Glen Oaks HA

Annual

Chairperson’s Report

Welcome to our Annual Report for 2021/22. I hope you and your family are well.

I can hardly believe that once again I’m beginning my report by talking about the Covid-19 pandemic! It’s been a very challenging few years for everyone but we are gradually starting to resume our usual way of working, within Government guidelines of course.

Our staff continue to provide the best possible service they can. We’ve resumed our full repairs service and are also opening the office 4 days a week to allow staff to meet with tenants on an appointment basis. To continue to ensure the safety of both customers and staff, we are still asking tenants to contact us in the first instance by phone, email or through our tenant portal.

We know it has been very tough for our tenants dealing with the Covid pandemic. As if that wasn’t bad enough, tenants are now having to deal with the cost of living crisis with many people facing real hardship. We know that it is tough for tenants with electricity and gas prices going up massively, for example. We are doing as much as we can as an Association to support our tenants through this crisis, including providing benefits advice and energy advice.

We were very sorry that 2 of our Board members had to resign in the last year. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Maryrose Flaherty and Alison Louden for their service as Board members and for their continuing support for Glen Oaks

Our Board met throughout the pandemic, via video conferencing, which allowed us to continue to set the Association’s strategic direction, ensuring that Glen Oaks maintained its governance standards. I am pleased that we are now able to hold in person

Board meetings again. It was also excellent that we could hold our 2022 Annual General Meeting in person.

I’m delighted to report that following an assessment we have retained our Silver Investors in People status and that we also recently secured Cyber Essentials plus accreditation.

The Board recently submitted our Annual Assurance Statement to the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR).

The Assurance Statement is an important part of the SHR’s Regulatory Framework and it allows our Board to declare that it is assured that Glen Oaks complies with all regulatory requirements and standards.

The Association has conducted a comprehensive tenants’ survey in the last few months. Whilst there are some things to improve on, I’m pleased to report that the feedback from our tenants has been excellent, for example:

• 94.66% are satisfied with the overall service provided by Glen Oaks, compared to 90.19% in 2019

• 99.8% trust Glen Oaks, compared to 96% in 2019

As an Association we are very proud to continue to support our wider role work, particularly through our goConnect and Workingrite projects which are featured later in this report.

We couldn’t function without our people - our Board, Corporate Management Team, Service Improvement Group, staff team and of course you, our tenants and residents.

Thank you, every one of you, for your continuing support.

Simon Gaunt, Chairperson

Our Vision, Mission Statement and Values

Glen Oaks’ vision ‘Where Communities Thrive’ and our mission statement ‘Our aim is to provide good quality affordable housing and an excellent service. We will encourage resident participation and work with other agencies to regenerate our community’ provide the foundation for Glen Oaks Housing Association’s commitment to its residents and the communities they live in. This commitment is also demonstrated in the Association’s values:

aspirational we will strive to achieve the best we can for our communities

respectful we trust and respect our customers and each other

transparent we will be open and honest about what we do

dedicated we will give 100% commitment to our work

Financial Highlights

Statement of Comprehensive Income for the Year ended 31 March 2022

Revenue 7,422,759 6,927,461

Less operating costs (5,794,234) (4,804,621)

Operating Surplus 1,628,525 2,122,840 Profit/(loss) on sale of Assets - 39,498

Interest receivable 1,342 4,337

Interest Payable and similar charges (1,135,395) (1,102,840)

Other Finance Charges (16,000) (1,000)

Surplus for year 478,472 1,062,835

Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined pension plan 576,000 (965,000)

Surplus on ordinary activities after taxation 1,054,472 97,835

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2022 2022 2021

Tangible Fixed Assets

Housing Properties (less depreciation) 58,646,701 59,731,820

Intangible Assets 216,923 243,515

Other Fixed Assets 282,644 308,653 59,146,268 60,283,988 Investments

Investment Property 47,064 47,064 Assets/liabilities

Receivables 455,930 471,317

Cash at bank and in hand 8,944,233 8,319,044

Creditors due within one year (2,816,568) (2,652,194)

Creditors due after one year (26,957,866) (27,555,878)

Pension and other provisions

Scottish Housing Association Pension Scheme (91,000) (877,000)

Deferred Income

Social Housing Grant (26,747,869) (27,083,837)

Other Grants (2,445,774) (2,472,554)

9,534,418 8,479,950

Capital and reserves

Share Capital 94 98

Revenue Reserves 9,625,324 9,356,852

Pension Reserves (91,000) (877,000) 9,534,418 8,479,950

Where every £1 of our money came from

Customer Income from Rents & Service Charges 96.4p Factoring 0.8p

Interest Receivable 0.01p Other Grants Received 2.2p Development Grants 0.59p

How we spend every £1 of our money

Service Costs 5.1p Cost of Delivering Services (staff, offices, Gold Service, etc.) 30.6p Day to Day Repairs 11.7p

Cyclical Maintenance 11p Other Costs (bad debts, etc.) 1p

Factoring Costs 0.9p Wider Action/Wider Role 3.3p Investment in New Properties 5.5p Interest and Loan Repayments 25.4p Planned Maintenance and Improvements 5p Other Fixed Assets 0.5p

Service Improvement Group

Our Service Improvement Group (SIG) was set up over 7 years ago to look at ways of improving services for, and communication with, all of our tenants. Over the past year they were heavily involved in the consultation about our rent increase for 2022-23. They put forward many recommendations on the information that should be given to tenants to help them choose from a number of options. These recommendations were welcomed by the Board and Corporate Management Team and incorporated in the final consultation document.

Tenant Satisfaction

The SIG also wanted to improve online methods of consulting with tenants so the Association contacted the majority of tenants via text message, which gave them a link to the consultation document. They could respond to the questions by text or by completing a paper survey. Most of the tenants who took part in the consultation replied to the text message. As a result, we had a much higher response rate than in previous years and will continue to consult tenants in this way.

Every 3 years we carry out a tenant survey in order to check levels of satisfaction with various aspects of our service such as repairs, management of the neighbourhood, rent level, communication and participation. Our most recent survey was carried out earlier this year, with over 500 tenants being interviewed by an independent research company. We were delighted to see that satisfaction had increased in many areas, including satisfaction with the overall service provided by us. In 2019 this was 90% and in 2022 it had increased to 95%. In particular, we were pleased that tenants confirmed they were happy with the contact they had with us during the pandemic.

There was also a big increase in the number of tenants who had access to the internet compared with three years ago. We therefore felt it would be beneficial to carry out most of

our surveys online via text message. By doing this, we have had more responses to our satisfaction surveys on repairs, close cleaning and the proposed rent increase. The online method we use can notify us instantly of any negative surveys which allows us to respond to issues right away. Other advantages of online surveys are that we can learn more about our tenants and engage them in our decision making. This will help us shape our services in future, ensuring that they meet our tenants’ needs.

We are delighted to report that Glen Oaks Housing Association recently secured Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation. Cyber Essentials is a Government-backed scheme that helps organisations to guard against the most common cyber threats and demonstrate their commitment to cyber security.

Customer Service Excellence

We were re-assessed for Customer Service Excellence at the end of November 2021 and we are pleased to confirm that we retained our accreditation. The Customer Service Excellence (CSE) Standard was developed to offer organisations like Glen Oaks a practical method of introducing and supporting customer-focussed change. Meeting the high standards set by CSE demonstrates our ongoing commitment to making sure our customers

Complaints

We really value any feedback we receive from our tenants. Complaints help us to identify areas of our service that need to be improved so that we can provide you with the best possible service.

Glen Oaks is regulated by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and we follow their model Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP). This procedure specifies the maximum response times for any complaints we receive. When you make a complaint, we aim to respond within 5 working days for Stage 1 complaints. If you’re unhappy with this response or the complaint requires further investigation, we will raise your complaint to Stage 2 and aim to reply within 20 working days.

Recent changes to the CHP include a requirement to provide you with reports on our complaint handling performance, keep you informed of the lessons we have learned and let you know about any service improvements we have introduced to prevent the same problem happening again. Quarterly complaint performance updates are included in our newsletters and we recently published our 2021-22 Year End Complaints Report on our website - www.glenoaks.org.uk/complaintsperformance

have the best possible experience when they contact us. We continue to use what we have learned from the process to introduce improvements to the services we provide, how we provide them, and what we could do better.

We are proud of our CSE accreditation because it encourages us to do better and confirms the commitment of our staff team to providing excellent customer service.

We received 103 complaints in 2021-22 (the majority of these were frontline complaints which were quickly resolved).

Most complaints were about repair delays, lack of response/communication and appointments not being kept. Although Covid played a part in these complaints, we recognise that we need to improve in these areas. The chart below gives a breakdown of the complaints we received during the year.

Complaint Trends 2021/2022

Complaint

Repair delays

Lack of response / communication

Appointment not met

Dissatisfaction with policy / procedure

Ongoing problem not resolved

Staff attitude

Service failure

Confidentiality Repair Standard

Contractor attitude

How we are doing... at a glance

94.7%

of tenants said they were very or fairly satisfied with the overall service provided by Glen Oaks.

2020/21 = 90.0%

98.2%

of tenants said that Glen Oaks is good at keeping them informed about our services and decisions.

2020/21 = 96.0%

98.9%

of tenants were satisfied with the opportunities to participate in Glen Oaks’ decision-making process.

2020/21 = 97.1%

98%

% of tenants satisfied with Glen Oaks’ contribution to the management of the neighbourhood they live in 2020/21 = 87.3%

93.6%

% of tenants felt that the rent we charge for homes represents good value for money

2020/21 = 53.6%

1348

At 31 March 2022, Glen Oaks owned 1348 homes 2020/21 = 1348

£6,340,562

The total rent due for 2020/21 that was collected was £6,036,900

2020/21 = £5,916,694

99.2%

% of the total rent due for 2021/22 was collected

2020/21 = 101.5%

1%

% of the total rent due for 2021/22 could not be collected as a result of homes being empty 2020/21 = 1.8%

3.7%

Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as at 31 March each year as a percentage of rent due for the reporting year

2020/21 = 3.4%

We consulted our tenants on 3 rent increase options - 3.5%, 4% and 4.9% and the majority of tenants supported an increase of

3.5%

£87.23

(average rent)

2 apartment - 144 2020/21 = £84.32

(average rent)

3 apartment - 728 2020/21 = £89.15

379 responses to the consultation were received 2020/21 = 148

14.0%

supported a 4% increase

£100.48

(average rent) 4 apartment - 392 2020/21 = £96.85

75.5%

supported a 3.5% increase

10.5%

supported a 4.9% increase

£123.98

(average rent)

5 apartment - 84 2020/21 = £119.60

(our

Report

Scottish Housing Regulator’s website)

9

tenancies were allocated during the year to existing tenants

2020/21 = 31

100%

of existing (transfer) tenants who had accepted a tenancy in the previous year and were still in their home

2020/21 = 100%

court action was initiated during 2021/22 for non-payment of rent

2020/21 = 0

of our tenants are satisfied with the quality of their home

2020/21 = 92.9%

44

tenancies were allocated during the year to housing list applicants

2020/21 = 64

98.4%

of new tenants who had been re-housed via our waiting list and were still in their home 2020/21 = 92.3%

27

tenancies were allocated during the year to homeless applicants

2020/21 = 27

56.5 days

the average time taken to re-let homes

2020/21 = 53.8 days

81.5%

of new tenants who had been re-housed from a homeless referral and were still in their home 2020/21 = 100%

50.3%

of tenancy offers were refused during the year 2020/21 = 48.2%

99.1%

property was recovered from tenants as a result of court action for non-payment of rent 2020/21 = 1

211

cases of anti-social behaviour were reported during 2021/22 2020/21 = 262

of those cases were resolved within our targets (which were agreed with our Service Improvement Group)

2020/21 = 98.5%

of tenants who had repairs or maintenance carried out in the last 12 months were satisfied with the service they received

2020/21 = 92.9%

of Glen Oaks homes met the SHQS (Scottish Housing Quality Standard) in 2021/22 2020/21 = 96.1%

2.2 hours

the average time taken to complete emergency repairs

2020/21 = 2.6 hours

of properties met the EESSH (Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing)

2020/21 = 98.1%

medical adaptations were completed during 2021/22

2020/21 = 17

the average time taken to complete approved medical adaptations during 2021/22

2020/21 = 29.3 days

3.9 days

the average time taken to complete non-emergency repairs 2020/21 = 2.5 days

95.5%

of reactive repairs carried out in the last year were completed ‘right first time’

2020/21 = 95.9%

99.7%

of gas safety checks were carried out in our properties

2020/21 = 98%

£155.96

We factored 98 properties during 2021/22 2020/21 = 98

of owners were satisfied with our factoring service 2020/21 = 68%

The average Management Fee per factored property 2020/21 = £155.01

goConnect

Our goConnect Project works to create community capacity and better opportunities for our residents and the communities we serve. The project continues to provide support to tenants to help them remain in their homes, leading happy, fulfilling lives. We have recently incorporated the staff from our Starting out Project (our Digital Inclusion Assistant and Financial Capability Officer) into the goConnect Project to provide digital, financial and energy advice to our tenants.

We continue to work with local groups and organisations through our goConnect Partnership forum, which allows us to combine our resources and expertise to achieve the best we can for our communities. These include Glasgow Sport, Aberlour, Win Project, Carnwadric Church, Village Storytelling, Clyde College, Glasgow Life, Giffnock Soccer Club, Feniks, HSCP and local schools, nurseries and GP surgeries.

This year continues to be challenging for our tenants particularly those with mental health issues, those isolating and our elderly. Over the last 12 months we made 4350 referrals for our tenants by either signposting or formal referrals to specialist agencies who can offer additional help. Tenants are grateful for our support which has helped them through unprecedented times. Rising to the challenges faced by our communities, we have tried to find new ways to help our tenants and have been able to introduce some new services, including:

• Befriending Service: The extension of our successful telephone befriending to an in-person service to support our tenants and encourage them to attend clubs and classes.

• Community Garden: Our Community Garden is progressing behind the scenes whilst we await planning permission. We hope to start work in early Spring and

will have a funded portacabin from Life Changes Trust which will be used as a hub. We also have a small army of volunteers and received positive feedback from our recent community survey for its design and purpose.

• Active Arden: Our Active Arden club, in partnership with Glasgow Life (Community Sports Hubs) is in the process of forming a constituted tenants’ group to apply for funding for sports activities themselves. We are currently running 3 sports activities and we are soon to be introducing footballled activities with Giffnock Soccer Club in their newly purchased playing fields at Auldhouse.

As we emerge from the pandemic, tenants seem happier to get back to normality and so our aim is to encourage people to socialise again and build up their confidence. Our Autumn classes have now started and include Genealogy, Craft and Sewing, Knitting and Crocheting, I.T. for Beginners, Boot Camp, Walking Football, Mindfulness, Wow Lunchtime Disco, as well as regular coffee mornings. We have been very fortunate with funding and all our classes are covered by various funding agencies, most of them through the Wellbeing Fund.

Some of the services we have provided over the past year:

• Financial Advice and Gains: Our Financial Capability Officer continues to help people apply for Universal Credit and other benefits, provides debt and energy advice and can apply for energy and food vouchers for those who are in need. This year she helped 187 residents and was able to make financial gains of £295,000 for our tenants.

• Digital and IT Services: During the pandemic we applied for a number of grants for digital devices and we received 130 devices in total, including free mi-fi to connect them to the internet. We now have a lending library of 35 devices where residents can borrow a tablet and get free tuition to learn how to use it.

We realise that our tenants are very concerned about the impact of the cost-ofliving crisis on their household budgets. With this in mind, tenants who come along to the classes this Autumn/Winter will not only be greeted with a warm welcome but can also enjoy socialising in a warm space in our office with hot drinks and refreshments provided.

you are interested in any of the

contact us for more information

Workingrite

We’ve been working in partnership with Workingrite since 2013. The very successful Workingrite South Glasgow programme has helped over 300 young people in our area and their staff have continued to work during the pandemic, providing support and online training to local young people. Workingrite’s aim is to increase the confidence of the young people they support while also teaching them the skills they need to progress into work placements with local businesses.

Workingrite recruits throughout the year. Young people on the programme receive a trainee allowance of up to £100 plus travel expenses when they have progressed on to a work placement.

because everyone remembers their first boss

Chief Executive’s Report

I hope you’ve enjoyed our Annual Report. The report allows you to see the work we continue to do well, where we have made improvements, and what we could be doing better.

We understand that times are hard for our tenants and family budgets are stretched. We continue to do everything we can to help our tenants in the current cost of living crisis.

Our staff continue to support residents with claiming Welfare Benefits they are eligible for, provide advice on budgeting and debt management, or support with reducing household bills by finding the best energy deal.

We also offer our residents help to access local services. This includes family support, mental health support, telephone befrienders, hospital transport, and food shopping delivery for over 65s. Over the past year we made 4350 referrals for our tenants to other services.

During the past few years, we have been increasing our focus on digital inclusion initiatives. It has become more important than ever to improve the digital skills of our residents, helping tenants keep in touch with family members, apply for jobs online and, in the case of children, allow them to keep up with homework.

Our goConnect staff have set up lots of clubs and classes to support residents experiencing feelings of isolation and loneliness. We have also employed a Polish facilitator to help us link with our Polish tenants (Glen Oaks has over 200

In the last year we had some changes in our staff team. Of particular note, Jean Murray, our previous Housing Services Director retired, having been with the Association since 1999. Jean did an enormous amount of work for us and we wish her a long, happy and healthy retirement. Following a recruitment exercise that saw many candidates from outwith the Association applying for the role, we were delighted that the successful candidate for the post of Housing Services Director was Kirsty Wilson who has worked for the Association for many years in other roles. Kirsty has an enormous amount of experience and whilst with Glen Oaks gained her Masters in Housing from Glasgow University.

Changes to our Complaints Handling Procedure were introduced last year. The changes included a requirement to have greater focus on the lessons learned from complaints and the importance of using that information to develop service improvements. Feedback from our customers about our service is very important to us and I would urge anyone who is concerned about our performance in any area of our work to contact the Association and let us know.

To remain effective and representative of the communities we serve, we need the continued support of our membership. We currently have 4 vacancies on the Board and I strongly encourage any enthusiastic, communityminded person who supports our work to contact me if they are interested in joining our Board.

I’d like to end our Annual Report by thanking everyone for their continuing support - our dedicated Board and Service Improvement Group members (who are all volunteers and give up their free time to support the Association), our hard working staff team, and last (but not least) you, our valued tenants and residents.

Alasdair McKee, Chief Executive