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About MSJ Consultancy

Housing.
Analysis, Data Standards, Data, Statistics and Research

Business.
MSJConsultancy is a small business specialising in the specification, collection, analysis and dissemination of housing data and statistics. The company has particular expertise in developing the use of administrative data to produce housing statistics for small geographical areas.

Principles.

  • Better housing data. MSJConsultancy supports the principle of improving data in order to improve the quality of public policy making, interest group effectiveness and focus of business decision making.
  • Better access to housing data. MSJConsultancy supports the principle of improved access to data through clearer and more pro-active signposting to the data and statistics that are already in the public domain and opening up of data that is not yet public.
  • Housing Statistics Users Group. MSJConsultancy advocates the re-establishment of this body to strengthen the influence of the users of housing data and statistics on their quality and availability.

Curriculum Vitae

MICK JOHNSTON: Housing Analyst

Highly experienced housing analyst with thirty years in local government carrying out research, survey and policy development for structure planning and housing strategy. Last seven years spent as secondee then consultant to government departments with overall responsibility for development of the Housing Domain of the Neighbourhood Statistics Service (NeSS), including pioneering the use of public sector administrative housing data. The latter included development from scratch of the following new systems for the collection and use of address level data; the National Register of Social Housing (NROSH), the Electronic Survey of Empty Homes (ESEH), the Register of Licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (ROLHMO) and Tenancy Deposits (TEDS).

Motivated, creative and innovative, with skills in analysis, report writing, communication, presentation and leadership. Committed to the principles of better information for evidence based policies.

DATA STANDARDS

Leading expert in housing data standards having written the data standards for social housing stock, licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation, tenancy deposits and council tax that form the basis for the NROSH, ESEH, ROLHMO and TEDS data collection systems. Also with extensive knowledge of the CORE data standards having been a member of the advisory group and its successors for over ten years. As well as specifying the data standards led procurement and quality assurance of the XML Schemas for each of the above.

NEIGHBOURHOOD STATISTICS

In close liaison with the Office for National Statistics and in consultation with stakeholders designed and was responsible for the production of datasets on house prices, housing stock by council tax band, social housing stock, rents, lettings and demand/supply, homelessness, tenancy deposits, empty homes, housing benefit rent determinations and licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation. Many of these are now published on the NeSS website and some are still in the pipeline.

DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PUBLICATION SYSTEM FOR SOCIAL HOUSING STOCK STATISTICS

In close consultation with stakeholders specified and procured a pioneering web based system for publishing both aggregated statistics and raw address level data on social housing. The system, known as NROSH-Online, covers the whole of England and now contains data on 4million dwellings. Users can produce standard statistical reports for segments of the stock defined by a range of geographic, owner, manager and other criteria.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Successfully managed a large number of small projects including a number of stock condition surveys both in-house and contracted out; surveys of student accommodation, general housing need and minority ethnic housing needs; plus development of the innovative data collection systems mentioned above and leading the extension of the CORE system to include local authority social housing.

EQUALITIES

Committed to raising the profile of equalities issues in relation to housing. Commissioned two major pieces of research on ethnic housing needs and contributed to the editing of the resultant publications Race and Housing in Bradford by Peter Ratcliffe, and Breaking Down the Barriers by Peter Ratcliffe and Anne Power, including the action plan for improving Asian access to social housing in Bradford. Carried out research and policy development on housing and disability which led to the establishment of one of the first disability housing registers and the Disabled Persons Housing Service at Bradford; more recently played role of housing equalities statistics champion in government developing and delivering the housing statistics elements of the Communities and Local Government Disability Equality Scheme, setting national data standards for accessibility of social housing, and associated targets for collection of the data, and the addition of disability categories to the CORE data standards. Pioneered the development of minority ethnic population and household formation projections as the basis for analysing their housing needs and developing strategies to meet them.

EXPERT ADVISOR

Consulted by government departments and agencies over many years on a wide range of topics including household projections, stock condition surveys, national census question design and outputs, minority ethnic housing policy and community cohesion.

COLLABORATION

Long standing commitment to and track record in applying the principles of multi disciplinary multi agency working and stakeholder empowerment. Established one of the first local authority housing forums to involve all housing agencies directly in the development, adoption and implementation of housing strategy. Later led transformation of the forum into the Bradford Housing Partnership and incorporation of the latter as a member of the Local Strategic Partnership. Pioneered the development of neighbourhood community forums to give tenants and residents a voice on housing issues. Led and developed the national Housing CLIP group from 1996 to 2002; actually authored the title Central Local Information Partnership and played a key role in winning support for the development of the CLIP Concordat which formalised the new closer relationship between central and local government on statistics. Instituted the annual regional seminars on the National Register of Social Housing and established various multi agency consultative and steering groups for the development of housing neighbourhood statistics.

COMMUNICATION

Lucid communicator in a range of media. Extensive experience of production of promotional leaflets/newsletters, exhibition materials, PowerPoint presentations and website design. Directed production of the CORE/NROSH promotional video for the 2008 LGA Conference. Widely experienced in giving presentations from workshops and seminars to national conferences.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE - 1970 to present

1970 to 1974. Bradford City Council, Development Plan: Population, Housing and Recreation research and policy; housing development project management. 1974 to 1986. West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council Structure Plan: Population and housing research and strategic policy 1986 to 2002. Bradford Metropolitan District Council: Housing Research and Strategy Manager. 2002 to 2007. Seconded to the Department for Transport and the Regions (DeTR), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and Communities and Local Government as Housing Neighbourhood Statistics Project Manager 2007 to 2009. Consultant. Contracted to Communities and Local Government for management of point data collection systems, the National Register of Social Housing and monitoring of the 2004 Housing Act

EDUCATION

BSc. Civil Engineering, Portsmouth Polytechnic
Post Graduate Diploma in Town Planning, Leeds Polytechnic

MSJ Consultancy Introduction

Welcome to the MSJConsultancy website. MSJC is a small consultancy specialising in housing statistics, their application and sourcing. Director Mick Johnston has extensive experience as both analyst and provider of housing data and statistics gained over 40 years in local and national government. MSJC is available for advice, assistance in obtaining statistics or raw data, procurement of surveys and analysis/synthesis of housing data.

Current Projects

Housing Statistics Network view summary..

Statistics networks have existed for most topics for many years but for some reason there has never been one for housing, apart from a short lived User Group initiated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2002. MSJConsultancy is currently working with the Royal Statistical Society to re-launch this as the Housing Statistics Network with a view to affiliating it to the Statistics Users Forum. The HSN will be launched at a free open half day seminar at the RSS on 26th Feb 2010. All welcome; first come first served for places. Follow the HSN link on the left for more information and a registration form.

Housing Statistics Guidance view summary..

There is an abundance of data and statistics on housing but the sheer amount of it can sometimes be an obstacle to using it effectively. MSJC aims to produce user friendly guidance on what is available together with pointers on where and how to get hold of what you want. Guidance is currently in production on the housing statistics that are available through the Neighbourhood Statistics Service website, including the 2001 Census statistics. This will be available free of charge on this website in January 2010.

Housing Statistics Internet Forum view summary..

MSJC has established a pilot internet forum to facilitate debate on housing statistics. The Forum opened on 30th December 2009 under the banner of the Housing Statistics Network with two discussion topics inviting comment on the launch of the HSN and on the Aims and Objectives of the HSN. Give it a try, using the link on the left, and feel free to start new discussion topics.

Housing Statistics Network

Housing Statistics Network Launch Seminar

26th Feb 2010

A new Housing Statistics Network is being established to raise the profile of housing statistics through the Statistics Users Forum run by the Royal Statistical Society. It will help to improve communication between users of housing statistics and the providers and across the user community. Most other areas of government policy, health, education, transport, finance etc have well established bodies which carry out these functions but for some reason housing never has, apart from a short-lived Housing Statistics Users Group sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2002/3.
The new HSN will be launched at a half day seminar being held at the RSS in London. Comment on this initiative is welcome and should be submitted via the new internet HSN Forum (See below)

HSN Launch Seminar Agenda.

We are fortunate to have a stellar line up of speakers for the Housing Statistics Network launch. Their presentations will cover a wide range of housing topics relevant to the current state of the housing market from house prices to homelessness and from private renting to social housing. They will address the statistical issues as well as the statistics themselves. There will be time for Q&A and the afternoon will conclude with consideration of Aims and Objectives for the HSN and establishment of a Steering Group. See Seminar Agenda for details of speakers, time and location.

Registration.

This is an open invitation to all to come along to the seminar, hear the presentations and support the launch of the HSN. There is no charge for attendance but please register using the form if you would like to come. It will be first come first served for places.

Background.

If you would like a bit more information on the Statistics Users Forum and the various statistics groups that are affiliated to it have a look at the RSS background note on the SUF.

Aims and Objectives.

The HSN must formally adopt Aims and Objectives in order to affiliate to the SUF. However these do not need to be too detailed and experience from the demise of the old Housing Statistics Users Group suggests that it might be best if they are kept fairly modest initially with a view to developing them as the capacity of the Network develops. Click Aims and Objectives for a draft. We would be very interested in any comments you have on these so please give your views using the HSN Internet Forum so they can be shared.

Support the HSN.

If you are unable to get along to the seminar but would like to show your support for the Network and keep in touch please provide your contact details using the registration form.

HSN Steering Group.

The sustainability of the HSN will in part depend on the establishment of a steering group which will decide on its future activities and spread ownership of the HSN as widely as possible across the housing statistics community. If you are interested in getting involved at that level don't hesitate to let us know by ticking the box on the Registration Form. For more information click on the Steering Group button in the content menu on the left for a discussion note.

HSN Internet Forum.

MSJC has established a pilot internet forum to facilitate debate on housing statistics. The Forum opened on 30th December 2009 under the banner of the Housing Statistics Network with two discussion topics inviting comment on the launch of the HSN and on the Aims and Objectives of the HSN. Give it a try, using the link on the left, and feel free to start new discussion topics.

Provisional Aims and Objectives

Aims
  • Represent the interests of users of housing statistics with the providers.
  • Assist networking between statistics users.
  • Raise the profile of housing statistics and the emanating issues.
Objectives
  • Organise at least two open events per year.
  • Develop a website to facilitate networking and consultation.
  • Affiliate to the Statistics Users Forum

Launch Seminar Agenda

Friday 26th February 2010

At Royal Statistical Society, 12 Errol Street, London, EC1Y 8LX,

Agenda
  1. Opening remarks about re-launch of the Housing Statistics Network. Mick Johnston (MSJConsultancy)
  2. Overview of housing statistics. Meg Green/Trevor Steeples (Communities and Local Government)
  3. House prices and house price statistics. Peter Williams (Consultant/Acadametrics)
  4. Homelessness. Analysis of the first homelessness prevention statistics. Hal Pawson ( School of the Built Environment, Herriot Watt University)
  5. Social housing. Current statistics, the Regulatory Statistical Return, and new data, the National Register of Social Housing. Christine Whitehead (Centre for Housing and Planning Research, Cambridge University)
  6. Private rented sector statistics; what there is and what is needed. Steve Wilcox (Centre for Housing Policy, York University)
  7. Housing Statistics Network; Provisional aims and objectives and steering group members.
Programme
1.00 Registration, tea, coffee etc
1.30 Start of Agenda
4.30 Finish

Steering Group

Thoughts on Role

The Steering Group, once established, will determine its own rules, remit and method of working. Some statistics groups have been around for a long time and have developed quite elaborate ways of working. The wisest approach for a new group might be to start with something relatively modest but achievable. The following are the thoughts of the author only (Mick Johnston) but may help anyone considering whether to volunteer for the steering group to get a handle on what might be involved. I sincerely hope it doesn't put anyone off.

Rules:

Perhaps a membership of around a dozen. If there were to be a lot more volunteers than this some method of selection would probably need to be adopted but that would be for the Steering Group to address later.

While there should be no expectation that every member would be hyperactively engaged it would be important that all do actively participate to a greater or lesser degree on a fairly regular basis.

It would probably be useful to have some kind of periodic review of membership primarily to ensure that vacant places are filled and perhaps that the desired range of representation is achieved.

Constitution. The minimum requirement is a set of Aims and Objectives. The RSS has advised that something on the lines of the current draft would suffice. If the Steering Group decided that in future this needed to be developed the RSS would be happy to advise.

Remit:

The Steering Group has a key role in setting the direction of the HSN through the nature and content of the events it organises and the issues it chooses to highlight.

The SG is responsible for ensuring that any programme it adopts is delivered. This does not necessarily mean that they have to do all the work themselves. The question of how delivery is organised and, if required, resourced is for the SG to decide.

The SG is largely responsible for developing the relationship between statistics users and the suppliers of statistics. This is less straightforward than it might appear as most suppliers of statistics are also users of other peoples' statistics. It is common for suppliers of statistics to attend, and/or be members of SGs, at the invitation of statistics users, in some kind of co-opted/advisory capacity.

The SG would have a general responsibility for ensuring that the interests of the whole range of HSN members are represented in the programme and in the dialogue with statistics suppliers.

The SG would be responsible for ensuring representation at the Statistics Users Forum and deciding on input as appropriate to any conferences or other events that the SUF organises.

The SG should publish some record of its proceedings but not necessarily full formal minutes.

Funding. Some Statistics Groups charge a fee for membership, generally a nominal one but most do not. The predecessor Housing Statistics User Group decided not to on the grounds that the burden of handling large volumes of small transactions would probably be greater than the net benefit. However this, or alternative methods of funding, may be something that the SG would want to look at.

Working Methods:

Meetings or not? MSJConsultancy is a bit old fashioned and believes that some face to face contact is highly desirable in developing the work of any group, particularly a new one. However electronic communication has come so far since the predecessor of the HSN foundered that it can now in theory play a major role in avoiding unnecessary meetings and travel. The best balance between the two will be for the SG to find.

Newsletter. Some statistics groups produce a newsletter as the focus for both communication with their network and for airing issues. Again it is for the SG to decide whether it has the resources for this type of activity or whether alternative methods of communication could do the job.

Registration for Launch Seminar, Contact List, Steering Group

The registration form has now moved to the HSN website, link below.

www.housingstatisticsnetwork.co.uk

Neighbourhood Statistics Service

The Neighbourhood Statistics Service is provided by the Office for National Statistics and holds a wealth of information at local area level across the whole UK. It was set up in response to recommendations of a Cabinet Office Policy Action Team (PAT18) which called for better information at neighbourhood level to help develop and drive the government's Social Exclusion programme. The data are all open access and downloadable from the ONS website. There are currently almost 600 datasets grouped into 15 topics. Many NeSS datasets are updated annually and completely new datasets are still being added.

The NeSS is a tremendous resource which can be used to obtain profiles of specific local areas or to download data for the whole country. The sheer volume of information however can make it difficult for some users to find what they want. It is not possible to tell exactly what information is in a data set without opening it up and if a number of datasets need to be explored this can be time consuming.

The NeSS Housing Topic alone contains 40 datasets and MSJConsultancy will be publishing a short guide to these in the New Year which may be useful particularly to new users of NeSS.

Contact: mick.johnston@msjconsultancy.co.uk MSJ Consultancy