10 years in business On 27th March 2010 we celebrated 10 years in business at New Charter. We’ve come a long way since the days at the council and we’ve made some pretty significant changes in our neighbourhoods of which we are very proud. When our tenants voted ‘Yes’ in 1999 they were hoping for something different, New Charter promised change and improvement and I believe we have delivered against those promises. We have gone from strength to strength, taking on new homes and working for tenants in Oldham (Aksa Housing) and also Nottingham (Gedling Homes). We have delivered our ten year improvement plan and made significant changes to homes, your neighbourhood and the community. For example, installing new kitchens, bathrooms, central heating and bringing homes up to today’s standards. We have listened carefully to what you have told us about what you want from us and have been able to shape our services in the light of your feedback. We have one of the highest satisfaction ratings of large landlords - 90% of our customers tell us that you are satisfied with us. This vote of confidence from our customers makes us proud of our staff and Board members’ efforts. Best Companies assessed us as a 3 star “extraordinary” company in 2010, and we are placed 6th in the Sunday Times 100 best companies to work for in the UK.
Group Chief Executive Ian Munro releasing the balloons on transfer day
In September last year, the New Charter Academy for 1350 students opened in Ashton-under-Lyne. This will be a major driver to improve the life chances of young people.
So hopefully you will agree, we have much to be pleased about and our journey has been great. There’s still more challenges to come, the next few years may be tough, financially, but I think there will also be plenty of opportunity for everyone.
Thank you for being a customer of New Charter.
Ian H Munro
Group Chief Executive
Inside this issue:
4: Neighbourhood Watched – filming has started
We have 10 lucky winners for our 10 year anniversary! Full details on page 3
5: WANTED – Tenant Directors 8: Garden glory – make the most of your garden
Manchester City coaching the Gunners? There is a rumour going around Tameside that Manchester City are now coaching the Gunners? Well the rumour is true and it has come to fruition thanks to New Charter and Tameside Sports Development, who are jointly funding expert coaching for Audenshaw Gunners from City in the Community, in association with Manchester City FC. Not only has New Charter helped to fund the coaching we have recently supplied the team with a brand new kit, which has brought wry smiles to faces of the City coaches as the new strip is red! The team which was set up over 12 months ago have proved their skills in recent local tournaments and can now hold their heads high in their new kit. Tony Powell Executive Director Neighbourhoods of New Charter Homes said:
“Andy Birtles, one of our Tenancy Enforcement Officers has been actively engaging with the youngsters and encouraging them to join in the sessions with great results. We work very closely with the tenants in our community and sport is just one of the many ways in which we do that.”
One on 2 Welcome to the spring edition of New Charter News. In this feature we have lots of things to celebrate. Unbelievably, we have recently reached our 10 years in business anniversary - where does the time go? We are delighted to announce our RoSPA treble gold awards for Health and Safety, something which is a first for us across the Group. We have been named at 6th in the prestigious Sunday times 100 best companies to work for in the UK, which is fantastic. We’ve also passed the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) Landlord Accreditation which is a new standard which assesses our approach to resident involvement - and much more. Elsewhere in this issue, we’ve news on how to get your garden ready for the summer months (yes summer) and find out all you need to know about prepayment meters which may help you to budget more efficiently. We’d like to say a farewell and best wishes to our Editor of many years David Rigby, who has taken early retirement from New Charter, although he is still keeping busy assisting with the filming of the next Neighbourhood Watched series. For now, I’m your Editor and if you have any ideas for future issues, I’d like to hear them. Paula Thomas, Editor Cavendish 249, Cavendish Street, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 7AT 0161 331 2000 newsletter@newcharter.co.uk
The Gunners football sessions were set up at Egerton Park School by New Charter, Greater Manchester Police and Tameside Council to tackle anti-social behaviour in the Audenshaw area. The community was crying out for a safe place for young people to play football so free sessions were set up on Thursday and Friday nights. The sessions run from 5-7pm and continue to be well attended by all ages. If you’d like to find out more – you can contact Andy Birtles at New Charter, he’d be happy to speak to you - telephone 0161 331 2000.
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This newsletter is also available in large print, audio or braille.
CONGRATULATIONS are in order!
10 lucky WINNERS
We are DELIGHTED to announce that we have passed the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) Landlord Accreditation.
We have 10 lucky winners for our 10 year anniversary!
The TPAS Resident Involvement Quality Standard (RIQ) is new and it assesses the approach to resident involvement and helps organisations deliver continuous improvement. The approach has been developed through partnership with Central Government, the Audit Commission, Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), National Housing Federation (NHF), Tenants and Residents Organisations of England (TAROE) and the leading tenants organisations. The Accreditation has only been achieved by a small number of Housing organisations.
Mrs A Ling Ashton-under-Lyne
Over the past 12 months we have been through a rigorous process involving:-
Mr J Fogg Denton
l
An independent assessment of the organisation’s performance in engaging residents
l
Validation of landlord self-assessments against the Accreditation standard
l
Inspecting and evaluating resident involvement against the challenging Accreditation standard
Lots of hard work has gone into this project and we are pleased to announce this has paid off and we have achieved the landlord accreditation which will remain in place for the next three years. We are thrilled with this excellent result to have achieved tenant excellence within our services we provide for you at New Charter.
CONGRATULATIONS to:
Mr & Mrs Hodkinson Ashton-under-Lyne Mr & Mrs H Coogan Audenshaw Mrs Susan Foster Audenshaw
Ms A M Allen & Mr T W Allen Droylsden Mr A Backhouse Stalybridge Miss J McNicholls Micklehurst Mr R Hardman Audenshaw Mr K Quigley Hyde You have won a £10 shopping voucher, which will be coming your way soon.
Why not get involved? We have a number of events occurring over the summer – why not come and join us? Date
Time
17th June 1.30 p.m. 22nd June 10 a.m. 29th June 6.30 p.m. 1st July 10 a.m. 8th July 10 a.m. 13th July 6 p.m. 26th July 10 a.m. 4th August 10 a.m. 10th August 10 a.m.
Event Sheltered forum meeting at Kendal House, Stalybridge - a regular meeting for residents living in sheltered accommodation to discuss issues affecting them Grow your own veg workshop at Central Greenhouse, Dukinfield - an opportunity to learn from the tenant experts from Dukinfield and Micklehurst some of the techniques in growing your own vegetables and herbs Service review group – Relets – review meeting of the service area, illustrating standards being achieved, with the opportunity to ask questions to key members of staff Globe Lane, Dukinfield - Painting and decorating techniques - gain some inspiration and new techniques from our professional decorators to help decorate your home Committee skills – learn how to be a valuable committee member Child protection awareness – an information session to explain the signs and symptoms of child abuse and to illustrate New Charter’s “duty of care” Buying on e-bay – learn techniques for effectively buying on e-bay Budgeting skills – an awareness session on prioritising spending and being more efficient with your money (as above)
24th August 6.30 p.m. Service review group – Neighbourhood - review meeting of the service area, illustrating standards being achieved, with the opportunity to ask questions to key members of staff
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BLOW THE WHISTLE!
Customer Excellence
Council benefit officers have joined forces with New Charter to launch a campaign aimed at clamping down on tenancy fraud.
We are DELIGHTED that New Charter has an accreditation in Customer Excellence!
Called ‘Blow the Whistle on Housing Cheats’ the initiative has been set up to try and ensure that the people who are listed as the tenants of that property are the ones actually living there. As part of the campaign, our website has the facility to allow the public to report suspicions of tenancy-related fraud. The council will also have a link on its website which will direct people to the web page. New Charter is using a specially designed poster of a football referee holding a red card which says ‘game’s up!’ together with details on how to make contact anonymously if you suspect someone sub-letting their home. The campaign was rolled out at the end of April this year.
Every year an Assessor visits our company to make sure we are continuing to improve customer service. This year’s visit took place in April and we passed the assessment with flying colours. The Assessor visited our new homes on the Ashton Moss estate, where he had a chat to tenants and a tour of the properties. We were also assessed in other areas which were the complaints procedure and tenant involvement. We are very proud of this accreditation and hope it demonstrates our commitment to you, our customer. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to complete surveys, write letters, contact us by phone or find some way to let us know what you think, because without your feedback, we are unable to improve our customer service delivery. Thank you once again.
Tony Powell, Executive Director of Neighbourhoods from New Charter said:
“We are pleased to be working in partnership with the fraud team on this initiative.We have a substantial waiting list of customers with priority housing needs. This is a positive step to identify and deal with those who are jumping the queue and those tenants who are in breach of their tenancy agreement by sub-letting their homes.” Councillor Joe Kitchen said:
“There will be some who may think that sub-letting their homes is fine, but it’s not, it’s nothing more than fraud. What people need to understand is that by acting in this way those responsible are using up valuable housing space and depriving families and vulnerable people on the waiting list.
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Neighbourhood watched – second series Raw Television is in town again and following some of our staff around during their day of work.The initial series which was broadcast last summer was a great success and has shown many people that we are more than just a housing provider! As you may remember, the first series of Neighbourhood Watched showed all aspects of our work from good news stories of re-housing, regeneration and garden competitions to some of our more difficult tenants being taken to task and made to be good neighbours. This would be how we want all our neighbours and tenants to be.
For reporting your suspicions anonymously freephone: 0300 500 0908 or email: blowthewhistle@newcharter.co.uk
We will end filming of this next series in October with the finished programmes expected to be shown by BBC One early 2011. Some of our first series TV stars will be screened again, however there are many employees in the company who have agreed to take part and show what aspects of front line housing can reveal, warts and all.
All reports will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
So be ready to get your popcorn and pull up a seat for Neighbourhood Watched the sequel - coming soon to a TV near you.
d e t n a w
–Tenant Directors
One of our four pledges at transfer was to give you, our tenants, a greater say in how your homes are owned and managed. Since transfer the tenants who have served on our Boards have helped to ensure our satisfaction ratings from customers have soared to the best in England, repairs services speeded up and investment plans delivered on time. We restructured the Group in 2008 which saw the merger of New Charter Housing (North) Ltd and New Charter Housing (South) Ltd to form one new landlord New Charter Homes Ltd. The tenant elections were put on hold whilst these changes were made. We are now seeking nominations from tenants interested in becoming Tenant Directors. There are three Tenant Director positions on the Board of New Charter Homes Ltd. We will be holding an election for one position each year. This year will see the first of the elections and the position up for election will be the one held by the longest serving tenant on the Board. We believe that this process will encourage a regular rotation of tenants on the Board but at the same time will ensure we don’t lose all our experienced Tenant Directors at once. We also have two Tenant Director positions on the Board of New Charter Housing Trust Ltd. These positions will be appointed via an application and interview process to recognise the additional experience and strategic skills required by the Trust Board. Again the first of these positions, the one held by the longest serving tenant on the Board, will be up for appointment this year. Any tenant can apply. Don’t worry if you have no experience as we offer a full programme of training and support. The election for New Charter Homes Ltd is to be held in July and interviews for the position on New Charter Housing Trust Ltd are to be held in July/August. The successful candidates will take up their positions at the Annual General Meetings of the Companies in September 2010 and will serve for three years. If you’re interested in either position then please contact Laura Douthwaite on 0161 331 2000 for an application pack; alternatively the forms can be downloaded from our website www.newcharter.co.uk The closing date for applications is Monday 21st June 2010.
Getting in touch Over 90% of our tenants have now responded to our ‘Getting in Touch’ questionnaire. This helps us understand the needs of our tenants and helps us when delivering our services. If anything has changed with your circumstances you can complete the questionnaire on our website www.newcharter.co.uk or call into one of our shops.
We Care... New Charter Homes is carrying out a review of the Caretaking Service. We have listened to customers and are now hoping to implement changes to the cleaning service we provide to the blocks of flats (low level not tower blocks) in your area. For the areas affected, the following proposals will apply. You will shortly be receiving a letter with a comment sheet attached. You can also come along to any of the road shows listed below where you can discuss the impact this will have to your flats and the service charge you pay. If you have any queries, please contact your Neighbourhood Management Officer on 0161 331 2400. Caretaking Proposals Timetable 26th May 2010 Road shows Letter delivered Consultation period starts Stalybridge shop – 8th June 4pm – 7pm Hyde shop – 10th June 4pm – 7pm Ashton shop – 15th June 4pm – 7pm Denton shop – 17th June 4pm – 7pm LARA Centre – Droylsden 24th June 4pm – 7pm
Consultation period ends 1st July 2010
Consider comments and notification of outcome 9th July 2010
Charges increased 4th October 2010
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Sixth of the best!
Prepayment Meters
We have been named at 6th in the prestigious Sunday Times 100 best companies to work for. And there is double cause for celebration as the Group was also named most improved company in the UK.
What is a prepayment meter? Prepayment meters let you pay for your gas and electricity as you use it. If you are struggling to manage your monthly energy bills or if you have a previous fuel debt, your energy supplier will replace your standard credit meter with a prepayment meter, which you will have to top up when you need gas or electricity. You can ask to have one installed if you’re having difficulties managing your household budget, but this is not advisable as you may be charged more for the gas and electricity you receive.
How do they work? This year, more than 1000 companies submitted themselves to the scrutiny of the people who know them best – their staff. The recognition followed the award of three stars in the Best Companies accreditation in February this year. This used a ‘Michelin style’ star rating for organisations that demonstrate high levels of employee engagement. Based on staff feedback, organisations receive a Best Companies index score which determines their star rating compared to a fixed standard. One star is first class, two stars are outstanding and three stars are extraordinary. Group Chief Executive of New Charter – Ian Munro admitted being nervous about the results. “We were 52nd in The Sunday Times list in 2009 and we pored over those survey results. Every one of my managers and supervisors looked carefully at what we could improve. It’s no coincidence that appreciation of this level of management has distinguished the very best performers.
As one of only 50 companies to get three stars, we had confidence we’d improve in the listing – but this is above my expectation. And it underscores what our customers have consistently told us – a great company is made by its great people. This makes us the best housing association to work for in the North.”
Prepayment meters work like pay-as-you-go mobile phones. Instead of paying for your gas and electricity after you’ve used it, you’ll pay upfront by topping-up your account. There are three types of prepayment meter: l Smartcard l Keys l Token meters All of these meters can be topped up wherever the Payzone or Paypoint symbols are displayed. Some branches of the Post Office also allow customers to top up their cards and keys. When energy suppliers increase or cut their prices, customers with smartcards or key prepayment meters will automatically have their prices changed, however, there may be a time delay before the changes are implemented. For households using token prepayment meters, any price changes need to be made manually and this can take longer. You should check this with your energy supplier.
The pros and cons of prepayment meters While some households find the prepayment meter system a useful way to budget, it is commonly accepted that almost all prepayment gas and electricity meters are set at the supplier’s most expensive tariff. That means that the least well-off in society pay the most for their energy. Check with your supplier that you are receiving the best possible tariff for you; if you have any difficulties contact Consumer Focus on 020 7799 7900 or www.consumerfocus.org.uk/energy-help-and-advice. Other than the obvious plus of knowing how much energy you are using, allowing you to monitor your energy consumption, if you develop a fault with your meter or payment, your supplier is obliged to call at your property to repair the fault within four hours. Also, if you have a prepayment meter and are going away on holiday, you need to ensure you have enough money on your smartcard or key so that any appliances left on, such as fridges or freezers, won’t be affected if you run out of credit while away.
Switching prepayment meters It can be difficult to change supplier if you have a prepayment meter, but if you owe up to £200 arrears you are able to change under the Debt Assignment Protocol; please ask your supplier for details.
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Update on scrutiny activity The Tenant Management Team (TMT) is in the process of completing the final report for their scrutiny activity. This scrutiny topic has been completed on Grounds Maintenance at New Charter, including grass cutting, weed control, pruning and litter control.
National standards & local offers
During the scrutiny project, TMT have spoken to and surveyed a number of residents. The response has been outstanding and has given the team an array of views to collate. The final report, which will include recommendations for changes will be published on the TMT website. Alternatively the team can send you a hard copy on request to the Tenant Participation Team 0161 331 2400. www.tenantmanagementteam.org.uk TMT would like to thank everyone who has given their views on the Grounds Maintenance scrutiny.
Volunteer opportunities TMT have opportunities for volunteers to join the scrutiny panel. If you are interested in assessing New Charter’s performance and making recommendations for changes, this could be the opportunity for you. If you want to be part of the team or want further information, please email tenantmtnc@googlemail.com or call the Tenant Participation Team on 0161 331 2400.
New recruit The Tenant Management Team (TMT) would like to offer a warm welcome to new recruit Keith Hardy, who has been the Chairman of the Brushes Estate Management Board, Stalybridge for the past seven years. The Board is an independent company registered at Companies House and its function is to run Keith Hardy social housing on Brushes Estate on behalf of New Charter. Given the above, Keith is obviously a strong believer in tenant participation and thinks the structure of TMT is an effective method of involvement.
We welcome Keith on board.
We are responding to the new requirements for National Standards and Local Offers, in accordance with the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) Regulatory Framework. Following extensive consultation, the TSA has published “The Regulatory Framework for Social Housing in England from April 2010”. Under the new framework, all social housing providers are required to work more closely with their tenants helping to make the organisation more accountable to its customers and to bring about improvements to the services that you receive.This is now known as co-regulation. New Charter has already taken great strides towards co-regulation with the development of the Tenant Management Team (TMT) who are very successfully carrying out a role of scrutinising performance. The new framework sets out a range of National Standards which social housing providers must meet and also requires landlords to develop “Local Offers”, more specific standards to meet local needs. New Charter has commissioned TPAS to support the association in reviewing its approach to the National Standards and in setting up its Local Offers. Working closely with TMT, we will be developing Local Offers ready for launch in April 2011. For further information you can visit our website and follow the link onto the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) website www.tenantservicesauthority.org or alternatively you can get involved in developing our local offers by contacting The Tenant Participation Team on 0161 331 2400.
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Garden glory! Spring is well and truly upon us and our gardens are bursting into action, so now it is essential that we get on top of all the jobs in our gardens. A little and often is our tip as we should still be able to enjoy our gardens and not look on it as a chore! Having spent the short, cold winter days planning your gardens, now is the time to put those plans into action. Creating and planting new beds or features is, one of the most satisfying things you can do in the garden. Below are a few more quick tips to keep us all busy: • Lawn care. Don’t be tempted to cut your grass too short too soon. You should gradually lower the height of cut over the next month. In dry periods, be prepared to raise the height of cut on lawnmowers to keep lawns looking their best. • Now is the ideal time to be applying fertiliser to your lawns. We would recommend one that contains a weed and moss killer. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and if, after application, it doesn’t rain, then the lawn should be watered. • If you haven’t already done so, prune spring flowering shrubs e.g. Forsythia, Ribes. Cut back all of this year’s flowered stems by two thirds. This will encourage new growth in this season, which bears the flowers for next spring. • Spring is the ideal time to apply mulch to your borders.The ground is usually moist and the mulch will help preserve this moisture for the coming summer as well as suppressing weed growth. Suitable organic mulches are crushed bark, leaf-mould and garden compost. Suitable decorative mulches include pebbles, gravel and slate. Apply a good thick layer of up to 50 mm (2 inches). • Deadhead winter and spring bedding to keep plants flowering longer. • Deadhead any clumps of Daffodils ensuring that you allow the leaves to die down naturally before removing them. This allows the energy to be returned to the bulb for next season. • On warmer days, ensure the greenhouse is well ventilated. But don’t be caught out by the cold nights, so remember to insulate or heat your greenhouse at night. • Save water! Install water butts wherever possible; on down pipes from your house/shed/garage or greenhouse roof. • To prevent Midges and Mosquito’s becoming a pest; apply a small cupful of olive oil to the surface water in your water butt. This prevents the insects from laying their eggs on and in the How to contact us water. Our normal working hours are: Mon to Wed 8.30am to 5pm Thursday 8.30am to 4.30pm Friday 8.30am to 4pm
Please note our shops open at 9am Monday to Friday and are located at: 2 Henrietta Street, Ashton-under-Lyne; 9 Albert Street, Denton; 12 Clarendon Street, Hyde; 63 Grosvenor Street, Stalybridge.
Main Switchboard: 0161 331 2000 Reporting Repairs: 0800 027 0828 We are open for your repair calls from 8am until 6pm. You can also report repairs online at www.newcharter.co.uk
Lettings Enquiries: 0161 331 2345 Out of hours emergency telephone calls: 0800 027 0828 General Tenancy Enquiries: 0161 331 2400
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• If room allows, always try and create a compost heap. This can be simply constructed using old timber pallets. Allow gaps in the side for aeration. Ensure it has a lid. Build up the materials in layers for example, a layer of leaves, a layer of grass cuttings, a layer of vegetable kitchen waste. Be prepared to “turn” the compost every few weeks, this means mixing the layers from top to bottom which will speed up the “composting process”. It may seem like hard work but it’s good exercise. The end product is excellent as a soil conditioner or mulch and it will reduce your journeys to the tip or green waste that you would put out for collection!
Please Recycle after use