Five Years On Annual Review
April 2015 - March 2016
Welcome At NPT Homes we have always been passionate about our ability to make a real difference to people’s lives and their communities.
This Annual Review outlines the progress we have made on our top priorities (strategic objectives) over the past year with a focus on our top 10 projects.
This publication contains lots of information about our organisation and how we have performed during the 2015/16 financial year.
Our strategic objectives are to:
It links closely with our Corporate Plan which identifies the kind of organisation we want to be. We have included highlights of how we are working towards achieving our mission.
We will continually work on understanding and meeting our customers’ needs with courtesy and respect. We have a customer focus but are commercially aware, challenge the norm and strive for development and growth across all aspects of the organisation.
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Be the landlord of choice for customers and the preferred employer for those seeking employment.
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Have a high performing workforce who challenge the norm and are empowered to provide outstanding services.
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Continually work to understand our customer needs and deliver services based on “What Matters”.
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Be commercially aware and strive for development and growth across all aspects of the organisation.
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Ensure our business is strong and financially secure and our governance arrangements provide the highest level of assurance. We look forward to continuing to work closely with tenants, Board, employees, contractors and partners over the coming year. These partnerships enable NPT Homes to carry on doing what we’re passionate about – making a positive difference to the lives of individuals, families and the communities that we work with.
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Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
Linda Whittaker, Chief Executive
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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Our 2015/16 Highlights 1. NPT Homes Invests £117m in Neath Port Talbot Our planned six year improvement programme to bring properties up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) has so far seen seen £117m invested into tenants’ homes and the local community. Improvements include 6,486 new kitchens, 6,016 new bathrooms, 4,006 rewires and 5,020 new heating systems installed as part of the improvement programme. NPT Homes has also carried out 1,802 roof replacements, 2,322 window and door installations and has completed over 2,161 external wall insulations and renders. Overall, 97% of tenants who have received WHQS improvements rated the quality of the work as good or very good. Sandfields resident Wendy Brenan, said:
Maintenance Performance As well as working hard to bring our properties up to WHQS, we also maintain our properties day-to-day. Here’s a snapshot:
% of tenants who felt that we completed a good quality repair – 95%
Emergency Repairs – 10,637
Urgent Repairs –
9,221
Home was left clean after work – 98%
I was a little hesitant to have the work done as I was nervous of the change but now I have had the improvements I would never look back. I am so happy with them.
Non Urgent Repairs –
16,381
9
10
Average score of the service from start to finish (out of 10) 9
I had a brand new kitchen and bathroom which I chose from a range of options and the new heating system I have had put in is fantastic! So much better than the old one I had. My Tenant Liaison Officer Nadine and Natasha, the Relocations Coordinator, were really supportive and answered all of my questions before, during and after the work.
2. Housing Officer Shortlisted for CIH Rising Star Cymru Award Our Community Housing Officer Donna Williams was shortlisted for the prestigious Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru (CIH) Rising Star Award. Donna was nominated for the award by Chief Executive Linda Whittaker after demonstrating creativity and innovation throughout her two and a half year career in housing. She represented NPT Homes at CIH Cymru’s three day housing conference which took place in April 2016. NPT Homes’ Chief Executive, Linda Whittaker, said: Since joining NPT Homes, Donna has demonstrated her commitment and passion for the sector which has resulted in her many successes. She is keen to make a difference for her tenants and the wider community and has a good handle on how it impacts positively on NPT Homes. We are thrilled that she represented NPT Homes in the Rising Star competition.
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Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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Head of Organisational Development Wayne Gwilym said: Our Making a Difference Dialogue ensures that people get together at least three times during the year to discuss different aspects of their personal contribution and their longer term career. Building on this we wanted to make ideas about leadership really tangible and practical. Our Leadership 5:3:5 toolkit gives our leaders the understanding of how they can release the productivity and motivation of their teams by being more effective themselves. This in turn will improve performance and help us provide outstanding services to our customers.
Performance
£230,000
95%
of employees who attended our all Employee Festival felt it was a good learning experience
has been invested in employee training to improve performance and help us provide outstanding services to our customers
3. 5:3:5 Leadership Model and Making a Difference Dialogue
4. Compliant with Code of Governance
Our Making a Difference Dialogue has been introduced to give all employees the opportunity to focus their minds and set clear goals both for their roles and for their personal development.
Community Housing Cymru’s Code of Governance is designed to assist Welsh registered social landlords to develop strong governance structures that support continued service improvement for tenants. An independent assessment carried out by Central Consultancy and Training during the year confirmed that we have standards and practices in place that show that our Board is governing our organisation well.
Our Leadership 5:3:5 toolkit has been developed to lead the organisation into the future by empowering our leaders to make a difference. The 5:3:5 covers the 5 things a leader should do: the 3 skill areas in which a leader must operate: all anchored in our 5 values.
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Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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5. Team Enhanced to Help Those Affected by Universal Credit
6. Development Officer is 24housing Young Leader Finalist
We have enhanced our designated Universal Credit team to provide advice and guidance to those tenants affected by the Government’s benefit changes.
NPT Homes’ Development Officer Rachel Honey-Jones made the Top 10 in 24housing’s Top 30 Young Leaders competition. Rachel was the only Welsh representative in last year’s final at the National Housing Federation’s Annual Conference in Birmingham, following a public vote to get her to the top 10.
Over the next few years it is expected that 4,000 NPT Homes’ tenants will be affected by Universal Credit and as a result we are offering help with the changes. The team can support people to submit a claim, offer budgeting and money advice, provide help to tenants to manage their tenancies and accompany tenants at appointments with the Jobcentre. Ms X who has benefitted from the support of the team said:
The Young Leaders Award was a competition launched to find the brightest young housing leaders of the future. NPT Homes’ Chief Executive Linda Whittaker said:
When the place I had worked at for many years closed, I didn’t know where to turn.
Rachel is extremely passionate about social housing and regenerating
The Universal Credit team at NPT Homes really helped me. I have never had to use
our local communities. She has been an asset to our organisation
a computer before so it was a relief that someone was able to show me how to do it so I could submit my claim
and has made a real difference to Family Housing as their Vice Chair. She is a
online. I would encourage anyone who needs help or advice to contact the team.
great leader of the future. Congratulations Rachel!
7. Bridge and Haven Housing Co-design We undertook a review to evaluate the support and service we provide for our older residents. This was a joint approach between us and tenants and together we agreed a new support model and service for older residents called Bridge. This is tailored, targeted and affordable under our Supporting People Grant Funding allocation. As part of the review, tenants also explored the name ‘sheltered housing’ and residents said it didn’t truly reflect the people living in the accommodation. Therefore, tenants voted on a new name for NPT Homes’ older person’s accommodation and Haven Housing came top of the poll. Tenant John Thomas said: I really enjoyed being involved in the co-design approach to reviewing the services offered to older residents. It gave us an opportunity to voice our opinions and work with staff to shape the future. I am pleased I could play my part.
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Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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8. New Development Furnace Place Nominated for CIH Cymru Award Our £1.7m housing project, Furnace Place, was shortlisted in the Development of the Year category at the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru (CIH) Awards. The new build scheme, which opened in July 2015, has provided much needed affordable housing for people in the area, has reduced the impact of the ‘Bedroom Tax’ and created employment for local people in the year that it was developed. NPT Homes Chief Executive Linda Whittaker said: I am delighted that the hard work that is going on within our organisation has been recognised by CIH Cymru. Our first new build project, Furnace Place, has allowed us to provide affordable housing for people who need it most. It’s fantastic that the development has been recognised by CIH Cymru.
9. Come on Board Programme Attracts New Board Members After holding several Board recruitment and community events throughout Neath Port Talbot, over 30 tenants expressed an interest in joining the Board. Pre-Board training was arranged for all prospective Board Members to provide them with in-depth information on the organisation and the important role played by the Board. Details on each of the candidates and ballot papers were distributed to all tenant households in our tenant magazine, The Grapevine, so that tenants could vote for their preferred candidates.
Denise Davies, one of the elected Tenant Board Members, said: I have been involved with many groups at NPT Homes and feel I have been able to make a real difference. The input of tenants is so important and when the vacancy to join the Board became available I thought it would be a great opportunity to share the knowledge and skills I have learnt over the years.
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Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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10. Financial Viability Judgement Pass Every year we undergo a Financial Viability Judgement, carried out by the Welsh Government, to ensure we are financially sound so as to protect the interests of our tenants. The overall conclusion from the 2015 report was a Pass and ‘The Association has adequate resources to meet its current and forecasted future business and financial commitments.’ Director of Finance and Corporate Services, John Andrew, said: This year’s judgement is the same as last year’s, giving tenants, leaseholders and our other stakeholders
Keeping Our Promises Following transfer in 2011, we committed to delivering the 118 promises made to tenants in the Offer Document.
assurance of our on-going financial strength.
13 in
progress
11. Leading Diversity by 2020 We have signed up to The Chartered Institute of Housing’s (CIH) Leading Diversity campaign, which aims to improve the diversity of leadership in the housing sector by 2020. Already we have begun delivering against the 10 challenges set with support from our Equality and Diversity Champion Group, made up of staff, tenants and Board Members.
118 Offer Document Promises
105
completed In progress Complete
The challenges include knowing the makeup of our communities and considering how we can improve the diversity of our Board, leadership and staff teams. Corporate Services Officer/Equalities Champion Karen Neale said: Signing up to the leadership and diversity commission challenge has made us stop and think about the way we operate, not just in relation to leadership and recruitment but all our processes. By having an equality and diversity group we ensure that equality and diversity is kept on the agenda across the organisation.
Promise Kept
Our commitment to achieving all of the promises by 31st March 2017 still remains and we have been making great progress achieving them. 105 promises have been met and the remaining 13 are in progress.
Further details are available on our website www.npthomes.co.uk Information on the five promises we met in the year is set out below.
1. Promise Kept…Improving and Repairing our Homes Promise: A budget of £26.75 million within the investment programme over 30 years on disabled adaptations, including approximately £6 million in the first 6 years after transfer. Achievement: NPT Homes has already spent in excess of the promised £6m on disabled adaptations since transfer and has set up a dedicated team to manage adaptation works going forward to meet the longer term promise within the Offer Document.
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Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
Promise Kept
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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2. Promise Kept…Community and Economic Regeneration
4. Promise Kept…Repairs Service
Promise: Supporting the development of community owned social enterprises to supply goods and services.
Promise: NPT Homes would plan to extend the times during which day-to-day repairs are carried out, such as early evenings on weekdays and on Saturday mornings, so as to be able to offer more convenient appointments for working tenants.
Achievement: Following the creation of two local social enterprises to a sustainable level, NPT Homes continues to explore opportunities to support and develop more local social enterprises. NPT Homes has supported local businesses such as the Dove Workshop, Neath YMCA and Glynneath Training Centre to provide training and support to its tenants. It also has close links with Neath Port Talbot Council for Voluntary Services (CVS).
Promise Kept
3. Promise Kept…Developing Communities around Sheltered Schemes Promise: NPT Homes would aim to improve services provided by the scheme managers in order to meet the needs of older people. It would consult with tenants on a range of possible improvements which, for example, could include developing communities around sheltered schemes.
Achievement: Working tenants who are unable to accept a normal working hours appointment due to their own work commitments are offered an early evening (up to 6.00 pm) or Saturday morning (between 8.00 am and 12.00 midday) appointment for nonurgent internal works.
5. Promise Kept…Developing a Good Neighbour Scheme for Sheltered Accommodation
Promise Kept
Achievement: A ‘Haven Housing’ social group has been established, and the group aims to empower tenants to set up social activities for other tenants. A co-design approach has been taken to the re-design of the role of the scheme managers and the support service, which is now branded as ‘Bridge’. The launch of the new codesigned service now sees tenants in the community supported and links made to sheltered housing schemes which have been re-branded as ‘Haven Housing’.
Promise: Developing a good neighbour scheme for sheltered accommodation so that additional on-site support would be available for emergencies outside office hours.
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
Promise Kept
Achievement: The establishment of a good neighbour scheme was re-visited as part of the co-design of the revised scheme manager/support service. In order to recognise those tenants who are giving up their time on an informal basis to help their neighbours we are planning to undertake the following tasks:
Send each of these tenants a ‘Good Neighbour’ certificate and automatically put them into the running for a tenant award at the Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Put a poster up at all Haven Housing schemes and ask for people to share with us who is a good neighbour to them and why 14
Promise Kept
Seek permission from these tenants to feature them in the tenant newsletter Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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Top 10 Corporate Projects
Lettings Application and Allocation Policy – 100% Complete • Introduced fairer and simpler banding basis for allocations to replace the previous points based system.
NPT Homes’ Top 10 Corporate Projects support the delivery of the Corporate Plan and the Offer Document promises.
1
Lettings Application and Allocation Policy
2
Sheltered Housing
3
Development Opportunities
4
Accurate Records and Core Systems
5
Supporting Sustainable Tenancies
6
Organisational Development
• Produced an easy read guide to help applicants understand how we let our properties.
Sheltered Housing – 100% Complete • Revised service delivery model co-designed with tenants.
100%
• ‘Bridge’ identified as the service brand for support delivered to older persons. • ‘Haven Housing’ identified as product brand for sheltered housing.
Development Opportunities – 80% Complete • Assessed the land we own for potential future housing development. • Identified the development skills among our staff.
80%
• Developed our 30 year Business Plan to enable potential development.
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Customer Experience
8
Commerciality
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Service Charges
Accurate Records and Core Systems – 60% Complete • Updated critical property, tenancy and personal information. • Procedures developed and employees trained to ensure ongoing accuracy of our records.
10 Leaseholder Management 16
100%
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
60%
• Gathered data for key property components, such as kitchens and bathrooms, plus land. This will be added to our computer system. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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Organisational Development – 25% Complete
Supporting Sustainable Tenancies – 30% Complete • Universal Credit (UC) team has been expanded and has directly or indirectly dealt with around 100 UC affected cases.
30%
• We are part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Trusted Partner Pilot. • New approach to collecting rent arrears partially implemented, resulting in significant decrease in arrears in the pilot area.
• Making a Difference Dialogue (MADD) employee development process introduced. • Cross-organisational communication and team working employee festival held as part of celebration of our fifth anniversary. • E-Learning for core training introduced for office employees.
Performance
Performance
1.79%
Turnover of employees is low.
87%
of employees have stayed with NPT Homes in the last year.
1.79% of rent owing is unpaid Only
43
25%
(5%) of new tenants leave within the 1st 6 months
Customer Experience – 40% Complete We have raised over
152 £80,000
We have provided tenants with tenancy support and raised over in grants
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Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
£2million
in additional benefits for our tenants, carried out 674 surgery appointments, 1,540 home visits and given 14,700 hours of budgeting advice
• Comprehensive range of research carried out to identify current level of customer experience including customer workshops, visits to tenants’ homes, employee shadowing and mystery shopping.
40%
• Review of standard letters, website and social media complete. • Draft ‘vision’ for customer experience developed. • Telephone training being rolled out.
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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Commerciality – 40% Complete • Essence of commerciality and value for money were presented to all employees – economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
40%
Who are our Board? NPT Homes is governed by a voluntary Board made up of tenants, Council nominees and independent members.
• Devised new defined contribution pension and revised core terms and conditions of employment for new starters from 1 April 2016.
The Board has overall responsibility for:
• Revised procurement strategy being developed.
• Approving and monitoring policies to support the Corporate Plan.
• Ensuring the organisation is accountable to tenants and other stakeholders.
• Monitoring the performance of NPT Homes and ensuring the organisation is meeting the outcomes set in the Corporate Plan.
Service Charges – 50% Complete • Consultation with tenants affected by separation (de-pooling) of rent from service charges completed.
Board Members
50%
• Welsh Government target date of 1 April 2016 for de-pooling met. • IT package capable of automating the service charge process being explored. Helen James Independent Board Member
Denise Davies Tenant Board Member
Samantha Jones Tenant Board Member
Daniel Smith Tenant Board Member
Steve Mundy Independent Board Member
Harry Lloyd Independent Board Member
Alan Lockyer Council Nominee
John Rogers Council Nominee
Leaseholder Management – 40% Complete • Revised consultation process for major works, repairs and maintenance being finalised. • Leaseholder charges to be reviewed in line with analysis completed by service charges project. • Freehold sale programme underway.
40%
Resigned Board Members: Roger Williams (Tenant Board Member) Brian Davis (Independent Board Member) Ted Latham (Council Nominee) Rosalyn Davies Council Nominee
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Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
Carol Clement Williams Council Nominee
For an up to date list of our current Board Members please visit our website www.npthomes.co.uk
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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Our Money On 1st April 2015 we had total cash of...
£11.3m
We had money come in from… Rent and service charges
Fact: This is the best gender balance board we have had 50% female and 50% male. The Welsh average is 38% female and 62% male.
Grants from Welsh Government and Local Authority
£6.7m
Property sales – Right to Buy and other
£1.5m
Other income
£0.7m
Total £46.1m We spent it on... Improving and repairing your homes and communities
Senior Management Team
Linda Whittaker Chief Executive
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John Andrew Director of Finance and Corporate Services Company Secretary
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
Claire Maimone Director of Housing
Steve Tucker Interim Director of Assets
£37.2m
£46.1m
Buying and building more homes for rent
£1.2m
Providing tenancy management and support services
£5.5m
Central support services and administrative costs
£6.4m
Interest payments on loans
£4.6m
Total £63.8m To do this we had to borrow...
£33.9m
This left us with total cash at 31st March 2016 of...
£27.5m
Annual Review 2015/16 – Five Years On
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This publication can be made available in other formats by contacting 0300 777 0000.
Head Office: Ty Gwyn, Brunel Way, Baglan Energy Park, Neath, SA11 2FP Tel: 0300 777 0000 Email: ask@npthomes.co.uk www.npthomes.co.uk @NPTHomes @NPTHomes NPT Homes Limited is a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 (31041R) Welsh Government registration No. L154.