Tower Hamlets Homes Business Plan 2014-2017
Our ambition for the organisation and headline objectives for the next three years.
Final Version: 29 May 14
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Contents
Here to Help ... 1
Contents...2 Foreword ...3 Context ...4Tower Hamlets Homes in 2014...6
Tower Hamlets Homes in 2017...8
Our Three Year Plan ... 10
Our Customers ... 12
Work So Far ... 14
How do we act on our priorities in each year? ... 17
Annual Roadmap 2014/15 ... 18
What are we focussing on this year? ... 19
What resources do we have? ... 21
Appendix A:How Will We Measure Success? ... 25
Appendix B: Progress achieved against 2013/14 Business Plan ... 26
Foreword
We operate in one of the most vibrant, diverse, and exciting parts of the UK. We care for an extraordinary range of assets and resources –including 23,000 homes and a talented team of almost 500 staff. That is a humbling responsibility and opportunity. The communities we serve are our communities; the families we house are our families; the lives we change are our lives.
Our vision is to provide the best housing services in Tower Hamlets by 2014 but our aspiration matches our ability. We know that we have the potential to be a brilliant organisation that rivals the best in the country. But achieving that will require one of our core values: courage. Our plan for the next three years reflects this ‐ recognising that we will only succeed if we work for and with residents and place our values and ambition at the heart of everything we do. This Business Plan charts the journey. It consists of two integral parts: • Here to Help– articulating our ambition for the organisation and headline objectives for the next three years
• Annual Roadmap–ensuring our plan is responsive to emerging issues in each of the next three years without compromising our values or ambition
We believe this approach will help to improve performance across all service areas whilst making sustained changes to our organisational culture. This has already started with the nine month review of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services and the improved way of working we have developed. But shaping a successful and sustainable organisation takes time and requires a long‐ term commitment to excellence.
We are operating in a constantly shifting environment – with national cuts to public services, radical welfare reforms, inexorable demographic shifts, and evolving local priorities. The next three years will not be an easy time to make this transformation but we need to improve because of the challenges, not despite them. We know that minimising service charge costs is a high priority for leaseholders and we have already delivered year on year savings by reducing our overheads. Our objective during 2014‐17 is to deliver further service charge reductions for leaseholders by cutting our premises costs and by increasing productivity in areas where we are comparatively high cost such as housing management. Being an agile business that loves what it does and is loved by its customers is the only sustainable way forward. In three years, we will have blown our customers’ expectations out of the water. The quality of our homes, neighbourhoods, services, and standards will be so high that we will be the partner of choice for LBTH. Amongst all the uncertainty, some things are clear. People will still need housing, some of them will be vulnerable, and all will deserve exceptional services. That is why we exist. We are here to help. Final Version: 29 May 14
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Context
As well as operating in one of the most vibrant, diverse, and exciting parts of the UK the context in which we plan, manage and develop our business is changing and shifting.The most significant of these contextual changes are summarised in this section in order to provide the background to our business planning this year and beyond. LBTH Housing Strategy The Council’s Housing Strategy sets the strategic context of housing need and how the Council works with partners to address that need. THH continues to play a significant role in delivering the ambitions and aspirations of the Council by putting into place initiatives which support the overall objectives and through positive partnership working. Mayoral Priorities The Mayor has stated that housing and overcrowding are top of his list of priorities. Too many Tower Hamlets families live in overcrowded accommodation, impacting upon every aspect of their lives – health, the education of their children and their ability to work. THH continues to work to identify and support overcrowded households within the properties it manages as well as seeking to make the optimal use of stock by encouraging and supporting downsizing where tenants wish to move to smaller accommodation, releasing larger properties for use by families. Good quality, dry and warm homes are also an important Tower Hamlets priority which is why delivering the THH Decent Homes programme is so important. More new affordable homes also need to be constructed to improve housing supply and to reduce overcrowding and homelessness. THH is pleased to be playing a part in this, and in 2014/15 will start to develop new homes for the first time. Community safety and reducing crime remains a significant issue of concern to residents in Tower Hamlets. This is reflected at the neighbourhood level in THH residents’ concerns about anti‐social behaviour and continues to be a management priority, ensuring that we identify problems, act decisively to stop ASB and to increase confidence and reduce dissatisfaction. Cleanliness is a further Mayoral priority which THH plays a significant contributing role in delivering, ensuring that the neighbourhoods which we have responsibility for are clean, tidy, safe and well‐ kept for those who live there and those who visit. Welfare Reform Welfare reform continues to be the most significant change affecting residents. THH has already done a lot to both understand the impact and to support residents who are affected. As a consequence, rent collection has remained high and above target. We have managed the arrears levels of tenants impacted by the various welfare reform changes. Our work has advanced well beyond the awareness‐raising phase important though that is. We designed and introduced a welfare reform dashboard which enables us to monitor the impact of the welfare reform changes, assess the effectiveness of our support and plan further interventions. Active case management is in place, prioritising support for those affected earliest and hardest. Our work with advice partners, the Council and other agencies has intensified. We participated in a Big Lottery Fund funded initiative led by Toynbee Hall which reviewed our systems and processes around financial inclusion from a resident’s perspective. This review revealed many areas of best practice. We continue to reach out directly to those affected to work with them to understand their position and to provide Final Version: 29 May 14
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appropriate advice and support. THH We will continue to do this as further welfare reform changes are made and come into effect. Fairness Commission The Fairness Commission reported its findings in September 2013 and THH is contributing to supporting action to progress some of the Commission’s recommendations. Notably, our impact will primarily be in the areas of providing further housing for people in housing need (we will begin to develop directly for the first time during 2014/15) and improving financial capacity and encouraging financial inclusion (we will continue to work with partners to ensure residents receive good quality and timely financial advice and support). Final Version: 29 May 14
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Tower Hamlets Homes in 2014
Our Organisation
We are an ALMO (Arm’s Length Management Organisation) – a not‐for‐profit company set up to deliver high quality housing services for residents living in 21,500 Tower Hamlets Council homes. Our Vision By 2014, we will provide the best housing services in Tower Hamlets. We have achieved a lot since THH was established in 2008. We: • Improved customer satisfaction by 20% • Gained two stars from the Audit Commission • Delivered Decent Homes • Became the first housing provider in London to achieve Customer Service Excellence • Led the sector with our work on equality and diversity • Won over a dozen national awards Our vision is to provide the best housing services in Tower Hamlets by 2014 but our aspiration does not stop there. We know that we can become a brilliant organisation that rivals the best in the country but we can only achieve that if we work together as one team. No matter what we achieve, we know we can always do better. Our Shareholder
Our sole shareholder is the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Management Agreement sets out the areas of business and functions which Tower Hamlets Homes performs on behalf of the Council.
Our Board
THH is governed by a Board of ten board members. The Board oversees the delivery of our vision and objectives. They also work closely with the Mayor and the Lead Member for Housing to ensure that our work helps to deliver Mayoral priorities.
Our Staff
Our staff are without doubt our most important asset. It is through their skills, commitment and energy that we deliver our services. We see a direct link between engagement, motivation and values and the quality of services and satisfaction levels expressed by customers. This is why we believe effort and energy spent in achieving a careful and sustained improvement in organisational culture is so important.
We employ just under 500 staff, of whom 135 live in the Borough. 49 of our staff are also Tower Hamlets Homes residents. This local connection is important because it provides a close link between our business and the neighbourhoods we manage and residents who live there. Having a
staff group who are reflective of the community leads to positive outcomes for our business and for residents.
Tower Hamlets Homes in 2017
Our MissionWe are here to help. This is not an ad. This is not a slogan. This is our promise to our customers. It’s really that simple. Our Values Our values are: Dedication: Going the extra mile. No excuses. Finishing what we start. Courage: Being courageous about change – admitting when we are wrong. Knowledge: Asking people what they want – not assuming we know. Integrity: Doing what we say and getting back to people. Being judged by our actions. Action: Getting the basics right. Tacking problems head on together. Fairness: Being fair and ethical – in everything we do. Attentiveness: Listening to people to make sure we are doing the right thing. Our Culture We are public servants but that means customer service is more important, not less. We refuse to make the distinction between the company and the community. Our customers include our parents, our friends – oh – and us. With this in mind, we continue to improve and innovate. Seriously – would you want to let your Mum down? We think we are good at what we do and we do good. We have the courage to make mistakes and learn from them. When something needs to change, we take swift action to improve it. However, being attentive to customers means we have many more successes. Knowledge is our most valuable asset and it shapes everything we do. We love the new and we also respect the tried and true – therefore we choose the best approach using data and experience. This is the best way to ensure integrity and fairness in all of our activity. We don’t just do things differently; we are dedicated to making a difference. We don’t work this way for the fun of it – although we enjoy our work and like to have fun – we do it because it is right. Final Version: 29 May 14
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Our Organisation
Private companies value profit but we value – well – values.
We do many different things; from sweeping leaves to building homes. But you will always know what to expect – a service organisation built around people with shared values and high standards.
Despite our varied projects and skills, we are one great organisation– pooling knowledge and expertise to make us better than the sum of our parts. Times change, and so does the work we do. We must be quick on our feet and eager to embrace the new. But through all of this, we have to remain true to ourselves and our mission. We have to make our promise real.
Therefore, we do not write job descriptions that tell you how to brush your teeth. We recruit for attitude and ability. Smart, confident, and honest staff will know what is best. And we trust them.
What is the benefit of this approach? Brilliant services, delivered by staff who know they make a difference, working in vibrant neighbourhoods that customers love.
Our Three Year Plan
In order to fulfil our potential, we will need a consistent focus on excellence. Over the next three years we will have the same strategic objectives: Building one great organisation Achievement Measures Living our values Refreshing and delivering staff engagement Using and sharing knowledge Increasing productivity Strengthening our performance management Working together to embed our Improved Way of Working’ Building a workforce that reflects the community Staff satisfaction results MAP (staff appraisal) scores reflective of business performance Staff diversity data Quality and consistency of systems usage Decisions justified by data Delivering consistently brilliant customer service Achievement Measures Embedding a customer service ethos Deepening our understanding of customers and their needs Increasing tenant satisfaction to 85% and leasehold satisfaction to 62% Developing and implementing a channel migration plan Refining our processes and systems to deliver consistency and standardization Segmented approach to service delivery Customer satisfaction results All communications according to segment Maintaining CSE accreditation More residents accessing services online Lower costs per transaction Reduction in complaints Supporting vibrant neighbourhoods Achievement Measures Residents feeling more safe and secure Being clear about where we can have the greatest social impact in Neighbourhoods Developing and implementing a new Community Investment Plan Supporting older and vulnerable residents Minimising adverse impact of welfare reform Piloting co‐housing models where residents can help each other together Decent Homes social deliverable targets met Neighbourhood Plans reflect social impact Support package for all affected by welfare reform Co‐housing mainstreamed in pilot sites Measure showing increase in our social impact Support audit for all vulnerable residents Final Version: 29 May 1410
Investing in homes to be proud of Achievement Measures Delivering the Decent Homes Programme Producing a comprehensive, long term approach to managing the asset Talking and listening to residents about the longer term investment in their homes Establishing a delivery vehicle for the development of new homes Creating a development pipeline Building new homes Tackling condensation Reducing fuel poverty All homes at least ‘Decent’ standard Reduced spend on responsive repairs Number of new homes built % homes without condensation Sustainable new build finance Satisfaction with place to live Final Version: 29 May 14
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Our Customers
We are committed to delivering consistently brilliant customer service but we know that takes more than just smiling when you answer the phone. Not all customers are the same and they don’t need the same from us. However, they all deserve excellent service. This means that we need to tailor our approach – basing decisions on the best possible information.Our own records include many details about customers’ payment histories, complaints, family circumstances, mobility and communications needs, their attitude towards our services etc. Using information from the Department of Work and Pensions, we can find out more about their income and other support needs. And the 2011 Census adds another layer of detail about health, education, deprivation, and more.
If we piece of all this information together, we can build a rich picture of our customers and their needs. By carefully studying the data, we can also pick out patterns. Some of these are small and specific – such as illegal sub‐letters never reporting repairs and always paying their rent on time – but others apply to all of our customers. We have begun to identify the different types of communications that work best for our residents. These insights will help us target services in the most accessible and effective way.
Each of our communications segments is based on customers’ shared characteristics. These are drawn from permutations of over 40 different factors. However, the personas below start to bring the patterns to life. If we carefully consider what makes these customers frustrated and angry – we can start to design services that make them smile. David • 40 • Formerly homeless • Probationary tenancy was extended due to a number of noise complaints • History of mental health issues and alcohol abuse • Refused support from Look Ahead • Not currently in rent arrears but makes irregular payments • Never has contact with THH unless we approach him • No computer or landline Mitra Family • Three generation family • Two children under 10 and two teenagers • Two parents in their 40s and a grandmother in her 70s • Overcrowded and affected by welfare reform • Adults have very limited English and oldest child is designated contact • Grandmother is housebound but receiving no support • Internet access via child’s smartphone Final Version: 29 May 14
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Denise • 22 • Single mother • Never been in work and limited qualifications • Had no contact with us before major leak • Prefers to talk on phone as struggles to read letters Karen • 26 • Young professional working in the City • Sub‐lets her flat from non‐resident leaseholder • Has no family or friends in the Borough • Contacted THH using social media to complain about disruption caused by Decent Homes • No landline and requested all contact via email Ali Family • Young family, parents both aged 32 • Two children under three • Father works in IT and the mother looks after the children • Active members of their mosque and local community garden • Waiting to hear the outcome of their Right to Buy application Tariq • 59 • Leaseholder • Self‐employed • Serial complainant • Substantial service charge arrears which he is challenging • Calls officers directly • Has an email account but engages in extensive written correspondence Maureen • 71 • Lived in property for 33 years and close friends live near‐by • Limited mobility but otherwise in good health • Received OT assessment and adapted property during Decent Homes • Frustrated with number of minor repairs issues that are not covered by our repairs contract • Strong relationship with her Neighbourhood Housing Officer but does not like calling THH • Has never used a computer Final Version: 29 May 14
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Work So Far
Our strategic objectives provide the framework for us to maintain a consistent focus on achieving excellence over the next three years. We are not beginning from a standing start; progress has already been made and this is summarised below. A full summary of progress achieved against the targets in our 2013/14 Business Plan is provided at Appendix B. Building one great organisation Staff Forum The Staff Forum, a group of staff from across the organisation, has an active role in influencing our decision making. Through the staff survey and follow up staff feedback lunches the Forum have helped shape the Business Plan and set the agenda for our work on building one great organisation and specifically our emphasis on improving performance management and staff development. Staff Offer In the last year we have maintained an emphasis on making Tower Hamlets Homes a place where people like and want to work. Our staff offer covers a comprehensive range of learning and development opportunities, such as training on welfare reform: lone working; health and safety manual handling and fairness and respect as well as a comprehensive package of staff benefits. Leadership Forum We have invested in developing the skills of line managers through their participation in the Leadership Forum. We are working with managers to ensure quality performance management and supporting them though the process through tailored training. Workforce That Reflects the Community We have continued our work to build a workforce that reflects the community and in the last year have increased our offer with targeted mentoring and coaching for womenand BME staff. We utilised our ILM Level 5 qualified coaches and matched them with high performing staff. We took part in Housing Diversity Network mentoring programme – a programme designed to increase the potential of BME women. Over the last few years the diversity of our workforce has improved. The percentage of Muslim and BME staff has increased accordingly from 13% and 52% in 2008 to 17% and 57% in 2013. Delivering consistently brilliant customer service Customer Satisfaction Our emphasis on providing high quality services has been recognised by customers and isdemonstrated in our performance figures with 2013/2014 targets mainly met or exceeded. The percentage of tenants rating the overall service as good or excellent reached 64%, exceeding our yearly target by 2%. We aimed to have 70% of issues resolved at first point of contact and exceeded the target by 7%. 70% of our residents rated our cleaning and caretaking services as excellent or good, which was in line with the target we set. Final Version: 29 May 1414
We managed to reduce the average management cost to £26.19 and the average transaction cost to £8.10. 75% of residents agreed that ‘THH does what it says it will do’.We know that we need to make sustained improvements in some other customer satisfaction measures since improvement in these areas was less than we had hoped for ‐ and we have resolved to do more in these areas. We Speak Your Language This innovative project has made our services more accessible to residents who can’t speak or read English. In part ,as a result of the project, the number of Bengali speaking residents who feel that Tower Hamlets Homes keeps them informed about their housing services has risen – from 59% in 2010/11 to 76% in 2012/13. In the same period, the number of Bengali‐speaking residents accessing THH’s services has increased from 80% to 95%. The number of Somali residents accessing our services has also increased, from 59% to 85%.The project was recognised by TPAS and awarded Excellence in Equality and Diversity Equality Framework Level 3 In July 2013, Tower Hamlets Homes became the first housing organisation in London to be awarded with the "Excellent" level accreditation. This achievement recognises the early corporate commitment we made to use the Equality Framework to embed the importance of meeting diverse needs in the way that we plan and improve services. Stonewall Workplace Equality Index In January 2014 we were named as a ‘Top 100’ UK Employer by Stonewall, the UK leading Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) campaign organisation. Our efforts to promote equality and cross‐ community partnership to make workplaces and neighbourhoods more inclusive for LGB staff and residents in Tower Hamlets have been recognised and resulted in us moving 117 places up in the index last year. Customer Services Training In the last year we focused on improving our customer service. One of the major steps we took was improving our Housing Service Centre staff’s skills around positive and proactive customer care. The Mary Gober International training was a success and we are now planning to implement the techniques across the whole organisation. Mary Gober is a methodology that has been widely used across a number of housing providers across the country. The introduction of this methodology has enabled those providers to significantly increase their customer satisfaction ratings by putting the customer at the heart of everything they do. Supporting vibrant neighbourhoods Neighbourhood Planning We worked across the organisation to strengthen our approach to neighbourhood planning; developing a unique plan for each neighbourhood for 2014. Each plan is informed by what we know about the property, people and places that make up each neighbourhood, resulting in 27 tailored plans giving an overview of priorities for the year. Decent Homes, Decent Jobs Together with our Decent Homes contractors, we are bringing positive change to the community of Tower Hamlets by creating employment and training opportunities, work placements and development programmes as well as a range of wider community benefits. So far we have employed 57 apprentices who are Tower Hamlets residents;60%from BME groups; 35% of the staff working on the programme live in Tower Hamlets, and over half the money in the programme is spent with local Final Version: 29 May 14
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subcontractors – this ensures that money is returned to the local economy. The level of reinvestment in the local economy has been recognised as national best practice by London Councils, and our standard of 2 apprentices per million spent is twice the national benchmark. Supporting Older Residents In April 2013 we launched ‘Homes for Life. An Inquiry into Ageing’. From the wide ranging research we conducted and our findings we have developed a series of commitments that help us to work better with and for elderly residents. Proactive Welfare Reform Work In 2013 the Government introduced a number of changes to benefits system. The changes will impact, both financially and from wellbeing perspective,over 10,000 Tower Hamlets Homes residents. In order to mitigate the impact of the Welfare Reform we established a specialist team that have taken a proactive approach towards helping people manage their money.We carried out a set of interventions, including face to face interviews with all impacted residents and setting up a number of referral services working with local service providers. Investing in homes to be proud of Decent Homes Programme Decent Homes Year 3 was the most ambitious and expansive investment scheme THH has ever undertaken. Year 3 of the programme had over 4,200 properties programmed to receive works and a budget of £54 million, co‐funded by the Council and the Greater London Authority.We achieved our GLA spend and Decency targets. Year 4 will be even larger than Year 3. In 2014/15 we will programme internal and external works on nearly 6,000 properties, and expect to invest over £70 million in the neighbourhoods and homes we manage. New Build Opportunities We have been acting as the Development Agent for Tower Hamlets Council to build new homes and we have developed plans to build 65 new homes and a new community centre. Works started in March 2014, with the first new homes completed in March 2015, and all 65 homes built by March 17. We are currently exploring the potential to establish a wholly owned company to manage delivery in future years. We anticipate the Council making a decision on this in September 2014 with a view to establishing the company in 2015. We are also focusing on assisting overcrowded households and families with disabled members through our Extensions Programme that is due to be completed in March 2016. This will help 34 households by providing additional bedrooms. Final Version: 29 May 14
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How do we act on our priorities in each year?
Our Roadmap
We have the same four objectives for the next three years. However, we recognise that this is a long journey and progress will not always be quick and consistent. Therefore, we will also produce an Annual Roadmap each year – this will give us the flexibility to respond to emerging issues and changing operating conditions, whilst remaining true to our mission, values, and objectives.
The Roadmap for 2014/15 will focus on preparing our organisation for the challenges ahead – embedding the new operating model, improving systems use, strengthening performance management, investing in customer care training, and making progress towards channel migration. This crucial work will lay the foundations of our organisational culture – united, intelligent, flexible, and committed to excellence. This longer‐term approach is reflected in the performance measures we have identified for 2014/15.
The other major focus of this year’s Roadmap will be the capital investment cycle. Our Decent Homes programme is ramping up to its highest level and we need to maximise the value this delivers for our properties and communities. However, this year cannot just focus on delivery. The planning and preparation for the post‐Decent Homes investment programme has to start now.
The second Annual Roadmap will focus on translating these preparations into substantial improvements in resident satisfaction. It will consolidate the learning from this year’s pilot schemes and training programmes, delivering excellent services that are tailored to residents’ needs.
The third Annual Roadmap will review our progress to date and identify the areas of our business that require further development in order to meet our ambition for 2017. This will let us make an honest assessment of our achievements to date and ambition for the next three years. Our roadmap is not intended to cover everything we do; the focus is on those areas where a new approach or very significant transformation is needed to achieve excellence. Alongside these areas of focus, we will continue to do ‘the day job’ – working to improve services, such as tackling ASB, which we know are important to customers. Knowing how we are doing Our roadmap combines the steps we will take in the year and the high level measure (BCIs)s we will apply to assess and report the difference we are making. BCIs are set out at Appendix A. Sitting below our BCIs are a range of internal measures (Service Critical Indicators) that we will track through our internal performance management arrangements, which in turn are underpinned by team and individual metrics.
Annual Roadmap 2014/15
Business Plan 2014 ‐ 2017
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What are we focussing on this year?
Building one great organisation Improved Performance Management Include values and behaviours in performance management conversations Ensure individual MAPs (staff appraisal/target‐setting) reflect business performance Giving all staff clear and honest indications of their development potential within the business Increase the quality of 1‐2‐1 conversations (including 360 degree feedback) Improve staff perception of performance management Ensure our approach to recruitment reflects our values – recruiting for attitude Using Our Systems Better Implement consistent use of our main systems – Comino, Keystone & SX3 Encourage knowledge sharing across the organisation Include systems use in performance management conversations Quality assure data and improve through regular usage A Workforce That Better Reflects the Community Progress towards a more reflective workforce Sustain Stonewall Top 100 Delivering consistently brilliant customer service Embedding Improved Way of Working Transition Neighbourhoods and Environmental services into the improved way of working Complete the comprehensive process review Handle all customer calls to Neighbourhood Services in the Housing Service Centre Increase depth of transactions handled by the Housing Service Centre from across the business Improve the quality of data collection, interpretation, and application in Neighbourhoods Services Develop mobile data capture tools for Neighbourhoods and Caretaking staff Complete block‐level consultation on tailored environmental service levels Implement a programme of caretaking improvements Improved Customer Care Procure and deliver customer care training for all staff Customer Service Excellence accreditation retained Implement improvement plan for Repairs Contact Centre Improved resident satisfaction with customer service Final Version: 29 May 1419
Supporting vibrant neighbourhoods Help manage the impact of Welfare Reform Continue preparing for Universal Credit Strengthen financial inclusion work Foster close links between Tenancy Sustainment and Rents Improved Neighbourhood Planning Support and promote new role for Neighbourhood Champions Make greater use of insight in Neighbourhood Planning Ensure closer integration of Neighbourhood Plans into Business Plan New Community Investment Plan Develop mechanism for measuring social impact of our activities Review Community Regeneration Plan achievements Prioritise areas of greatest need/ impact for future Plan Investing in homes to be proud of Deliver the Decent Homes Programme Achieve GLA measures Achieve all social deliverables Improved Repairs Develop plan for repair partners service to be their flag‐ship service Deliver incremental improvement in satisfaction ratings Identify long‐term repairs partner Tackling Condensation Assess the impact of, and refineour condensation offer Introduce whole block solution in two locations Improve quality of life for residents experiencing condensation Final Version: 29 May 14
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What resources do we have?
Company Budget and Delegated Budget Company Budget 2013‐14 2014‐15 £ 000's £ 000's Income: Management Fee 32,429 33,633 Total Income 32,429 33,633 Expenditure: Salaries & Agency Costs 20,945 21,264 Non Salary Costs 5,199 6,156 Service Level Agreements with LBTH 6,344 6,213 Total Expenditure 32,488 33,633 Surplus/(deficit) for Year ‐59 0 NOTE: the 2014‐15 budget includes £838K of savings Delegated Budget 2013‐14 2014‐15 £ 000's £ 000's Income: Tenant dwelling rents 65,300 69,000 Tenant service charges 10,663 11,220 Tenant non‐dwelling rents 1,090 1,125 Leaseholder service charges 10,500 11,310 Recharges and sundry income 583 424 Water rates commission 610 610 Mortgage interest 10 8 Total Income 88,756 93,697 Expenditure: Repairs and maintenance 15,539 16,040 Supervision and management 765 800 Special services 1,033 1,066 Energy costs 5,132 5,132 Estate parking enforcement 355 340 New Homes 1,035 Grounds maintenance 828 0 Rents, rates, taxes and other charges 5,989 6,469 Total Expenditure 29,641 30,882 Net Contribution to the HRA 59,115 62,815 NOTE: Grounds maintenance budget transferred to core NOTE: Final budget approval due by the end of March 2013 Final Version: 29 May 1421
Medium Term Financial Plan 2014‐15 to 2016‐17 Indicative HRA Budgets Housing Revenue Account 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 Draft Budget £'000 Draft Budget £'000 Draft Budget £'000 INCOME Dwelling & non dwelling rents (72,438) (72,996) (74,683) Tenant & Leaseholder service charges (17,901) (17,787) (17,685) Investment Income received (168) (184) (210) General Fund contributions (115) (115) (115) GROSS INCOME (90,621) (91,082) (92,693) EXPENDITURE Repairs & Maintenance 22,388 22,961 23,568 Supervision & Management 22,003 20,477 20,316 Special Services, Rents rates & taxes 15,745 16,267 16,809 Increased provision for bad debts 1,400 900 900 Capital Financing charges 19,193 19,828 21,261 GROSS EXPENDITURE 80,729 80,434 82,853 NET COST OF HRA SERVICES (9,892) (10,649) (9,840) APPROPRIATIONS Revenue Contribution to Capital Outlay (RCCO) 9,892 10,649 9,840 NET POSITION 0 0 0 BALANCES Opening balance (16,805) (16,805) (16,805) (Surplus)/ Deficit on HRA 0 0 0 Closing balance (16,805) (16,805) (16,805) Capital Programme Overview Programming for the £7m Planned Maintenance Programme for 2014/15 is designed to build on the previous year’s programmes. The development of the priority matrix, as the primary source of asset intelligence, has been the driver for the programme. The matrix stores information about the age of the asset, its condition, the availability of parts and the repairs history. And allows us to plan maintenance in a more economic and reliable way. This information is being incorporated into new asset management software called Keystone which provides a platform for all asset data and enables us develop programme planning, financial forecasting, servicing and inspection regimes. Final Version: 29 May 14
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By developing the delivery team across the organisation, we are improving residents’ experience and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable residents while improving communication and information flow.Planned improvements to be delivered this year include: • Developing of new specifications incorporating new and emerging technology. • Involving both leaseholders and tenants in programme planning. • Better resident engagement through the development of FAQ’s and information sheets. • Ensuring clear point of contact information, for better communication with our residents. • Financial planning and spend profiling reviews to ensure better financial control. • Closer contractor management with a strong focus on resident satisfaction. • Ensuring full budget expenditure. • Asset management strategy delivered through Keystone – central corporate database. • Residents’ feedback used to further improve the way we work. Capital Programme in Numbers 2013‐2014 Actuals Discipline Number of Schemes Capital Estimate % of Total Estimate Water Mains Pressure Pumps 14 £184,000 3.40% Communal Heating 13 £992,000 18.33% Communal Ventilation 4 £72,000 1.33% Domestic Boilers 12 £168,000 3.10% Door Entry Systems 10 £465,000 8.59% Fire Detection 3 £90,000 1.66% Lifts (16 no.) 13 £2,217,000 40.97% Risers and Laterals (out of Contingency 2 £370,000 6.84% Lighting 3 £50,000 0.92% Water Tanks (28 locations) 28 £472,000 8.72% Communal Play Equipment 1 £8,400 0.16% TV Aerials 2 £59,000 1.09% Concrete Repairs 1 £244,000 4.51% CCTV 1 £20,000 0.37% Planned Maintenance 107 £5,411,400 100.00% 2014‐2015 Plans Discipline Number of Schemes Capital Estimate % of Total Estimate Water Mains Pressure Pumps 17 £1,298,000 19.18% Communal Heating 15 £1,074,172 15.87% Smart Metering 1 £140,000 2.07% Domestic Boilers 3 £390,000 5.76% Door Entry Systems 15 £1,329,000 19.64% Lifts (10 no.) 7 £1,768,000 26.13% Risers and Laterals 4 £191,000 2.82% Lighting 3 £300,000 4.43% Water Tanks 17 £233,745 3.45% Play Equipment 5 £43,400 0.64% Planned Maintenance 87 £6,767,317 100.00% Final Version: 29 May 14
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Capital Planned Maintenance Programme LBTH is being asked to approve the following capital estimates that are managed fully or partly by THH on behalf of LBTH: • £6.7m for mechanical and electrical planned works • £3.5m for external works that are already decent homes • £0.25m additional contingency for urgent works to maintain the overall level at £1.0m • £1.0m for overcrowding initiatives (knock‐throughs and cash incentive scheme) • £0.75m for Aids & Adaptations • £1.5m for capitalisation of works on void properties • £0.65m for capitalisation of fees and salaries Modelling impact of RTB discount and Welfare Reform changes THH continues to explore with LBTH the implications of Right to Buy on the organisation’s finances. We will also explore the impact of welfare reform changes on organisational revenues so that the business risk can be managed appropriately. Decent Homes The Decent Homes budget in 2014‐15 as approved by LBTH is £70.47m. Funding for the increased revenue expenditure in delivering this has been included in the 2014‐15 THH management fee requested from LBTH. The actual size of the 2014‐15 Decent Homes programme will depend on the outcome of discussions with LBTH and the GLA who provide grant funding for a significant proportion of the works. Surveys for 2014‐15 external Decent Homes works are being undertaken in the last quarter of 2013‐ 14 in order to allow delivery from April 2014. THH plans to make all homes reach decency in 2014‐15. Final Version: 29 May 14
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Appendix A:How Will We Measure Success?
BCI No. Business Critical Indicator 13/14 YTD Performance14/15 Proposed Target BUILDING ONE GREAT ORGANISATION 1 % Staff who say poor performance is managed effectively 43% Top 1/3rd* 2 % staff who say they are happy working for THH 64% 69% DELIVERING CONSISTENTLY BRILIANT CUSTOMER SERVICE 3 % residents rating customer service as excellent or good New 80%** 4 % tenants rating overall service excellent or good 64% 65% 5 % leaseholders rating overall service as excellent or good 42% 46% 6 % issues resolved at first point of contact 77% 75% 7 % or residents who say we do what we say we will 75% 80% 8 Average cost of transaction £8.10 £8.40 SUPPORTING VIBRANT NEIGHBOURHOODS 9 % of Decent Homes Social Deliverables achieved New 100% 10 % residents rating neighbourhood as a good place to live New 70% 11 Rent collected as % rent of due 100.11% 99% 12 % Service charge collected £12.1m 106% 13 Improvement works charges collected (£k) £2.29m 40% 14 Average cost of management Result available Q1 14/15 £24.59
15 Average re‐let times 19.32 days 22 days
INVESTING IN HOMES TO BE PROUD OF
16 No Homes made Decent 1785 3109
17 % homes non‐decent Result available Q1 14/15 To be agreed 16th June 14 18 % of residents rating Decent Homes work as good or excellent 56% 70% External 80% Internal 19 % residents rating repair as good or excellent 82% 85% 20 % gas safety 99.93% 100% 21 % of repairs completed right first time 92.43% 93.5% 22 No. of new homes started New 65
* ORC International Benchmark ** Composite measure RHC / HSC
Appendix B: Progress achieved against 2013/14 Business Plan
Organisational Priority Performance Measures Progress achieved in year 2013/2014 1,774 homes made decent 1,785 homes made decent 45.37% homes non‐decent Result available Q1 14/15 93.5 % repairs completed right first time 92.43% repairs completed right first time
100% of homes with a valid gas certificate
99.90% of homes with a valid gas certificate
80% of residents rate improvement and investment as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ 56% of residents rate improvement and investment as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ Create places to be proud of: Deliver the Decent Homes Programme
100% of programme spend vs budget profile 100% of programme spend vs budget profile 84% of tenants rate repairs service as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ 81.64% of tenants rate repairs service as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ 60% of residents satisfied with the
outcome of their Anti‐Social Behaviour complaint 49.76% of residents satisfied with the outcome of their Anti‐Social Behaviour complaint Create places to be proud of: Strengthen neighbourhood planning and delivery
70% of residents rate caretaking service as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ 70% of residents rate caretaking service as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ 70% issues resolved at first point of contact 77.30% of issues resolved at first point of contact 60% of residents satisfied with the outcome of complaint 57.14% of residents satisfied with the outcome of complaint 45% of leaseholders satisfied with the service overall (STAR Survey in September 2013) 52% of leaseholders satisfied with the service overall 80% of tenants satisfied with the service overall (STAR Survey in 2014) Results to be measured in September 2014 46% of leaseholders satisfied with the service overall (tracker) 42% of leaseholders satisfied with the service overall (tracker) 62% of tenants satisfied with the service overall (tracker) 64% of tenants satisfied with the service overall (tracker) Improve the quality of customer experience 75% of resident agree that ‘THH does what it says it will’ 75% of resident agree that ‘THH does what it says it will’ 60 under occupying households re‐ housed 63 under occupying households re‐ housed Average time to re‐let empty homes equals 22 days Average time to re‐let empty homes equals19.32 days Target our offer for older residents and those who need our help the most 50 illegally occupied homes recovered 32 illegally occupied homes recovered Average cost per transaction equals £8.76 Average cost per transaction equals £8.10
Average cost of management reduced to £25.99
Average cost of management £26.19 (to end of December 13)
Reduce the cost of service delivery
£13.3m billed service charges collected
£12.1m collected (v revised target of £12.1m)
98% of rent collected as % of rent due 100.11% of rent collected 75% of rent arrears owed is 7weeks old or more 71.9% of arrears is 7 weeks old or more
20% in year improvement work charge collected
26% in year improvement work charge collected (£561k) £2,700 historic improvement work
charge collected £2.29m collected (revised target of £1.76m) 10% increase per team for staff who say they are ‘proud to work for THH’ 64% say they are ‘happy’ to work for THH 50% of staff say ‘poor performance is tackled’ 43% say poor performance tackled Invest in staff 100% MAP and development plan completed 98% mid‐year MAP reviews completed Final Version: 29 May 14
