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Chartered Institute of Housing
2014 SCOTLAND ANNUAL REPORT
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MESSAGE FROM THE
CHAIR
FOREWORD 2014 has proved to be a momentous year for CIH. It was my first year as Chair of the Board in Scotland and it presented me with some considerable new challenges and a great deal of enjoyment. For CIH it was a year of considerable change, particularly within the team in Scotland. After 22 years’ service, August saw the departure of Alan Ferguson who contributed an immense amount to CIH, Alan leave with our thanks and best wishes. I would also like to thank Jill Malcolmson., former conference and events manager and David Bookbinder, former head of policy and public affairs, who put in 13 and five years’ service respectively. Some great new people have joined the team and the appointment of Annie Mauger as the new executive director for CIH’s national business units – starting in February – means we look forward to a future with a fully established staff team in place. I would like to thank Catherine Lowe in her capacity as interim director for the skill and dedication she has shown overseeing this transition period, doing a superb job keeping everyone focused on the job at hand. It was a year dominated by politics, with the Referendum and Smith Commission giving the staff and board members in Scotland a great deal to consider. CIH has contributed to the debate in an extremely positive way, publishing “think pieces” on public expenditure, taxation, and social security, and making a detailed submission to the Smith Commission on further devolved powers for Scotland. We recognise this is the beginning of a lengthy political process. We will
continue to put forward the case for the resources and powers we need to address the real housing crisis being experienced by a growing number of people in Scotland. With the passing of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014, CIH Scotland produced a well received briefing on its contents and also produced briefing papers on the Bedroom Tax Tribunal Ruling and on anti-social behaviour. The policy team has also taken an active role promoting the interest of housing providers to health and social care sectors, as part of ensuring closer collaboration and integration of local services. Again this will be a significant change starting with integration plans being drafted this year. CIH Scotland will continue to provide support and promote the positive impact housing can make at both strategic and operational levels as the new service commissioning processes are undertaken in 2015. CIH Scotland has continued to take an active part influencing the wider policy agenda. Those of us who work in housing every day see first hand just how important it is for the wellbeing of people and our communities - alongside the concerns we all have about health, education and employment. We are determined to push harder and have even more influence on this in future. Indeed, CIH recently assisted the Scottish government to hold a first of its kind ‘Scottish housing event’ bringing together all the main players and participants in housing to review the issues we all face. A new delivery plan for housing, setting out priorities for the next three to five years will be published in April 2015 and CIH will continue to take an active and constructive part in progressing
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these in the interests of our members working in housing and related services. The role of and requirements for housing services are changing. Our Frontline Futures report, jointly commissioned by CIH Scotland and the Wheatley Group, provided a very important insight at a UK level on what the future role of the housing officer should be – driven by a strong sense of social value and customer focus with staff qualities combining a mix of social heart and commercial mind in attitude and behaviour. This report will continue to influence the nature and content of learning and development work for current and new members of CIH in future. A very successful annual conference and exhibition was held in Glasgow in 2014. We had an excellent range of speakers and more delegates than the previous year, which provided the opportunity for debate, argument (because we are good at that!) and learning about best practice. During the year we also delivered training programmes on stepping up to scrutiny, Frontline Futures and dementia awareness as well as events and conferences throughout the year. Feedback received from conferences and training events confirmed that they played a very positive role helping to ensure individual members and organisations feel well equipped to address the challenges they face. Finally I would like to thank the staff of CIH Scotland for their continued energy and enthusiasm which they have shown in spades this year. May I also extend my thanks to my fellow board members who
show great dedication and commitment to the work of CIH Scotland. The board continues to focus on being strategic about its involvement and is committed to engaging with and involving CIH members wherever it can. To that end the board has recently agreed to set up a new policy and practice advisory group which has the scope to involve other leaders in the field to assist in our work, to promote further engagement and enhance the value members receive from being part of CIH. Keith Anderson Chair, CIH Scotland Board
Keith Anderson Chair, CIH Scotland Board
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CIH CORPORATE OBJECTIVES 2014
1. PROMOTE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS THROUGHOUT ALL ASPECTS OF OUR WORK
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ith social landlords in Scotland submitting their first ever Annual Return on the Charter (ARC) there continues to be a focus on meeting and continually improving standards and performance across the sector. To help underpin sector improvement, CIH Scotland continued throughout 2014 to deliver learning programmes to individual housing professionals and housing service users.
In 2014 we published the findings of the Frontline Futures: New era, changing role for housing officer research that was jointly commissioned by CIH and Wheatley Housing Group. The research, undertaken by De Montfort University and project managed by CIH Scotland, is now helping inform housing service development, recruitment in the sector and the learning provision for the housing sector across the UK. The introduction of a range of exciting new additions to our training programme, such as our suite of Frontline Futures courses and foreign nationals and rights to housing assistance, proved extremely popular both as open courses delivered to individual learners and delivered in-house to organisations. While the first half of 2014 proved challenging for CIH Scotland in terms of delivery of our marketed programme the second half of the year saw significant improvement. In-house training delivery showed an increasing trend through the year in terms of sessions delivered and we believe the position at the end of 2014 provides a solid platform to increase the volume of sessions delivered during 2015. The annual CIH Scotland Student Conference in December 2014 saw a 78 per cent increase in attendance numbers on the previous year. Delegates enjoyed sessions on the implications for housing of the outcome of the 2014 Scottish Referendum, the implementation of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014, the changing roles of frontline housing staff, the impact of the Scottish Social Housing Charter after its first year and developments in joint working in housing and social care. The future professionals networking event proved successful once again. The key speaker Lynn McCulloch inspired delegates with an account of her personal journey through a career in housing, why she was drawn to a career in housing and why she is still passionate about housing. Our CIH Scotland Excellence Awards in November 2014 attracted a high level of nominations and some outstanding winners – individuals, services, organisations and projects. The winners were:
• Bob Allan Young Achievers Award – Evie Copland, Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership
• Excellence in developing skills and capacity award - Blackwood Group for its leadership and culture change programme
• Excellence in Environmental Sustainability Award – Aberdeen City Council • Margaret Vass Excellence in Housing Management and Homelessness Award – Pauline McGarry and Denise Murdoch from the Wheatley Group
• Robina Goodlad Excellence Award for Women Achievers in Housing – Lizanne Burton, Blackwood Board member
• Building Successful Communities Excellence in Regeneration Award – City of Edinburgh Council for its Gracemount 21st Century Homes development.
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Thanks to all our sponsors – Dunedin Canmore Housing Association, Wheatley Group, Glasgow Housing Association, Glasgow City Council, Weslo, The Riverside Group, and the Scottish Government for their sponsorship of the Excellence Awards in 2014. We are pleased to be working again with the Joint Improvement Team on a number of work streams which will contribute towards supporting the housing links with health and social care integration, dementia and housing and reshaping care for older people. Work in 2014 included working with the Scottish Social Services Council to deliver a number of free workshops on using the ‘promoting excellence’ materials and scoping work for a new home and neighbourhood network, more news of which to follow in 2015. Our asset management conference, explored the current issues in retrofit, energy efficiency and asset value. In addition we had 12 exhibitors and sponsorship from Forster Energy. We delivered an events programme of 28 one-day and half-day events attended by more than 1,000 delegates who had access to cutting edge speakers and discussions. Topics covered included the implications of the Smith Commission, challenges and solutions for anti-social behaviour, measuring charter performance, and dealing with sudden death in the home. 2014 CIH Scotland Annual Conference and Exhibition The 2014 annual conference, which took place at the SECC in Glasgow, saw record delegate numbers attending a packed programme with inspirational speakers and a wide range of exhibitors. The total number of people involved in the events including delegates, exhibitors, speakers and exhibition visitors was 1,302 – a 20 per cent increase on 2013. The most popular sessions were: • The changing role of housing staff • The broader impact of welfare reform • Housing Bill – social sector allocations and tenancy changes • Housing and social care – do we understand each other? We had 70 exhibitors and 215 exhibition-only visitors, a 30 per cent increase from 2013. Eighty-seven per cent of delegates who gave us feedback said they found the programme thought-provoking and interesting and 96 per cent would recommend the conference to others. During 2014 CIH Scotland has raised funds for the CIH President’s chosen charity, the Trussell Trust, at the charity golf tournament in September and the Excellence Awards Dinner in November. A total of £7,873 has been raised in Scotland – a huge thank you to everyone who has donated.
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CIH CORPORATE OBJECTIVES 2014
2. DELIVER INCREASED MEMBER VALUE
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hat makes us unique is our membership – it’s a diverse, talented and committed network of housing professionals working in Scotland. We recognise that the housing workforce is changing quickly and the economic and social environment has resulted in fundamental changes to how housing is financed, developed and managed. We are working in an industry that is facing growing levels of demand from an increasingly vulnerable range of customers.
Throughout the year the CIH Scotland team provided 1-2-1 advice to individual practitioners and organisations on the best training and qualifications to meet their identified learning needs. In addition, the CIH Scotland learning centre increased the range of CIH qualifications it delivers with the first delivery of the CIH Level 3 Award in Resident Scrutiny, linked to the Stepping Up to Scrutiny national training programme. In total, 12 qualification cohorts were begun in 2014 through the CIH Scotland learning centre and 138 new candidates registered for a qualification, up over 22% on the 113 registered in 2013. 45 young people received qualification certificates for the CIH Scottish Award in Community Action in Housing during 2014 under the partnership between CIH and Wheatley Housing Group. The 2014/15 intake saw the number of schools participating in the qualification under the Corporate Partnership with the Group increase to three and the number of registered candidates increase to 50. There are 2,270 CIH members in Scotland, which represents 13 per cent of the total CIH membership – up from 12 per cent in 2013, 728 Chartered member, 854 members and 688 student members. In 2014, CIH introduced three new routes to chartered membership to suit professionals who are at different levels in their careers. We know the housing industry is changing, which is why a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work – so our new routes are designed to be more flexible and accessible while still maintaining the highest standards. You can read more on our website. Our corporate plan for 2015-17 includes a proposal to bring back Fellowship – our highest grade of membership – after feedback from members. You can take a look at the corporate plan on our website. We also ran three member-only events in 2014 in Perth, Irvine and Aberdeen. CIH members in Scotland can make use of ‘touchdown’ desks in our Edinburgh office. Get in touch if you are a CIH member and want to make use of the flexible working area. We’d be delighted to see you!
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CIH CORPORATE OBJECTIVES 2014
3. DRIVE SUSTAINABLE PROFIT GROWTH THROUGH AN INTEGRATED AND HIGH QUALITY COMMERCIAL OFFER
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IH in Scotland - as across the rest of the organisation - has been focused on value for money by integrating our products and services, and achieving efficiencies in the delivery of our services. Delivering member value has remained the primary driver for all our work. In 2014, the national business unit in Scotland prioritised:
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improving our corporate approach to marketing and branding to achieve efficiencies and drive value for money for members restructuring our staff team to enable greater joint working across our national business units in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the creation of a new executive director post with responsibility for work across all three national business units.
At the time of writing (mid-January 2015), figures for the financial year 2014 are subject to approval by the CIH Governing Board. Detail on the financial outcomes for CIH Scotland for 2014 will be available at the Scotland AGM, and in the full set of annual accounts for the CIH following the organisation’s AGM in May. Office Lets 2014 has been another great year running a state of the art meeting and events venue with around 2,250 people and 27 different organisations using our venue at 125 Princes Street. The following organisations, to name but a few, continue to use our venue hire facilities: • Bield Housing Association • Cairn Housing Association • Home Group • Link Group • Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors • Scottish Futures Trust • Scottish Government • SHBVN • SSSC The venue features professionally designed meeting facilities to suit meetings and events for up to 70 people - from a small boardroom meeting to a bigger conference. View brochure Meet the staff
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CIH CORPORATE OBJECTIVES 2014
4. INCREASE BRAND AND PROFESSIONAL PROFILE THROUGH OUR ELECTION AND REFERENDUM WORK
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014 was a significant year for housing in Scotland with the publication of a new Housing Act, continuing austerity through welfare reform and questions surrounding the possibility of an independent Scotland.
We contributed to the debate on the Referendum and the Smith Commission through briefings and submissions, media work, blogs and social media. We also commented on other significant changes to the housing system in Scotland including the new Housing (Scotland) Act, energy efficiency standards for the social housing sector and welfare reform measures. In the led up to the Scottish referendum we commissioned three think pieces: • The Referendum and prospects for public expenditure in Scotland • Housing taxation reform and the Scottish constitutional question • Developing a social security model for Scotland Over the year we produced five policy and practice publications: • The impact of the bedroom tax on stock management by social landlords • The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 • What you need to know about Discretionary Housing Payments in Scotland • What you need to know about the Smith Commission • Realising a better housing system for Scotland Two practice briefings on • Bedroom Tax tribunal rulings • Anti-social behaviour CIH Scotland is a member of 15 working/advisory groups, including: • Minister’s Ministerial Housing Policy Advisory Group • Working Group on Financial Capacity, Affordability and Development Subsidy • Private Rented Sector Strategy Group • Older People’s Housing Strategy Monitoring Group • Scottish Parliamentary Cross Party Group on Housing We responded to seven consultations and calls for evidence: • Shelter’s Commission on Housing and Wellbeing • Submission on the Housing (Scotland) Bill • Revisions to the Antisocial Behaviour ETC. (Scotland) Act 2004 • Community Empowerment Bill • Guidance on the Introduction of Enhanced Enforcement Areas • Draft Scottish Budget • Private Rented Sector Tenancy Review We have appeared before and given evidence to a range of committees: David Bookbinder gave oral evidence on the Housing Bill at Stage 1 at the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee on 22 January 2014: www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_ InfrastructureandCapitalInvestmentCommittee/14.01.22_ICI_Public_papers.pdf Evidence to the Welfare Reform Committee on Public Petition PE01496 Bedroom Tax Mitigation on 28 January 2014: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/72540.aspx
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Additional written evidence was submitted by CIH (following oral evidence at ICI committee on 22 January) on the impact of right to buy on social housing lets and taking age into account in social housing allocations on 30 January 2014 : www.scottish.parliament.uk/S4_ InfrastructureandCapitalInvestmentCommittee/14.01.30_CHARTERED_INSTITUTE_OF_HOUSING_ from_22.01.14_meeting.pdf Welfare Reform Committee Interim Report on the Bedroom Tax published on 31 January 2014 considered evidence submitted by CIH: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/ CurrentCommittees/72586.aspx Evidence from CIH was included in Stage 1 Report on the Housing (Scotland) Bill published on 3April: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/75229.aspx CIH Scotland contributed to roundtable discussions to influence the content of the Scottish government’s major autumn housing conference. Our events team worked closely with the Scottish government and helped organise the event in November. CIH Scotland board members and staff also attended the event to contribute to discussion on key policy areas. The conference hosted 300 housing professionals from across Scotland and discussions held will form the basis for a five-year action plan for the delivery of housing and housing services in Scotland. Important projects in 2014 included: • A continuing partnership with HouseMark Scotland to deliver the Scottish government funded three-year national scrutiny learning and training programme, ‘stepping up to scrutiny’. Since the outset of the project 13 organisations have been recruited to the training programme as at December 2014. Recruitment of new organisations to the programme is set to grow through 2015 with a recruitment target of 34 organisations by the end of March 2016. •
In 2014 we signed a new corporate partnership with Wheatley Housing Group, which meant the continuation of individual CIH membership benefits for large numbers of Wheatley Group staff to support their on-going professional development. It also included expanded sponsorship of the delivery of CIH qualifications in schools throughout 2014 and an agreement to sponsor six cohorts of school students next year. In 2014 the corporate partnership also saw further joint commissioning of research around value for money within the housing sector, with findings to be published during 2015.
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CIH CORPORATE OBJECTIVES 2014
5. ENHANCE ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY
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he CIH Scotland Board is one of three national boards appointed by CIH’s Governing Board. The Scotland board was created with substantial delegated powers. Responsibilities include:
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Determining and monitoring CIH Scotland’s business plan and budget to deliver it Setting and determining CIH strategy for all policy areas devolved to Scotland and similarly with learning and development Supporting and promoting the CIH equality and diversity strategy.
The board met five times in 2014. There were four formal meetings in February, May, August and November at the CIH Scotland offices in Edinburgh and a short meeting in March 2014 to approve the Chair and Vice Chair for 2014/15.
CIH CORPORATE OBJECTIVES 2014
6. MEET THE SCOTLAND BOARD
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he Scotland Board has 13 members and membership is based on skills and experience – and elections.
Membership of the 2014/15 Board: Graeme Aitken, director of operations, Parkhead Housing Association Keith Anderson, chief executive, Port of Leith Housing Association and Chair Amanda Britain, associate, Joint Improvement Team Gordon Campbell, Campbell Thompson Associates Gary Dalziel, director of finance & corporate services, Linstone Housing Association Tom Hainey, director of asset management, CURO Group Jason MacGilp, chief executive, Cairn Housing Association Donna Milton, operational director, Arneil Johnston Suzie Scott, policy writer, Quarriers Eileen Shand, director of housing & care services, Eildon Housing Association Kenny Simpson, retired CIH member Kirsty Wells, HouseMark Scotland manager Elaine Zwirlein, director of housing, Dundee City Council and Vice Chair
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