The Brian Griffiths Award
is BACK UPDATE ON
WELFARE REFORM
SPRING 2014
In Orbit
Community Reporters shortlisted for TPAS Award
Your chance to join our editorial panel
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2014 The Brian Griffiths Award, named after a late Orbit board member who dedicated his life to helping others, is now back for a fourth year; offering you the chance to achieve a learning aspiration or development goal. The award, which has already helped 44 residents across Orbit, gives you the opportunity to access £10,000 funding to pay for a qualification or work-based skills course. Last year nine winners used their share of the funding for a variety of courses from driving instructing to dental radiology, teaching and catering.
ECO Orbit is working towards securing ECO funding to pay for improvements in your home which would make it warmer and cheaper to heat.
What is ECO? • ECO (Energy Companies Obligation) is a government scheme that provides support for the installation of energy efficiency measures to low income and vulnerable households. • Orbit’s contractors are currently surveying homes in your community to understand those in most need of these upgrades. • We will be in touch if your home is one of those that will benefit from the scheme.
Gemma Moore, Orbit East resident, who is now more than half way through her Teaching Assistant NVQ, said: “Winning the award made it possible for me to apply for the course without the worry of the cost. It has given me the start I needed to get back into education, and better myself in many ways.” If you think the Brian Griffiths Award could help you go further please visit www.orbit.org.uk to download an application form. To request the form in a different format, or for help in completing your application please email briangriffithsaward@orbit.org.uk or call the Customer Service Centre on 0800 678 1221. All applications must be received by Friday 2 May.
What could these measures be? • Internal and/or external wall, cavity and loft insulation • Heating upgrades (e.g. a new boiler) • Window double glazing (where currently single glazed). We are aware many of our residents are struggling with the high cost of energy. The ECO programme is just one of the ways we will tackle this. We have set ourselves a target of giving energy advice to 20,000 residents by 2020 which will allow you to make the most of new measures installed in your home and support you to reduce your day to day energy usage. During 2014-15 we are also aiming to provide energy advice and support to help tackle fuel poverty by up to 3,000 households. By making Orbit Homes more energy efficient and supporting you in reducing energy use, we can increase the number of our residents living in warm homes with affordable energy bills. If you want to know more or be involved in developing our energy saving initiatives please contact us – telephone: 0800 678 1221 Email: SustainableInvestmentTeam@orbit.org.uk
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0800 678 1221
www.orbitsouth.org.uk
info@orbit.org.uk
e m m a r g o r p D A P H LAUNC Orbit South’s LAUNCHPAD programme is designed to offer practical help to assist you get back into work. The training and support offered through LAUNCH PAD aims to enable our working age residents to build confidence and fill the skills gaps preventing you from being successful in finding a job. You can also gain new expertise that will help with managing your money, home and family. Orbit resident Martyn ‘Mick’ Woods has had a successful journey via LAUNCH PAD over the last year. After attending the two-day life changing ‘Goals’ course in December 2012, Mick said ” Having the courage to go on the course was the first step. It was a great two days and I realised I wasn’t the only one struggling. I definitely recommend this course to anyone who wants to help themselves move forward. I’ve changed my attitude and outlook and no longer sit around waiting for something to happen.”
Mick had been made redundant from working in a kitchen in a care home, so Simon asked him to volunteer for MITIE, running healthy cookery sessions at various Orbit Sheltered schemes. Simon and Mick planned the menus together and themed them, cooking everything from Greek and Chinese to Halloweeninspired food! Mick thoroughly enjoyed meeting the residents and his confidence soared as he learnt new cooking skills. He attended both Orbit East and Orbit South’s residents’ conferences speaking about his journey to over 150 residents, inspiring them to join LAUNCH PAD.
Mick has also had the confidence to attend interviews, undertake some work trials and take courses in health, social care and IT. With his experience of working in the sheltered schemes, he would now like to move into a different career and is thinking of becoming a carer. He is also undertaking an ‘ASDAN’ award which will give him an accreditation for all the hard work he has given volunteering with MITIE. Mick’s positive attitude is infectious and he recently attended the GOALS course to share his experience with other Orbit residents.
To find out more about LAUNCHPAD contact Annabelle Macbeth, Employment and Training Advisor annabelle.macbeth@orbit.org.uk
This became very apparent when, after six weeks of mentoring, Simon Kett, MITIE’s Employment Support Officer, met with Mick to look at the LAUNCH PAD programme with him. Mick Woods (left) with Simon Kett, MITIE Employment Support Officer
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y e v r u S R A T S In March we are inviting around 3,000 residents across Orbit to take part in an annual telephone survey. This short survey provides an opportunity to Have Your Say and tell us what you think about Orbit and the quality of services we provide.
mini
news...
Orbit celebrates
LGBT
history month Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) history month is a celebration of how the lives of LGBT people have changed in the 40 years since being gay, lesbian or bisexual was decriminalised in England and Wales. As part of our ongoing commitment to recognising Equality and Diversity, Orbit celebrated LGBT history month in February with a series of events and training sessions remembering those that paid a high price for their sexuality.
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Have Your
Say!
If you are contacted to take part we hope you will take a few minutes to share your views. Your thoughts and comments do help continually improve the services we provide for you.
Correction to article
On Page 7 of the Winter edition of In2Orbit we published an article entitled ‘Partnership helps build a community in Ramsgate.’ The scheme that benefited from the Building Communities Day was actually Elizabeth Court in Chatham and we apologise for any confusion.
Community investment in
Thanet
Pipeline Orbit South are continuing to fund KM Charity of the Year, Pipeline, for its Hang 10, Aspire and Community Action Team projects. Orbit also fund Walk to School, WOW, Kent Cooks and pilot Literacy Scheme called Buster Bug’s Book Club. Global Generation In January, we attended Pipeline’s ‘Community Champions’ award ceremony, where we were asked to nominate our residents who have been working hard within their communities in Thanet. Connecting Communities In January, Orbit South were invited to Plymouth by NHS Connecting Communities (C2), where we presented our work with C2 on Newington and Cliftonville West wards in Thanet to other housing providers, Plymouth City Council and residents from as far away as Scotland.
0800 678 1221
www.orbitsouth.org.uk
info@orbit.org.uk
How we’re doing October 2013 to December 2013
We work hard to deliver a ‘Customer First’ service to you and one of the ways we measure our progress is through the collection of key performance information from across Orbit. See below for how we’re doing or check our website for full details. Performance indicators
Actual
Target
Measurement
Current rent arrears (before payment of Housing Benefit) General Needs and Sheltered Housing
£2,815,670
£2,906,654
Current rent arrears (after payment of Housing Benefit) General Needs and Sheltered Housing
£2,272,996
£2,246,051
17.2 days
19 days
% of rent loss due to empty properties
0.8%
1.2%
Gas safety - %
99.9%
100.00%
Repairs completion: Emergency
99.2%
99.6%
Urgent
97.8%
98.8%
Routine
96.9%
98.4%
Average time to re-let an empty property (only Day to Day repairs lettings), General Needs only
Subletting an Orbit property
is now a criminal offence
The Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 came into force in October 2013 making subletting a property (where a resident rents out their property without the permission of Orbit) a criminal offence. Any Orbit resident found guilty of subletting their home could face a fine of up to £50,000 and a maximum penalty of two years in jail. The courts also have the power to make the resident pay back any profits made through subletting.
Subletting is an abuse of the system which ensures those in most need are allocated our homes. As you may have read in our last magazine, we have already recovered properties that have been illegally sublet and will continue to do so, to ensure our homes are let fairly to those who most need them. If you are subletting your property please contact us immediately to arrange to hand back your keys and avoid any legal action being taken against you.
If you believe your neighbour may be subletting their property, please contact your local Neighbourhood Team on
0800 678 1221 or info@orbit.org.uk
Your call will be treated in confidence.
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Children with disabilities In December, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) produced new Housing Benefit legislation which allows an extra bedroom for children whose severe disabilities prevent them from sharing. The qualifying criteria are:
There are similar conditions for adults who need an overnight carer. If the child is not entitled to DLA at the middle or higher rate (even if there is enough evidence to show that another room is needed) there is no scope to allow the additional bedroom. In this case, your council may make an award of discretionary ◆ The child is entitled to Disability housing payment. Living Allowance (DLA) care component at the higher or If you think this change may affect middle rate you, contact your local council, as you may be able to get more housing ◆ The Housing Benefit Service benefit. is satisfied that the child is not reasonably able to share a room
Many people who are eligible for DLA are not currently claiming it. To find out more, visit www.gov.uk/disability-livingallowance-children or call 0845 712 3456. Adults with disabilities cannot make new claims for DLA for themselves, but may be entitled to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) instead. lems? Health probout! Don’t miss
Personal Independence Payment
people is a cash benefit for term aged 16-65 with long affect health problems that ties. activi day every their
Personal Independence Payments (PIP)
y, It gives you extra mone worth up to around £130.00 a week. It is paid on top of most other benefits, savings. income, earnings and not claim Some people who could be awarded ance will Disability Living Allow ng ce Payment - the claimi Personal Independen nt. rules are very differe Rights Adviser Advice Bureau or Welfare 917 2222 Contact your Citizens line: 0800 call the DWP claim to Friday for information or are open 8am - 6pm Monday
PIP is a cash benefit for people aged 16-65 with long term health problems affecting y Don’t delay - claim toda their everyday activities. It gives up to around £130 a week and is paid on top of most other benefits, income, earnings and savings. Some people who could not claim DLA will be awarded PIP, as the claiming rules are different. As well as increasing your income, PIP can be a ‘buffer’ to many of the Welfare Reform changes that may impact on you or your family: Lines
Produced by www.ucnotes.
■ Benefit Cap - The Benefit Cap cannot affect you if someone in your benefit family is getting PIP ■ Working Tax Credit - A couple with children can claim Working Tax Credit where one is working 16 hours and the other is on PIP ■ Housing Benefit - No ‘nondependant’ deduction can be made if you or your partner are on the daily living component of PIP 6
■ Social housing ‘Bedroom Tax’ - If you/your partner are on the daily living component of PIP, an extra room may be allowed if you have a nonhousehold carer who stays overnight in a bedroom of their own on a regular basis ■ Local Housing Allowance Single people on the daily living component of PIP are excluded from the Shared Accommodation Rate
0800 678 1221
co.uk. A Welfare Reform
information website
for housing professionals.
■ Re-assessment of incapacity benefits - If you are found fit for work and able to claim Jobseekers Allowance, you may receive more if you are on PIP. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/pip call 0800 917 2222 or contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or the DWP claim line: 0800 917 2222.
www.orbitsouth.org.uk
info@orbit.org.uk
Under occupation
If your Housing Benefit has been cut because you are deemed to have too many bedrooms, this decision may not necessarily have been applied correctly. If you have lived in your home and claimed Housing Benefit since 1 January 1996, the rules may not apply to you until after 3 March 2014, due to complicated legislation around how ‘eligible rent’ is calculated. These rules were changed from 3 March, meaning you would be liable for deductions again. Some claimants have had their claims incorrectly assessed and deductions have been made. The Housing Benefit claim must be ‘continuous’, although allowing for one gap in entitlement of up to 4 weeks. The claim also counts as continuous for some ‘welfare to work beneficiaries’ who have tried work, come off Housing Benefit then, due to ill health, left work and reclaimed Housing Benefit within 52 weeks. It might also apply if somebody else in your household used to claim at your address before this time, but has subsequently died or left the property. We understand that this is complicated and that challenging benefit decisions can be difficult, so please contact us if you think this applies to you. We can help you to request a review of your entitlement, or provide you with a standard letter to request a review. Remember though, you must keep your rent payments up to date even if you are appealing against a benefit decision.
Housing Benefit and Pensioners It was previously announced that Housing Benefit would be phased out for people of pensionable age.
Universal Credit Universal Credit (UC) is the new benefit for working age claimants and replaces a range of benefits including Housing Benefit. It doesn’t affect pensioners.
UC is gradually being rolled out in various parts of the country, with Hammersmith & Fulham and Rugby the areas currently affecting Orbit residents. Currently, the number of people that fit the criteria for UC is small, and are the more straightforward cases. If you are eligible to claim UC, you will need to claim online at www.gov.uk/apply-universalcredit. Individual support can be accessed via the Job Centre or the UC Service Centre helpline 0845 6000 723 (Textphone 0845 600 0743). Claims should be submitted as soon as possible, as the claim will only be paid from the date submitted, except in very exceptional circumstances. Successful claims are likely to be paid five weeks from the claim
date, and then calendar monthly in arrears, directly to your bank account. This is paid directly to you, rather than us as the landlord, so you are responsible for making sure your rent is paid. You may request a payment in advance of your first UC payment to help you budget, however this money is paid back from your UC over a period of time. Once a UC claim is in payment, it will not revert back to any of the previous benefits paid even if your circumstances change. If there is a change in your circumstances, you must report it to the DWP. Nationally, the DWP plans to provide 6,000 computers to local authority offices and job centres to enable you to submit your claim. Some assistance and support will be available if you are not able to submit your claim yourself and you will be able to claim over the phone if you are not able to do so online.
To find out more, visit https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/overview
Some things to consider:
Where can you get online? If you don’t have a computer, can you use a public one at your library or Job Centre? Do you have a bank account that the money can be paid into? Does your bank account allow Direct Debits or Standing Orders? How will you pay your rent? Direct Debit might be best so it is paid automatically from your bank. We can arrange this with you. How will you budget at the beginning of your claim? We can provide you with basic budgeting advice if you need it. The DWP planned to pay housing costs under a new ‘Housing Credit’ instead, which would form part of Pension Credit, similar to the way housing costs for working age households will be paid with Universal Credit.
This was due to start from October 2014, but has now been delayed until 2017/18. You should continue to receive any Housing Benefit entitlement from your local council, so don’t forget to fill in and return any renewal forms that they send you.
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2020 Our plans for the future!
In our last edition we said we would tell you more about our ambitious targets for 2020. Orbit’s purpose is ‘Building Communities’ by working together to improve the social, economic and environmental prospects of people and communities. We have nine targets which we are committed to achieving by 2020. We wanted to tell you more about them and some progress we’ve made so far, which is linked to our targets.
Housing Choice ■ Deliver 12,000 new homes ■ Provide a full range of home rental and ownership options ■ Provide a complete flexible housing journey for customers 100% outright sales
34
SOLD
Sales of previously owned homes
48
Shared ownership sales
66
New homes built
1031
Community investment ■ Provide 10,000 training and capacity building activities to support empowerment, opportunity and jobs ■ Deliver £30 million of investment into communities, including external funding ■ Achieve a minimum energy rating of C* in all our homes (*these are calculations which measure how energy efficient a building is)
Investment so far in Orbit East and South Health and well- being projects
19K
Green initiatives
49K
Youth & Financial Inclusion training
165K
Employment skills & training
290K
Customer offer
■ Ensure 75% of customers are accessing self service online ■ Provide a range of tailored services which satisfy 90% of customers ■ Deliver financial and energy efficiency advice to 20,000 people Customer satisfaction
Customer calls answered within 20 seconds
TARGET 85%
TARGET 80%
94%
85%
Right first time
63%
TARGET 55%
All statistics compiled in January 2014 and in our next edition we will update you again on our progress. If you have any comments on our 2020 Vision please email us on:
orbitsouthcommunications@orbit.org.uk
Community Reporters initiative helps our involved residents’ blog receive over 3,900 views! Orbit South's Involved Residents' blog www.osinvolvedresidents.org.uk has received over 3,900 views since its launch in September 2012! Previously the majority of content was produced by staff, but we identified that many of our most popular posts have been created by residents sharing their experiences of being involved.
10 residents who were keen to learn how they could report on their communities and the work they do with Orbit. Together with three members of staff, the group learnt digital skills such as how to take photos, tell stories on blogs, conduct interviews and use mobile phones to conduct street interviews using audio apps.
You told us that you were best placed The residents – most of whom had not to talk about your communities and had any prior experience of media or IT involvement with Orbit as you have – absolutely excelled, commenting: “hands on knowledge of what’s going on”. So we explored options The whole thing was Fun, informative, for how residents could take greater mind-blowing and helped makes everything ownership of the blog and create with my confidence with seem possible! content that would appeal to a wider groups audience. Thoroughly We commissioned People's Informative and enjoyable, well Voice Media enjoyable, grateful to taught www.peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk be a part of it to deliver training sessions for 8
0800 678 1221
The Community Reporters are now being tasked to report on our involvement and service improvement activities such as resident scrutiny, service reviews and involvement events and receive a small incentive of £10 shopping vouchers for each article published on our residents’ blog. Sharing residents’ stories through social media helps us to promote the wonderful achievements of our residents and reach people who may not get involved through traditional methods. The success of the Community Reporters initiative was recognised by the Southern region Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) Awards 2014! The project was shortlisted in the awards category of Excellence in Digital Engagement.
www.orbitsouth.org.uk
info@orbit.org.uk
Customer Service Centre
FOCUS GROUP
Every six months, residents meet with key staff from our Customer Service Centre (CSC) in Coventry to discuss performance and to challenge our actions and future plans. The last meeting focused on reviewing the past two years and it highlighted some of the improvements made which have resulted in customer satisfaction reaching a fantastic 90%. The group were also presented with a ‘look to the future’ and how Orbit will be expanding the range of ways to access our services. Members of the group discussed the different ways we can use technology to widen communication and to meet the growth in use of mobile technology without compromising the current ways to contact us.
The knowledge of the staff is fantastic now and they always call back when they say they will.
What our residents said; I’ve had cause to call the CSC recently and noticed a vast improvement from last time.
The CSC listen more now and do not try to pre-empt what you are going to say. They are also more polite.
Our involved resident group will be visiting Coventry soon, to see first hand how the CSC works and how these improvements are really making a difference.
Service charge information under scrutiny! NY
I
RES
T S C RU
TI
D
EN
PA NE L The Orbit South Scrutiny Panel have recently been delving into the area of service charges, focussing their fourth review on trying to simplify the information you receive.
As usual, their mixture of interviewing staff, residents and looking at how other organisations produce service charge information provided them with a great basis for making really beneficial recommendations to improve the service. These include a ‘Frequently Asked Question’ sheet to be sent with all service charge statements, plus website information being current and regularly updated in future.
The panel have also recruited three new members who they are looking forward to working with on their fifth review. Orbit South are looking to potentially link up with panels in Orbit East and Heart of England for this - a great opportunity to bring all their expertise together... so watch this space!
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My involvement in Orbit’s website development By Bexley resident, Baeti Mothobi
“How I became involved in making sure Orbit’s websites have the information and functionality that we as residents want.” “As Orbit wanted to ensure that its new website met residents’ needs, they asked for interested residents to apply to be involved in the Orbit website development project. The selection criteria was based on interest, having a basic understanding of Orbit, use of IT and access to a PC/Laptop and internet. Orbit initially engaged with us through social media, asking if we would be interested in helping to redevelop the website. We then worked on online research, reviewing a range of websites, including Orbit’s, ranking them in order of preference and giving constructive criticism. This helped to build our interest and enjoyment in the project and Orbit’s staff continued to give us confidence and reassurance that we would be involved appropriately in the project. We were also involved in assessing suppliers’ suitability to provide Orbit’s new website, reviewing summaries of their tenders and considering whether they offered value for money, if they had considered accessibility issues, and how they would involve residents in developing and testing the website. We also reviewed examples of websites the suppliers had developed with similar functionality to Orbit’s website specification. Prodo Digital were chosen, as they were the best of all the suppliers who went through the tender process. They have a good understanding of what Orbit and its residents need from the website and presented us with a high quality way of developing an exciting new website which offered value for money.”
Gas Servicing Keep your family safe. A free appointment could save lives. Hundreds of people each year are killed or hurt by carbon monoxide poisoning but proper servicing and maintenance can prevent this. For that reason it’s vital that you give us access to your homes when we need to test your gas supply and equipment. Each year a considerable amount of time and money is spent attempting to gain access to residents’ If you receive homes. a reminder
letter, contact us to book your appointment.
Orbit South resident,
Baeti Mothobi, centre.
10
0800 678 1221
www.orbitsouth.org.uk
info@orbit.org.uk
The way we involve is improving
GET INVOLVED Get involved in helping produce In 2 Orbit by joining our resident editorial panel
In 2 Orbit is our main publication for communicating with residents and your input is important!
We are working with residents and staff to improve how we involve you in developing and evolving our services. We currently offer various ways for you to be involved and make a difference within your community and to the services you receive from Orbit. You can be:
■ a Street and Block Voice representative - acting as a local point of contact for your community and keeping your neighbours informed about Orbit news ■ a scrutiny panel member, challenging our performance and making recommendations for improvements ■ a disability forum member, helping improve our services to meet the needs of our disabled residents ■ involved in selecting service suppliers, such as our new website providers ■ a community reporter, using social media to promote the difference that residents make within their communities and to the services they receive from us
We have a resident editorial panel that helps guide us on decisions with every issue. If you have an interest in helping us produce your magazine, we would love to hear from you. Most of our work is done via email and can be done at your convenience. Contact the Communications Team for more details by emailing oscommunications.org.uk or calling 0800 678 1221.
We want to ensure all our involvement activities are accessible, relevant and enable you to make real improvements to our services. We appreciate that everyone has different commitments and it isn’t always practical to attend discussion meetings, so in future we will offer an ‘at home or on the move’ option alongside our local and regional involvement opportunities to ensure you still have an opportunity to be involved. As we develop our plans for improving how we involve you, we will keep you updated through this magazine and our residents’ blog www.osinvolvedresidents.org.uk
To find out about more about opportunities to get involved and help to improve our services please contact the Customer Involvement Team on 0800 678 1221 or email
lisa.cornish@orbit.org.uk
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Can Do
Kidszone
winners:
Award winners announced
Our Winter colouring competition winners were:
We believe our staff have a real ‘Can Do’ attitude and deserve a little extra recognition for going the extra mile for you or your community. Over the last few months residents and colleagues alike have been nominating staff members who they believe go above and beyond… and the winners of the latest awards have just been announced!
The individual award goes to Val Seal, Senior Neighbourhood Assistant in Hastings, who was nominated for her professional and helpful attitude when setting tenant service charges. Val stood out to her colleagues because of her knowledge and passion in ensuring everything was accurate. The Building Services Team based in Margate receive the team award after being nominated for always being friendly, polite and customer focussed when dealing with issues. The team was recognised for all their hard work in helping to reduce the number of formal complaints received in recent weeks.
Under 9’s category: 1st prize – Louis 2nd prize – Sewa 3rd prize - Sophie
Under 13’s category: 1st prize - Angelika 2nd prize – Leon 3rd prize - Precious Thank you to all the children who have entered our Kidszone colouring competitions – we hope you have enjoyed entering! The next edition of your magazine will be in the Autumn and we hope to bring back something fun for kids then!
The Can Do Awards are changing. We will still be recognising staff who go the extra mile to deliver a great level of service to residents and colleagues, so watch this space in our Autumn edition for details of our new award scheme and how you can nominate.
Contacts:
Horizon House, Second Floor, Eclipse Park, Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, Kent ME14 3EN 0800 678 1221 info@orbit.org.uk
www.orbitsouth.org.uk Did you know?
Monday mornings are when we get our highest number of calls. Remember, you can contact us anytime by phone. If you have access to the internet, you can sign up for the free ‘Customer secure’ area of our website and access your account details 24/7. Call us and we can help you set it up!
Orbit Group Ltd, Orbit South Housing Association Ltd and Heart of England Association Ltd are all exempt charities Homes & Communities Agency Reg. No. L4060, Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1965 Reg. No. 27802R Published by Orbit South Housing Association Ltd, Horizon House, Second Floor, Eclipse Park, Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, Kent ME14 3EN Design by POSh Creative www.poshcreative.co.uk Print by Clarkeprint Limited www.clarkeprint.co.uk
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