SafetyCulture and Derbyshire Councils have partnered to enhance property safety as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. SafetyCulture is providing Derbyshire Councils with free commercial iAuditor licenses, for use by local government officers, to implement digital property inspections. 

The Homes for Ukraine scheme allows people in the UK to offer accommodation for at least six months to Ukrainian refugees. Alongside homes, the government will also provide funding to local authorities to support refugees in rebuilding their lives. The scheme has so far received 200,000 offers of accommodation. 

It is essential that homes are inspected to ensure safeguarding for refugees coming to the UK. The new process spearheaded by Derbyshire Councils can now be accessed by any local authority and local government officer in the country to create consistent safeguarding for the Homes for Ukraine scheme.  

Tim Summers, Principal Environmental Health Officer at South Derbyshire District Council, sought to create a standardised inspection pro forma for use by Derbyshire Councils. Matt Fin, Environmental Health Service manager at North East Derbyshire District Council adapted the form, creating a paperless process that enabled digital inspections using SafetyCulture’s iAuditor app. 

Tim Summers, Principal Environmental Health Officer, South Derbyshire Council, said ”We are finding iAuditor a tremendous tool for our Homes for Ukraine property inspections, enabling us to standardise inspections and analyse data to create consistent standards across our region and nationwide.”

As part of this initiative, SafetyCulture collaborated with the team at North East Derbyshire District Council to set up 40 free licenses for use with the Property Inspection Template. Other local authorities seeking support in delivering the Homes for Ukraine initiative can contact SafetyCulture, who will be on hand to provide access, onboarding, and support in getting started with the Property Inspection Template.   

Nicky Chenery, General Manager EMEA at SafetyCulture, said “These are challenging times, and we want to do what we can to support the work that is being done to find refugees safe housing in the UK. Working with local authorities including Derbyshire Councils to create digital and standardized processes is one way we can help, by bringing refugee safeguarding to the top of the agenda.

“Even better is that these templates can be used nationally by other local authorities, so that we can get refugees into safe homes as quickly as possible across the UK. The Property Inspection Template will be available to any local authority or charity who needs it. Our SafetyCulture team is ready to support and help wherever possible by onboarding and upskilling teams in iAuditor, and I’m confident that these tools will help local authorities make a real difference.”