12 council 'trailblazers' to offer homes and jobs advice

A Communities and Local Government: Corporate News article on 3 July tells us "Advice on training, employment and childcare are just some of the extra services that will be on offer to people when they discuss their housing options with their local authority".

Housing Minister Caroline Flint announced the winners of the first of two programmes of "trailblazers" that will offer a greater range of advice to people looking for housing, with some moving towards a "one stop shop" approach of personalised advice and links to employment opportunities and training.

The twelve trailblazers will also take on a mentoring role, sharing best practice and support with around 20 councils that will receive funding to kick start their own enhanced housing options schemes in 2009/2010.

The twelve local authority winners are:
1) Camden
2) Croydon
3) Greenwich
4) Hammersmith & Fulham
5) Southwark
6) Norwich
7) Nottingham
8) Kettering
9) Blackpool
10) Calderdale
11) Ashford
12) Bournemouth

Full press release

Hazel's comment:
Given the amount of time that it takes to learn about employment and training opportunities this seems to me like a thoroughly daft idea. Surely it would make more sense to add "housing advice" to the long list of topics about which guidance practitioners have knowledge. Hang about, don't personal advisers in Connexions Services (where, of course, these still exist) cover health, housing, drugs etc etc? What is going on here?

I'd be grateful for comments that explain it since I can find nothing else except the departmental view.