housing providers.
The criteria which are used in deciding which
proposals to take forward include the need for the
data, how critical the change is, what benefits it
will bring, the burden on data providers and
whether CORE is the right place to collect this
information.
DCLG’s Central and Local Information Partnership
Housing sub-group and the Single Data List
Gateway Group were consulted and agreed the
changes.
The next section highlights in pink the differences
between the 2014/15 logs and the new 2015/16
logs.
Version 1.5
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Lettings
Log
Question
Question Title
2015-16 Update
Q4a
Has anyone in the household
ever served in the British
Regular Armed Forces?
(Excluding National Service)
Is the tenant in receipt of, or
likely to be in receipt of, the
following:
 UC
 HB
 Neither
 Don’t Know
Was the reason for leaving a
direct result of the removal of
the spare room subsidy or
benefit cap introduced from
2013?
Text change : to confirm exclusion of National Service.
Q6
Q9b
Q12c
How long has the household
lived in this local authority
district (for the property being
let) prior to the letting?
Q17
Rent and other charges period:
Sales Log
Question
Question Title
Text change: removal of “As a result of this tenancy…"
because a tenant could already be in receipt of benefits/
UC prior to the tenancy. However, continued care needs
to be taken in relation to whether households have
come from, or are moving into, Universal Credit areas
for certain household profiles e.g. new claims from single
people (please reference DWP website for UC timetable).
Option changes: the reasons for leaving are now split
into either ‘under occupation measure’, ‘benefits cap’ or
‘both’, to track the impact of the measures individually.
Yes: Removal of the spare room subsidy
Yes: Benefit cap
Yes: Both
No, or Don’t Know.
New question: to elicit information on how long the
household (lead tenant) has lived in the local area where
the letting took place, prior to that let. To include six
response options: New to local authority, <1yr, 1-2yr, 25yrs, greater than 5 years and don’t know.
Additional option: Previously, this question did not allow
Week 53 as an a response option which is problematic
when Week 53 calendar years occur periodically.
Therefore, options have been expanded to allow for the
system to accept 53 weeks. For eCORE this will include
a new option 10 – weekly for 53 weeks.
2015-16 Update
No changes
Please note: All key 2015-16 documentation
has now been published on the CORE website
with a DCLG notification outlining key changes
to the CORE logs with guidance and support.
The CORE Manual will be published in early
Spring.
Most importantly, electronic versions of the logs
can also be found here in the ‘Learn about CORE’
and ‘Logs’ section:
https://core.communities.gov.uk/LearnAboutCore/
LACLogs.aspx
Impact of 2015-16 updates: eCORE
Below is a link to where the 2015-16 eCORE
specification can be found (this has already been
circulated to known eCORE software suppliers).
The specification has been updated to reflect the
differences between the 2014/15 logs and the new
2015/16 logs
https://core.communities.gov.uk/LearnAboutCore/
LACGuidesAndManuals.aspx
Please liaise with your software supplier and
internal IT team as soon as possible to ensure that
these changes are applied in time for the April
2015 start date.
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No 38
2014-15 Status and Key dates
Here are the key dates for CORE reporting
covering 2014/15 (Lettings and Sales logs
between 1 April 2014-31 March 2015)
Social and Affordable
Rent Letting and
Sales 2014/15
2014-15 Volumes (Ytd) are progressing well.
However, the momentum needs to be
maintained to ensure full submissions for the
respective quarters. DCLG would encourage full
reconciliation of submissions to date to ensure
data is submitted promptly by 16 April for the
interim draft reports.
Date
2014-15 Annual cut-off
[Interim]
16 April
2015
2014-15 Annual cut-off
[Final]
Mid June
2015
2013-14 Annual Statistical Release
The Annual CORE Statistical Release for Lettings
and Sales [April 2013- March 2014] was
published on 16 October (Sales) and 16
December (Lettings) 2014. Links are available on
the CORE website (Alerts section), or through
the following link: 2013-14 Statistical Release
The lettings publication was published for the
first time as National Statistics along with a
quality report to explain to users the quality
aspects of the statistics. Also new was a wide
range of data published at local authority area
level. Maps and summary national level tables
are also available.
Headlines from the Statistical Release
 The broad upward trend in social housing
lettings by private registered providers
continued, with a 5% increase in lettings to
270,659 in 2013/14.


Local authority lettings also increased to
126,238 in 2013/14, a reversal of their longterm trend.
The average (median) net weekly social rent
of properties let in 2013/14 was £79, whilst
average (median) affordable rents were £109.
1
Older people
Multi adult no children
Multi adult with children
Single adult
Single adult with children
Other
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
GN SR
PRP
GN SR
LA
SH SR
PRP
SH SR
LA
GN AR
PRP

In the third year of the affordable rent
programme, private registered providers let
35,848 general needs properties at
affordable rents, comprising around a fifth
(21%) of their general needs lettings.

The most common type of household taking
up a general needs letting continued to be
single adults aged under 60, either with or
without children (59% of lettings).
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No 38
DCLG Guidance: UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) Compliance
The UK Statistics Authority has designated the ‘Social Housing
Lettings, England’ publication based on CORE data as National
Statistics, signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official
Statistics. DCLG and TNS wish to thank data providers for providing
accurate and quality data that helped to ensure the statistics were
awarded this status.
The UK Statistics Authority is an independent body at arm’s length
from government with direct reporting to Parliament and the
devolved legislatures, rather than through Ministers, and with the
statutory objective of promoting and safeguarding the production
and publication of official statistics that “serve the public good”.
CORE System changes – DCLG update
Currently, CORE data is collected and reported via the CORE (TNS)
website. DCLG has developed a new IT system to bring the CORE
data collection in-house, and is currently testing it with data
providers.
Data will continue to be collected and validated through the usual
lettings and sales forms and via ecore bulk upload, and will follow the
same data collection and reporting cycle. DCLG will communicate with
data providers before the new system goes live.
Data Disclosure
DCLG has reviewed the disclosure practices of data collected via CORE. The new process
for releasing CORE data brings it in line with recommended GSS practice and the legal
framework in regards to data protection. Further information on the review is available at
https://core.communities.gov.uk/Login.aspx
DCLG is planning to bring the CORE data collection in-house to collect data (see above).
The analytical and visualisation tools that are being developed will be in line with the new
disclosure practices.
It is planned that the new system will allow public access to:
 an interactive facility to view national level data
 local authority tables and modified pdf reports showing all local authority level data
that is suitable for public release
CORE data providers will also still be able to view their own data at record level, access
their own organisation reports and produce their own performance reports. However,
these will not be publicly available as they cover private and sensitive data.
DCLG will also continue to publish annual National Statistics and local authority tables (See
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/social-housing-lettings-in-england-april-2013to-march-2014 )
Record level data is now deposited at the UK Data Archive and is accessible via a generic
license (End User License). Users that wish to access more sensitive record level data can
do so with a Special License or request Secure Access, depending on their needs and use
of the data. The various licenses have been set out with expert advice to ensure that there
is an adequate balance between the disclosure controls on the data and the nature of the
accessed data.
DCLG is working on further ways to make the CORE data accessible to meet the needs of
users who are currently not met via the new disclosure practices. We would therefore
welcome your feedback (please email [email protected]).
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