SWAN HOUSING ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF THE
SERVICE IMPROVEMENT AND VALUE FOR MONEY COMMITTEE
22 AUGUST 2012 @ 2.00 pm
Members: Peter Robinson (Chair); Natasha Greaves; John Elkins; and Darren Coan.
Officers: Sandra Fawcett (Regional Director of Housing – London); Mathew Clarke (Regional Housing Manager (Contracts and New Business)) (part); Malcolm O’Brien (Group Head of People and Communication) (part); and Jodie Curry (Committee Secretary).
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Richard Frost; Keith Dabbs and Steve King.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
No declarations of interest received.
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MINUTES
a) AGREED that the minutes of the Service Improvement Committee meeting held on 20 June 2012 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
b) Matters arising
There were no matters arising at the time of the meeting.
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REVISED TERMS OF REFERENCE
RECEIVED the revised Terms of Reference from the Regional Director of Housing (London).
AGREED: the revised terms of reference for the Service Improvement and Value for Money Committee.
70/11/12
STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE QUARTER 1 2012/13 REVIEW AND ENDORSEMENT OF 2012/13 PLAN
RECEIVED a report from the Regional Director of Housing (London) updating Members on the performance against the Service Improvement Plan for Quarter 1 – 2012/13.
NOTED:
1. the contents of the report;
2. it was confirmed the new Communications Manager was due to start on 17th September 2012;
3. Darren Coan asked what progress had been made recruiting new members to the London Resident Consultative Committee (RCC). The Regional Director of Housing (London) (RDH(L)) advised that there did not appear to be much interest from members of the Resident Associations in London to sit on the RCC, however the Resident Involvement Team were working to encourage new members;
4. Darren Coan noting item 48 on Appendix 1 (opening offices quarterly on a Saturday) asked how value for money could be measured and felt it contradicted the first action in the local offer action plan at Appendix 2. There was some discussion around this action, where it had originated and how it could be quantified. The RDH(L) advised that some residents were keen to see that we offer the option of opening an office outside of usual hours and that this had been requested through the local offers. This would be trialled on 2 occasions following which an assessment would be made as to whether it was feasible, still in demand and whether it offered value for money. SF felt that some of the most useful services for residents to have available on the weekend were repair appointments and repairs call centre availability;
5. Darren Coan referring to item 61 of Appendix 1 asked for clarification on what this action meant. The RDH(L) said that some of the processes around re-sale were currently outsourced by the Leasehold Team. The action was to take some of these back in house to speed up the service;
6. Darren Coan highlighted that some of the progress comments on page 5 of the local offer action plan were printed out of alignment. This would be fed back to the Head of Resident Involvement and Communication for amendment.
71/11/12
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION
RECEIVED a report from the Regional Director of Housing (London) updating Members on the progress of implementing the revisions to the Regulatory Framework.
NOTED:
1. the contents of the report;
2. the new tenancy policy had been agreed by the Board and would be implemented from 31st October 2012. The pilot “Tenant Cash Back” scheme was in the process of being launched. The draft Value for Money Strategy would be presented to the Residents’ VFM Panel and the Staff Value for Money Group and would then be presented along with the draft value for money KPIs to the October Committee meeting. Once the strategy was in place the next step would be to produce a value for money self assessment.
72/11/12
VALUE FOR MONEY TOOLKIT PROGRESS
RECEIVED a report from the Group Financial Controller on progress against the Value for Money Toolkit.
NOTED:
1. the contents of the report;
2. the RDH(L) presented the report summarising that the proposal was to take the key items that remained relevant from the toolkit and to add them into the Value for Money Strategy and action plan. The toolkit would then be closed off to avoid duplication;
3. there was some discussion around the age of the toolkit and its purpose when it was first introduced
AGREED: the proposal to add relevant actions from the VFM Toolkit into the Value for Money Strategy and close it off.
73/11/12
VALUE FOR MONEY STAFF GROUP QUARTERLY FEEDBACK
RECEIVED a report from the Regional Director of Housing (London) providing Members with quarterly feedback from the Staff Value for Money Group.
NOTED:
1. the contents of the report;
2. the Value for Money Staff Group had recently been re-launched with new Terms of Reference agreed and a work plan in draft.
74/11/12
AXIS PARTNERSHIP ANNUAL REPORT
RECEIVED a report from the Group Director of Procurement Services providing Members with an annual update on the Swan/ Axis partnership.
NOTED:-
1. the contents of the report;
2. the RDH(L) presented the report on behalf of the Group Director of Procurement Services;
3. 3 years into the 14 year strategic partnership the key change was the restructure implemented in December 2011 which gave Axis more responsibility through the partnership agreement. Key performance indicators (KPIs) had been revised to reflect this and there was now a smaller team in place at Swan monitoring performance against the KPIs and contract. The report set out the benefits of the restructure and what had been achieved so far
4. Committee noted that more data on resident satisfaction would be available in the coming year. There had been a clear reduction in the number of complaints following the introduction of the Aftercare Team as part of the restructure and there was a positive stock improvement and planned maintenance programme in place;
5. Darren Coan asked for the number of repairs as well as percentage figures to be added to the table on page 8. The RDH(L) agreed that the amended table would be provided as an appendix to the action sheet at the next meeting;
6. John Elkins asked whether the repairs performance was benchmarked and the RDH(L) confirmed it was done as part of the annual benchmarking exercise through HouseMark. The results for the current year’s data would be presented to Committee at its meeting in December 2012;
7. Natasha Greaves noted the planned upgrade to Axis’ telephony software and felt this would be a positive improvement. The RDH(L) agreed advising that the new system would ensure that monitoring information could be produced on the out of hours service telephone performance;
8. John Elkins advised that he had received some feedback from one of the Surveyors transferred over to Axis as part of the restructure. He felt able to work much more efficiently as part of the Axis team. The RDH(L) thanked John Elkins for the positive feedback;
9. the Chair advised that Richard Frost had sent in some comments around satisfaction and asked how satisfaction is being measured so as to ensure the information was not out of date by the time the figures were reviewed. John Elkins felt that the Residents’ Quality Panel provided up to date satisfaction figures through the surveys they carried out. The RDH(L) advised that independent monthly satisfaction surveys were now being carried out by the Leadership Factor. To allow for a proper comparison once 6 months worth of data was available a report would be presented to the Regional Committees. A complaints dissatisfaction task force led by the Service Improvement Manager, with representatives from Axis and Swan’s partnership team, was looking at any negative feedback on a monthly basis.
10. the Chair commented that the numbers of property where external decoration had been completed last year seemed very low. The RDH(L) advised it was a 7 year programme that would cover homes across the range of Swan’s stock;
SERVICE REVIEWS – CENTRAL AND SUPPORT SERVICES
Malcolm O’Brien joined the meeting at 2.40pm
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VALUE FOR MONEY IN TRAINING FOR STAFF, RESIDENTS AND BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS
RECEIVED a report from the Group Head of People and Communications providing Members with an update on the review.
NOTED:
1. the contents of the report;
2. the Group Head of People and Communications (GHPC) advised that a new learning development module was being added into Itrent to which would enable much better monitoring of training;
3. the Chair asked how the new individual learning accounts would be used by Managers. The GHPC explained that Managers could access their staff’s learning information but that the module was intended to help staff keep a log of their personal development. There was some discussion around the benefits to Managers in terms of developing their team members and it was noted that it could be highlighted to Managers if their staff had blank learning accounts so that they could pick this up through performance management meetings. The Chair felt it was important Managers understood all the beneficial ways the new software could be used;
4. the GHPC felt a culture change would be needed to encourage all staff to log their experience related learning as well as formal training;
5. John Elkins asked how a situation would work, for example, where a staff member was going to sit with another team as part of their personal development. The GHPC advised that the staff member requesting the development would make arrangement for this to happen but added that through the software if there were multiple requests for learning from a specific department this could be identified and training sessions held;
6. the Chair advised that the final report would need to explain what value for money achievements had come out of the review. It was agreed that the GHPC would present a report in 6 months time on value for money in training for Board and Committee Members and residents with the final report being presented to Committee in 12 months once the new learning module was in use.
Malcolm O’Brien left the meeting at 2.50pm
Mathew Clarke joined the meeting at 2.50pm
SERVICE REVIEWS – LANDLORD SERVICES
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GREEN AGENDA
RECEIVED a report from the Regional Housing Manager (Contracts and New Business) providing Members with an update on the progress of work to meet Swan’s green agenda.
NOTED:
1. the contents of the report;
2. the Regional Housing Manager (Contract and New Business) (RHM(C&NB)) gave Members some background on the work on the green agenda, advising that at the 2011 Residents’ Conference residents had asked specifically for provision of an educational platform. As a result of this the Residents’ Green Microsite and Green Champion Programme had been introduced. Some training for staff would be rolled out over the next couple of months and a green transport policy was being drafted;
3. the RHM(C&NB) advised that items for delivery were on target and that the challenge would be measuring the outcomes. The Green Champion Programme and actions from the Environmental Management System would be the easiest to monitor. It was noted that the green agenda was not a time limited project;
4. the RDH(L) explained that it had previously been agreed for Committee to receive feedback on the items from the green agenda plan where value for money gains could be demonstrated;
5. the Chair proposed that going forward Committee receive an annual report to include a list of achievements and an analysis of what the various initiatives were costing and the value for money gains achieved;
6. Darren Coan asked what was happening in regards to applying to be on ‘The Times’ list of green companies. The RHM(C&NB) explained that ‘The Times’ no longer held their list, however he was looking at potential sustainability awards that Swan would be able to enter submissions for in the future;
7. Natasha Greaves asked whether it was worth considering a programme of staff working from home. The RHM(C&NB) felt that it would not be appropriate for front line staff as they needed to be available in the office for residents. The RDH(L) agreed that the nature of Swan’s business meant that although staff occasionally worked from home on an ad hoc basis, a programme of regular working from home was not necessarily appropriate and the necessity to have offices staffed meant there was unlikely to be a value for money saving in terms of office costs.
77/11/12
ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
RECEIVED a report from the Regional Housing Manager (Essex) providing Members with an update on the Review of Anti-Social Behaviour.
NOTED:
1. the contents of the report which was presented by the Regional Housing Manager (Contracts and New Business) (RHM (C&NB));
2. the ASB service had been reviewed by Manchester City Council’s ASB Action Team who are considered experts in the field. The review had identified some key points and the RHM(C&NB) ran through some of the findings advising that work on the action plan had started in July;