Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 · 2018-01-03 · Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 Welcome to Plus Dane’s annual report for

Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17



WHY WE DO IT...

I chair a Board of highly committed individuals working closely with the senior team. The Board is clear that at the heart of Plus Dane is its social purpose and the drive to ensure we are meeting the needs of our tenants and other customers. At the same time we have to ensure that Plus Dane meets increasingly complex financial and other regulations and has a clear plan to both increase the number of homes available but also to improve existing stock.

We also want to play our part in building active communities where local agencies help local people to improve their area and look out for one another. We are very conscious that benefit changes and other economic forces are creating serious pressure on many people in social housing and we want to be proactive in offering assistance.

I would like to finish by thanking the tremendous staff of Plus Dane who go out of their way to provide a good service and to support tenants going through difficult times. With their continued dedication, Plus Dane is in a good position to continue its development.

Sir Peter Fahy Chair Plus Dane Housing

The core purpose of Plus Dane is to provide decent housing for people, particularly those who can’t get it through the commercial market.


Message from our Chair Sir Peter Fahy

“

Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17

Welcome to Plus Dane’s annual report for the 2016/17 financial year. In this year’s report, after a significant period of change over the last three years we wanted to tell some of the stories of colleagues who work all year round delivering for our tenants and customers with passion and dedication; all committed to our social purpose and all of the belief that everyone deserves a roof they can afford over their head.

My own story is very similar; I strongly believe there are two things that are most important to the wellbeing of any individual - a decent home you can call your own and a real job. I would like to think that I have spent the vast majority of my career focussed on trying to deliver those things for, and with, people who sometimes find it hard to deliver them for themselves and to use those two levers successfully to create sustainable communities.

I started my career many years ago in the housing sector working with individual communities and housing co-ops. Housing

has been a constant thread throughout my working life and I was immensely proud three years ago to have the opportunity to come back to an association and head up Plus Dane. Having grown up in a council house, I know first-hand the importance of having a place to call home where you feel safe and secure and I’m pleased that this is also the view shared by our Board and is at the forefront of our strategic direction.

I receive lots of communication from tenants and customers both good and bad and the thing that gets me out of bed each morning is trying to put right what we get wrong and trying to do more of the things we get right. There is no greater feeling than when I read a letter from a tenant who has had their quality of life transformed by something we have done for them. It fills me with pride to know that as an organisation we are all focussed on making a difference to people’s lives.

Message from our Chief Executive Barbara Spicer

“

Barbara Spicer CBEChief Executive Plus Dane Housing


I strongly believe there are two things that are most important to the wellbeing of any individual - a decent home, and a real job.


Growth and InvestmentAnna James

Development Delivery Manager

It’s always been important to me to have a job where I’m putting something back into my community, which is why I love working for a housing association. Having grown up in a housing association owned property myself I’ve always known what it means to have a decent place to call home in an area that you care about. Working for an organisation where I’m helping to make that happen and giving people opportunities to build a solid foundation for the future is important to me.

As the Development Delivery Manager the diversity of work I’m involved in covers everything from finding a piece of land to build on, working closely with architects on designs, managing our programme and seeing new homes being built, to bringing old properties back to life. No two days are ever the same but knowing that I am helping our tenants and customers find a good home whether it be affordable rent or shared ownership is what really drives me.

Everybody deserves a decent, secure place to call home. The happiness and sense of pride you see when someone is given the keys to a new home is so satisfying to see - it’s one of the reasons I come to work every day, it can really turn someone’s life around.

The new house is just brilliant and it has taken a huge weight off my shoulders. We’ve been so lucky - I never in my life expected we’d get a new build, and I never want to move again. I open the curtains now and see fields and cows, my little boy can go out and play and have fun in safety. We have a lovely warm home and can have a nice, happy family life.

Paul StonehamPlus Dane Tenant

I’m helping Plus Dane to achieve its corporate priority of ‘growth and investment’ by ensuring that we are delivering a diverse range of homes to meet people’s needs and that we are continuing to invest in the right areas for the business.

I know I’ve had a great day when I hear really positive feedback from a customer about a property they have just moved into, or getting a scheme off the ground that has faced some setbacks. There’s no better feeling than to know I’m making a difference.


“


PeopleMichael Madeloso

Trades apprentice in joinery

As an apprentice joiner my role is an important one because I’m helping make people’s homes nicer, and safer. For example, we will get called out to jobs where the lock on a door is broken, or a window has been smashed, so I’ll go out with the team and help them to fix the problem. It’s good for me knowing that I’m helping to make someone’s home more secure and a better place to live.

Also, being an apprentice means I’m able to learn as I earn. Because of the hands-on experience I’m getting on the job I’m able to use these skills at home. I’ve told my mum and dad, who are Plus Dane tenants I’ll help

them with any jobs and I’ve offered to build a fence for my nan and grandad. When I’m older and have a house of my own I know I’ll be able to make improvements to it myself because of what I’m learning on the job.

Because I’m new to the job the team and the managers give me lots of support, and I’m always getting advice on how I can progress in my career. I really like it when someone gives me a bigger job to do because it means that they trust that I can do it. It makes a difference when someone has that belief in you; and it’s building up my confidence too.

I love being an apprentice at Plus Dane. I like helping others and it’s nice to work somewhere that wants to support people - that’s a good feeling to have coming into work every day.


There are lots of opportunities to develop extra skills too at Plus Dane. I’ve just done a locksmith course which I really enjoyed, and I’m learning more about safeguarding and health and safety, which is important for when I’m working with our tenants.

Plus Dane’s People Strategy recognises delivering good services to tenants is not possible without its staff and also wants to make sure that 5% of the workforce is made up of apprentices, graduates and trainees within the next five years.I think that’s a great ambition and I’d love to stay on with Plus Dane after my apprenticeship finishes because it’s a place where I know I’m building my confidence and somewhere I’d like to build my career with.


Becoming a Board member at Plus Dane is an exciting opportunity for me to make a difference to the strategic direction of the organisation. It enables me to utilise both my professional skills and experience and offer my perspective as a tenant. There are lots of opportunities for tenants to get involved in shaping the future of the organisation. As a Board Member I am passionate about ensuring the tenant voice is an integral consideration when making future business decisions.

Lyndsey BurkertBoard member and Plus Dane Tenant ”


Financial Resilience Jill Burns

Head of Income

For me it’s not simply about collecting in the money. It’s about our tenants’ wellbeing and happiness and I have saved more people from falling into arrears than I can recall, which is what matters the most to me.

When a customer picks up that phone to tell us they are struggling to pay their rent, I know that it is probably one of the most difficult calls they will ever have to make. That’s why working with the tenant is so important and I do think that when they see how

approachable we are ithelps to build up trust and understanding. I know we can’t always save everybody, but myself and my team really care about our customers and will do everything in our power to make sure people can stay in their homes.

Knowing that I’m helping people is what gets me up out of bed every morning. I couldn’t work for an organisation that doesn’t care, or doesn’t want to help and support customers.

Debt can cause so many problems for people. Seeing someone on the brink of losing everything, including their home, is something I hate to see and I really don’t want that for our tenants. It’s why I feel so passionately about doing the job that I do to help people stay out of debt, pay their rent and stay in their homes.


As an organisation, we need to be financially resilient to keep us in business, to allow us to build more homes and so that we can re-invest money back into our neighbourhoods, which ultimately benefits tenants. I know that my own personal

drive is to maximise income collection, but doing it with a heart, is helping our organisation stay on financial track and is keeping people safe in their homes.


After some personal issues in my life from which I was worried I was going to lose my home, I contacted Plus Dane and was helped by Jill on a number of occasions. Her advice was instrumental to me being able to solve my issues and she also helped me on a personal level by having a compassionate nature to my situation.

I have often shied away from discussing personal issues but Jill made me feel comfortable and resolved my problems. I feel she went above and beyond and is a credit to Plus Dane.

Laura StarkeyPlus Dane Tenant“


Products and Services

Kirsteen SmithSupported Accommodation Manager

I’ve worked at Plus Dane for 12 years, starting out as a Senior Support worker, now as a Supported Accommodation Manager. I get the best of both worlds, the challenges of setting up new services, turning services around and the opportunity to support those that use our services.

It’s hard work and can be emotional at times but no day is ever the same and its fun! I’m proud to work in a team where everyone cares and will go above and beyond to help people.

I am passionate about ensuring our service users feel welcome, safe and warm from the minute they join us and have the right support in place.

Taking the time to understand every resident’s story is so important to me as it helps to understand their needs and tailor the support we provide in a non-judgemental way. Setting small realistic goals with them is key so they are not set up to fail and can celebrate the milestones they achieve.

There is no better feeling than when you see people you have supported move on and regain their ability to live independently. I’ve had service users that have gone on to university, one became a district nurse, another a midwife and one a manager in Tesco…I’ve even been invited to a wedding and a christening!

It’s important to me for the team to create accommodation services of a standard that if a family member were in a situation and needed to use them, we would be happy for them to live there.


I couldn’t work for an organisation that is driven by profit for the benefit of shareholders. Working for an organisation with a social purpose, where our ‘profits’ are reinvested for the benefit of people that need it mirrors my personal values. It’s also important to me that there is accountability for the money we do spend on providing products and services for our tenants and customers.

I’m helping Plus Dane achieve its corporate goal around providing products and services that our customers need and can afford. We take continuous improvement really seriously and talk to service users regularly to understand how we can get better… and this is paying off as we see our service users achieving better outcomes all the time.


I love the staff at Anne Conway House, the staff are great, you feel safe and you get to know other residents. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give Anne Conway House 15.

Christopher HughesTemporary Accommodation Tenant ”


HOW WE’VE DONE FOR YOU...


Finance

2016/17 £25.1m

0 11

2015/16 £5.2m

2015/16 £20.6m

2016/17 £10.9m

Target £5.6m

Target £17.5m

Million

0 30

Income

Income is down year on year as a result of the rent

reduction, a reduction in shared ownership sales and the value of some contracts

held by Plus Dane.

Surplus after tax

The surplus has increased year on year and has exceeded the target as a result of the organisation reducing operating costs and us seeing a reduction in the organisation’s cost of sales.

We have maintained performance on bad debt despite welfare reform, which continues to challenge. This is excellent news and is a result of improvements to income management and collection rates.

The social housing operating margin is

a key indicator of our financial resilience and

key to our corporate plan. It is encouraging

that we have exceeded the target for this year

and continue to head in the right direction.

Operating Surplus

The operating surplus has increased year on year primarily as a result of the organisation reducing its costs as part of a concerted effort to become more efficient.

Million

2015/16 £0.4m

2016/17 £0.4m

Target £1.3m

2016/17 £22.7m

2015/16 £18.4m

Target £17.8m

0 25Million

Overall Operating Margin

Bad debt & bad debt provision - this is a combination of bad debt written off and the increase in the bad debt provision.

2015/16 £96.8m

2016/17 £94.4m

Target £99m


247

7.16%

588247 cyclical decoration works

Tenancy turnover during 2016/17 was 7.16%, an improvement from 8.71% last year. (our target was 10%)

Installing 588 new heating systems

Performance

£5.6m

99.9% 91.1%

430

90.35%

171

We invested over £5.6m improving and maintaining our homes in 2016/17, including:

99.99% of our homes have a valid Gas Safety Certificate (our target was 100%)

91.1% of customers are happy with our repairs service (our target was 94%) - last year was 93.28%

Installing 430 new kitchens and 250 new bathrooms

90.35% of our customers said they are happy with the services we provide as their landlord (our target was 90%)

Installing over 171 major aids and adaptations

150150 properties received new windows & doors

89.86%89.86% of our customers are happy with their neighbourhood (our target was 90%)

Performance against target:

Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17

Plus Dane works to provide the support that tenants need to maintain their tenancies successfully. Of all new tenancies during the year, 17.2% failed during the first 12 months (our aim was 13.5%)

We secured our full allocation bid for in the Homes and Communities Agency’s 2015-2018 Affordable Homes Programme

24.6

Our average time to re-let homes was 24.6 days (our target was 30)

91.86%

91.86% of our customers are happy with their home (our target was 90%)

247 100% 93We received 247 antisocial behaviour cases in 2016/17

100% of ASB cases were responded to within our target times

We completed 93 affordable new homes during 2015/16

5,000 38 We completed over 5,000 new home applications through Help to Buy North West

We helped 38 households into home ownership through shared ownership across Merseyside and Cheshire


ComplaintsHaving reviewed the way that we handle complaints, there has been an increased focus on the efficient management and monitoring of complaints for our tenants and customers. We have worked to provide more support for frontline staff; this includes bespoke complaint handling training to enable our staff to resolve issues at the first point of contact. We also consistently monitor our calls to ensure quality and to pick up on any training issues that could help us improve further.

Within the Customer Access Strategy there is a programme of service improvements that we are working to implement to continue to simplify, personalise and provide a consistent and high quality service to our tenants. This includes streamlining existing processes and identifying services that could be automated to provide a greater level of customer service.

• During 2016/17 we received a total of 749 complaints, an increase of 24% compared to the previous year• 225 of these complaints were resolved at the first point of contact, an increase of 30% on the previous year’s results• 480 complaints were resolved at the first stage of the complaint, an increase of 49% on 2015/16 results• 3 complainants referred their complaint to the Housing Ombudsman • 51% of customers were happy with complaint handling and 46% were happy with the outcome of their complaint - both of these figures are slight improvements on the previous year

YOU SAID WE DID

Our complaints policy is unclear about response times

It took far too long for a fire to be replaced

Repairs that were being scheduled were not being allocated to a

relevant member of the trades team resulting in a ‘did not attend’

for those jobs affected.

It was unclear that customers would be expected to pay for

electricity used when cyclical work was being carried out

A new complaints policy is being drafted which will make it clearer on response times.

Our processes for replacing fires were reviewed which resulted in staff training to improve the service.

Our repairs system was reviewed and a fault found which was rectified.

Customers are now notified that they may incur an increased electricity bill as a result of planned investment work being carried out and have the option of requesting workers use an alternative source of power.

A new complaints policy is currently in the process of being developed, taking into account tenant and customer feedback. We have sought input to the development of the policy from Plus Dane Voices, a group of over 600 tenants and customers that regularly provide us with guidance and feedback on all aspects of the business but particularly those aspects that affect tenants.

Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17

ComplimentsWe receive lots of positive feedback from our tenants and customers regarding the products and services we provide. We have recently reviewed our approach to ensuring these compliments are consistently shared with the relevant teams, so that colleagues know when customers express their thanks for the service they have received.

The gentleman that came to do the job

was absolutely lovely, tidy and a very clean worker who did

a beautiful job.

“Pleased to say, I now have a warm apartment again. I was very pleased with Paul who came. His customer service is amazing, explaining to me in laymans terms what the problem was.

Thank you to Carl and the gas team

for a wonderful job of fitting a new

heating system. Carl is a wonderful

person.

John attended my property today to repair the kitchen light fitting, he noticed another light was not working while he was here and called through to the office to report it. He repaired both light fittings while he was here then offered to vacuum after he had finished the work. I was so impressed with his work, he’s a credit to Plus Dane.

“““


Value for MoneyOur Value for Money statement is a self-assessment of how we perform against the Homes and Communities Agency Value for Money standard. It is a regulatory requirement of all registered providers.

Our Board review high-level performance on a bi-monthly basis. Board seek assurance where there are areas of underperformance and examine the root cause to understand what corrective action may be required.

Plus Dane also benchmarks its value for money performance against a peer group of housing associations who offer similar services to and/or operate in the same geographical area on a cost per unit basis.

ManagementcostsPlus Dane 16/17

Peer Group 15/16

£906

£1,157

Maintenance costs(day to day repairs)

Plus Dane 16/17

Peer Group 15/16

£994

£976

Major repairs Plus Dane 16/17

Peer Group 15/16

£684

£976

Service costs Plus Dane 16/17

Peer Group 15/16

£248

£269

Other costsPlus Dane 16/17

Peer Group 15/16

£252

£248

Social letting costs per homePlus Dane 16/17

Peer Group 15/16

£3,084

£3,625

Overall, Plus Dane’s social letting costs per unit (home) is £541 lower than our peer group reported last year, and £486 lower than the mid-point of all housing association performance which demonstrates we are delivering against targets set in our Corporate Plan.

Efficiencies

Overall Plus Dane has made £6m worth of efficiencies in 2016/17 against a target of £2.8m, through a concerted programme to become more efficient in what we do and how we do it.


£994

£976

£248

£269

£3,084

£3,625

Neighbourhoods £1,503,000

Neighbourhoods has made over £1.5m of efficiencies, through actions including restructuring teams in the directorate, reducing the council tax we pay on voids by speeding up our re-letting process, reduction in utility costs and reducing our housing management contract costs.

Assets£1,559,000

Assets has made almost £1.6m of efficiencies through actions including restructuring teams, a reduction in the running costs of Plus Dane offices and a reduction in the in-house repairs team running costs.

Corporate Services£2,590,000

Corporate services has made efficiencies of over £2.5m through actions including team restructures, reductions in IT costs, reductions in corporation tax, interest and financing costs and legal costs.

Ellesmere Port & Neston

£369,000Efficiencies on the Ellesmere Port and Neston Management contract were achieved through a combination of reductions in IT, office and pension costs.

How savings were usedThe savings made as a result of the efficiency planning which took place across the organisa-tion were used to fund a development programme which delivered 93 new affordable homes and 21 new homes for outright sale.

Plus Dane remains committed to ensuring we are as efficient as we can be. Moving forward we will further improve our value for money by:

• Simplifying our legal structure, becoming a single organisation rather than five

organisations under a group structure.

• Using our buying power to ensure we are receiving those products and services we buy

for the very best price.

• Undertaking further re-structures in the organisation.

• Continuing to improve the efficiency of our in-house repairs team. • Reviewing our service charges to ensure they

are consistent, fair and reasonable.

Documents

Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 · 2018-01-03 · Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 Plus Dane Housing Annual Report 2016/17 Welcome to Plus Dane’s annual report for