Value for Money Standard
Value for Money Value for our Tenants We strive for continuous improvement across our activities and expenditure, and are always looking for efficiencies — not necessarily the lowest cost, but the best value: • Staff expenses | All staff expenses, particularly transport, are reviewed and options are compared to ensure best value for money. • Staff events and training | We take advantage of free and discounted training for staff and volunteers wherever possible. • Efficiency savings and redundancies | This year we have had two rounds of efficiency savings and redundancies to save costs for the organisation. • Mobile phones | All front-line staff have been provided with a mobile phone. This means they can access email and speak to tenants while out of the office, and communicate with tenants via text message. This makes their day-to-day work much more efficient and cost-effective. • In-house maintenance and health & safety | We have internal teams to carry out maintenance and repair work on our properties, saving us significant money on outsourcing and contracts.
My Role Jill | Business Support & Finance Director “I am responsible for the financial control of the whole organisation. This includes dealing with rent losses, budgeting, management accounts, funding bids, statutory accounts and reporting to our regulator, the Homes & Communities Agency, as well as business support for all back office functions. “The finance and housing teams work closely together to deal with any voids, arrears or bad debts. Once a house is empty, the money is lost forever, but we always strive to engage with tenants who are in arrears so we can support them to get up to date with their payments. “I really enjoy working in the not-for-profit sector and have no desire to work for a private company. I like to think that what I’m doing is making a difference to the client group. I know I couldn’t work as part of the front-line, but I like to work in the back office to help colleagues deliver our essential services.”
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