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Walsall Borough Housing Strategy 2026 Montoring and evaluation

A robust monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework is central to the successful delivery of our Walsall Housing Strategy. This framework ensures that progress is systematically tracked, challenges are identified and managed early, best practice is embedded, and outcomes align with the ambitions of the Strategy’s vision and objectives. The M&E system provides transparency for residents, partners, and investors, and ensures evidence-based decision-making at all levels. Importantly, it is designed to align with national, regional, and local priorities to support coordinated and impactful delivery. 

Monitoring Framework Overview 

The M&E framework for Walsall’s Housing Strategy is designed to:

  • Measure outputs, outcomes, and benefits—not just what is delivered, but the difference it makes to residents and communities. 
  • Align with national, regional, and local priorities, including the Local Government Outcomes Framework (LGOF), Local Plan, West Midlands Combined Authority, and public health strategies. 
  • Support adaptive management by providing actionable insights that enable continuous improvement and responsive delivery.
  • Ensure transparency, accountability, and clear communication with all stakeholders including residents, partners, investors, and elected members. 

Alignment with Draft Local Government Outcomes Framework (LGOF) 

This strategy is aligned with the Local Government Outcomes Framework (LGOF) Draft 2025, ensuring all delivery, monitoring, and evaluation reflect national priority outcomes and agreed sector metrics. Our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) directly map to LGOF priority outcomes including: 

  • Preventing and reducing homelessness and rough sleeping
  • Ensuring everyone has access to a decent, safe, secure, and affordable home • Improving outcomes for adults experiencing multiple disadvantage
  • Supporting children and young people to thrive and be safe • Enhancing health and wellbeing and reducing inequalities
  • Delivering high quality, independent adult social care • Fostering safe, inclusive, and resilient neighbourhoods
  • Supporting environment, climate resilience, and sustainable transport 
  • Promoting local economic prosperity and reducing child poverty We will integrate data collection and reporting with national datasets, such as MHCLG, ONS, and DfE, to maintain consistency and enable benchmarking. Our monitoring dashboards and action plans will be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure ongoing compliance with evolving LGOF standards and emerging sector metrics. This alignment reinforces our commitment to delivering measurable, impactful outcomes for Walsall residents and ensures accountability to regional and national frameworks.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Performance Metrics 

KPIs have been structured around the four Big Moves and six enabling functions, and are designed to be measurable, time-bound, and outcome-focused. All KPIs will have 2024/25 baselines established and tracked through to 2030 with regular interim milestones.

1. Investment: Supply, Quality, Energy Efficiency, Healthy Environments 

  • Total new homes delivered (annual and cumulative)
  • Affordable homes delivered (number and % of total; split by social rent/intermediate)
  •  Specialist/adapted homes delivered for disabled, elderly, care leavers (number, % of need) 
  • Existing homes upgraded to EPC C or above (number, % total stock)
  • Reduction in households in fuel poverty (% change)
  • Resident satisfaction with home quality, energy efficiency (survey %)
  • Average energy bills per household (trend)
  • Number of complaints and defects (trend) 
  • External investment leveraged for housing/retrofit (£, number of funding sources)
  • Number of joint funding bids, strategic initiatives, or delivery projects undertaken in partnership with WMCA and Homes England.
  • Number of new homes delivered annually that meet aspirational housing criteria (high-quality design, energy efficiency, market appeal). 

2. Intervene: Tenure Mix and Market Shaping 

  • Sites unlocked for housing delivery (number, including brownfield and complex sites) 
  • Average time to planning approval (weeks, trend) 
  • % of new developments meeting affordable housing targets 
  • Tenure mix achieved on new developments (% by type: social, intermediate, market, supported) 
  • PRS compliance with Decent Homes Standard (% inspected, passing) 
  • Reduction in poor quality conversions/rogue landlord activity (number, enforcement actions) 

3. Inclusive Growth: Community, Economy, Wellbeing

  •  Number of place-based regeneration projects delivered (by area)
  • Public realm/green space improvements completed in priority areas (% of target) 
  • Resident perceptions of neighbourhood safety, pride, walkability (% positive, annual survey) 
  • Residents supported into construction, retrofit, green jobs (number, diversity breakdown) 
  • % of new major housing schemes co-produced with residents/service users 
  • Engagement rates among youth, care leavers, vulnerable groups (% of target population) 

4. Integrate: Partnerships, Governance, Data 

  • Multi-agency board/partnership forum attendance rates (%)
  • Number of cross-sector initiatives and projects launched 
  • Partner satisfaction with governance and collaboration (% positive, annual survey)
  • Timeliness and frequency of performance reporting (meets schedule, % published as planned)
  • Data platform/dashboard usage (users, frequency; public and staff) 
  • Transparency rating (stakeholder survey) 

5. Cross-Cutting Outcomes

  • Delivery against annual and cumulative targets (RAG-rated)
  • Reduction in homelessness and households in temporary accommodation (number, % change)
  • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) metrics (breakdown of beneficiaries, participation rates) • External investment secured (£, number of successful bids) 
  • Leveraged private sector delivery/partnerships (number, £ value)

Data Collection, Baseline, and Management 

  • Baseline Establishment - All KPIs will have a 2024/25 baseline established, using a combination of council data, partner information, and national datasets. 
  • Data Integration - Performance data will be captured in a single, integrated data platform accessible to all relevant council teams and partners.
  • Quality Assurance - Data will be subject to annual cleansing and independent review to ensure accuracy, reliability, and comparability. 
  • Dashboard Reporting - Live dashboards will track key metrics, and summary performance reports will be published quarterly. 

Monitoring Processes and Frequency 

  • Quarterly:
    • Internal review of all KPIs and delivery milestones by the Delivery Board and multi-agency partnership groups.
    • Data dashboard updated and reviewed by relevant teams. 
    • Risks and issues reviewed, with mitigation plans updated. 
  • Biannual:
    •  Public-facing performance summary report published online. 
    • Resident and partner feedback surveys on satisfaction, engagement, and transparency
  • Annual: 
    • Full strategy progress review presented to Cabinet and Partnership Board. 
    • Independent or peer evaluation of impact, lessons learned, and best practice. 
    • Benchmarking against similar local authorities and national standards. 

Transparency and Accountability

  • Public Dashboards - Key metrics and progress will be published in real time via a public dashboard, ensuring residents and partners can hold the council to account. 
  • RAG-Rated Progress - All major objectives and KPIs will be RAG-rated (Red, Amber, Green) in quarterly and annual reports. 
  • Open Data Sharing - Data and insights will be shared at partnership forums, and feedback actively invited from all stakeholders.

A transparent, data-driven approach to monitoring and evaluation underpins the success of the Walsall Housing Strategy. By publishing regular performance data, engaging stakeholders, and adapting delivery in response to evidence and learning, Walsall will maximise impact, build public trust, and ensure lasting benefit for all communities. 

The action plan will be refreshed through a rolling annual programme, ensuring regular updates based on new data and stakeholder feedback. In addition, a comprehensive review will take place every two years to assess progress and re-evaluate priorities. A full strategic refresh will be conducted every five years, aligning with broader policy reviews and long-term objectives. This structured approach will keep the strategy responsive, transparent, and focused on delivering meaningful outcomes.