Residential Services ANNUAL REPORT • 2015/16
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INTRODUCTION FROM IAN SPENCER, DIRECTOR OF RESIDENTIAL SERVICES I am pleased to introduce the Residential Services Annual Report 2015/16 which sets out our progress against the six strategic priorities in the Residential Services Strategic Plan 2012 – 2017. Our aim is to professionally manage resources in line with the School’s strategic aims. We are committed to providing high quality services that are accessible to all our customers in a safe, secure, friendly, clean and customer focused environment. In our annual Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey 2015/16, conducted in Lent term 2016, we achieved an overall response rate of 59 per cent. 2,462 students gave their views with 2 of our undergraduate halls achieving a 100 per cent response rate. My thanks go to the student hall committee members and front of house teams who worked hard to generate interest in the survey. The overall feedback, including halls that are managed by third party providers was that: • 90 per cent of respondents are enjoying their stay in residences
• 83 per cent of respondents would recommend their residence to other LSE students • 75 per cent of respondents felt that their residence offers good value for money For our halls which are directly managed by LSE, these scores increased to: • 93 per cent of respondents are enjoying their stay in residences • 90 per cent of respondents would recommend their residence to other LSE students • 80 per cent of respondents felt that their residence offers good value for money Residential Life The focus of Residential Life on improving welcome events for summer school students this year was reflected in our improved satisfaction results. A substantial 90 per cent of summer school students staying in LSE halls who completed the satisfaction survey said they had a good experience. Student hall committees worked hard to develop a programme of activities across the year and LSE Governors who visited our catered halls to dine with students welcomed the experience. 2
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Our teams of wardens, sub wardens and peer supporters ensured that our students were supported when needed and together these roles are an essential part of what makes our residential community strong.
On the Student Accommodation Code which sets out students’ rights to a safe, good quality place to live, we received a “substantial” level of assurance from our internal auditors. This was a solid achievement and testimony to the hard work of our halls based teams.
Increase Provision In 2015/16, we received 6,553 applications and accommodated 4,355 students – our highest number to date. We were proud to welcome LSE students to urbanest Westminster Bridge in September 2015. The building is located at the end of Westminster Bridge and has views across the river to the Houses of Parliament. The facilities are first class with a basement swimming pool and gym, and top floor communal space including a roof top terrace. Service
Financial Sustainability All our halls are located in zone 1 and within walking distance of the School. This is a unique selling point and highly valued by our students. We operate commercially outside of student term time by selling beds to visitors to London, to language schools and the LSE Summer School. This business model enables the School to offer shorter term time contracts – undergraduate students are offered 31 or 38 week contracts. It also allows Residences to cover the costs of capital invested in our residential estate. Workforce
Residential Services continues to put customer service at the centre of everything we do. Our surveys are acted upon and we shape and develop our services based on customer feedback. We have strong satisfaction results from both our students and commercial guests. However, we do need to do more to increase our value for money scores and we will continue to work with the students’ union and hall committees on this.
Our halls operate 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year and without the dedication of our diverse staff teams we could not achieve the things we do. Collectively, they are responsible for the many achievements in this annual report and my thanks go to everyone involved in making our students stay with us an enjoyable one.
John Barrett, our Hall’s Catering Manager and his teams continued their efforts to ensure that catering played a central role in building strong communities within our halls. Many of the student committee events were catered for and the photographs in this report highlight the fun times that were had.
In the School’s staff survey, the Residential and Catering Services Division achieved an overall staff engagement score of 46 per cent against an average of 40 per cent across the School. We scored in the top quartile for Line Management, with staff feeling valued and supported by their line manager. Staff felt they had a clear understanding of the goals of our division and how this supports the overall School’s goals. Our scores
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improved from the 2012 staff survey and this is a reflection of the work we have carried out. Giving employment opportunities to LSE students is a key aim in Residential Services. In 2015/16 we employed over 110 LSE students, an increase of 30 from 2014/15. LSE students were an essential part of the Residential Services Office (RSO) and Central Reservations Team (CRO). Together they recruited 15 LSE students, many of whom worked across both teams, helping us to provide housing advice and support to our students and a friendly service to our vacation guests. Environment During 2015/16, a collaborative team effort from colleagues in Residences and Estates resulted in many environmental achievements. Overall there was a 13 per cent decrease in our carbon footprint compared to the previous year. Energy saving refurbishments were made as part of the RE:FIT programme and as a direct result of the Student Switch Off (SSO) campaign the amount of kWh saved continues to increase year on year, with a financial saving of £14,495 in 2015/16. A new initiative “FoodCycle” was introduced to Rosebery and Passfield halls this year. The LSE Foodcycle society and halls worked together to collect unwanted non-perishable food. The donations went to the King’s Cross hub of “FoodCycle” to provide for people living with HIV in the local community. Rosebery Hall
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LSE Residential Life: building a community in LSE halls of residence animation
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STRATEGIC PRIORITY 1: RESIDENTIAL LIFE Develop a Residential Life programme to provide a visible, responsive and supportive residential environment and assist the personal development of students Residential Life ensures that all students are supported and have a safe and enjoyable experience in our halls. The team consists of a Head of Residential Life, a Residential Life Officer and 44 Wardens and Sub wardens. In the annual Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey 2015/16, 76 per cent of students who had interacted with the Warden and Sub wardens said they were “quite” or “very” satisfied with the support they received.
and former residents of halls so they were able to offer genuine insight into living and studying at LSE. Beyond arrival day, the Welcome Helpers were present in halls for a few hours each week to answer questions from Summer School students about anything to do with LSE or London.
Now in its fifth year, the Peer Support programme continues to provide support to our students. Developed to provide student-led, informal and confidential assistance to all LSE students who would like emotional support, help and reassurance, the Peer Support programme doubled in numbers this year and now every hall of residence has at least one peer supporter assigned to it. Of the survey respondents who said they had sought support from peer supporters, 88 per cent were “quite” or “very” satisfied with the support they received. Recruiting Welcome Helpers for our Summer School students was a new initiative introduced in summer 2016 to offer arriving Summer School students a friendly face from a peer. All Welcome Helpers were current LSE students
Summer school welcome helpers
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Improving our Induction and Welcome Information We reviewed the “look and feel” and content of our online induction in preparation for the 2016/17 intake. The online induction has been extended to include four modules that reflect a student’s journey as they prepare to live in halls. The modules “before you arrive”, “arrival day”, “your first week” and “your first term” enabled us to provide information and guidance within an improved structure. Initial feedback indicates that engagement has significantly improved from the previous two years. A set of four animations were created to communicate key messages to students in a more engaging way. The content for the animations was developed over a six month period and the films have been used over summer 2016. The full set of animations about “arriving to an LSE hall of residence”, “staying safe in LSE halls of residence”, “building a community in LSE halls of residence” and “keeping well in autumn and winter” is available on the School’s YouTube account: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK4elntc UEy2_vcVkkssnWBf1u9jmrbWA
LSE Residential LIfe: Online Induction
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LSE Residential LIfe: Animations 8 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 8
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Supporting students with disabilities
Chow Down Continues
In collaboration with the Disability and Wellbeing Service (DWS), we aim to provide accessible accommodation for students with disabilites and endeavour to make reasonable adjustments to support individuals during their stay with us.
For Chow Down 2015/16 we hosted six Governors in four halls. In catered halls the Governors joined students for dinner. For one Governor, Peter Jones, Chow Down was a nostalgic visit to his old hall Passfield with his ex roommate from 54 years ago!
During 2015/16 Daniel Cowley, an undergraduate student studying Government and Economics stayed at Grosvenor House. He said:
Feedback from students, staff and Governors was positive and everyone valued the opportunity to learn from each other. Governor John Hughes wrote to us to say “I had a great visit - totally worthwhile. Please pass on my thanks to the whole team and in particular the student committee, Warden and Deputy Wardens. A credit to the LSE.”
“Being based in Grosvenor House worked really well. I could get to campus easily and I didn’t have to rely on public transport. The room was perfect really, it had lots of space and the wet room worked well. My carer’s room was also allocated close by, which was great. The reception team at Grosvenor House were really helpful, and if I needed anything I could ask and the team were really prompt in getting it.” Daniel Cowley, Undergraduate student, BSc in Government and Economics
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LSE Govenor Elisabeth Stheeman’s visit to Northumberland House (From left to right: Sarah Lee (Warden), Elisabeth Stheeman (LSE Governor), Wingchi Yip (NH Hall Committee President) and Kuanglin Huang (NH student representative)
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Celebrating in our halls Thanksgiving and the Lunar New Year are always celebrated widely across our halls. This year was no exception. High Holborn hosted a joint event with other halls to celebrate the Lunar New Year. They invited fellow residents from Grosvenor House, Northumberland House and Butler’s Wharf. Around 350 students attended the event which was run with the support of the Hall Committees and Wardens
“Way beyond my expectation, in terms of: food quality, staff kindness/ helpfulness, surprises (Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, etc).” International postgraduate student, Rosebery Avenue
Around 350 students attended the event which was run with the support of the Hall Committee, Front of House and Wardens.
Celebrating Thanksgiving at Passfield Hall
“Always very friendly and ready to provide advice.” International postgraduate student, Rosebery Avenue
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Walking across Westminster Bridge 11 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 11
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STRATEGIC PRIORITY 2: INCREASE PROVISION Increase provision to allow guaranteed accommodation to be offered to each new full-time student in their first year at the School Table 1: Applications received and students accommodated in 2015/16 Applications
Per cent
Accommodated
1st year undergraduates
Student Category
2,041
71%
1,445
1st year postgraduates
3,306
65%
2,148
General Course/Erasmus
326
94%
305
Continuing students
880
52%
457
6,553
66%
4,355
Totals
In the 2015/16 application cycle, we received 6,553 applications and accommodated 4,355 students across our residences, including students into partner halls (University of London Intercollegiate halls, urbanest King’s Cross and Westminster Bridge, and Lilian Knowles hall). The number of students accommodated increased 7 per cent in 2015/16 from the previous year.
Opening of Westminster Bridge In September 2015 urbanest Westminster Bridge opened accommodating 480 LSE students in one of the most innovative student accommodation developments in recent years. The hall offers students a swimming pool, gym and purpose made cinema room on site. The hall proved very popular and places were filled by April 2015. Residential Bed Space Strategy 2015-2030 The LSE’s current accommodation policy is to guarantee an offer of accommodation to all first year undergraduates. Priority is given to students with disabilities. Graduate students enter a lottery system for the remaining bed spaces. We are proud of the fact that LSE has the highest bed-capacity-to student ratios in central London universities.
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Over the last 10 years Residential Services has increased student bed space capacity with third parties and short term nomination agreements with private student housing providers. Having a mixed portfolio of residences is important to the School as it allows us to offer a range of accommodation options to our diverse group of students. In 2005/06 the School provided 3,145 bed spaces and in 2015/16 bed numbers reached a peak of 4,516 with the opening of urbanest Westminster Bridge. Our bed numbers will peak at 4,669 in 2016/17 when our allocation of beds with the University of London increases with the re-opening of the Garden Halls (currently being refurbished). Our aim is to provide an offer of accommodation for new graduate students and we will continue to look for opportunities to increase our bed space capacity. This is reflected in the recommendations from our bed space strategy for 2015 – 2030 which was completed this year. Review of Private Housing Service
cycle (May-September 2015). Unfortunately, this was not enough to keep pace with the number of students seeking private housing, but did offer an additional resource. In October 2015, the RSO surveyed students registered on LSEStudentpad and 61 students responded. We also introduced a pilot Rent Guarantor Scheme in April 2015, after working in collaboration with the LSESU. The scheme sought to assist those students who were unable to find a UK based guarantor (a frequent demand by landlords before offering a rental contract on a property) and so were finding it difficult to secure housing. LSE acted as rent guarantor for 2 students during the academic year, and the RSO will seek to increase the numbers of students who take up the scheme for the next cycle. The RSO was active in offering private housing advice in 2015/16, visiting 6 halls of residence to hold talks and drop in sessions, as well as holding two further presentations on campus. Approximately 400 students attended a talk or presentation given by the RSO on private housing in 2015.
In 2015/16, the Residential Services Office (RSO) sought to extend the assistance it provided to students seeking private housing. 2015/16 was the first full academic year in which the RSO was able to offer the online private housing portal tailored to LSE students – LSEStudentPad. The service allows landlords to register properties with the School and lets LSE students view these properties. It provides an online message board for students to contact other students also seeking housing. LSEStudentPad proved to be popular. Over 2,245 students signed up to the service over the course of the cycle. There was a steady increase in the number of properties registered, ranging from 50-100 listed during the peak of the
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Urbanest, Westminster Bridge Place 14 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 14
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Rosebery Hall 15 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 15
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STRATEGIC PRIORITY 3: SERVICE Deliver a highly effective service to the School, offering excellent value for money to students and the School Residential Services actively encourages customers to provide feedback via a variety of methods including the annual Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey, LSE Vacations surveys and the Residential Services Complaints Procedure. Survey results are published online and shared with students, commercial guests and staff. Improvements are identified, and staff are encouraged to contribute to action plans. All of our complaints and compliments are recorded and reviewed monthly and annually by the Residences Management Team and necessary action taken.
90 per cent of respondents are enjoying their stay in residences
Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey 2015/16 This year 2,462 (59 per cent) of our residents completed the survey. Two of our halls achieved a 100 per cent completion rate which is a first in the history of residences! Particular thanks go to the staff and student leaders at Carr-Saunders and Passfield halls who worked so hard to encourage students to take part. The Hall Committees were awarded ÂŁ250 each to spend on entertainment at their end of year party, or on an item that will benefit the whole hall.
83 per cent of respondents would recommend their residence to other LSE
75 per cent of respondents felt that their residence offers good value for money 16
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LSE managed halls scores from the survey have a higher satisfaction rating than the overall scores on page 16 which include third party managed and University of London Intercolleigate halls. In LSE managed halls:
93 per cent of respondents are enjoying their stay in residences • 90 per cent of respondents would recommend their residence to •
other LSE students •
80 per cent of respondents felt that their residence offers good value for money
The Residential Services Office (RSO) continued to deliver a high level of customer satisfaction. Overall, 80 per cent of respondents told us they were “very” or “quite” satisfied with the service they received in person, via email or on the phone. This was an increase of 5 per cent from 2014/15. Satisfaction with the Front of House teams improved again in 2015/16 with 2 of our halls, Northumberland Avenue and Rosebery Hall achieving 86 per cent for staff friendliness and helpfulness. Overall, around 78.5 per cent of respondents ranked reception services as “very” to “highly” satisfactory. When residents were asked the question “What most attracted you to apply for LSE residences?” the key factor overall was location, followed by price and social atmosphere.
Director of Residential Services with prize winners from the 2015/16 Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey
“Front of house team is great” International postgraduate student, High Holborn
“Very helpful and friendly!” UK undergraduate student, Passfield Hall
“Reception are really friendly and very fast with any problems.” UK undergraduate student, Carr-Saunders Hall
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2015/ 2016
Total Spaces
Total Spaces
Intercollegiate Halls Third Party Managed Halls
2014/2015
2015/2016
Do you think you residence offers good value for money? 2014/2015
Would you recommend your residence to other students at LSE?
2015/2016
2014/2015
2015/2016
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
598
598
91%
9%
96%
4%
74%
26%
83%
17%
87%
13%
93%
7%
Butler’s Wharf Residence
16%
280
280
94%
6%
88%
12%
88%
12%
86%
14%
92%
8%
84%
Carr-Saunders Hall
160
132
95%
5%
87%
13%
90%
10%
78%
22%
94%
6%
92%
8%
Grosvenor House
225
225
98%
2%
95%
5%
83%
17%
78%
22%
94%
6%
89%
11%
High Holborn Residence
405
405
92%
8%
90%
10%
65%
35%
64%
36%
87%
13%
82%
18%
Northumberland House
342
342
94%
6%
90%
10%
86%
14%
80%
20%
90%
10%
85%
15% 5%
Passfield Hall
227
219
95%
5%
94%
6%
92%
8%
84%
16%
95%
5%
95%
Rosebery Hall
329
329
92%
8%
96%
4%
85%
15%
85%
15%
85%
15%
95%
5%
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
93%
7%
n/a
n/a
80%
20%
n/a
n/a
90%
10%
Mean
Are you enjoying your stay in residences?
Hall Bankside House LSE Managed Halls
2014/ 2015
Lilian Knowles House
365
365
86%
14%
83%
17%
80%
20%
71%
29%
77%
23%
70%
30%
Sidney Webb House
446
446
84%
16%
77%
23%
82%
18%
62%
38%
82%
18%
60%
40%
Urbanest King’s Cross
349
312
87%
13%
92%
8%
54%
46%
57%
43%
65%
35%
69%
31%
Urbanest Tower Bridge
n/a
20
n/a
n/a
50%
50%
n/a
n/a
0%
100%
n/a
n/a
25%
75%
Urbanest Westminster Br.
n/a
489
n/a
n/a
83%
17%
n/a
n/a
55%
45%
n/a
n/a
74%
26%
Zebra Housing Flats
6
6
n/a
n/a
100%
0%
n/a
n/a
80%
20%
n/a
n/a
80%
20%
Mean
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
83%
17%
n/a
n/a
62%
38%
n/a
n/a
68%
32%
College Hall
39
43
n/a
n/a
90%
10%
n/a
n/a
80%
20%
n/a
n/a
70%
30%
Connaught Hall
0%
35
41
n/a
n/a
100%
0%
n/a
n/a
92%
8%
n/a
n/a
100%
International Hall
103
91
n/a
n/a
97%
3%
n/a
n/a
76%
24%
n/a
n/a
97%
3%
Lilian Penson Hall
26
41
n/a
n/a
89%
11%
n/a
n/a
44%
56%
n/a
n/a
67%
33%
Nutford House Mean All Residences (Mean)
21
35
n/a
n/a
78%
22%
n/a
n/a
78%
22%
n/a
n/a
56%
44%
n/a
n/a
78%
22%
93%
7%
75%
25%
76%
24%
74%
26%
85%
15%
n/a
n/a
91%
9%
90%
10%
79%
21%
75%
25%
86%
14%
83%
17%
Table 2: Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey 2015/16: Key benchmarking data and 2014/15 comparison.
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LSE Catering in halls LSE Catering provides meals for students and commercial guests in our four catered halls throughout the year. During term time the restaurants are the hub of community life in halls providing students with the ideal opportunity to catch up with their neighbours. In the Student Accommodation Satisfaction Survey 2015/16 84 per cent of respondents said it was important for them to have meals in halls and 81 per cent of respondents said that eating together enhances the feeling of community in their hall. Importantly, 76 per cent of respondents said that the restaurant made it possible for them to make more friends.
“I liked the food very much and loved the fact that I could have dinner with different people every day. Definitely a strong pro for Rosebery!” EU postgraduate student, Rosebery Avenue
“Fantastic-so much variety and choice.” UK undergraduate, Carr-Saunders Hall
“Loving it. I eat healthy and adhere to strict diet and even I can find something decent for me to eat.” EU undergraduate, Carr-Saunders Hall
“As an exchange student, the food provided in my hall is of better quality and is more healthy than my university. It also has more variety, and sensitive to vegetarians.” International exchange student, Passfield Hall
“Very nice variety of meat and potatoes, really like the late dinner and pack up service” International undergraduate student, Bankside House
“It was one of the best parts of living in London. Friendly people, nice dish. After exhausting day, it was such a healing time to be in the dining room.” International postgraduate student, Rosebery Avenue
“It’s been great, definitely exceeded my expectations. I thought it would be unhealthy or typical cafeteria food, but they provide many healthy food choices and a great variety of food.” International postgraduate student, Rosebery Avenue
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Dining at an LSE catered hall
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Residential Services Complaints and Compliments During 2015/16, Residential Services staff recorded and responded to 379 complaints across the Division. Compared to 2014/15 this was an increase of 90 complaints which can be attributed to improved recording of complaints from other areas, including third party partners.
Of the 379 recorded complaints, 258 were stage 1 complaints which were resolved locally, 115 were stage 2 complaints, 6 were stage 3 complaints and there were no recorded stage 4 complaints.
Figure 1: Residential Services Complaints 2015/16 by category 1%
4% 11%
15%
14%
32%
3%
2%
Administration
Residential Life
Facilities
Theft
IT Systems
Customer service
Pests
In-house maintenance
Security
Noise
Catering
Room Rate
Housekeeping
3rd party maintenance
Laundry
7% 7% 1%
1% 0%1%1%
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We have made a number of improvements in response to feedback received in previous years. Northumberland House is piloting a new Wi-Fi system managed by the LSE IMT department and we have made improvements to the Wi-Fi infrastructure at Rosebery Hall. In comparison to last year, complaints about IT Systems have seen a significant reduction from 13 per cent in 2014/15 to less than 1 per cent in 2015/16. Investment in heating and hot water services continues across Carr-Saunders, Rosebery and Passfield halls. A mobile app for laundry has been introduced to enable residents to buy laundry credit online. This was in response to dissatisfaction in previous years with the cash vending system that was prone to breakdowns. In addition we continue to respond to noise complaints both internally and externally, and have implemented a more robust regime for dealing with pests.
45 Percentage of complaints
Administration received the second highest number of complaints, 58 (15 per cent), followed by in-house maintenance which received 52 complaints (14 per cent).
Figure 2: Residential Services Complaints Comparison 2014/15 to 2015/16.
40 35
2014
30
2015
25 20 15 10 5 0
Ad m in ist ra Cu sto Ca tion m ter er in Se g r In -h H Fa vice ou ou ci se se litie M kee s ain p te ing n IT an Sy ce ste La ms un dr No y Re ise sid en Pe ta st t s Ro ial L om ife 3r R d Se ate Pa cu rty rit M y Co ain The Pa m ten ft sto m an ra Ext un ce l S er ica up na tio po l G n rt ro Pr up ov isi on
For the second year running the category with the highest number of complaints was for facilities related issues. They made up 32 per cent (122) of all complaints, although this was a reduction of 2 per cent on the previous year. Facilities complaints related to a broad range of subjects from heating and showers to key systems.
Complaint category
During 2015/16, Residential Services staff recorded 92 compliments. Just over a third of these related to the installation of a free hot drinks service point in the reception at Sidney Webb, 22 were for customer service and 11 for in-house maintenance.
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LSE Vacations Feedback
Full results can be seen in Table 3.
Booking.com, Late Rooms and Agoda are the three main online travel agents that we use. Our overall approval rating from Booking.com for summer 2015 was 79 per cent (2551 from 3229 respondents).
LSE Vacations winter survey had a response rate of 15.8 per cent (245 respondents from 1,550 surveys sent out) which compares well to the industry average response rate for external surveys of 10-15 per cent.
In comparison to last year’s feedback for Booking.com, three of our halls received an increase in positive reviews. In particular, Bankside House received 1,000 (85.2 per cent) positive reviews out of a total of 1,173 regarding facilities, Northumberland House received 245 (88.7 per cent) positive reviews out of a total of 276 regarding customer service and High Holborn received 337 (90.3 per cent) positive reviews from 373 regarding its value for money.
Digital Marketing During 2015/16, our pay-per-click (PPC) return on investment increased to a high of 2,977 per cent while keeping the cost of managing this channel consistent at a 48 per cent reduction from the 2013/14 year. We have continued to improve our social media presence with a 24.5 per cent increase in our Facebook followers and 21.9 per cent increase in followers on Twitter.
All of our halls received “good”, “very good” or “excellent” ratings from Booking.com, Late Rooms and Agoda for the summer.
Hall
Late Rooms
Overall Value review score for money
Comments
Bookings.com Value Overall review score for money
Comments
Agoda Value Overall review score for money
Comments
Carr-Saunders Hall
7.9
8.7
Very Good
8.3
8.7
Good
8.1
8.6
Excellent
Passfield Hall
8.8
8.8
Very Good
7.9
8.4
Good
8
8.5
Very Good
Rosebery Hall
8.6
8.4
Very Good
8.1
10
Good
7.2
7.8
Very Good
Grosvenor House
n/a*
n/a*
8
8.1
Good
7.4
8.3
Very Good
High Holborn
8.7
8.6
8.3
8.6
Good
8
8.4
Very Good
Northumberland House Bankside House
8.1
8.7
8.9
8.9
n/a*
Very Good Good
Very Good
*Only 4 reviews - no score generated Scores are out of 10 for “overall review score” and “value for money”
8
8.2
Good
7.4
7.8
Very Good
8.1
9.5
Good
7.6
8.3
Very Good
Table 3: LSE Vacations Online Booking Engine Feedback Summer 2016
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Refurbishment We spent just under ÂŁ4m on long term maintenance across LSE halls, and working with colleagues in the Estates Division we completed a number of improvement projects during 2015/16. Carr-Saunders Hall refurbished the fifth floor of the residence during Michaelmas term and completed the fourth floor in Lent term. A total of 55 bedrooms (37 per cent of the overall room stock), bathrooms and kitchens were refurbished. High Holborn refurbished the seventh and eighth floors of its residence. A total of 72 bedrooms (17 per cent of the overall rooms stock) were renovated along with 8 kitchens. Over the last two years, new study beds (designed to convert quickly and easily in a few seconds from a desk to a bed) have been introduced as part of the refurbishment, maximising living space and facilitating the transition to commercial trading during the vacation.
High Holborn refurbished room with study bed as desk
Northumberland House had a further 11 kitchens refurbished and now all kitchens in the hall have been refurbished. The common room and student IT room also underwent refurbishment.
High Holborn refurbished room with study bed as bed
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UUK Code Audit The Student Accommodation Code protects students’ rights to a safe, good quality place to live. It outlines everything they should expect from Residential Services as well as student responsibilities as a tenant.
Northumberland House refurbished IT room The code includes 6 key areas for LSE managed halls of residence. • A healthy, safe environment • Timely repairs and maintenance • A clean, pleasant living environment • Specifics around the contractual relationship between LSE and our students • Access to health and wellbeing services • A living environment free from anti-social behaviour Northumberland House refurbished common room
This year the internal auditors assessed that we provided a substantial level of assurance.
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Quality in Tourism VisitEngland star ratings are awarded based on the quality of our facilities, services and the hospitality we provide. During the summer we were visited by one of the quality assessors. All of our sites successfully maintained a 3 star rating, with improved scores for High Holborn and Northumberland House. An increase in scores from previous years in both of these halls is a reflection of the long term maintenance (LTM) project to improve standards of bedrooms and kitchen refurbishments. Cleaning Services Contract
Carr-Saunders refurbished single
A review of our cleaning services contract was completed in 2015/16 resulting in a more efficient contract. For the first time the Campus and Residences have one contractor overseeing the two areas. The schedule for cleaning has been streamlined across our residences and work continues on maintaining and improving standards.
Carr-Saunders refurbished kitchen
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Carr-Saunders Hall 27 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 27
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STRATEGIC PRIORITY 4: FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Ensure financial sustainability and look for ways in which to continue to expand the revenue base and to deliver a surplus over expenditure Key financial achievements for Residences Outside of student term time, LSE Vacations sells our bed spaces to Summer School, Educational Groups and visitors to London and this income is an important part of the overall business model for residences. It enables the School to subsidise student rents, to offer different contract lengths for our students and maintain competitive student rents for central London.
Figure 3. Residential Services Income by Type 2015/16 2%
1%
Term students
15%
Staff accommodation
Income Income generated in 2015/16 was £33.5m, an increase of £1m over 2014/15. The overall percentage of income from term time students dropped in comparison to the previous financial year reflecting a change in the School’s term dates. Our income from Summer School students increased compared to the previous year with an increase in Summer School sessions from 2 to 3 in summer 2016.
Vacation students
18%
Summer School
61%
Educational groups Commercial guests Other income
1% 2%
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Figure 5: LSE Vacations trading Comparison of Market Segment Results 2014/15 to 2015/16 Income from commercial guests also increased on the previous year. Due to the change in the School’s term dates, our summer trading period increased by an additional week so our summer trading period began in June 2016. Our Educational group business declined during 2015/16 due to a stop on subsidies for English language courses by some European governments. In addition, we also declined some group business to prioritise the new dates of the LSE Summer School. Figure 4: Residential Services Income by Type Comparison 2014/15 to 2015/16
7,000,000.00 6,000,000.00
2014
5,000,000.00 £
2015
4,000,000.00 3,000,000.00 2,000,000.00 1,000,000.00
2015
% 40 30
gr ou ps
St af fa cc om m od at io n Va ca tio n stu de nt s
2014
50
Su m m er Sc ho ol
60
Ed uc at io na l
70
Co m m er cia l
gu es ts
0.00
Market Segment Expenditure
20
Total expenditure for the year was £31m. This included substantial investment in our long term maintenance and refurbishment programme of £4m with a complete refurbishment of 2 floors at High Holborn and Carr-Saunders halls.
10
Te am
stu de St af nt fa s cc om m od at io Va n ca tio n stu de nt s Su m m er Sc ho Ed ol uc at io na lg ro up Co s m m er cia lg ue sts Ot he ri nc om e
0
Market Segment 29 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 29
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LSE Vacations 30 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 30
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Davinder Ratra, Front of House Manger, Bankside House 31 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 31
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STRATEGIC PRIORITY 5: WORKFORCE Create and maintain a positive, flexible, high-performing workforce that is capable of change and acts on customer feedback to improve services and their own performance Residential Services employed 270 people working in campus locations, across eight LSE managed halls of residence and four third party managed halls, with staff working in a range of roles covering operational front and back of house, catering, sales and marketing, systems, residential life and accommodation.
students, as many had gone through the accommodation application cycle themselves) and high quality work. Residential Services continues to value this successful partnership. Staff Survey 2015
Recruitment of LSE students We employed over 110 LSE students in 2015/16, an increase of over 30 from 2014/15. This was due to a new initiative for summer 2016 which saw Summer School Welcome Helpers employed in our halls offering a friendly face and additional support.
LSE STAFF
SUR EY Feedback from the LSE staff survey which was 2015 run at the end of 2015 showed that Residential and Catering Services staff had an overall engagement score of 46 per cent compared to 40 per cent for the School.
LSE students were also an essential part of the Residential Services Office (RSO) and Central Reservations Team (CRO) teams. They recruited 15 LSE students, many of who worked across both teams, helping us work towards becoming a one stop shop for all Residential Service enquiries.
We scored in the top quartile for Line Management, with staff feeling valued and supported by their line manager. Staff felt they had a clear understanding of the goals of our division and how this supports the overall School’s goals. Our scores improved from the 2012 staff survey and this is a reflection of the work we have carried out in this area.
Working in these teams provides LSE students with flexible part-time work while completing their studies. In turn, LSE students contributed a wide knowledge of our halls, empathy with our customers (particularly our
Our staff survey action plan, circulated to all staff in summer term 2016, identified areas that we need to improve on and sustain in order to improve our staff engagement. 32
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In June 2016, in collaboration with HR we ran a series of focus groups around three categories with the lowest staff engagement scores across the division, Career Opportunities, Rewards and Recognition, and Learning and Development. Feedback from the groups has been provided to the Residences and Catering management teams and our staff survey action plan extended to include further actions.
Training and Development A key focus for our training and development in Residential Services this year was to improve Health and Safety training in our halls. Clarendon Training ran courses including fire training, manual handling, emergency first aid, fire warden and CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) Health and Safety levels 2 and 3. This year all Front of House Managers completed the CIEH Level 3 in Health and Safety with all front line staff completing Level 2.
Passfield Hall catering team
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First Aid Training was provided for all staff working in the halls. To maintain and build on our customer service provision, Customer Service Excellence training was provided for our seasonal staff working during the vacation period.
Staff within the Residential and Catering Services Division are members of the following professional organisations CUBO (College and University Business Officers), TUCO (The University Caterers Organisation) and ASRA (the Association for St udent Residential Accommodation) and during the past year staff have attended the annual conferences for each organisation.
The number of staff completing an online or paper Career Development Review (CDR) form increased last year and we are committed to further embedding the electronic CDR monitoring next year.
Grosvenor House reception team
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Passfield Hall garden 35 16_0888 RS Annual Report_FINAL_V2.indd 35
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STRATEGIC PRIORITY 6: ENVIRONMENTAL AIMS Support the School’s environmental aims, especially a commitment to the School’s carbon management plan
1.62 1.37
1.17
1
0.96
0.79
0.78
0.64
0
Ba nk sid e
Ro se be ry
Ho lb or n
Hi gh
Gr os ve no r
-0.64
-1 Pa ss fie ld
During 2015/16, 144,949 kWh was saved during the full occupation months of October, November and February; equating to an 8.8 per cent reduction (compared to 2010/12). This equates to a £14,495 financial saving (assuming 10p/kWh) or 78 tonnes of CO2 saved.
2
Bu tle No r’s rth um be rla nd
The Student Switch-Off (SSO) campaign is an energy-saving competition between halls of residence where they compete against each other to reduce their energy usage. Prizes are given out during the year to reward individuals and halls for their energy saving.
kWh decrease per student per day
Student Switch-Off
Figure 6: kWh reduction per student per day for each hall
Ca rrSa un de rs
During 2015/16 staff and students in our residences worked together on our environmental objectives, to support Residential Services with its commitment to continually improve its environmental performance. Overall there was a 13 per cent decrease in our carbon footprint compared to the previous year.
Hall 36
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We trained 42 students as Student Switch Off Ambassadors, who spread energy saving habits amongst their peers. A total of 295 students took part in our Climate Change Quiz, and 493 students are members of the “LSE Student Switch Off” Facebook page.
“Relove” – giving new homes to unwanted items Each year, our “Relove” initiative collects donations of unwanted items from students moving out of halls and donates them to charity, saving them from going to waste and giving them a new loving home.
Increased engagement at Bankside House, combined with improved heating controls and lighting (upgraded to LED with sensor detection) resulted in a significant jump in kWh saved.
This is the second year that we have worked with the British Heart Foundation, with 8.3 tonnes of donations collected worth around £14,500.
Congratulations to Carr-Saunders who were the winning hall in 2015/16. They were rewarded with a £250 prize for their common room, and a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream party!
FoodCycle LSE The north cluster halls, Rosebery, Passfield and CarrSaunders trialled a new initiative in Residences this year called FoodCycle. This initiative saw non-perishable food collection points introduced alongside the British Heart Foundation and LSE Relove collection points. The LSE Foodcycle society and halls worked together to collect donations for the branch of FoodCycle based at King’s Cross (in partnership with The Food Chain) and provided fresh, healthy meals, for people living with HIV in the local community. This prevented food waste and brought the communities together. Plans are underway to introduce the initiative across more of our halls in 2016/17. Composting provision expanded
Carr-Saunders student switch off winners 2015/16 with Dan Reeves, Residences Sustainability Officer
Northumberland House and Bankside House now provide compost collection facilities for students, staff and guests. This means all eight LSE managed halls provide composting for leftover food.
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Catered Halls and the Sustainable Restaurant Award (SRA) The Sustainable Restaurant Association’s “Two Star” Award was achieved by LSE’s four catered halls and campus catering outlets. After submitting evidence and being audited by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (whose President is Raymond Blanc), the four catered halls Bankside, Passfield, Rosebery and Carr-Saunders (alongside Campus 4th Floor, LSE Garrick and Senior Dining Room) were awarded a “Two Star – Excellent Rating”. The LSE is the first London University to be accredited stars with our halls in the top 70 per cent for all SRA accredited universities. A great achievement for the catering teams involved. Sustainability Champions During the 2016 “Welcome Week” 40 people signed up as being interested in sustainability and attended the Sustainability Team’s “Get Involved Event”. The sustainability team demonstrated practical action to take on sustainability in halls, campus and at home. Green Impact successes All eight LSE halls of residence won awards for their involvement in Green Impact – a national environmental award scheme for departments to reduce their environmental impact. Thanks to the fantastic efforts from all the green impact teams in Residences for 2015/16.
High Holborn Green Impact Platinum Award winners (from left to right Jessica Hurtado, Bally Nandra, Katarina Selmoun, Theresa Bone)
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Results:
Residences Action Plans
Congratulations to High Holborn who won the prestigious Green Impact Platinum award. A further six gold awards were awarded across the residences which is a brilliant achievement.
We will continue to deliver environmental improvements during 2016/17, with a new Residences Sustainability Action Plan. We will deliver energy savings through “Student Switch-Off”, and pilot a new campaign – “Reduce the Juice” - to reduce energy, waste and water. We will also provide sustainability training workshops for residences staff; and engage volunteers to maintain and enhance hall biodiversity.
High Holborn
Platinum Award
Bankside House
Gold Award
Carr-Saunders Hall
Gold Award
Grosvenor House
Gold Award
Northumberland House Gold Award Passfield Hall
Gold Award
Rosebery Hall
Gold Award
Butlers Wharf
Bronze Award
RE:FIT Energy-saving refurbishments took place in halls, as part of an overall £2m investment in improving our estate and reducing LSE’s carbon footprint. Technologies implemented included new intelligent building management systems, solar panels for electricity, more energy efficient LED lighting, insulation for heating and cooling systems and Micro Combined Heat and Power; which efficiently supplies on-site heat and electricity. RE:FIT Phase Two is coming in 2016/17 and will see more energy and carbon saving measurers across residences.
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Residential Services Office 3.02 Saw Swee Hock Student Centre Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE +44 (0)20 7955 7531 residences.admin@lse.ac.uk lse.ac.uk/residentialservices
The information in this publication can be made available in alternative formats. If required please email residences.admin@lse.ac.uk
Design: LSE Design Unit (lse.ac.uk/designunit) The London School of Economics and Political Science is a School of the University of London. It is a charity and is incorporated in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Acts (Reg No 70527). All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced in part or as a whole in any format without permission in writing from LSE. Š LSE 2016
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