Luminus News Spring 2009

LuminusNEWS

Luminus wins Best Company

2009 Award

Issue 36 Spring 2009

‘An Extraordinary Company’

2Luminus News Spring 2009

Tell us what you want, what you really, really want!

Chan Abraham, Group Chief Executive, gives customers an open invitation to

contact him.

Luminus moves into our tenth year on 20 March 2009 and excellence in what we do continues to be our top priority.

That’s why I am giving all our customers a fresh opportunity to tell me personally what you think.

We recently sent out a customer opinion survey and we

had a good response. Once we have looked at all the

forms we will share the information publicly. Early results

confirm what most customers say year after year – that

they rate the service Luminus gives very highly.

That’s good, but Luminus is different from most others

because we want to get better wherever we can. So I want

to take this a step further as we go into our tenth year. And

to encourage customers to get involved we will have a special

prize draw!

As you will see from this edition of Luminus News we are officially

one the country’s 100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR. That’s

really important because inspired employees give inspirational

service – the kind of service that puts a smile on customers’ faces

and gives hope for the future.

Inspirational service puts a smile on customers’ faces and gives hope

for the future

3

Tell us what you want, what you really, really want!Page 2Tell us what you really, really want! Page 5Luminus wins Best Company 2009

Page 6Opening new doors for local resident involvement

Page 7Getting to know you

Page 9Our commitment to excellent service

Page 10Area Association

Page 11Assistive technology

Page 12How to cut your energy bills

Page 13Swapping your home

Page 14Luminus inspires fresh hope in Fenland

Page 15New homes

Page 16Positive behaviour

Page 17Street representatives

Page 18What you are responsible for in your home

Contents

Tell us what you thinkYour views are important to us. Please tell us what you think about Luminus News. Call 01480 428707/8 or email [email protected]

To make sure we keep getting it right we need you to tell us

what you think about any or all of these:

What does Luminus do well?•

What do you want us to keep doing?•

What makes Luminus better than others?•

What does Luminus need to improve?•

What do you want us to change?•

What do others do better than Luminus?•

You can write to me, email me on luminus-conversation@

luminus.org.uk or telephone Gemma on 01480 428709.

Everyone who does will get a personal reply and will be

entered into our Luminus Conversation Prize Draw, with

three first prizes of £50 and three runners up prizes of

£25*. That’s six chances of winning just for giving me your

views!

Our 2009 theme is Transformed Lives and Excellent

Outcomes. Let’s make our tenth year the best ever!

You could win £50 just for telling us your views!

For Luminus it’s more than a song!

* Please get your comments to us by 30 April 2009 to make sure you are entered into the prize draw

Luminus News Spring 2009 4

Luminus has an outstanding record as an excellent employer with some of the UK’s most talented and motivated staff teams.

The Luminus commitment to effective leadership and service excellence has impressed the business world and attracted numerous awards including:

The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For

RoSPA Occupational Health & Safety Gold Award

RoSPA Managing Occupational Road Risk

National Business Awards forEmployer of the Year• Business improvement through • PeopleCustomer Focus• Health and Safety•

National Housing Federation Neighbourhood Awards Communication Award

Constructing Sustainable Communities Award

Charter Mark for Customer Service Excellence

CIH Award for Excellence in Promoting Community Cohesion

5

Luminus wins 3 - An ‘Extraordinary Company’

Luminus Group has achieved outstanding national recognition as one of the UK’s Best Companies, gaining “3 STARS EXTRAORDINARY” status.

Best Companies accreditation uses an independent survey of employees and a star rating system. One star is first class, two stars are outstanding and three stars are extraordinary.

The key message emerging from the wide-ranging national survey of employees is described by Best Companies as “Faith in the Leader”. Survey results showed more clearly than ever before that companies with the highest morale, the lowest absenteeism, where people really felt proud to work, and the lowest stress levels, were where they felt they trusted their leader and that that person was engaged with them. The results also showed that employees then needed to have faith in the senior management team – the other senior people who help run the organisation.

The results for Luminus are significant since, based solely on employees’ opinions, they show how engaged the company’s leaders are with the staff.

Group Chief Executive, Chan Abraham, said he was delighted that Luminus had achieved this national award after winning 16th place in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For 2008, adding,

“We believe in our people and are 100% committed to them. This independent survey shows that the vast majority of our employees feel the same way about us.

I strongly believe that this high level of trust and confidence is one of the reasons for Luminus Group’s continued success and excellent performance. Luminus will continue to invest in our people and our communities, to encourage others to be confident about the future and to create a sense of hope in these difficult times.

If we can inspire other business leaders and their staff then we will have achieved one of our main goals of demonstrating a more excellent way.”

Jonathan Austin, Founder and CEO of Best Companies presents the

Award to Chan Abraham


Luminus has been consulting with tenants and residents regarding a fresh approach to local involvement.

The Tenant Services Consultative Forum (TSCF) has agreed the new framework for tenant involvement and it will look like this:

In 2009 we shall be introducing Tenants Conferences which will feature many points of interest for specific neighbourhoods and will allow people to meet Luminus staff and other organisations who provide local services to them. Luminus will continue to offer customers a variety of ways to be involved such as the Design Review Group, the Disability Advisory Panel, or by becoming a Mystery Shopper. If you are interested in getting involved at Luminus, contact Tracey Stone, Tenant Involvement Officer, on 01480 428541 or [email protected].

Opening doors for local resident involvement

The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) is the new regulator for social housing. The TSA has been talking to tenants since January about what they want from landlords.

This is called the ‘National Conversation’ and will help in setting new standards in 2009 that they expect all social landlords to adhere to.

In the summer, the TSA will come back to talk with tenants about how they are developing the standards.

In the late summer, they will publish a formal consultation on the detail of their plans, and by Christmas 2009 the TSA hope to have the standards in place.

If you would like to find out more about the work of the TSA, visit their website at www.tenantservicesauthority.org

Tenant Services Authority

7

We want to make sure we have information about the people who live in our homes so that we can plan the right types of services for you, now, and in the future.

All new tenants complete a ‘Customer Needs Survey’ and we regularly ask for feedback in customer satisfaction surveys.

We are now taking this one step further by asking all our customers to complete a short form.

The information provided will be used only for the purpose of improving our services. We will not pass the information to any other person or organisation outside of Luminus.

We are aiming to collect information about 100% of our customers, by asking people to complete the form when they have an annual gas, or smoke detector service visit. We would like to thank all our customers in advance for their help in this important new project.

Getting to know you

We want to make sure that we know all that our customers want to tell us about themselves so that everyone is treated fairly and receives excellent services.

The Audit Commission, which is the Government agency that inspects housing services, believes we should have as much information about our tenants as possible. We already hold a lot of information and when we asked tenants in a survey whether we should ask a question on “sexual orientation” 76% told us that they do not want us to do this.

When we asked tenants’ representatives they unanimously told us that they consider

this question to be intrusive and unnecessary to the effective delivery of services. We will abide by the wishes of our tenants.

However, we genuinely want to make sure we do not overlook anyone’s needs, so we invite tenants who specifically want to tell us about their “sexual orientation”, or any other special needs or requirements, to let us know on [email protected], or by calling Nairn Davidson on 01480 428724.

This is voluntary and no-one needs to feel under pressure to respond on this matter. Tenants who share any information about this can be reassured that we will treat it confidentially.


Our Equality Scheme sets out our plans for making sure that the services we provide meet the needs of our customers, regardless of their background and personal circumstances. We are carrying out ‘impact assessments’ with our customers to help us understand how our services affect people from different backgrounds and whether they provide the right outcomes.

A number of recommendations were made for improving the service still further, and these have already been agreed or implemented! These include: • Ensuring all our external contractors

carry photographic identification

• Changing our ‘Repairs Quality Feedback Forms’ by providing more space to write comments and covering more issues

• Providing more phone numbers for people who have concerns about anti-social behaviour, for example the number for the local police

• Making our documents more easily accessible

• Creating more links to key documents on our website.

The Equality Scheme is available on our website at www.luminus.org.uk or by calling us on 01480 428724 and asking for a copy to be sent to you at home.

The documents are available in a range of languages, large print, braille and audio.

Equality Impact Assessment update

We are pleased to introduce Caroline Howard, our Customer Relations Officer.

Caroline will make sure that any feedback you give us about the services you receive will be dealt with by the right person, and within ten days of you telling us.

There are many ways to give your feedback. You can use our new Comments, Compliments and Complaints post box in our Brook House reception area, write to us at Brook House, call our general enquiries line on 01480 428777, send us an email or complete an online feedback form through our website at www.luminus.org.uk. You can also simply tell any member of our staff. We look forward to hearing from you!

Give us your views

9

Luminus Service Standards cover all our main activities and were developed in partnership with our customers.

Our Service Standards currently cover:

• Customer service• Equality and diversity• Carrying out repairs to your home• Dealing with anti-social behaviour• Letting homes• Collecting rents and service charges• Getting involved• Neighbourhood and tenancy management• Leaseholder issues• Services for older people• Tenancy support services

Our Service Standards form a major part of our commitment to our customers. They are a benchmark of the Luminus “more excellent way of doing business.”

We will be working with customers to review our performance against the standards in September 2009, so that we can continuously improve the services we provide.

If you would like to get involved please contact our Tenant Involvement Officer, Tracey Stone on 01480 428541.

Our Service Standards are now available from Brook House, on our website at www.luminus.org.uk or you can request a copy by calling our general enquiries number on 01480 428777.

Our commitment to excellent service


PLUS cheap household

goods sale

Thursday 2 April 200912.30 – 2.30pm and 7 – 9pm

at Brook House, Huntingdon, PE29 3QW

Free transport available! Call 01480 428652

For further information or to book transport or parking, contact the Luminus Tenants’ Transport Service on 01480 428652

or email [email protected]

*To enter prize draw simply fill in a feedback form

Area Association

Luminus has been consulting with tenants and residents regarding a fresh approach to involving customers!

Come along and see what you can learn about getting involved and ENTER our £50 prize draw*!

11

Over 55s Event

Oak Foundation Forum

Assistive Technology

On 10 February 2009, sixteen members of the Luminus Disability Advisory Panel (DAP) attended a training session by Margi Fosh of Cambridgeshire Community Services (CCS), who demonstrated the various items of assistive technology available.

All members received a certificate for attending and found the event very informative and interesting. The DAP group meets to assess various issues that concern disabled persons. If you are interested in joining the DAP, please contact Tracey Stone on 01480 428541 or email [email protected].

Representatives from the Oak Foundation schemes attended the latest meeting of the Oak Foundation Forum exploring how tenants can become involved in the Tenant Services Consultative Forum. Representatives are encouraged to bring forward any requests or enquiries from their schemes. On this occasion, one of the issues discussed was how to improve the scheme gardens. It was agreed to look at obtaining funding for installing raised planters. Following requests from Oak Foundation tenants, Luminus invited them to a special HOPE household goods sale at Brook House on 13 February.

Margi Fosh and Tracey Stone

Mr Giovanni Serevenawith his purchases


How to cut your energy bills

Luminus in partnership with Peterborough Environmental City Trust (PECT) provides tenants with competitively priced energy supplies. The scheme is called HEAT and the energy supplier is British Gas.

If you sign up to the HEAT scheme you could benefit from:

• Access to a Green Energy tariff • Dedicated call centre for tenants• Price cap for 12 months • 4 free low energy light bulbs to all new tenants (which will be sent directly to your home), these could save you approximately £40 per year• Here to help scheme – which offers a range of assistance from benefit health checks and other free services from a range of local charities• Free smart meter to help monitor household energy usage

However, for our tenants that currently have prepayment meters within their properties you may wish to consider transferring to the HEAT scheme to benefit from the following:

• Essentials energy tariff, which enables those on prepayment meters to pay at the same rate for energy as those paying on direct debit• The British Gas Trust – customers in difficulty paying there bills can access the British Gas Trust which will help them clear or settle any outstanding amounts they can’t repay

Also as part of the HEAT scheme British Gas will replace a prepayment meter with a credit meter providing there is no debt related to the prepayment meter.

A credit check will take place before any agreement to replace meters takes place.

For an application form or further information please contact Tracey Croucher, Financial Inclusion Officer on 01480 428575.

13

Local Police Surgeries

Swapping your home

Mutual Exchanges are a straight swap of homes between tenants of a registered social landlord or a council. You can only apply if you have an Assured or Secure tenancy.

The Mutual Exchange site can be found at www.home-link.org.uk. Here tenants can find information, register, and search for suitable homes.

Tenants without internet access can obtain paper copies from Luminus.

Tenants also have the option of registering with the national Homeswapper mutual exchange scheme.

To find out more call our Lettings Team on 01480 428345 or Huntingdonshire District Council on 01480 388222/223.

Council and Housing Association tenants can now maximise their options for finding a home by using the new free Home-Link Mutual Exchange website.

Neighbourhood panel meetings give residents the chance to directly address issues in their area and use the skills and resources of police and partner agencies.

Every three months Luminus, other partner agencies and the police meet local residents to discuss any issues in the area. Priorities are then decided upon which neighbourhood officers and partner agencies will tackle before the next panel meeting.

Date Area Venue TimeWednesday 15 April Eynesbury Winhills School, Henbrook 7.30pmThursday 16 April St Neots & District Priory Centre 7.30pmThursday 23 April St Ives Wheatfields School 7.30pmMonday 27 April Ramsey Ramsey Junior School 7.30pmWednesday 3 June Yaxley Yaxley Owen Pooley Hall 7.30pmWednesday 10 June Oxmoor/Hartford Oak Tree Centre 7.30pmWednesday 17 June Huntingdon & District Great Stukeley Village Hall 7.30pm


Luminus inspires fresh hope in Fenland

Luminus is bringing much needed hope to Fenland by purchasing the Queens Hotel in Wisbech to provide housing, education and a range of facilities that will benefit the whole community. The building will be run by Ferry Project, which is part of Luminus and is well-known for its work in housing and supporting people with housing problems in Fenland.

Up to 24 homeless people will be able to live there, and will benefit from training in work related skills, helping to bridge the gap in their step back into employment. This will allow them to move into more permanent accommodation after an average six month stay.

Keith Smith, Ferry Project Director, said, “The Ferry Project motto is “to help the homeless with love and support towards independence” and this is a marvellous, perhaps miraculous, step in making this come true. Many other agencies, including central and local government, are involved in this exciting venture, which will see the redevelopment of the old Queens Hotel. In this time of negativity about the economy this is very positive news for the town. “ Chan Abraham, Luminus Group Chief Executive, said, “We are delighted that, as well as providing homes for local people in need, we will be able to give the community opportunities to use this building in many different ways, including as a training centre, café and a bookshop.

Luminus is recognised as a community anchor in this region and we want to bring some of that inspiration into people’s lives in Fenland as well. We want to work closely in partnership, and will be consulting with local people and community groups to find out their views on practical things, like the internal design, layout and the building’s future use.”

Queens Hotel, Wisbech

15

New homes

Great Shelford, Cambridge Luminus is eagerly awaiting the first of the homes to be handed over at Great Shelford, Cambridge.

These one and two bedrooms apartments will be available in March 2009, for rent and shared ownership. The homes have been built to an excellent standard by McGarrell Reilly and include secure access, spacious rooms, bin stores and parking all set in a picturesque location.

Kaleidoscope, Cambridge

Luminus, working in partnership with Crest Nicholson (Eastern) Ltd. is bringing its expertise and enthusiasm to the old Cambridge University Press (CUP) site. The site consists of 408 one and two bedroom homes of which 122 will be for low cost home ownership.

This interesting and innovative site will offer various coloured panels used to highlight individual homes, giving this superb development its name, “Kaleidoscope”.

Luminus News Spring 2009

Adults must behave in a respectful and polite manner so we can encourage young people to follow our example. You may argue that this is not easy where, everyday, we see images on our televisions and computers which fall below these standards. However, at Luminus we want to challenge all our residents to help us make our communities places that we are proud to live. So what do we mean by POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR? There are many things you can do to promote positive behaviour. These include:

Don’t swear or use aggressive or • unpleasant language, particularly when children are present or where you can be overheardKeep your gardens clean and tidy. • Dispose of your rubbish correctly • using the appropriate bins/bags providedPlay your music or TV at a level that • does not disturb your neighbourBe tolerant of your neighbour’s • children when they are playing Ensure that your children respect • their neighbours and other people’s propertyHelp an elderly person in need • and keep an eye out if you have a vulnerable neighbourAccept that everyone is different and • be tolerant of the lifestyles of othersPark your car with consideration for • other road users and pedestrians.

16

RESPECT - Positive behaviour

Luminus wants to promote POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR from all our residents. By being a good neighbour you will help us to stop nuisance and anti-social behaviour in your community. We believe that if everybody respects each other our communities are happier places to live.

JOIN US IN PROMOTING POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR!

17

The Street Representatives pilot project was launched in Eynesbury, St Neots in January this year. A Street Representative is your resident ‘champion’ within your street or neighbourhood, who acts as a point of contact for reporting local issues.

The Street Representative will report environmental issues such as fly-tipping, graffiti, litter, and broken street furniture as well as keeping an eye out for vulnerable and new people in the area.

Street Representatives can make a huge difference to their local area every day. You don’t have to give up lots of time or need any special skills, except that you care for your neighbourhood.

What is the role of the Street Representative?

Report and be a point of contact for • environmental crime and anti-social behaviour i.e. fly-tipping, litter, dog fouling, abandoned cars, graffiti, noise

Work with local agencies and groups to • help provide information to residents Respond to resident enquiries • Support all local residents • Help organise regular clean-ups •

Will I get to meet other Street Representatives?Yes! We will hold regular feedback meetings throughout the year so you can meet with fellow Street Representatives.

These meetings will be a very important part of the project as this will give you the opportunity to get direct feedback on issues that you have reported, allowing you to feedback to members of your community.

I want to be a Street Representative in Eynesbury or find out about other areas? Please contact Julia Prichard on 01480 428550 or email [email protected].

Street Representatives

Spot the Solution tour in Eynesbury

18

What you are responsible for in your home

Thursday 2 April Area Association Wednesday 29 April Oak Foundation Forum, Langley Close, St Ives Tuesday 19 May Disability Advisory Panel Thursday 11 JuneTenant Services Consultative Forum

GUIDE FOR

TENANTS

Demonstrating a more excellent way of doing business

The Luminus Guide for Tenants is currently being reviewed by the Luminus Design Review Group.

Once approved, it will go for printing and should be on doorsteps for the summer!

You are responsible for the items listed below. If you ask us to carry out a repair to any of these items we will charge you for the work.

Home and Garden • Clearance of blockages in waste pipes and toilets caused by lack of care (e.g. cooking waste, nappies, excessive toilet roll) • Fitting draught excluders • Glass in windows, doors and panels • Maintaining the garden in good order • Keeping the property in good condition internally.

Fixtures and Fittings • Fixtures and fittings such as curtain rails • Replacing light bulbs, fluorescent tubes and their starter mechanisms • Internal door fittings (including adjusting

doors for carpet fitting) • Replacing locks and lost keys/gaining access if you lose keys • Replacing sink plugs and chains • De-scaling baths, sanitary ware and kitchen sinks • Replacing toilet seats • Repairing/renewing gate catches • Replacing batteries in smoke alarms (except in sheltered housing or hard wired alarms) • Child locks and security chains.

The list above is not exhaustive and is only to be used as a guideline.

If for some reason you are unable to carry out any of these tasks, for example you have a certain type of disability, it maybe possible for Luminus to make special arrangements.

Please contact us on 01480 428333.

Luminus News Spring 2009

Don’t Forget!

No-nonsense keynote presentations Workshops for insights, tools and tips

LEADERSHIP & SERVICEE x c e l l e n c e 2 0 0 9

Conference Suite, Brook House, Huntingdon

PAUL AMBROSE Operational Solutions Lead, BAA Stansted

PETER HUBBARD Partner, Anthony Collins Solicitors

DAVID ORR Chief Executive, National Housing Federation

KEITH NELSON Managing Director, Total Coaching Solutions

SIMONE RUSSELL Head of Customer Services, Luminus

KEITH SMITH Director, The Ferry Project

£75+vat(20% EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT BEFORE 30 APRIL 2009)

Conference Chairman CHAN ABRAHAM Group Chief Executive, Luminus

Speakers

Contact us

Published by Luminus Group • Registered Office Brook HouseOuse Walk, Huntingdon PE29 3QWTel No: 01480 428777 • Fax No: 01480 428555Email: [email protected] • Website: www.luminus.org.uk

01480 428777General Enquiries

(Luminus Group Services)

Monday to Thursday 9.00 am - 5.00 pm and

Fridays 9.00 am - 4.30 pm

01480 428588Neighbourhood Services

01480 428333Service Centre

For reporting all repairs.

01480 428500Rent Enquiries - SOUTH

01480 428522Rent Enquiries - NORTH

01480 428521Benefits Advice - Sue Cargill

01480 428541Tenant Involvement Officer -

Tracey Stone

01945 467596Luminus Ferry Project

01480 428314Leaseholder Enquiries

01354 658732Hope Social Enterprises

020 7540 9820Out of Hours Emergencies

If you have any comments about Luminus News or would like a large print or audio version, please contact the Communications Team on

01480 428707/8 or send an email to [email protected]

For help to understand this newsletter please ring 01480 428707/8

This document has been printed on Era Silk.

Era Silk is the first recycled coated paper made from genuine UK waste, providing the environmentally responsible approach to printing.

01480 428531Tenant Liaison Officer -

Linda Bevens

Documents

Luminus News Spring 2009