THE HYDE GROUP
CENTRAL HOME OWNERSHIP PANEL
[MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 23 FEBRUARY2016
AT PARK STREET FROM 6.00PM - 8.30PM
1.0Welcome, Introductions and Apologies for absence
1.1 The Chair alerted the group to a change on the agenda. It had been decided by David Morrissey that Ruby Owen would not attend CHOP to present on the Service Charge Project, but would provide a presentation or update report to SC to present at the meeting.
1.2The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made by all.
1.3Apologies for absence were received from three members.
2Declarations of Interest – None
3Minutes and Matters Arising
3.1Some of the points from the 14 October minutes were explained and clarified for the benefit of the observers.
3.2One member noted that point 4.17 should be amended to read a little more detail into the possibility of discounted windows for leaseholders from Hyde contractors. ACTION FOR STAFF
3.3All approved 14 October minutes.
3.4The action list was discussed and updated. Outstanding actions to be added to this meeting’s action list.
3.5No matters arising.
4 Overview: the New Quality Team
4.1 Bernice Ramchandani gave an overview of the Product Quality Team, a relatively new team that has recently been enhanced from six to seven members of staff.
4.2 It was explained that when the term “product” is used in relation to the Product Quality Team, it means each component of a property and includes the property itself as the end product.
4.3 Trained Hyde staff carry out defect inspections on the properties and it was confirmed that they are trained in identifying defects. They attend the property at the First Fix stage and subsequent 2nd and 3rd fix stages ensuring Lifetime Homes guidance and are trained in looking at the practicality of layouts (this includes accessibility, i.e. switches put up too high).
4.4 Part of the Product Quality Coordinator’s role will be to provide handbooks and manuals to Hyde residents. Contractors need to provide operating manuals in the first instance to development. It was noted that these manuals had been misplaced in the past but the team are now looking at uploading the documents to an electronic system (Liberty), so that all Hyde staff are able to access the documents at any time.
4.5 It was asked if there was a consistent group of staff that see the process through from design stage to move in stage. BR confirmed that it is the same project team throughout, consisting of the Land and Planning Manager, the Product Quality Co-coordinator and Construction Project Manager. Resident Services, Service Charge team and Property Services are also involved through Project Team Working. The Product Quality coordinator stays with the project throughout.
4.6 In the future, residents may have the opportunity to be involved with the Product Quality Team. Ideas would be accepted as to what this involvement would look like. Currently, feedback from telephone surveys are conducted 6-8 weeks after the resident moves into the property. The results are then fed back into the Post Handover Review phase of Project Team Working.
4.7 It was asked who holds financial responsibility for the project in the event that something goes wrong with the development. It was answered that overall financial control sits with the construction project manager, who holds a contingency budget.
4.8 It was observed that with defects you need a professional body to inspect. An example was given from an observer. BR confirmed that the builders Site manager may not have the skill set to diagnose.
4.9 Once completed, a member of the Product Quality Team will get in touch with the new owner, show them around the house and how the components work (boiler, thermostat etc.).
4.10 The team ensures the contractor is on site six weeks after handover and provide skips to get rid of debris and rubbish; this adds value to the customer experience. This has been implemented since November and there has been very positive feedback so far.
4.11 A handyman service may also be offered as part of the settling in period.
4.12 Experience feedback from residents is obtained eight weeks after move in by an independent survey company. All feedback is collated and kept to use as lessons learnt, i.e. won’t use a particular type of tap fitting again.
4.13 Hyde have established better contract managing also. The old system used to have to be manually calculated as to whether the defect is out of time. Now there is an automatic system in place so that out of time defects are identified more quickly and Hyde can manage the sub-contractors more efficiently.
4.14 The creation of a home user guide is currently being explored. It will have links to YouTube that will show you how your boiler or thermostat works as well as other guides. Video for Stonebridge will be ready when residents move in later in March.
4.15 The Product Quality Team are constantly reviewing what they do and how they can improve.
4.16 It was mentioned that the Aftercare Team (Product Quality Team’s former name) and responsive repairs never used to match up and was asked will that relationship improve. It was answered that when a defect is raised, it is raised on the same system as a responsive repair and a TED case is opened. There have been issues with Hydewide awareness of defect reporting and processes and so the Product Quality Team will be raising awareness around the business during April and May this year.
4.17 One member had emailed some questions prior to the meeting regarding specific statistics for defects.BR confirmed she would respond by email and the questions and answers would be added into the minutes.
5Service Charge Project Plan
5.1SC presented information about the Service Charge Project Plan.
5.2The Service Charge Project Team has reviewedall tenancy agreements and leases to extract all of the terms and conditions relating to Service Charges. All of this data has been loaded onto an electronic system.
5.3They are now analyzing the data in more detail, including information on what type of and how many properties are on each estate. The hierarchical information needs to be correctly recorded before the Service Charge system implementation can begin.
5.4A current example is that the team is looking at ground rent conditions within all ourlease agreements as there are numerousdifferent clauses. It has been discovered that some leaseholders have never paid ground rent, even though the lease states they should have been.
5.5Interim solutions have been put in place before the new Service Charge system is implemented in April 2017. At the moment all of the Service Charge calculations are manually completed on very complicated spreadsheets. All of the data will be moved into a new system that will automatically extract the relevant, correct information.
5.6The Service Charge module will be on our existing system (Northgate). There is a lot of preparation work to do in advance of the go live date.
5.7It was commented on that although it does sound like an extensive timeframe, Hyde cannot switch to the new system in the middle of a Service Charge cycle.
5.8A consultant has been conducting a lean review of the service charge processes, so they are much more efficient and avoid waste and duplication. ‘To be’ processes have also been created.
5.9It is a common misconception that the service charge team code invoices but it is actually thebusiness teams such as Property Services and Resident Services that code the invoices. If the invoices are coded incorrectly, the Service Charge Team recode them.
5.10The project is also looking at resolving issues around responsibility for service delivery. For example it is common for a resident to say, “I am not paying my service charge because …….. the cleaning is not being done”, and this query will be directed to the service charge team rather than to the Contract Manager for that service.
5.11Clarification was given that there is a Service Charge Project Team and a business as usual team.
5.12Hyde isaware that we haven’t been very good at setting service charges in new developments at the initial stage and we are looking into this to try and resolve the issues.
5.13We are also looking at commercial units and how they feed into service charges.
5.14Hyde will be looking at sinking funds. It will start with a stock condition surveys and then reviewing what we need to collect and over what period of time. Rebates for overpayment were discussed and it was confirmed that although that may be an option, it is less likely to happen as we would probably want to use any over collection of sinking funds to reduce future contributions. It was added that it maybe a good idea to rebate rather than have an increased service charge when the overpayment has been completely deducted. Rebates have not been ruled out, however, there are difficulties in the logistics, whenprevious residents in a property may have been the one who contributed the most and the next leaseholder may benefit from the rebate. There may also be issues from an accounting point of view to refund, even though service charges are kept in a separate account.
5.15It was asked if the new service charge system will take deficit and overpayment into account regarding direct debit payments. The Income Team should reduce the direct debit automatically. Residents are asked to “apply for” their overpayment to be actioned as a deduction within their future service charge. ACTION FOR STAFF
5.1614/15 actuals have been sent out but not in Kent, Hove, Gosport and some parts of London.
5.1716/17 are still based on prior year costs.
5.1815/16 estimates will be sent out in September - December this year.
5.19It was noted that the process sounds immensely complicated and the group were very happy that the team are going back to grass roots and lean reviewing. SC confirmed that Hyde is aware that residents are not happy with the service charges and we are doing everything we can to prevent this in future.
6Service Charge Communications Plan
6.1SH thanked the group for their feedback into the 16/17 service charge estimates booklet and confirmed that the final draft will be ready to be looked at again by the group by the end of March. In September, the group will be asked to look at the actuals booklet as well.
6.2SC advised that we’ve been working with some key residents and TRAs to review the service charge statements for accuracy before they aresent out. It was asked if the group had thoughts on wider resident involvement. There were no comments, however, it was mentioned that a wider resident group could be consulted with via the OAK.
6.3It was noted that if a resident is not happy with their service, it needs to be reported immediately, so that it can be investigated by the member of staff responsible for that service. It is extremely difficult to investigateservice failures years later, which is often the case.
6.4It was asked if one leaseholder or group of leaseholderscould look at a change in service in their block, i.e. CCTV or a concierge service. The response was that we will go through a form of consultation and ask how many would like it in the block and investigate the impact on future service charges.
6.5Hyde needs feedback on resident communications. This will be part of the Look Again project and SC confirmed that we are more than happy to receive information and feedback. There were no comments from the group.
6.6A discussion was had about the use of the OAK for further consultation outside of the meetings, so that CHOP can be more involved and for the benefit of the members who are not able to attend the meetings. A few members agreed that the OAK was complicated to use and they needed to check it too much. The Chairadded that the group should be responsible for looking at the OAK and using it regularly, as it is a valuable tool to consult with residents remotely. It was added that you can receive emailable updates when something of interest is added into your area.
7Update on the Terms of Reference, recruitment and Virtual Panel
7.1The group were updated on the Terms of Reference. They had now been agreed by all and comments taken into account. They will be available at the next meeting to sign.
7.2CHOP has recently recruited two new members and two more are waiting for interview dates. A further recruitment campaign will continue until May 2016 to see if there is enough appetite to continue with the group.
7.3The Virtual Group is now on the OAK and members are using well. There are currently 15 members on the group.
8 Forward planner
8.1A member of the RE team has been confirmed to attend the next meeting to demonstrate the OAK and virtual attendance.
8.2An idea to look at communal cleaning was put forward to the group. This overlaps with the Procurement Panel work and HRE communal compliance inspection. SC added that CHOP could possibly look at ASB, decorating and cleaning communally. It was noted that when you communicate these issues to one particular person (i.e. customer services or a housing officer) they sometimes get lost. It was suggested that CHOP design some solutions and pass back to the meeting.
9AOB
9.1The Chair commented that the group need processes and protocol for group communications. Emails have been sent around to the wrong people and caused minor confusion. If apologies are sent, they should be sent to the Chair and RE Team. Another example was given that if a member of HRV wants information they should go through the CHOP Chair and not a member of CHOP.
9.2It had been agreed on the Virtual Group that their new name would be ECHO (Effects through Conversations with Home Owners). The name was created by a new CHOP member.
9.3One member had emailed to confirm who the HRV representative from CHOP would be at the 15 March meeting. It was decided by the group that the future Chair or Vice Chair of CHOP would attend HRV so that there is a consistent person. For the interim, the Chair and Vice Chair of HRV would attend CHOP to ensure feedback at HRV.
9.4Elections for the new Chair and Vice Chair of CHOP will take place after the May meeting when the recruitment campaign has been completed.
9.5Two members confirmed their resignations from the group for personal commitment reasons.
APPENDIX ONE – Q&A
·How many defects are currently outstanding (please include age and type)
Defects are monitored via the BI portal this shows number of defects outstanding both within and exceeding the target date. As at 7th March there are currently 206 open defects in individual properties, of these 131 are showing out of target where we are chasing the contractors for updates. Often work is completed and they are awaiting confirmation from their sub-contractors before we are able to close off.
·What is the process for getting defects fixed?
Residents call Product Quality who will raise the repair, an email of the work order is sent to the contractor. The contractor will arrange the appointment with the resident and advise Hyde once the repair has been completed. The Product Quality Team monitor the repairs that exceed target date working with the contractors to get the repair completed.
·What redress do residents have if they are unsatisfied with a repair of a defect?
Residents can contact the product quality team if they are unhappy with any of the repairs and we will take this up with the contractor. Residents can also register a complaint via the complaints process as per the Hyde website.
·What KPIs are reviewed by EMT re Product Quality?
EMT review number of defects against property and defects completed within the target date
·Do you have completion dates for the actions put into the presentation?
I think this is covered in the minutes but have added details of date for Stonebridge video
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