Annual Report 2008/09 cDemonstrating our outstanding vision and dedication to the housing sector.d
### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Introduction Sandwell Homes is an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) set up by Sandwell Council. Formally launched in October 2004, it manages and maintains the council's 29,000 council properties and is delivering a £425 million Decent Homes programme, one of the biggest in the country. It delivers a range of housing services to the six towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich. In addition to Decent Homes, these include: G
Letting homes and signing up new tenants
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Collecting rents
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Offering advice to tenants on their rights and the services available to them
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Repairing and maintaining homes through day-to-day repairs as well as planned maintenance and improvement works
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Supporting tenant involvement
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Providing a caretaking and cleaning service on flatted estates
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Managing sheltered housing and related services such as community alarms and tenancy support
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Housing Options Service - working to prevent homelessness through housing advice and offering options for housing
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Investigating and taking action with Sandwell Council on anti-social behaviour by council tenants
In November 2008, following inspection by the Audit Commission, Sandwell Homes was awarded three-star status for providing an excellent service with excellent prospects for improvement, the highest rating that can be awarded.
Our Vision:
Our Mission:
Our Values:
To be nationally recognised as a best practice social housing provider by delivering sustainable quality homes and excellent customer services through committed and motivated people.
To improve the quality of life for people in Sandwell, by providing quality housing and excellent services, to enable healthy living in safe and sustainable neighbourhoods.
• Continuous improvement • Respect and fairness • Environmentally responsible • Actively seeking and listening to stakeholder views • Trusted and caring • Integrity, honesty and openness • Value for money • Encouraging and supportive
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Contents
Foreword from Chief Executive and Chairman
Pages 4/5
The Executive Management Team and Board of Directors
Pages 6/7
Improving Our Homes
Pages 8/9
Helping with Money Matters
Pages 10/11
Supporting Those in Need
Pages 12/13
Involving the Community
Pages 14/15
Adopting New Ways of Working
Pages 16/17
Raising the Standard
Pages 18/19
Demonstrating Equality and Diversity
Pages 20/21
Turning the Business and its Customers Green
Pages 22/23
Improving Performance
Pages 24/25
The Future
Page 26
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### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Foreword from the Chief Executive and the Chairman of Sandwell Homes I am delighted to report that Sandwell Homes goes from strength to strength and I think the information in the annual report will confirm this as the company and its employees continue to improve services to our customers. Over the last year, the company has continued to flourish – improving services, winning top national awards and
most importantly improving satisfaction levels amongst tenants. We have also increased our efficiency levels and this has been due to our biggest strength of all – our passionate employees.
It was wonderful that we were able to achieve not only a three-star rating from the Audit Commission but also recognition that we have excellent prospects for improvement.
The commitment of the people who work for Sandwell Homes is amazingly high. They give us and our customers a very high level of loyalty, a real passion and pride as they work tirelessly day in and day out to perform their duties.
Our new challenge is to build upon our considerable successes to date and to forge ahead to yet higher levels of commitment and service. We will continue our highly successful partnerships and involve our customers at every stage.
Chief Executive, Brian Oakley (left) and Chairman, Len Gibbs.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Historian and broadcaster Carl Chinn congratulates Sandwell Homes on its three-star achievement.
One of our main strengths is that we are all intent on working diligently for our customers – the tenants, leaseholders and residents of the borough – many of whom are vulnerable and rely heavily on us to develop the best service we possibly can. The year 2008 was a year of great changes too. We moved from our original home at Sandwell Road up to refurbished offices at Dartmouth House and Court House, we opened the new Operations and Development Centre in Roway Lane, and we introduced a new computerised housing management system. It is satisfying for us all to see the changes in our housing stock and for me personally to meet tenants who say we have changed their lives by providing them with new standards of living and improved quality of life. It is rewarding to see so much done, but we all recognise there is much more to do.
Brian Oakley Chief Executive, Sandwell Homes
It’s been a golden year in the short history of Sandwell Homes – the achievement of our threestar status rating after the Audit Commission inspection is further evidence of the excellent work being done for the tenants and leaseholders. It was wonderful to get three-stars but life goes on and our quest to deliver continuous improvement and even higher levels of quality is never ending. The Board also wanted to ensure that Sandwell Homes begins to get the recognition it deserves for its achievement and I’m very pleased to note successes such as being shortlisted as one of the country’s top social landlords, being listed as one of the country’s top green organisations and winning a host of other accolades.
associated large and small contractors who work with Sandwell Homes. We know, in these times of recession and hardship, that Sandwell Homes has to make a wide social contribution to the good of Sandwell as a whole. Again it’s very encouraging to note our excellent record in providing apprenticeships, sponsoring community based groups and the quality of our services for vulnerable people. Having been involved in Sandwell Homes from the very beginning I know just how great a difference we make and I also know how much we have changed and improved over the years. I hope this annual report gives all those involved in Sandwell Homes and those who are interested in us an opportunity to revisit our success, share the lessons and catch some of our enthusiasm!
What always strikes me about Sandwell Homes is its people. The passion amongst employees, the Executive Team and Board members. The tireless work of many tenant and leaseholder activists and the host of
Len Gibbs Chairman, Sandwell Homes Board
cWe will never be complacent and will always seek continuous improvement.d 5
### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Leading and inspiring The Executive Management Team provides specialist skills, direction and support. They have a wealth of experience and share an enthusiasm to make a difference to the lives of people in Sandwell through Sandwell Homes. Many have worked together over a period of time and this has created a strong base on which to progress and tackle new challenges.
Executive Management Team Brian J Oakley Adrian Scarrott John Clayton Chris Poulton Paul E Field Judy Guest Norman Fletcher Chris Walton
Chief Executive Housing Services Director Investment Director Repairs and Maintenance Director Finance Director & Company Secretary Finance Officer Business Development Manager Performance and Resources Manager
Back Row (l to r): Brian Oakley, Chris Poulton, Paul Field and John Clayton. Front Row (l to r): Chris Walton, Judy Guest, Norman Fletcher and Adrian Scarrott.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Committed and challenging Sandwell Homes' Board consists of 18 Board Members – six tenant, six independent and six council representatives. Directors
Type of Representative
Date of Appointment
Norma S R Hutchings Mike C Babb Aynols B Reid Peter B Gospel Linda Paskin John B Cotgrove Alfred W Woodhouse Len Gibbs Tina Brown-Love Christopher P Gray Frederick T Carter Darshan Singh Matharoo Margaret A D Lang Councillor Geoffrey J Lewis Councillor Joyce Underhill Councillor Dr Anne E G Jaron Councillor David L W Hosell Councillor Anthony R W Ward Councillor Paramjit Randhawa Councillor John D McHard Councillor Steve Freer Councillor Karen Bissell Councillor Keith Davies
Tenant (Oldbury) Tenant (Wednesbury) Tenant (Smethwick) Tenant (West Bromwich) Tenant (Tipton) Tenant (Rowley Regis) Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Independent Council Council Council Council Council Council Council Council Council Council
11 June 2004 11 June 2004 20 July 2006 26 July 2004 18 July 2005 22 January 2008 (retired 18 August 2008) 11 June 2004 11 June 2004 11 June 2004 26 July 2006 4 February 2008 30 March 2009 18 February 2005 (retired 2 June 2008) 11 June 2004 11 June 2004 (retired 26 May 2009) 11 June 2004 21 May 2008 21 May 2008 (retired 29 July 2008) 21 May 2008 6 August 2008 24 May 2006 (retired 21 May 2008) 4 June 2007 (retired 21 May 2008) 24 May 2006 (retired 21 May 2008)
As of 13/7/2009, there are vacancies for a tenant representative (Rowley Regis) and a Council representative.
Once elected/recruited, each Board Member is a Company Director for a period of three years. There are also four committees: Operations, Human Resources, Finance and Audit, and Scrutiny. Each committee is led by a member of the Executive Team and chaired by a Board Member.
Sandwell Homes’ Board Members.
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### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Decent Homes so far...
Improving our homes
13,309 homes refurbished 10,091 replacement kitchens 9,903 replacement bathrooms 11,061 electrical rewires
The Sandwell Decent Homes programme is four years old this year, with a significant number of milestones having been reached in the £425 million project’s delivery.
8,461 new central heating systems
5,982 replacement roofs Since May 2005 the Sandwell Decent Homes Partnership (SDHP) has delivered nearly £240 million of investment in both low and high-rise properties managed by Sandwell Homes.
Low-rise To date approximately 13,000 properties have received a range of improvements that have included new kitchens, bathrooms, heating and wiring systems and roofs all in line with meeting the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. Since the start of the programme, satisfaction with both the end product and the level of service, based on the responses from our customers, has risen from 65% in 2005 to 92% in 2009.
High-rise The high-rise partnership has completed 14 blocks across the borough since 2006 with an additional six blocks currently under refurbishment.
More than bricks and mortar The Partnership staged an ‘It’s a Knockout’ competition at the Sandwell Community Show, raising more than £6,500 for Sandwell’s Young Carers. Training and employment has been a strategic part of the £425 million Decent Homes programme since the Partnership’s inception. The training Minister of State for Local Government, John Healey (prior to appointment as Housing Minister) with Investment Director, John Clayton, Leader of Sandwell Council, Cllr Bill Thomas and employees from Sandwell Homes and Lovell.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Partnership Manager, Glenn Nightingale with delighted tenants of Astbury Court Lillian and Neville Day.
Keith Chegwin with Tracey Smith, Director of Sandwell Young Carers and John Clayton, Investment Director.
scheme, facilitated by Sandwell Homes, has provided regeneration opportunities targeted at 3% of its partnering organisation’s workforce and has continually been surpassed with current performance at 9%.
willingness to engage and listen to its customers. SDHP won the award again for a second consecutive year in 2009.
Apprentices To date 140 apprentices have been employed throughout the Partnership, working towards NVQ Level 2 qualifications. The commitment of the individuals was recognised at the first annual apprentice awards held in June 2008. The SDHP has worked closely with the community, including schools, to offer both training and employment opportunities. This has resulted in the creation of over 900 employment opportunities, for the local community, through the delivery of Decent Homes improvements.
Recognition In 2008 the Sandwell Decent Homes Partnership won a prestigious West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence (WMCCE) award for ‘Integration and Collaborative Working’. Judges commended the Partnership on its long-term commitment to the Sandwell community and its
The Partnership was also ‘Highly Commended’ at the WMCCE national awards ceremony, which took place in London in December 2008. Two of the Partnership’s Tenant Liaison Officers were short-listed for the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) ‘Connecting People, Tenant Liaison Officer of the Year’ award. Both Sue Law from Connaught Partnerships and Daryll Pritchett from Thomas Vale Construction were nominated with Daryll actually going on to win the award.
Looking forward Throughout 2009, a number of milestones will be reached within the delivery of the Decent Homes programme including achieving £250 million of investment into the housing stock with both the low and high-rise partnerships continuing to deliver necessary improvements to improve the quality of our customers’ lives.
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Connaught's Margaret Jones, tenant Steve Hill, Sandwell Homes' Steve Wigzell and tenant action group member Phil Knight with a photograph of how the flats used to look.
Sandwell Decent Homes Partnership:
### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Helping with money matters Managing finances has never been more important especially in the current economic climate. Sandwell Homes is committed to ensuring tenants get the best advice and assistance to deal with money issues. Sandwell Homes has a good record of collecting rent and minimising arrears. We will continue to stress the importance of paying rent on time whilst striving to improve the quality and availability of money advice.
Sandwell Homes continues to recognise tenants with a clear rent account through its annual prize draw competition.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Money Matters has proved popular with tenants.
Kelly Morris and John Furness, Sandwell Homes with Jeanette Wade of Citizen's Advice Bureau, working to improve tenants' finances.
Money Matters
Cases are not closed until any necessary referrals are made to other agencies for on-going support. The team has achieved its target of 75% successful interventions and 25% on-going support referrals.
Sandwell Homes has worked with three key partners – Sandwell Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Sandwell Council’s Welfare Rights Unit and Sandwell 6 Towns Credit Union – to deliver better money advice. In January 2008, a practical guide – Money Matters – was produced, focusing on all aspects of money management and encouraging tenants to examine their own situation through a self-help section. To date more than 7,000 copies have been issued and the guide was featured on the Government's ‘Now Let's Talk Money’ website as an example of best practice. Sandwell Homes is an active member of ‘Tackling Debt in Sandwell’, a multiagency group and also recognises its good payers with an annual clear rent account prize draw.
Savings made Financial savings made by the company funded a Citizen's Advice Bureau debt worker resulting in: 437 debt advice interviews being carried out, more than £1 million of debt identified and more than £400,000 in additional benefits being claimed. The debt worker also championed a fair repayment code and provided additional in-house training to other employees.
or cancelled through the intervention of the debt worker.
Recognition Winner of the Financial Team of the Year in the Housing Heroes Awards organised by Inside Housing magazine and the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Looking forward Our financial inclusion work continues to expand with the development of a Financial Inclusion strategy, the funding of a second debt worker and creating a financial inclusion development worker post.
Achievements this year include halving the eviction rate from 173 to 88, reducing possession hearings for rent arrears from 511 to 431 and more than 250 arrears actions suspended
Rent collection for 2008/09 was 97.98%, down Support A dedicated Rents Casework Team now works personally with tenants in rent arrears to establish regular payment patterns or make successful housing benefit claims.
slightly from the record high achieved in 2007/08. This performance, whilst still very good, does reflect the very difficult external economic situation prevailing during the year.
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### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Supporting those in need The tenants and residents of Sandwell are at the heart of everything we do, that’s why we are here. Many of them are vulnerable and rely heavily on us to deliver the best services we possibly can. Sandwell Homes has a range of initiatives, many nationally recognised, which give tenants the confidence, support and peace of mind to maintain their independence wherever possible. Sandwell Homes Community Alarms and Warden service ensures people feel secure in their own homes by linking them to a 24-hour-a-day control centre. New Deal for Communities programme Greets Green Partnership invested £75,000 in the project providing features such as bogus-caller alerts and smoke detectors for more than 200 local people. The Community Care Housing Unit hosted the first Vulnerable Person's Forum to launch its Vulnerable Person's strategy. More than 60 stakeholders and service users attended. More than 80 Sandwell Homes sheltered and extra-care housing schemes were recognised with the Elderly Accommodation Counsel's Quality of Information Mark for the clarity with which they describe their facilities and services.
Silver Surfers Tenants at three sheltered housing schemes – Holly Grange and Manifoldia Grange in West Bromwich and Compton Grange in Cradley Heath – improved their ‘digital literacy’ thanks to a successful Silver Surfers bid to Housemark/Virgin Media and Digital Unite. The bid meant free computers Sandwell Homes Louise Butler with Carer's Card members Sylvia Archer, Janet Fox and Gurprit Sahota.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Residents feeling safe and secure in their homes with the Community Alarms service.
Helping people find a new home and avoid homelessness - Housing Options Team.
and on-line access with practical IT training, giving dozens of tenants a new skill and a new way of keeping in touch with family and friends through email.
Services and Sandwell Primary Care Trust, ensures carers have ‘peace of mind’ if anything unexpected happens to them.
A family intervention project has been launched with Sandwell Council and Action for Children. The scheme works with households who exhibit challenging and/or anti-social behaviour, many of whom are at risk of losing their tenancies or becoming subject to an Anti-Social Behaviour Order. The project seeks to challenge and support these families to change their behaviour.
The card has a unique reference number which when quoted to the 24-hour control centre ensures that other family members or appropriate agencies are alerted as back-up.
Victims of domestic burglary now receive a rapid response service to their home to ensure security is maintained thanks to a protocol developed by Sandwell Homes in partnership with Sandwell Council, West Midlands Police and other agencies. More than 300 homes have benefitted from security upgrades since April 2008.
Winter packs More than 500 special winter packs were distributed to vulnerable and elderly tenants containing useful seasonal items such as gloves, light-bulbs, soup sachets and thermometers as well as an information booklet with tips on how to keep warm. The scheme was such a success it will be repeated in 2009.
Housing Options service now at one central location in West Bromwich. The move coincided with the launch of an information booklet ‘Open the Door for Housing Advice’, helping people to find a new home and avoid homelessness.
Recognition The Carer's Emergency Card was shortlisted in the Most Innovative project category at the National Federation of ALMO's Awards 2009 and was featured in a ‘Good Practice Makes Perfect’ guide. The Tenancy Support Team was a finalist in the Chartered Institute of Housing, West Midlands Branch – Good Practice Awards
Looking forward
Sandwell Homes has identified an extra £127,000 to meet the demand of a gardening service targeting elderly and disabled tenants.
Sandwell Homes 27-strong Tenancy Support Team has supported 758 clients during 2008/09, through the Supporting People programme. Members of the team work on a one-to-one basis with tenants to draw up a support plan to achieve and/or maintain independence.
Work to retain Telecare Services Association Parts 1, 2 and 3, the nationally recognised standard for Community Alarms Service and achieve the Centre for Housing and Support Accreditation (formerly Centre for Sheltered Housing Studies) for the Warden Service.
Carer's card
Housing Options
An Emergency Carer's Card launched in partnership with Sandwell Adult
A new Housing Options centre has been established with an enhanced
Achieve Level A Quality Assessment Framework for Community Alarms, the Warden Service and Tenancy Support Services.
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### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Involving the community Encouraging tenants and residents to play their part in shaping the future of housing services in Sandwell is at the heart of our Community Involvement initiatives. The Community Involvement team encourages, supports and develops not only community groups but individuals to foster a sense of community identity and pride, building stronger, sustainable communities. They also work to increase satisfaction levels amongst tenants and residents regarding the opportunities to get involved with Sandwell Homes.
Sandwell Homes has a well-earned national reputation in the social housing sector for the range of innovative and interactive board games created and devised by its Community Involvement Team. These are requested by other housing and government organisations on a regular basis. The games are designed to engage tenants across a range of issues and include ‘Raising the Standard’ which focuses on the Audit Commission's Key Lines of Enquiry or KLOEs, as well as ‘Tip Top’ which focuses on the Tenant Inspectorate programme. The inventiveness and practicality of the games was recognised when they won the Best Community Initiative category at the National Federation of ALMO's awards in 2008. Interactive voting system ‘Qwizdom’ has been used to obtain customer feedback on extended hours services and new telephony system as part of the Customer Access strategy.
Neighbourhoods Two Good Neighbourhood Agreements (GNAs) have been launched on Cakemore Estate, Oldbury and Metric Estate, Smethwick. The GNAs encourage local residents to share Winners of the Sandwell Homes third annual gardening competition. Roy and Pauline Edwards enjoy their garden with grandson Rhylee.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Celebrating community involvement.
Young firefighters have benefitted from Community Chest funding.
Demonstrating the diversity of Sandwell with global dishes.
responsibility with other agencies for tackling nuisance behaviour and foster community spirit. The estates are already experiencing a reduction in crime levels.
Residents Associations. A new set of ‘Tenant Approved’ Service Standards has been launched which are available on-line and can be printed from the website to save costs.
contribution they make to their community at a special presentation event at West Bromwich Albion Football Ground.
The third annual Sandwell Homes gardening competition attracted a record number of entries with prizes sponsored by a range of Sandwell Homes partners and the judging panel made up of tenants and board members.
The Tenant Participation Agreement was reviewed in partnership with Sandwell Community Information and Participation Service (SCIPS), Sandwell Council, Riverside Private Finance Initiative and Cotterills Farm and Boscobel Tenant Management Organisations.
Recognition
More than 90 community groups have benefitted from the launch of the Community Chest Fund which provides grants of up to £500 to support smallscale projects such as youth activities, sports events, community environmental schemes and celebratory events.
Increasing skills The Sandwell Tenants and Residents Training programme or START offers courses designed to improve tenants' skills in areas such as contributing to meetings, information technology and computing and making presentations as well as raising awareness of equality and diversity issues.
The Tenant Board Member recruitment procedure has been revised and simplified to encourage more tenants to apply.
Multi-cultural Working with their Equality and Diversity colleagues, the Community Involvement team devised and delivered a multi-cultural event at the Sandwell Community Show, with a series of fast-paced cookery demonstrations featuring meals from around the globe – reflecting the diversity of Sandwell's residents.
Certificates A handbook ‘Let's Get Organised’ has been produced to give help starting and running successful Tenants and
More than 100 tenant representatives received certificates to mark the
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Our record in Community Involvement was recognised when trailblazing tenants were asked to help new Government agency, the Tenant Services Authority, draw up a set of standards for all social landlords. Part of ‘The National Conversation’, we were the only social housing provider in the Midlands asked to take part.
Looking forward We are looking to set up a Tenant Talkback Panel of around 300 people to take part in regular surveys on the delivery of our housing services. A review of the structures of Tenants and Residents Associations will be carried out in partnership with Sandwell Community Information and Participation Service (SCIPS) to strengthen links between individual TRAs and provide networking opportunities.
### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Adopting new ways of working Sandwell Homes is always searching for innovative and exciting ways to deliver its housing services in the most timely and cost effective way for our customers. Whether its working with our partners, developing new ways of working, extending the hours of our services or exploiting technology, we are always looking to continuously improve.
At Sandwell Homes we continually review when and how we offer services in consultation with customers so we can accommodate their changing needs and demands. From July 2008, we extended the hours of our telephone enquiry service for general and housing management enquiries. Customers can now contact us from 8am to 8pm. This development was mirrored by our repairs service who can also be contacted from 8am to 8pm weekdays. Non-urgent repairs can also be reported when its convenient to customers via the internet supported with an on-line diagnostic tool. Tenants are now able to make appointments for repairs to be carried out 8am to 8pm weekdays and Saturday mornings.
New ways of working Dozens of craft employees in the repairs and maintenance directorate have undertaken multi-skill training to improve their flexibility, speeding up appointments and enabling more repair jobs to be completed on the first visit to a property. A series of training courses at a specially adapted on-site training Special repairs surgeries have been held to improve satisfaction levels with Black Minority Ethnic (BME) tenants.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Extending services from 8am - 8pm to meet customer needs.
Providing work experience for local youngsters.
Using hand-held technology to deliver a more efficient and effective responsive repairs service.
unit delivered sessions on plumbing, changing locks and catches on uPVC windows and doors, plastering, carpentry and bricklaying to employees whose usual trade was roofing.
take advantage of up to an hour of a multi-skilled employee's time to carry out jobs such as installing a curtain rail or putting up a shelf.
Recognition
Voids Under a positive action initiative, to encourage female employees to apply for construction jobs, trade training has been offered to give practical knowledge to those women working with repairs teams to improve communication and understanding. Multi-skill training sessions were delivered through the training unit and they also ‘shadowed’ technical employees. Property MOTs have been introduced as part of a rolling programme of planned/cyclical maintenance checks. In addition to checks on uPVC windows and doors, customers also receive two energy efficient lightbulbs. The initiative is part of a move towards reducing the proportion of responsive repairs compared with planned repairs to a 60:40 split in favour of planned repairs. Additional services have been developed such as the Tenant's Friend initiative where vulnerable and older tenants moving to a new property can
A new Empty Property standard has been launched for empty properties (or voids). Tenant involvement in developing the new standard has been extensive including workshops, site visits to empty properties and learning from other social housing organisations. The revised standard ensures our ready-to-let properties are of high quality and tenants are clear about what to expect when they rent a property from Sandwell Homes.
Technology More than 100 employees working in responsive repairs are now using Personal Digital Assistants or PDAs on a daily basis. The hand-held technology means quicker and more efficient service with employees able to receive information about jobs without having to return to or telephoning their base, elimination of paper worksheets and reduced travel, fuel and vehicle servicing costs.
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Our Gas Services team, together with Sandwell Council's Legal Services, co-developed a two-pronged legal procedure for dealing with tenants who have proven difficult in allowing us to gain access to their properties in order to undertake the annual gas safety check. This involves taking court cases to the County and Magistrates Courts. The initiative has contributed to excellent access performance results approaching 99.7% and was commended in the 2009 Municipal Journal Achievement Awards.
Looking forward Key challenges for the coming year include: revising service standards for repairs and maintenance in full consultation with tenants, fully implementing the new SHAPE computer system for repairs, integrating responsive repairs and gas services calls, and reviewing the efficiency and effectiveness of the out-of-hours service.
### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Raising the standard The 1,350 employees of Sandwell Homes are central to our achievements and successes. We want to ensure that our employees are committed and motivated to the highest standard in order for them to continue providing excellent services to customers. This was confirmed at our Rewards and Recognition event, held at West Bromwich Albion football ground, where we celebrated with colleagues, who collectively amassed 1,200 years of service. Three employees – Kevin Amos, Dave Willis and Keith Blount – clocked up an impressive 40 years’ service each.
Celebrating 1,200 years of loyal service.
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The dedication and skill of our employees is increasingly being recognised at a regional and national level in the housing sector with many of our innovative projects being successful in a wide range of award schemes.
Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Kevin Amos, Dave Willis and Keith Blount celebrate 120 years' service between them.
Outside work, their commitment to raising funds for numerous local and national good causes results in thousands of pounds being generated.
Donating plants from the Sandwell Homes stand at the Sandwell Community Show to Mayor, Cllr Robert Price to raffle for his charity.
Winners: Sandwell Decent Homes Partnership West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence Integration and Collaborative working (two consecutive years 2008 and 2009) Community Involvement
Healthy Living Our Healthy Living = Healthy Workforce campaign continued with a second Health and Well-Being day. Focusing on health and fitness especially muscular skeletal issues, ways to combat stress and tackle weight management, this initiative has helped reduce sickness absences from 9.77 days in 2007/08 to 9.58 days in 2008/09.
National Federation of ALMOs Awards 2008 Best Community Initiative - interactive tenant games Financial Inclusion Inside Housing/Chartered Institute of Housing, Housing Heroes 2009 Financial Inclusion Team of the Year Commended/Nominated/Shortlisted: Tenancy Support Team Chartered Institute of Housing, West Midlands Good Practice 2008 We're More Than Just Bricks and Mortar Procurement Team West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence 2008 Sustainability category - Let's Go Green Together project Sandwell Homes
Warm-hearted and generous employees raised in excess of £11,000 for national and local charities.
Government Business Magazine, Social Housing category 2009 Housing Excellence Awards 2009, Social Landlord of the Year Sunday Times Best Green Companies, ranked 27 out of 60 2009 Carer's Emergency Card
Activities included fancy dress days, sponsored runs, coffee and cake sales, abseiling and selling off surplus office equipment with £6,500 being raised for Sandwell Young Carers alone.
National Federation of ALMOs Awards 2009, Most Innovative project Accreditations: ROSPA gold standard award for the second year running 2008 and 2009 – recognises we operate safety management to an excellent standard, apply a rigorous approach to occupational health and are able to demonstrate below average levels of accidents and work-related illness.
Recognition
Positive About Disability – awarded by jobcentreplus to employers who have made a commitment to employing and developing people with disabilities.
Numerous awards and accreditations keep Sandwell Homes at the forefront of the social housing sector.
Quality of Information (QI) Mark for clarity of description of 80 plus sheltered and extra-care schemes awarded by the Elderly Accommodation Council Client Charter Award – Green Status – approved by the Management Board of the Confederation of Construction Clients Business Environmental Charter – Platinum Award – Sandwell Council
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### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Demonstrating equality and diversity Sandwell Homes is proud of its record around Equality and Diversity issues and its Equality Team has developed a detailed and challenging Corporate Equality Scheme. The new scheme requires the organisation to show how it meets the general duties set out under separate Race, Disability and Gender Equality legislation. The scheme has been extended to take into consideration its considerable commitments around the other equality strands – including sexual orientation, religion/belief and age. The team’s work has been praised by outside bodies in achieving Level 3 of the Equality Standard for Local Government.
Sandwell Homes' Equality Team: Humaa Noori, Mandy Saunders and Kashmir Randhawa.
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Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments to assess the positive and negative impacts of policies and services we provide, again measured against the six equality strands has contributed to this achievement. Holding a quarterly Diversity Links Forum is another new initiative. This
Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Providing that ‘extra’ help for those who need it - the Tenant's Friend.
provides an opportunity for community representatives from special interest groups to meet and network building stronger relationships with Sandwell Homes. The company strongly believes that providing services that are accessible to all our customers is an important part of our ethos.
Cultural A training programme is being developed for front line employees to raise cultural awareness and a new scheme is proposed to develop an awareness, marketing and training plan to support people with disabilities as well as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in Sandwell.
Celebrating Sandwell's diversity through its cuisine.
monitoring exercise is the number of tenants declaring that they have a disability or long-term health condition – 50.2% which is considerably higher than the national average.
Tenant’s friend The company has developed several key actions to support disabled tenants, including the ‘Tenant’s Friend’ initiative to provide assistance in carrying out small jobs for disabled and elderly tenants. In the interests of keeping a close relationship with customers, Sandwell Homes had a considerable presence at the Sandwell Community Show.
Monitoring
The Equality Team working with Community Involvement colleagues co-ordinated a cultural awareness event attended by Diversity Links organisations. They engaged with visitors in a number of ways, including mehndi (henna artwork on hands), hair braiding, live cooking and cultural dance demonstrations.
Team members have also led the work under the ‘Getting to Know You’ project which involved extensive tenant monitoring exercises and now have data on more than 80% of their tenants. One of the most noticeable issues that has been identified as a result of this
They set out to raise awareness and celebrate the diversity of Sandwell and worked with a number of community organisations including the West Bromwich African Caribbean Resource Centre and the Sandwell Deaf Community Association.
The team is working on a three-year action plan under the Corporate Equality Scheme and members feel it is important to publicise and promote good news stories around homophobia and hate crimes.
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Recognition Following achieving Level 3 of the Equality Standard, members of the team were invited to deliver a presentation on developing and using Equality Impact Assessments by the All Wales Local Authority and Housing Association Performance Improvement Club.
Looking forward The team is seeking to develop and deliver a programme of engagement with schools to promote an awareness of housing services and issues. The team is also working towards achieving Level 4 of the Equality Standard. In addition, the exisiting bi-lingual scheme – which provides front-line interpreting services for customers – will be reviewed. By delivering the service in a more targeted way, customers will benefit from a face-to-face service as opposed to a telephone one. Non-English speaking customers will be able to access basic information about services via translated pages on the website. At the Sandwell Community Show, we will be using Qwizdom – an interactive voting system – to explore visitors' knowledge of different cultures as well as our usual live demonstrations.
### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Turning the business and its customers green As an employer, we recognise that we are a significant consumer of resources and that our operations can produce pollution. With global warming now high on the Government agenda, Sandwell Homes is taking a strong proactive approach to becoming more environmentally responsible. We work with our employees, tenants, partners and suppliers to ensure we acknowledge our responsibility by preventing pollution and reducing our negative impact on the environment.
Environmental manager Anthony Thompson and environmental consultant Andrew Fletcher with Sandwell Homes' Judy Guest, Neil Edmunds, John Clayton and Bob Nally reducing the company's carbon footprint.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Members of Sandwell Homes' Environmental Committee celebrating making The Sunday Times Green List.
Environmental consultants Andrew Fletcher and John Sharpe with Tracey Jeavons and Penny Hands from the supply chain.
An environmental policy created with employees, tenants and board members was developed in 2005 and the last year has seen many changes come into effect. Sandwell Homes is a company that is rightly proud of its record on ‘green issues’ and its efforts to protect the environment.
organisation’s green credentials - as well as assessing the environmental performance, policies and practices of business.
In order to embed Environmental Management in Sandwell Homes, representatives from different departments have joined forces to form a Cross Divisional Environmental Forum (CDEF). The vision of the group is: ‘To provide strategic direction and continual improvement to all environmental matters at Sandwell Homes.’ Sandwell Homes has signed up to the Waste Resources and Action Programme (WRAP), which commits us to reducing the waste we send to landfill by 50%. Use and disposal of paper has been reviewed and the use of recycled paper within the organisation increased across its sites. Electricity for office accommodation and communal work spaces is now derived from renewable and low carbon sources after the organisation signed up to receive 100% green electricity. Phase two of a ‘Going Green’ initiative was
also rolled out this year, to encourage suppliers to the business, to reduce the impact they have on the environment. Under the scheme, funded by the West Midlands Centre for Construction Excellence (WMCCE), around 30 companies qualified for a five-day package of advice and support, which includes help with recognising the environmental impact of their business activities. By involving workers in ‘Green Teams’ and adopting more environmentally acceptable procedures, they can achieve an environmental accreditation to British Safety 8555 standard.
Recognition Sandwell Homes has retained its Environmental Management System ISO 14001 accreditation and achieved a Business Environmental Charter Platinum award from Sandwell Council. The company was rated 27th in a list of the 60 Best Green Companies in Britain, which were revealed in the second Sunday Times Green List published by The Sunday Times. Uniquely, the Best Green Companies survey takes account of the views of employees - who get to rate their
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Employee survey results suggest the workforce is on the ball when it comes to the environment. People are aware of the environmental implications of the work they do (a 71% positive green score), know where to put waste for recycling (84%) and think Sandwell Homes is getting better at protecting the environment (77%).
Looking forward Sandwell Homes will continue to build on its achievements as a green business this year by campaigning for employees to turn-off lights, computers and other electrical equipment not in use, when leaving the office in its ‘Switch-Off’ publicity drive. Customers will also be brought on board as the borough's first official environmentally friendly family is selected to undergo lifestyle changes aimed at reducing their carbon footprint. It is hoped that the ‘eco-family’ will inspire residents across the borough to make simple changes that will save them money, whilst making their lifestyle more sustainable in the long-term.
### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
Improving performance Across the broad range of performance indicators used to report company results, high levels of performance have again this year been maintained, and in many areas improved. The following examples illustrate sustained performance levels in key activity areas.
Best Ever Performance Gas - % of Council properties with a current gas safety certificate.
Decent Homes - the proportion of council properties decent at 1 April 2008.
Sickness - average days lost due to sickness per full time employee.
99.80%
70.00%
14 days
99.60%
65.00% 13 days
99.40%
60.00%
99.20%
55.00%
99.00%
50.00%
45.00%
13.96
98.80%
11 days
67.69
99.67
12 days
98.20%
54.20
40.00%
30.00% 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09
9.58
35.00%
9 days
9.77
98.40%
98.72
98.60%
43.50
99.15
10 days
8 days 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09
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2006/07 2007/08 2008/09
Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
Performance in the top 25%, compared with all other Metropolitan Authorities Satisfaction - of all tenants of council housing with the overall service provided by their landlord.
Rent - % of tenants with more than 35 days rent arrears.
Voids - average void re-let times.
35 days
81.00%
2.45%
2.40% 30 days 80.00% 2.35% 25 days 2.30%
79.00%
20 days
2.25%
78.00%
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5 days 2.05%
2006/07 2007/08 2008/09
2.17
2.10%
0 days
75.00%
2.28
77.92
77.16
10 days
76.00%
2.15%
27
32
80.39
77.00%
2.42
2.20%
15 days
2.00% 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09
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2006/07 2007/08 2008/09
### An excellent three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement
The future Achieving the gold-standard of a three-star excellent service with excellent prospects for improvement is not the end of our journey but only the beginning. So what's next for Sandwell Homes? The company's focus for change continues to be ‘to improve the quality of life for the people of Sandwell’ and is centred around seven outcomes:
sites, and increasing ways to tackle anti-social behaviour.
and general enquiries being handled by the Customer Services Centre.
3. To support the Government's Financial Inclusion Agenda:
5. To deliver Decent Homes and support decent neighbourhoods:
Includes the introduction of a mortgage rescue scheme, providing work placements for long-term unemployed and an additional CAB debt advice worker.
Delivering the Decent Homes programme, formalising our approach to new build and acquisition of properties and reducing the carbon footprint.
2. To create safer, cleaner, greener estates:
4. To increase customers' access to services:
6. To deliver value for money services:
Achieving the nationally recognised kitemark quality standard for estates, to develop a strategy on garage
Reviewing the provision of Neighbourhood Offices, introducing a ‘golden telephone number’ for enquiries
Implementing Single Status and more modules of SHAPE – the computerised housing management system – and
These are: 1. To better support vulnerable people: Establish a Housing Options Centre, achieve Level 4 of the Equality Standard, improve life skill training for vulnerable people and modernising housing and extra care schemes.
Celebrating our three-star achievement at our annual community involvement event.
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Sandwell Homes Annual Report 2008/09
If you would like a copy of this Annual Report translated or require a copy in Braille, Large Print or Audio, please contact 0121 569 6030.
relocating the current CCTV provision to Roway Lane.
7. To increase business efficiency and effectiveness: Increasing the use of mobile technology and producing a Business Continuity and Disaster Plan. And for the ALMO movement? There are 69 ALMOs across the country, managing more than one million council homes and their efficiency and effectiveness has been recognised by Government. As this Annual Report went to print (July 2009), Government announced its intention to publish a consultation document on the reform of council housing finance, dismantling the exisiting housing revenue account subsidy system. By devolving control from central to local government, hopefully local responsibility and accountability will increase as well as the ability to meet the housing needs of local people. Sandwell Homes is ready to play its part in championing the cause of ALMOs and the proven benefits they can bring to local people in their neighbourhoods and communities.
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Sandwell Homes Ltd Dartmouth House, Sandwell Road, West Bromwich B70 8TQ Telephone: 0121 569 6000 Email: customer_relations@sandwellhomes.org.uk Website: www.sandwellhomes.org.uk
For a copy of our Financial Statement please call 0121 569 6000.
cWe will never be complacent and will always seek continuous improvement.d
This publication is printed on environmentally friendly recycled material. July 2009 Young apprentices start their working life at Sandwell Homes, in the world of construction.