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www.linstone.co.uk
The Newsletter for Linstone Residents
Summer 2017
LINSTONE HOUSING HUB The Linstone Health & Housing Hub is part of Community Connectors offering housing advice and assistance to anyone in Linwood or Johnstone –and has secured another year of funding through the Health and Social Care Partnership. Community Connectors is a third sector partnership along with RAMH and Active Communities and has been set up with an aim to take pressure off GPs by using social prescribing to improve people’s health,
housing and physical activity. You can find the annual report about Community Connectors on our website at www. linstone.co.uk Both physical and mental health can be affected by poor housing or housing that no longer meets the needs of the household. The Housing Hub provides frontline housing information and advice and is delivered by Linstone Housing. It is open to anyone in Linwood or Johnstone who has a housing issue. We have practically supported people to complete application forms as well as offering advice on different housing matters such as mobility issues, private lets and neighbourhood issues. For further information contact: Laura Kerr at Linstone Housing Association T: 01505 384111 E: lkerr@linstone.co.uk
Get involved and have your say Linstone has recently reviewed its membership policy to encourage more tenants and other people living in our communities to join the association and get involved in our work. We are looking for people who support our work as a community based and community controlled housing association and who can also attend our Annual General Meeting. Life membership only costs £1. If you are interested in applying to become a member, please contact our office on 01505 382383 or complete the form inserted.
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RHS 5 star school garden The Craig Hepburn Memorial Garden and Outdoor Learning Centre located in Linwood High School is now listed in Scotland’s Garden and will be open for all to view this summer. The original garden with an outdoor classroom has been expanded to include community raised beds, an orchard, greenhouse and presentation area. They work with all years in the school reconnecting children to the natural world whether it is
Craft Café – good news! Linstone is delighted to have received another year’s funding from the Scottish Government’s People and Communities Fund to allow us to provide our Craft Café project – a really important arts and crafts activity for our older tenants and the local community. We currently run the service in our sheltered housing at Farrier Court and Newton Street and over the past year we have run several “pop-up” sessions in other locations like Belmar Court and Arnott Gardens. The project also works in partnership with Barrhead Housing Association. Adele Fraser, Chief Executive said, “People really enjoy the Craft Café sessions provided by Impact Arts. I was hugely impressed by
the standard of the artwork produced by the participants when I attended the annual show at Paisley Museum. We have some really talented staff and volunteers working for the project and we would like to be able to extend the service to other areas as well.” Go to the following link to watch a great video about Craft Café: https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wHrs9LoPXmg
through growing in the organic garden, encouraging biodiversity or learning about sustainability.
Complaints Performance Complaints are important to help us shape and improve our service. As a public service, we operate within the SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) model ‘Complaints Handling Process’. This is a two stage procedure. We will always aim to resolve your complaints at Stage 1. However, if the complaint is of a more complex nature or you are dissatisfied with the Stage 1 decision, the complaint will be categorised as Stage 2. In addition to this, we are actively involved with the Complaints Handling Network, recognised by the SPSO, as a way to learn and share ideas. Throughout 2016/17, we received 92 complaints. Complaint Response times Total number of complaints % of complaints upheld % responded to within SPSO day target Average number of days taken to resolve complaint % of customers satisfied with outcome
Stage 1 5 days 85 46% 94%
Stage 2 20 days 7 43% 100%
3.3
17
91%
57%
40% of complaints were about housing services, followed by 36% for maintenance services: the remainder covered other services. For customers dissatisfied with the Stage 2 decision, cases were referred to an Independent Complaints Panel. Scottish Public Services Ombudsman 1 case referred and not upheld
Housing & Property Chamber 3 cases referred - 2 upheld and 1 not upheld
As a result of the cases referred to the Housing & Property Chamber, a training schedule for staff has been put in place. Lesson Learned The outcome of one complaint highlighted a need to address the allocation procedure for people seeking Sheltered Housing. We have therefore created a separate waiting list, amended correspondence with regard to changing health needs, plan to carry out a home visit where required and set a 6 month timeframe for reviewing applicants on the Sheltered Housing list.
Energy Efficiency Award for Linstone! Linstone Housing was named the Regional Housing Association of the Year in the Energy Efficiency & Healthy Homes Awards 2017. Linstone has been recognised for taking numerous steps which improve and support the local community. Linstone secured funding for one of Scotland’s largest home efficiency programmes. The Linstone community benefited from a wide range of investments in both tenants’ and owners’ homes. With 327 properties improved during 2016, Linstone has invested £2.7 million in energy saving External Wall Insulation, resulting in an estimated amount of energy saved of 11,297 tonnes of CO2. For the 3 year programme the costs for the project were circa £12million.
Scottish Housing Quality Standards (SHQS) and Energy Efficiency Standards for Social Housing (EESSH) come into force from 2015 and 2020. Linstone Housing is proud to have achieved 76.1% and over 80% compliance for SHQS
and EESSH respectively. (Homes must be energy efficient (SHQS); and 42% carbon emission reduction target by 2020 (EESSH) and 80% carbon emission reduction target by 2050). The Energy Efficiency measures introduced by the Government following the Energy Act 2013, included the Energy Company Obligations (ECO) Scheme, the Green Deal Finance Initiative, and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). These measures together help homeowners reduce their energy bills, tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions. The Energy Efficiency & Healthy Homes Award is to promote the excellent work the Energy Efficiency sector is doing in implementing energy efficiency schemes and to help encourage best practice within the energy industry, as it works to improve UK housing stock.
5 year Contact Points investment plan
Linstone Housing Hub – 31 G/R Maple Drive, Johnstone On a Wednesday afternoon the housing hub will be open from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. Laura Breeze, Housing Officer for Johnstone area and James McNulty, Estates Team will be available to provide advice and assistance in relation to Estate Management issues. A member of Community Connectors will also be available offering housing advice and assistance. Pop in on a Wednesday or call 01505 384112 to make an appointment. On a Thursday morning the housing hub will be open from 10.30am to 11.30am. Greg Bolland, Welfare Rights Officer will be available to provide assistance with benefit checks and queries. Linsey Duffy, Income Officer for Johnstone area will be available to provide advice and assistance in relation to housing benefit and to discuss your rent account. You can also contact Linsey on 01505 384120 or email lduffy@linstone.co.uk to make an appointment or just drop in on a Thursday.
At Linstone we are committed to investing in our stock, with our recent focus being on kitchen & bathrooms, and latterly the external wall insulation programme. All of this has involved £15 million of investment over the last 10 years or so. It pleases us to announce that a further £10 million of investment is planned over the next 5 years. Our focus will be on electrical rewires, UPVC windows & doors and heating systems amongst other work. We continually update our 30 year investment plan. This identifies components like roofs, windows and kitchens nearing the end of their useful lifespan. We survey Langholm HUB – G/A Belmar Court, Linwood these components to ensure they are (a) in need of renewal, and Margaret Baillie, Resident Liaison Officer works from the community (b) projected costs are relevant before setting our programmes. flat daily for advice, to report a repair or just have a chat over a cuppa. During the rent increase consultation in February, we received Renfrewshire Wide Credit Union are available every Monday from 10.30 posts via our Facebook page about tenants’ issues with their until 11.30. See notice boards for group meetings and events. windows. The windows were surveyed and a decision was made to bring them forward in the programme in certain areas (as much as 5 years in some cases). Our tenants were happy about this and they are already looking forward to new windows this year. If you have any queries or would like information on our planned works programme, please contact Maureen Fragapane on 01505 382383 or email repairs@linstone.co.uk; via twitter @LinstoneHousing or our website at www.linstone.co.uk
Linstone Housing manages the innovative Connect4Renfrewshire project, which provides energy, money and debt advice to households across Renfrewshire, as well as a range of practical measures. Connect4Renfrewshire works alongside other partners to access services for our residents, including the provision of cost free energy efficiency measures such as draught proofing and LED light bulbs through the LEAP “Make it Happen” Scheme. One resident said, “The workers that have been in have been friendly and able to come at times that suited us. We have never been in debt (with utilities) and it’s very stressful which makes our health worse. It has made a big difference having the right people in to help us sort the mess out.”
Contact the Housing Team and ask about Connect4Renfrewshire. We can help you to heat your home more effectively and for less, help you access an affordable loan and can help take the stress out of money and debt concerns! C4R stats - since Dec 13 Overall LHA household referrals
610
Financial gain Energy
£ 89,853
Financial gain Financial Literacy
£ 32,576
Adviceworks debt managed/ financial gain Furniture vouchers issued
£ 25,095 £ 14,298
Welfare Rights figures year 16/17 Actual Gains
£ 97,029
Predicted Gains
£192,711
It’s a Could you save money using a Car Club? LEAP, a Renfrewshire based energy charity are looking to expand their Car Club into Linwood in partnership with Linstone. A Car Club is a member-based organisation that provides payas-you-drive vehicles. Cars can be hired for as little as an hour or for as long as you need. The Club covers all the costs of owning and running the vehicle, including insurance, road tax, fuel, cleaning and servicing. Users simply pay for hire, by the hour and by the mile. It is booked online or in person and is available 24/7. The Linwood LEAP Car Club car would be based in the car park between Belmar and Asbury Court and discount to hire may be available to Linstone tenants.
A practical and cost-effective alternative to car ownership, car clubs provides access to a high quality vehicle that can offer great savings compared to the costs of car ownership, especially where a member only requires a vehicle from time to time. The Car Club survey is available on our website at www.linstone.co.uk or at the following link:
www.surveymonkey. co.uk/r/linwoodcarclub We want your views, particularly residents living close to the Belmar and Asbury Court Car Park. Fill in the survey to help us make the Car Club work in the best way it can for you.
Energy Action Scotland Funding Connect4Renfrewshire is pleased to have been awarded £6770 from Energy Action Scotland to pilot a project working in partnership with LEAP (Local Energy Action Plan) and RAMH. This funding will allow us to identify households across Renfrewshire who may need energy efficiency measures, and then to supply and fit thermally lined curtains, radiator panels, radiator shelves and LED light bulbs. The funding will run until March 2018, at which point we hope to be able to demonstrate the benefits and therefore continue the service.
day for a BBQ
During BRAW week we held a BBQ at the Housing Hub on Maple Drive in Johnstone Castle. Around 140 local residents came along to enjoy some food and fun and a great time was had by all! We provided information about services available and raised awareness about alcohol and safe limits as well as encourage and promote healthy eating habits for adults and children. Thanks to support again from Elderslie Butchers we provided fresh, excellent quality burgers and sausages, alongside healthy vegetarian options. Our “Do it yourself” stand was popular with the kids who had a great time making their own fruit kebabs – the pomegranate seeds were a hit! With a variety of garden games such as “Hook a Duck” and hula hoops everyone
was kept amused throughout. Housing Officer Laura was kept busy with a queue of youngsters patiently waiting for their glitter tattoos. We are thrilled that this event was so well attended, and hope to continue these events in the future!
@LinstoneHousing
www.linstone.co.uk
Linstone Housing Association, 17 Bridge Street, Linwood, PA3 3DB. Tel: 01505 382383 Email: general@linstone.co.uk Web: linstone.co.uk Register of Friendly Societies No.2524R(S). Scottish Housing Regulator Registered No. HEP 299. Recognised as a Scottish Charity No. SC027454