2021/22 Annual Report | Pine Court Housing Association

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ANNUAL REPORT - CONTENTS

CONTENTS

01

WELCOME

02

OUR JOURNEY

03

OUR COMMUNITIES

04

OUR HOMES

05

OUR ENVIRONMENT

06

VALUE FOR MONEY

07

OUR FINANCES

08

PERFORMANCE

09

GET INVOLVED

10

GOVERNANCE

11

REGISTRATION DETAILS

If you need assistance understanding the information in this document, or require a different format, please contact us on 0151 709 6878 or email us at contactus@pinecourt-housing.co.uk.

Information is correct at time of publishing.

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ANNUAL REPORT - WELCOME

01

WELCOME INCLUSIVE DIVERSE COMMUNITIES Welcome to our 2021/22 Annual Report, which details how we have strengthened our offer and services for our customers across the last financial year.

As we continued to navigate through the impacts of COVID-19, the year brought challenges to our customers, communities, and partners alike.

Despite this, we have successfully sustained our purpose of ‘‘inclusive diverse communities’ and continued to positively promote cultural cohesion across our communities which are made up of 56% Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) customers.

Across 2021/22, our customer satisfaction rates were reported at an impressive 99.3%. We believe these high levels of satisfaction are supported by our newfound ways of working, in addition to the improvements we have made.

Our extensive reinvestment works ensured our affordable homes remained at a high quality for our customers.

In addition to providing affordable quality homes and inclusive services, we were proud to work closely with our communities, investing in meaningful projects to enhance and shape the lives of our customers. We also supported and delivered a wide range of community initiatives from healthcare drives to employability pathways.

As part of The Sovini Group, we were once again recognised by Great Place to Work as the UK’s Best Workplace™ as the number one workplace in the UK. This prestigious recognition follows the roll-out of our awardwinning agile working initiative.

With new challenges ahead, our commitment to customers, colleagues and communities remains at the heart of Pine Court Housing Association.

David Brown - Director of Operations Steve Gow - Chair of the Board

一 欢迎

包容的多元化社區 歡迎閱讀我們的 2021/22 年度報告，其中詳細說明了我們如何在上 一個財政年度加強我們為客戶提供的優惠和服務。 隨著我們繼續應對 COVID-19 的影響，這 一年給我們的客戶、社區和合作夥伴等帶來 了挑戰。 儘管如此，我們成功地實現了“包 容性多元化社區”的目標，並繼續積極促進 我們社區的文化凝聚力，這些社區由 56% 的黑人、亞裔和少數族裔 (BAME) 客戶組 成。 在 2021/22 年，我們的客戶滿意度達到了令 人印象深刻的 99.3%。 我們相信，除了我們 所做的改進之外，我們新發現的工作方式支 持了這些高水平的滿意度。 我們提供再投資工程在可負擔房屋確保我們 的客戶有高質量的服務。 我們的多語同事還努力識別長者、弱勢和高 危客戶，為他們提供量身定制的支持，以滿 足他們的需求和要求。

除了提供可負擔的優質房屋和包容性服務 外，我們很自豪能與我們的社區密切合作， 投資於有意義的項目，以改善和塑造我們客 戶的生活。 我們還支持並提供了從醫療保 健驅動到就業途徑的廣泛社區倡議。 作為 The Sovini Group 的一部分，我們 再次被 Great Place to Work 評為英國最 佳工作場所™，成為英國排名第一的工作場 所。 這一享有盛譽的認可是在我們屢獲殊 榮的敏捷工作計劃推出之後獲得的。 面對新的挑戰，我們對客戶、同事和社區的 承諾仍然是松園房屋協會的核心。 David Brown, 運營總監 Steve Gow, 董事會主席

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR JOURNEY

02 OUR

JOURNEY 1ST

1986 Officially registered as a Housing Association.

Established to provide homes for the Chinese and South East Asian communities

1986-2022

⌂ First development scheme completed; providing 24 quality homes

1993

1989

We built our fi supported living schem Chung Hok Hou

£ 2015

2016 New homes development, Phoenix Mews completed.

We celebrated our 30th anniversary.

Awarded Small Social Landlord of the Year.

Achieved ISO 27001, Customer Service Excellence & we recruited our first apprentice

2017 We invested £480k to refurb Chung Hok House.

We signed the Migrant Pledge We welcomed a visit from the Chinese Consul General.

2018

Named leading BME organisation by 24 Housing at the Diversity in Housing Awards

2004 Awarded the Pearl Award for Business

We opened our new office premises in Liverpool’s China Town

1ST 1ST

first me, use

1996

2011 Proudly joined The Sovini Group

2013 Became the 1st BME to receive the TPAS Landlord accreditation

Achieved Investors in Diversity Standard Achieved ISO 9001, ISO 140001 & ISO 45001

2014

Named the Most Inspiring Housing Provider at the Inspire Awards

2020 2019

We built a new £6m affordable rent scheme, Livingstone Park

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR JOURNEY

And in 2021/22...

We launched our employability project, New Horizons, which aims to encourage diversity and inclusion in workplaces across the Liverpool City Region. Working in partnership with The Women’s Organisation and Steve Biko Housing Association, the project has been designed to help the local BAME community get employed through empowering sessions, including one-to-one employment advice, skills workshops, volunteering, and work placements.

With the oldest Chinese community in Europe, Liverpool has a long tradition of celebrating Lunar New Year with spectacular performances, bringing an explosion of culture to Liverpool.

As part of The Sovini Group, we pledged our Net-Zero Carbon Commitment through an Environmental Strategy and Net-Zero campaign to reduce our environmental impact.

Through The Sovini Group, we were recognised as the UK’s Best Workplace™ for 2021. Our colleagues are our biggest asset, and the prestigious award recognised our commitment to providing meaningful employment opportunities for all.

We supported 1,500 local people to receive their COVID-19 vaccination during the winter months.

Our Customer Service Excellence (CSE) accreditation was successfully retained through the Group, with our customers being at the heart of everything we do!

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR COMMUNITIES

03 OUR

COMMUNITIES At Pine Court Housing Association we are driven by our purpose to ‘create opportunities and change lives’ and recognise our role as a key contributor to the social and economic development of the Liverpool City Region.

We were established in 1986 as a registered social landlord, with a mission to provide quality homes and inclusive housing services for those in need.

Today, we continue this mission, with a commitment to positively promote cultural cohesion across our diverse communities.

Diverse and inclusive communities As one of Liverpool’s leading BAME housing associations, our vision is not just to provide quality homes and services for our customers, but also to nurture diversity and inclusivity in the communities we serve.

We work closely with customers and local partner organisations to break down social, economic, and cultural barriers, so that our customers have access to all of the services and amenities that will help them lead fulfilling lives.

Equality, diversity and inclusion Our diverse communities are made up of 56% Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) customers. As a specialist provider of housing services to BAME communities, we are committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do.

We strive to make our services accessible to everyone and treat all of our customers fairly, with dignity and respect.

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR COMMUNITIES

Community Development Fund Our Community Development Fund supports local community projects that enhance the quality of life for our customers, the communities we work in and make a real difference to the neighbourhoods they live in.

Individuals, resident’s groups, community groups, charitable organisations, and social enterprises throughout the communities we work in, are eligible to apply to the fund.

In 2021/22, the Community Development Fund benefitted a number of local community initiatives, including:

Lunar New Year We marked Lunar New Year with a vibrant celebration for our local community including a variety of entertainment, food and fun as we welcomed in the Year of the Tiger.

In partnership with the Liverpool based law firm, MSB Solicitors, we were delighted to provide Hung Gar Kung Fu School with funding for new cultural lion costumes ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations.

Emma Carey, Managing Partner at MSB said:

It is massively important to us all at MSB that we celebrate the diversity and culture within our community. We jumped at the chance to be involved in the Dragon Parade and enjoyed celebrating with our friends from across the city.

Celebrations were held in conjunction with Culture Liverpool, with customers and colleagues of Pine Court Housing Association and The Sovini Group partners, Sovini Trade Supplies, forming part of the renowned Dragon Parade.

We proudly supported Culture Liverpool in delivering their annual celebrations funding new costumes, props and items for the traditional lion dance.

Our donation of £4.9k supported the event and attracted over 25,000 visitors to the city, whilst our colleagues took part in the famous dragon dance. Our input has helped keep one of the most prominent cultural groups in the Northwest running.

Director of Pine Court Housing Association, David Brown, said:

Our annual Lunar New Year celebration is a real highlight for Pine Court Housing Association and helps promote our vision of creating inclusive and diverse communities.

The Year of the Tiger promises to be a busy and exciting one as we embrace the challenges of supporting local communities and working with our partners to deliver our objectives and make a positive difference to our customers’ lives

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR COMMUNITIES

Encouraging cultural cohesion

Tackling food poverty

We worked with our Independent Living Scheme, Chung Hok House’s Residents Association, to offer day trips to customers on the Pride of Sefton’s narrow boat along the Leeds Liverpool canal.

Through our donation and dedication of our colleagues’ time, we supported The Florrie in Liverpool’s L8 community with the distribution of food and household packages for vulnerable people during the pandemic.

Two trips were made following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions to help those in the community of all ages and backgrounds come together safely and enjoy what was for some, their first day out following the pandemic.

Our multilingual colleagues supported the trips with translation, so that all present could enjoy the guided tour.

In addition, we supported the Wirral Chinese Association with funding for their Luncheon Club, which provides nutritional meals and socialising opportunities for local people.

Removing language barriers Following engagement with our Customer Empowerment Panel, we found that our customers were struggling to access benefits, as well as police and legal services. Through our donation to Pagoda Arts and colleague contribution, we were able to support the local community with translation services. Furthermore, in January 2022, over 1,500 local people received their COVID-19 vaccination, thanks to the support of our talented multilingual colleagues.

As part of our donation and partnership with Pagoda, members of the community were also able to access ESOL (English for Speakers of other Languages), Taiichi classes and hate crime reporting services.

Clear Rent Accounts The Clear Rent Account scheme is designed to help customers who may have previously faced challenges affording their rent, resulting in outstanding balances on their customer account.

Through the scheme we supported our customers by clearing their outstanding balances, and provided access to relevant benefits and financial inclusion services to ensure they are able to sustain their tenancy.

CLEAR RENT ACCOUNTS

£281,270 SOCIAL VALUE GENERATED

EQUATING TO

£20.83

FOR EVERY

INVESTED

£1

Wirral Chinese Association

Social Value

The funding for the Wirral Chinese Association School was utilised to promote the Chinese language and culture. The Wirral Chinese Association Luncheon Club has been running for circa 25 years, which aims to prevent social isolation and provide those in our communities with an opportunity to socialise.

Social value is a way of measuring the additional benefit to the wider community, over and above the delivery of our standard service.

We use the Housing Association Charitable Trust (HACT) Social Value Tool Kit to independently verify the impact our services and activities have on the local community. We also measure the effectiveness and social value of the community initiatives we support through our Community Development Fund via HACT’s Social Value Calculator.

Activities included:

• Chinese New Year celebrations • Festival celebration workshops and performances

• Chinese calligraphy

SOCIAL VALUE

• Storytelling

£1.6m+

• Arts

SOCIAL VALUE GENERATED WIRRAL CHINESE ASSOCIATION

£184.277 SOCIAL VALUE GENERATED

EQUATING TO

£167.52

FOR EVERY

EQUATING TO

£38.98

FOR EVERY

£1

INVESTED IN COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

£1

INVESTED

The activities undertook by our Customer Empowerment Panel generated £45,144 in social value. *source: HACT Social Value Tool Kit

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR HOMES

04

OUR HOMES Creating opportunities and changing lives We create opportunities and change lives through providing quality, safe and affordable homes for our customers.

We are proud to share that in 2021/22, we invested over £958k repairing and improving our existing homes and over £9.1k into developing new homes.

100% 99.5% 100%

of our homes meet the Government’s Decent Homes Standard and we continue to invest in our properties customers were satisfied with our first-class repairs service of customers were satisfied with our aids and adaptations service

96.7%

of customers were satisfied with our lettings service

100%

customer satisfaction was achieved surrounding our home improvement works

100%

of our properties hold a valid gas safety certificate as of 31st March 2022

*Source: transactional survey of customers receiving the service in 2021/22

Aids and adaptations Our aids and adaptations service enables customers to live independently in their own homes. During 2021/22, we invested £10.9k as we continued to deliver a high-quality supportive service to our customers who required aids and adaptations.

Investment breakdown:

£9k Wet rooms

£137 Minor adaptations

£1.7k Stair lifts

Decoration allowance

IN 2021/22 WE INVESTED

£958k

TO IMPROVE OUR

HOMES

The decoration allowance supports customers to make cosmetic enhancements to their homes. In 2021/22, this allowance benefited 14 new customers during 2021/22.

Social value generated: £67,927 equating to £70.98 for every £1 invested

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ANNUAL REPORT - ENVIRONMENT

05 OUR

ENVIRONMENT We are committed to enhancing the environment through our operations wherever possible and minimising any negative impact.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting refers to the disclosure of data and activity covering our operations in three areas: environmental, social, and corporate governance. It provides a snapshot of our impact in these three areas for reporting to stakeholders and is used to demonstrate compliance with ESG reporting requirements.

Environmental The environmental criterion considers how we use energy and manage our environmental impact as stewards of the planet. Factors considered include energy efficiency, climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity, air and water quality and waste management.

PCHA have several objectives to make a positive difference in our environmental management practices and our ambition to work towards becoming a ‘net zero carbon’ business.

63% During 2021/22, we achieved a 63% reduction in our Carbon Footprint compared with the base years data 2013/14.

Social The social criterion examines how we foster our people and culture, and how that has ripple effects on the broader community. Factors considered are inclusivity, gender and diversity, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, data protection, privacy, community relations, human rights, labour standards.

In April 2021 we were named as the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for the third time and hold accreditations from:

We have generated £1.6m of social value for the 2021/22 year.

Governance The Governance criterion considers our internal system of controls, practices and procedures with regards to how an organisation stays ahead of violations. Creating transparency, it ensures industry best practices are adhered to, whilst also opening up a dialogue with regulators. Factors considered are our leadership, board composition, executive compensation,

audit committee structure, internal controls, and shareholder rights, bribery and corruption, lobbying, political contributions, and whistle-blower programs.

Our compliance with UKAS accredited management systems across ISO 9001, ISO 140001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 standards ensure transparency and confidence in our activities.

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ANNUAL REPORT - VALUE FOR MONEY

06 VALUE

FOR MONEY We are committed to offering excellent Value for Money (VFM) in the services we provide to our customers. In 2021/22, we continued to explore new ways to improve our offer so that we can provide better quality and more efficient services to our customers.

Through active benchmarking, we compare our costs and performance with local and national peers. Across the financial year, benchmarking data from registered providers across the Liverpool City Region (LCR) placed us as number one for average property re-let times at 1.5 days.

Source: LCR Housing Association Benchmarking Report 21/22 Our strategic approach to VFM planning and reporting means that we are compliant with the Regulator of Social Housing’s VFM Standard.

This robust approach has enabled us to generate £200k in efficiency savings (as of 31st March 2022) since joining The Sovini Group.

£

£200k

IN 2021/22 WE ACHIEVED

£200k

EFFICIENCY

SAVINGS

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR FINANCES

07 OUR

FINANCES Income Our annual income for 2021/22 was £3,032,283, with the majority deriving from rent collection.

79.96% RENTAL INCOME

Our income enables us to continue to invest in our properties and communities, as we actively create opportunities and change lives.

9.14% GRANT INCOME

10.90% SERVICE CHARGE INCOME

Expenditure Our expenditure for 2021/22 was £1,926,906.

26.76%

INVESTMENT IN HOMES

Investment in our homes and continuing to ensure they are maintained to a high standard accounted for the highest proportion of this.

22.96%

ROUTINE & PLANNED MAINTENANCE

4.68%

CENTRAL OVERHEADS

15.37%

EMPLOYEE DIRECT COSTS

8.20% FINANCE

8.20%

CORPORATE SERVICE AGREEMENT (The Sovini Group)

6.20% BUILDING COSTS

0.47%

DEVELOPMENT COSTS

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR PERFORMANCE

08 OUR

PERFORMANCE We want our customers to understand how we are performing against our targets. We compare our performance against internally set targets, as well as benchmark against ‘top performing’ organisations in our sector. The following tables detail our performance for 2021/22.

Key increase in performance since 2020/21

decrease in performance since 2020/21

maintained performance since 2020/21

Rent

Target

Performance

% of rent collected

101.27%

100.74%

1.50%

0.62%

Target

Performance

5

6.07

99.5%

100%

% of customers satisfied with gas service

98%

100%

% of properties with valid gas safety certificate

100%

100%

% of current rent arrears

Repairs and maintenance Average number of days to complete a repair % of customers satisfied with repair service

Trend

Trend

Neighbourhoods

Target

Performance

5

1.5

0.08%

0.06%

50%

60%

Target

Performance

% of homes that meet the Decent Homes Standard

100%

100%

Average energy efficiency rating of properties (SAP rating out of 100)

72.6

72.6

Average number of days to re-let a property % of rent lost due to empty properties % of lettings to BAME customers

Investment Programme

Trend

Trend

Customer service and complaints Our customers remain at the heart of everything we do, as we continue to strive for excellence. We measure our performance using industry benchmarks and are committed to continuously improving customer experience.

Measure

Performance

Top Quartile Performance*

Quartile

100%

95.35%

1

Complaint responded to in target time

Complaint Type

Number

Target

Upheld

Partially Upheld

Not Upheld

Stage 1

3

N/A

0%

67%

33%

Stage 2

0

N/A

0

0

0

*In the majority of cases, a partially upheld complaint would be a multi-faceted complaint in which the investigating officer may agree with some elements of the complaint but not all of them.

Certificate of accreditation proudly presented to:

Pine Court Housing Association

Accredited until May 2025

In 2021/22, we received the HouseMark Accreditation.

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ANNUAL REPORT - OUR PERFORMANCE

Housing Ombudsman The Housing Ombudsman (HO) is an independent complaints regulator, established to impartially resolve complaint disputes between Registered Providers of Housing and their customers.

We are compliant with the HO’s Complaint Handling Code. This helps us to resolve complaints fairly, quickly and effectively in line with best practice, whilst providing data to set industry benchmarks.

The Complaint Handling Code sets out good practice that will allow landlords to respond to complaints effectively and fairly.

We are committed to providing a, annual self-assessment, to ensure we remain compliant, enabling a positive complaint handling and improvement culture across the organisation.

This self-assessment is reported to our Board members and is also available to read on our website.

Over 2021/22, some of the improvements we made are:

• Pine Court have completed staff training in relation to how rent arrears are handled when housing benefit are in process of being arranged.

• We have made improvements to our complaints process to make sure that we capture the full details of what the customer is complaining about so that the investigating officer can make sure the complaint has been fully answered.

• The Performance Team run a monthly report to analyse informal complaints logged by Pine Court staff that they have managed to resolve before it is made a formal complaint. It also includes all enquiries handled by Pine Court.

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ANNUAL REPORT - GET INVOLVED

09 GET

INVOLVED The knowledge and insight of our customers is invaluable to us in our quest to continuously improve the services we deliver.

We recognise that customer involvement improves the effectiveness with which services are delivered, bringing the benefits of new skills and increased confidence for customers.

We are committed to making sure that our customers have every opportunity to get involved and play their part in shaping and improving the awardwinning services we deliver.

PCHA always listen to our feedback and respond to our questions. The multilingual employees are very supportive and help to translate for customers who speak Chinese.

– Martin

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ANNUAL REPORT - GET INVOLVED

Customer Empowerment Panel There are a number of ways you can get involved, depending on your interests and the amount of time you have available.

Our Customer Empowerment Panel is made up of customers who volunteer their time to meet monthly and share their ideas and insight regarding our services. The panel remained instrumental throughout 2021/22 in helping us identify areas of service improvement.

Across this period, the panel considered and approved the Community Development Fund applications, discussed our internal targets and complaints process, and reviewed a number of our policies.

They also carried out a Tenant Scrutiny Review on the cleanliness of communal areas, which resulted in an improved service for customers.

I have been a customer of PCHA now for nearly 20 years.

I really enjoy being part of the panel and feel our opinions are valued and have a positive impact on the services we receive. – Pam

Interested in joining our Customer Empowerment Panel?

Get involved today by visiting the website, calling 0151 709 6878 or emailing contactus@pinecourt-housing.co.uk.

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ANNUAL REPORT - GOVERNANCE

10 GOVERNANCE Our board Pine Court Housing Association are governed by a Board consisting of seven Members (six nonExecutive Directors and one Executive Director).

The Board define the strategic direction of the organisation. Through good governance and performance management arrangements, they ensure efficient running of the business, and monitor the achievements we make through our purpose of shaping our inclusive, diverse communities.

In 2021/22, Pine Court Housing Associations operated within and certified compliance with the requirements of the National Housing Federation’s (NHF) 2015 Code of Governance and associated model rules. Board also certify that Pine Court Housing Association remained compliant with Regulator of Social Housing’s regulatory standards during 2021/22.

Board member

Category

Steve Gow

Non-Executive Director

Moira Woo

Non-Executive Director

Julia Emelogu

Non-Executive Director

Gill Ditchburn

Non-Executive Director

Jim Currie

Non-Executive Director

Mike Parkin

Non-Executive Director

Dr. Roy Williams

Executive Director

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We remain committed to creating opportunities and changing lives across our inclusive, diverse communities.

- Roy Williams

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ANNUAL REPORT - REGISTRATION DETAILS

11

REGISTRATION DETAILS Registered Office

External Auditors

Pine Court Housing Association Unit 1, Heysham Road, Bootle, Merseyside L30 6UR

BDO LLP 5 Temple Square, Temple Street, Liverpool L2 5RH

Regulated by Regulator of Social Housing Reg No: L3692 Communities and Benefit Society Reg No: IP25192R VAT Reg No: 997330871

Internal Auditors Beever and Struthers St George’s House, 215-219 Chester Road, Manchester M15 4JE

Bank Royal Bank of Scotland, Merseyside Cheshire & North Wales, Corporate Banking, 1 Dale Street, Liverpool L2 2PP

Solicitors Weightmans Solicitors, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9QJ

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GET IN TOUCH pinecourt-housing.co.uk contactus@pinecourt-housing.co.uk 0151 709 6878 @PineCourtHA facebook.com/PineCourtHousing Pine Court Housing Association

09/22

Certificate Number 2771 ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001

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