SWAN HOUSING ASSOCIATION

LONDON REGIONAL COMMITTEE

13 SEPTEMBER 2010 @ 6.00 PM

Present: Ian Ritchie; Oliver Blunt; Tony Holland; Nasreen Golamnohee; Tyson Bunby; George Ferris; Ann Ahern; Tammy Bass; Michelle Richards; Natasha Greaves and Colin Wannell.

Officers: Sandra Fawcett (Regional Director of Housing – London); Kevin Harris (Regeneration Manager) and Jodie Curry (Committee Secretary).

01/10/11

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

All Members present.

02/10/11

APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR

Ian Ritchie confirmed that he was standing down as Chair and this would be his last Regional Committee meeting. He asked for nominations for a new Chair. Tyson Bunby was nominated by Tony Holland, seconded by Colin Wannell.

AGREED: that Tyson Bunby be appointed to serve as Chair of the London Regional Committee for the forthcoming year (2010/11).

03/10/11

APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR

Colin Wannell was nominated by Oliver Blunt, seconded by Ian Ritchie.

AGREED: that Colin Wannell be appointed to serve as Vice Chair of the London Regional Committee for the forthcoming year (2010/11).

04/10/11

PARENT BOARD NOMINATIONS

Members were reminded that according to the Terms of Reference of the Committee the Chair would automatically represent the Committee on the Swan Board. The Committee was asked to nominate a second Member to sit on the Board. Colin Wannell was nominated by Ian Ritchie, seconded by Tammy Bass.

AGREED: that Tyson Bunby and Colin Wannell represent the London Regional Committee on the Swan Board of Management for the forthcoming year (2010/11).

05/10/11

SERVICE IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE NOMINATION

Tammy Bass was nominated by the Chair, seconded by Natasha Greaves.

AGREED: that Tammy Bass represent the London Regional Committee on the Service Improvement Committee for the forthcoming year (2010/11).

Ian Ritchie advised Members that the new Regional Committees had been set up to empower residents and that by working together new Members and those who had previously sat on the Swan London Board could achieve a lot. Ian Ritchie thanked the Regional Director of Housing (London) (RDH(L)) for all the support she had provided and thanked Officers at Swan for all their hard work.

The Chair thanked Ian Ritchie on behalf of the Committee and all residents for his hard work and commitment over the 12 years he had worked with Swan.

The RDH(L) thanked Ian Ritchie for all the support he had given to Officers and for all the work and time he had put in on various Committees, Chairing Stage 3 Complaint Panel Hearings and as part of the One RSL Working Party, preparing Swan for the transition from Regional Boards to Regional Committees.

06/10/11

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest made.

07/10/11

MINUTES

AGREED that the minutes of the London Regional Committee meeting held on 5th July 2010 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

08/10/11

MATTERS ARISING

NOTED:

1.  the RDH(L) tabled a report from the Director of Asset Management as per the action sheet in relation to minute number 89/09/10 for information;

2.  George Ferris advised he had not received a hard copy of the Terms of Reference and was provided with one.

09/10/11

REGIONAL DIRECTOR’S UPDATE

RECEIVED a report from the Regional Director of Housing (London) providing an update on key issues in the London region.

NOTED:

  1. the contents of the report;
  2. the RDH(L) ran through the highlights of the report advising that regeneration work on the Exmouth Estate was all but complete, with the works bills for leaseholders due out by Christmas. There had been a successful opening of Priestman Point at the Bow Cross fun day;
  3. the RDH(L) advised that she would keep Members updated, via this regular report, on any announcements following the spending review that were made by the Coalition Government and what they could mean for Swan. This subject would be covered at future Board and Committee Members Awaydays;
  4. the RDH(L) asked Members to note the proposed welfare benefit changes at 3.2 of the report. The RDH(L) advised that the Mayoral elections for Tower Hamlets had been set for 21st October 2010;
  5. the RDH(L) asked Members to note that Swan being shortlisted to the last 2 bidders for the Blackwall Reach project was confidential information. The RDH(L) advised that the Norfolk and Norwich NHS Scheme had now been sold;
  6. the Vice Chair noted that there was a cap on the leaseholders’ bills of £10,000 and asked whether Swan were expecting any defaults on payment. The RDH(L) advised that she anticipated that some leaseholders would pay in full, some would apply for the deferred payment scheme and some would challenge the bills, possibly as far as a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The deferred payment scheme would only be available to those that needed it and the RDH(L) felt that eventually all money would be recovered;
  7. the Regeneration Manager (RM) advised that Swan had looked at similar providers with similar schemes to determine an estimated rate of payment. Swan’s business plan assumed an 80% recovery rate, although it would cope with a lower rate if necessary. Ian Ritchie asked whether the fact that the cap meant some people would be paying a lower amount that the work actually cost would encourage them to pay and the RDH(L) felt that in some cases it could;
  8. Tony Holland asked how the additional power given to local authorities by the Coalition Government could affect Swan and the RDH(L) advised that she felt confident that Swan would be able to continue to work well with the Councils and provide them with any information they needed.

10/10/11

STRATEGIES AND POLICIES

RECEIVED the Safeguarding Children Policy for approval.

NOTED:

  1. the contents of the policy and covering report;
  2. Tony Holland asked whether the safeguarding of children was an issue that arose at community events held by Swan and the RDH(L) felt that where this affected Swan was in regards to photography. Swan did not allow people to take photographs of other people’s children at events and routinely used permission forms for any photographs taken by Swan Officers for publicity use;
  3. Tony Holland asked whether many child protection cases were reported and the RDH(L) confirmed there were not many;
  4. Michelle Richards referred to 1.7 of the policy and asked whether a sentence could be added to ensure confidentiality amongst staff. The RDH(L) advised that this would usually be in the procedure and agreed to check that it was;
  5. Natasha Greaves noted that there was an error in the numbering of the covering report.

AGREED the revised Safeguarding Children Policy.

11/10/11

LONDON HOUSING SERVICES UPDATE AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

12/10/11

DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

13/10/11

ONE RSL PROJECT UPDATE

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

14/10/11

SWAN UPDATES

RECEIVED an update from the Company Secretary, a verbal update on the Swan Main Board, a financial update from Tony Holland and an update on the work of the Service Improvement Sub Committee.

NOTED:

1.  the contents of the reports;

2.  Ian Ritchie confirmed there was nothing specific to report back from the last meeting of the Board;

3.  a copy of the financial update, giving feedback from the Audit and Risk and Finance and Personnel Committees, was circulated to all Members and the report was presented by Tony Holland;

4.  Tony Holland advised that Swan was well on track in terms of its budget and had made some genuine savings and that the Committees were monitoring the voids and arrears as they affected the rent collection figures. The RDH(L) added that following some concerns being raised by Officers, work was being done on the KPI system and that it appeared that the rent collection formula was not picking up on approximately £300,000 worth of rent collected. When the problem with the system was resolved the figures should look much better;

5.  the Chair asked Tony Holland if he would be happy to continue to bring the financial update to the Regional Committee and Tony confirmed that he would;

6.  Tammy Bass asked what BDO stood for and Tony Holland confirmed that this was the name of the internal audit firm that Swan used;

7.  Oliver Blunt asked what the impact would be on Five Links of the Government Spending Review and Tony Holland advised that at present this was not known;

8.  the Chair asked for some explanation for the Committee of why a group loss of £0.3 million was nothing to worry about. Tony Holland explained that this was not a cash loss as such. Losses were planned for as part of the business plan. However the Finance Personnel Committee may look long term at planning for surpluses. As Swan is a not for profit organisation it only needs to generate enough money to cover its costs and is not required to make a surplus;

9.  the RDH(L) presented the update from the Chair of the Service Improvement Committee noting that there was a very positive annual report on the performance of the Axis Partnership.

15/10/11

SHORT NOTICE INSPECTION ACTION PLAN

RECEIVED a report from the Regional Director of Housing (London) providing an update on progress of the Short Notice Inspection Action Plan.

NOTED:

  1. the contents of the report;
  2. the RDH(L) advised that the plan was now all but complete with the exception of a few ongoing projects, as noted in the report, that the TSA were aware of. The RDH(L) and the Director of Asset Management had met with an advisor from the TSA on 27th July, which had been a very positive meeting. The SNI action plan was available on Swan’s website and was updated regularly. Officers were now awaiting regulatory sign off and the RDH(L) would be producing a paper on outcomes for tenants;
  3. Tony Holland asked whether implementation of the HQN (Housing Quality Network) Mock Inspection recommendations was being tracked and the RDH(L) confirmed that they had all been added into the group service improvement plans which were monitored on a monthly basis by a meeting of Managers which the RDH(L) chaired. Performance on the service improvement plans was also reported to the Service Improvement Committee.

16/10/11

TENANT SERVICES AUTHORITY – REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

RECEIVED a report from the Regional Director of Housing (London) on the annual report to the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) and tenants and a report from the Housing Quality Network (HQN) Consultant Zaidee O’Dell on the development of local offers.

NOTED:

  1. the contents of the reports;
  2. the RDH(L) confirmed that a copy of the current draft of the annual report was available for those that wanted one. There would be a full version of the report which would go onto Swan’s website and be sent to the TSA and a summary version which would be sent to all residents. The RDH(L) confirmed that the full report would be e-mailed to the TSA by 1st October 2010;
  3. the RDH(L) presented the report from Zaidee O’Dell which was a summary of the work that had been done so far on local offers. Headline local offers had already been agreed at the local offers working group and at RCCs. George Ferris felt it was a good report;
  4. Tony Holland asked whether developing a ‘Decent Homes Plus’ standard was affordable. The RDH(L) confirmed that as a lot of work had already been done towards this it was achievable;
  5. Tony Holland felt Swan should already be reporting on ‘how money was spent on services in a block or where a service charge was paid’. The RDH(L) confirmed that this did already happen and that the local offer related to giving more detailed information;
  6. the Chair felt that local offers had been presented to residents in such a way as to allow them to make informed choices.

17/10/11

SWAN FOUNDATION

RECEIVED a report from the Regional Director of Housing (London) providing Members with an update on the progress of the Swan Foundation after its first year.

NOTED:

  1. the contents of the report;
  2. the RDH(L) advised Members that there would be a twice yearly report on the work of the Foundation and that the protocol for project work was being presented to the Board at the next meeting for formal sign off;
  3. Michelle Richards asked why the protocol referred to the Foundation as ‘Swan Foundation (South East)’ and the RDH(L) explained that when the name was registered there had been a need to specify the area as another organisation with a similar name already existed;
  4. the Chair asked how Swan Foundation received bids for their grants and the RDH(L) explained that there was a grant application process which was advertised.

18/10/11

HOUSING SERVICES STRATEGY

RECEIVED a report from the Regional Director of Housing (London) providing Members with an update on the progress against the Housing Services Strategy 2008/11.

NOTED:

  1. the contents of the report;
  2. the RDH(L) presented the report advising that half way through the 3 year term of the strategy progress of the action plan was on target. The RDH(L) was proposing to amend the strategy and action plan to reflect the changes in the external environment;
  3. the Vice Chair asked whether the Housing Strategy was for both London and Essex and the RDH(L) confirmed that it was a group strategy.

AGREED: that the RDH(L) refresh the strategy and bring it back to the Committee in 6 months.

19/10/11

LEASEHOLD MANAGEMENT FEE

RECEIVED a report from the Leasehold Services Manager providing Members with progress on the work underway to review the management fee for leaseholders and shared owners.

NOTED:

  1. the contents of the report;
  2. the RDH(L) presented the report advising that it was good practice to ensure the management fee accurately represented the costs incurred. There was currently a flat fee of £80 per year, however this was not reflective of the costs incurred and this effectively meant that tenants were subsidising leaseholders. The fee would likely increase to around approximately £150;
  3. Tony Holland asked whether the new fee was competitive and whether Officers were confident it had been accurately assessed. The RDH(L) confirmed that the fee had been benchmarked and was competitive. The RDH(L) advised that work was ongoing to check whether costs had been recovered elsewhere and it was an interim report.

20/10/11