Introduction ……..………………………………………………………………………. The Value for Money Standard ………………………………………………………. Swan’s value for money strategy …………………………………………………….. Swan’s approach to delivering value for money ……………………………………. Value for money benefits of Swan’s Group structure ………………………………. Swan’s value for money ‘story’ ……………………………………………………….. Maximising the return on assets ……………………………………………………... Cost and performance comparisons …………….…………………………………… Value for money dashboard ……………………………………………....………….. HCA unit cost analysis ………………………………………………………………… Sector Scorecard ………………………………………………………………………. Effective procurement …………………………...…………………………………….. Managing our finances ………………….…………………………………………….. Planning and funding …………………………………………………………………… Investment in development and new business ……………………….…………….. Resident and service user involvement ……………………………………………… Improving service ……………………………………………………………………….. Conclusion and self-assessment ……………………………………………………....
At Swan, we have a clear understanding of what value of money means to our stakeholders and a proven track record of achieving high performance and levels of customer satisfaction. Our funding arrangements have been structured to maximise the amount of surplus generated from our development programme and day to day activities to enable us to operate efficiently and effectively.
The Value for Money Standard sets out the regulator’s requirement that registered providers’ (RP) boards must publish annually a robust self-assessment which sets how they are achieving value for money. The self-assessment must:
enable stakeholders to understand the return on assets measured against the organisations objectives set out absolute and comparative costs of delivering specific services evidence the value for money gains that have been and will be made, and how these will be realised over time.
This Self-Assessment provides an analysis of our achievements in 2016/17 and demonstrates our accountability to our residents and stakeholders. A summary of this document has been included in our statutory accounts.
Swan was formed in 1994 and now owns and manages almost 11,000 properties in East London and Essex. Our mission is to deliver effective services, enterprising solutions and exemplary homes and communities.
Value for money should be delivered, assessed and evidenced in the context of achieving organisation objectives. This does mean that what value looks like for us may be different to that of another registered provider. For us, value for money means obtaining the best value from available resources to allow us to deliver better services, more homes and effective communities both in terms of quantity and quality and the social value provided. The key elements to our approach are set out in our strategy and in summary are to: Value for money is considered throughout our governance structure. The board has overall responsibility for delivering the Value for Money Strategy and ensuring its principles are applied in the delivery of services, strategic planning and investment decisions. The Operations Committee agrees and monitors operational service reviews to drive continuous improvement. New investment appraisals are considered by the Development and New Business Committee to ensure they contribute enhanced value to the delivery of the corporate objectives. Our customers have a key role in assessing and enhancing value for money. The Residents’ Consultative Committees review performance on a monthly basis, and are directly involved in the policy setting process. In addition the Residents’ Scrutiny Panel are able to carry out detailed service reviews and provide a sounding board for new value for money initiatives and service improvement programmes. Value for money is a cross cutting theme embedded throughout our decision making process, strategies and policies. Our procurement, portfolio management, asset management, regeneration and development, people, treasury and social value and engagement strategies are all keys parts in our overall approach to achieving value for money.
To assist in the delivery of our Value for Money Strategy, we have developed a value for money framework. The framework is split into eight key areas of activity, each providing a structure for recording outcomes and testing whether the objectives of the strategy are being met.
Swan’s Group structure incorporates a number of different business streams and includes commercial entities, such as our private sales programme. This allows us to maximise resources by investing profits through gift aid, supporting our corporate objectives and offering enhanced services that might not otherwise be delivered. We have generated £21.6m of profit from commercial activities over the last three years. This has been invested in regeneration projects, the development of affordable homes and community projects. Our business plan forecasts that a further £50.4m of profit will be delivered from our commercial activities over the next three years.
The year in review has seen another successful chapter added to our value for money ‘story’. The organisation’s structure continues to maximise resources available for delivering the corporate mission, objectives and customer priorities Through effective procurement and contract management, we are able to keep costs down and invest in activities that increase the value of what the Group does. In addition, the performance management arrangements in place mean that satisfaction levels are high and we can quickly respond with service improvements. We have also delivered on the plans set out last year and a summary of our achievements in 2016/17 is included in each of the following sections.
As a social housing provider, we understand that the return on housing stock is not only measured in terms of the rental value, but also the wider benefits that good quality housing brings to communities. Three strategies; the Asset Management Strategy, the Portfolio Management Strategy and the Group Investment Strategy are key to how we approach managing our stock and maximising the return on the properties we own.
The Asset Management Strategy sets the course for how we will maintain and improve our existing housing stock over the next five years. Above ensuring homes are safe and free from hazards, we remain committed to maintaining homes to our Decent Homes PLUS standard and achieving an energy efficiency SAP rating of 71.5 for the majority of properties by 2021. Against the background of a changing and more challenging operating environment, being able to interrogate accurate stock data is essential for delivering an effective improvement programme. Our integrated asset management database, Keystone, uses information collected via stock condition surveys to inform the business plan of component lifecycles (e.g. kitchen, bathroom, heating system etc.) and to record and predict breakdowns. This enables those properties with greatest need or poor energy efficiency performance to be targeted and ensure maximum value for money is achieved through the programme. The success of our approach is confirmed by customer feedback. Satisfaction with overall quality of home is currently at 84.6% and ranks amongst the top 25% of social housing providers in London and the East.
Measuring the ‘return on assets’ is one way of assessing the current financial performance of housing stock. At a headline level it is calculated by dividing annual operating surplus (profit) by the total value of the assets owned. The table below sets out the return achieved on our main stock types, all of which are in line with expectation as our base rental income has fallen due to the rent reduction of 1% that was introduced in the governments July 2015 budget. Return on NHS keyworker units fell slightly between 2015/16 and 2016/17, whilst general needs and shared ownership both improved marginally. Return on Assets Operating Surplus General Needs Shared Ownership NHS Keyworker
2016/17 Value of Assets*
£k
£k
27,987 1,217 1,719
574,473 50,861 47,215
2015/16 Value of Assets*
Return on Assets %
Operating Surplus £k
£k
4.9% 2.4% 3.6%
26,658 1,195 1,907
578,878 52,213 48,913
Return on Assets % 4.6% 2.3% 3.9%
* Value of Assets based on UK GAAP including FRS102 net book value which is cost less depreciation and excluding grant received
Affordable social housing is at the core of our on-going provision and is essential to the delivery of the corporate mission and objectives. The following graphic illustrates the dominance of this tenure type over the others that we manage.
There is now however, far greater emphasis placed on financial viability and ensuring that housing stock meets local need. Alongside the Asset Management Strategy, the Portfolio Management Strategy sets out how we will make the best future use and ensure value for money of our assets. The strategy provides a framework within which decisions can be made on stock rationalisation. In conjunction with the return on assets calculation, we use Savills’ Asset Project Evaluation Model (APEM) to appraise housing stock. The model assesses the net present value (NPV) for each property, together with a suite of sustainability indicators. This allows similarly performing properties to be grouped together. Where asset groups are not found to be cost effective or conducive to delivery of the corporate mission and objectives, the strategy sets out options to:
revise tenure type and rental stream swap with another landlord, or come to another financially mutual arrangement for transfer dispose on the open market to raise funds for new homes change ownership or management arrangements
Net Present Values (NPVs) are based on the expected income and expenditure on each property over the life of the 30 year business plan, in conjunction with some standard financial assumptions including inflation and VAT rates. A negative NPV would indicate that it will cost the organisation to retain the property. The ‘30 year NPV per unit’ graphic above shows the distribution of our portfolio and confirms that we continue to have no properties with a negative NPV in our portfolio. The average NPV for our stock has remained stable at just over £50k in 2016/17. The APEM also uses measures relating to income, demand and housing management to determine the sustainability of each property and asset group. These include indices of multiple deprivation, tenancy turnover, refusal rates and distance from a management office and other Swan properties. Our approach to stock rationalisation remains flexible. The uncertainty created by Brexit and the 1% rent decrease has slowed activity is this area but we continue to seek opportunities offering value for money. During 2016/17 we:
In 2017/18 we plan:
By benchmarking our costs and performance against other housing providers we can set it in context on how well we are achieving value for money. We participate in a peer group made up of 21 providers in London and the East with a stock size of between 5,000 and 15,000 properties.
We use the benchmark data to identify areas for improvement and to set future targets to achieve upper quartile performance. It assists us to understand which areas are high or low cost and what good performance looks like. For comparing costs, HouseMark’s model uses a cost per property (CPP) so that landlords of different sizes can be benchmarked alongside each other. Total CPP includes an allocation of overheads i.e. office premises, IT, finance and central services expenditure. The complexity of Swan’s group structure needs to be considered when analysing the HouseMark results. The following tables set out our cost and performance over the last three years compared to our peer group. The results are ranked in quartiles that split the peer group into four bandings. Quartile one refers to the upper 25% (lower cost/better performing). Quartile four refers to the lower 25% (higher cost/poorer performing).
The area of greatest expenditure as expected is repairs and maintenance. Both planned and reactive works have the lowest CPPs of the peer group. As well as the age and condition of stock, the low expenditure on responsive repairs and void works is attributable to the partnering arrangement with our contractor Axis Europe. Investment in major works is lower than others due to the comparative age and condition of our housing stock. Satisfaction with the overall quality of home is upper quartile and this indicates that despite lower costs, our investment programme is being targeted correctly. Expenditure on most functions is top quartile. Expenditure on rent arrears and collection is high compared to our peers due to the high level of resources we have focussed on maximising income recovery. HouseMark benchmarking quartiles 2016/17
2015/16
2014/15
Upper Quartile
Median
Lower Quartile
Satisfaction with complaints handling
74.0%
75.4%
74.8%
73.4%
66.3%
54.3%
Satisfaction with complaints outcome
70.0%
68.2%
67.9%
67.0%
56.9%
47.0%
Performance Indicator
Average days to complete repairs
3.9
4.0
4.5
6.2
8.8
10.1
Repair appointments kept
98.0%
95.91%
96.97%
98.70%
96.76%
94.40%
Repairs completed at first visit
96.5%
96.5%
97.4%
96.4%
91.4%
88.1%
Satisfaction with repairs and maintenance (STAR)
71.1%
74.3%
65.7%
80.3%
81.2%
76.4%
Satisfaction with quality of home (STAR)
84.6%
86.1%
78.8%
85.0%
79.8%
78.8%
Average re-let time (standard voids)
13.6
14.5
17.1
20.0
24.4
30.4
Satisfaction with ASB case handling
76.0%
71.4%
75.8%
91.6%
87.0%
66.6%
Satisfaction with ASB case outcome
74.0%
70.0%
77.0%
84.0%
74.9%
56.0%
Current tenant arrears as % of rent due
2.62%
2.82%
2.86%
1.78%
2.80%
3.55%
Former tenant arrears % of rent due
0.39%
0.36%
0.49%
0.90%
1.18%
1.55%
Satisfaction with value for money for rent (STAR)
80.4%
77.1%
71.3%
82.0%
77.6%
74.1%
Satisfaction with overall services provided (STAR)
84.3%
83.3%
74.6%
85.3%
81.2%
76.4%
Quartile 1
Quartile 2
Quartile 3
Quartile 4
Key:
Direction of travel
Overall direction of travel has been positive with many areas seeing improvements over the year. Satisfaction with repairs and maintenance has fallen after a significant increase the year before and this area will continue to be key focus for improvement during 2017/18. Our satisfaction performance is considered in further detail later in the ‘improving services’ section.
When analysed alongside each other, our cost and performance position is strong. The HouseMark dashboard plots each service area in relation to its ranking within the peer group on cost and performance. Whilst low cost and high performance is desirable, there are some functions, such as rent arrears and collection that we believe need a greater expenditure while the roll out of Universal Credit continues.
Estate service performance is based on the STAR survey satisfaction with neighbourhood as a place to live and not directly on the service provided by our Estate Services Team.
In addition to HouseMark’s benchmarking service, we have continued to use the HCA’s unit cost analysis to assess costs. The analysis is based on data submitted by housing associations as part of their annual returns to the regulator and is set out in the table below. Our position as a low cost provider, particularly with regards to maintenance and major repairs, is reinforced by the data. The higher headline social housing cost per unit (CPU) is driven by ‘other’ costs and is affected by Swan’s structure and diversity. As reported last year our ‘other’ costs include significant expenditure relating to the management of the Forest Gate PFI contract, property management and the development of affordable, shared ownership and for sale housing. Whilst these activities generate turnover and consume resources, they are not related to the number of units counted in the calculation. Total turnover for 2016/17 was £101.6m, of which just £59.4m was generated by social housing units. Adjusting the headline social housing costs for PFI contract activity only, brings CPU down to £3.72k, slightly above the median for the sector. Our location, operating in both South Essex and East London also has an impact on our cost base. The business plan forecasts a reduction in CPU over the next three years. Cost per unit £k
Swan Swan (excluding PFI) Median (Prior Year)
Headline Social Housing
Management
Service Charge
Maintenance
Major Repairs
Other Social Housing
4.32 3.72 3.55
1.29 1.29 0.95
0.33 0.33 0.36
0.78 0.78 0.98
0.50 0.50 0.80
1.42 0.82 0.20
We have participated in the one-year pilot for the sector scorecard which will measure 15 indicators across five areas focusing on: business health, development, outcomes delivered, effective asset management and operating efficiencies. Our performance indicators are summarised in the table below and we will be benchmarking our results in the coming months.
Sector Scorecard Pilot - Key Performance Indicators COMP ONE NTS
2016-17
Operating margin
28.96%
Operating Margin (social housing lettings)
44.33%
Interest Cover - EBITDA (MRI) Units developed (absolute)
193.80% 121
Units developed (as a percentage of units owned)
1.37%
Gearing
68.05%
Percentage of respondents very or fairly satisfied with the service provided by their social housing provider
84.3%
£s invested for every £ generated - in new housing supply
£0.80
£s invested for every £ generated - in communities
£0.01
Return on capital employed (ROCE)
3.64%
Management cost per unit
£1,289
Service charge cost per unit
£334
Maintenance cost per unit
£778
Major repairs cost per unit
£497
Other social housing costs cost per unit
£1,416
Headline social housing cost per unit
£4,316
Overheads as a percentage of adjusted turnover
9.32%
Ratio of responsive repairs to planned maintenance
0.62
Occupancy
98.04%
Rent collected from current and former tenants as a percentage of the rent due (excluding arrears b/f)
99.78%
In 2017/18 we plan to:
Our procurement strategy centres on utilising common suppliers and seeks to ensure that the Group’s procurement activity delivers value for money, customer focus, rising standards, efficiency, social value and a standard pre-condition of the living wage.
All standard repairs and maintenance to our housing stock is delivered by Axis Europe. The partnering contract is in its eighth year of a 14 year term and the length of this arrangement has demonstrated numerous value for money benefits to Swan and its customers.
The nature of the contract means that both parties are invested in the partnership, and allows for longer term service planning and a commitment to continuous improvement. It also ensures that both parties have a vested interest in resolving issues efficiently and effectively. The partnering arrangement in place is different in comparison to many others in the sector. We have retained very few staff to manage the day to day running of the contract, with Axis taking on much of this activity including the call centre services and surveying. This speeds up processes, avoids duplication and keeps costs low, whilst maintaining the quality of the repairs In addition to the above, Axis are willing to work with us to achieve on-going value for money improvements. The partnership has continued to work proactively in identifying efficiencies to help mitigate the impact of the 1% rent reduction. In 2016/17 we have consolidated the current schedule of rates as part of the ongoing value engineering which maintains financial control and keeps value for money in focus. Other benefits include sharing Axis office space and being able to deliver joint training. Axis performance compares well to that of others in our peer group and this combined with the partnering arrangement means that we are able to achieve value for money on our largest operational contract.
In addition to the main contract, we have continued to secure value for money gains on repairs and maintenance procurement during 2016/17. Costs have either reduced, or an enhanced service is now provided:
The projected savings in 2016/17 from the new multi-functional devices and mobile phones contracts were realised. During the year our procurement activity has focussed on the following areas Health & Safety Contract Electronic Payment Systems Insurance Brokerage Service
Internal Audit Service The table below sets out our procurement savings over the last three years and anticipated savings going forward. During 2016/17 savings of £506k were achieved. Looking back (Savings gained) 2014/15
2015/16
Projecting forward (Anticipated savings)
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
Total Savings
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
Housing / Repairs and Maintenance Facilities Maintenance / Utilities Back Office (IT/Insurance/H&S)
198,196 55,351 184,517
197,306 31,500 331,263
192,527 66,745 246,400
215,406 35,000 196,092
218,955 15,000 209,902
222,682 0 224,057
1,245,070 203,596 1,392,230
Total
438,064
560,069
505,672
446,498
443,856
446,738
2,840,896
These procurement savings have allowed us to invest in community and corporate social responsibility projects, resident engagement and training initiatives as well as continuing to provide dedicated support to those impacted by welfare reforms. In 2017/18 we plan to:
To ensure value for money in delivering services, we prioritise expenditure against the corporate mission and objectives. Across the Group, we have a zero-based approach to budget setting and this helps ensure our spending plans for the year ahead are aligned to objectives. As part of the annual process, budget holders are required to present requests, setting out how expenditure will help deliver the Group’s priorities and sustain or improve performance. These conversations promote local ownership of plans and once agreed they empower budget holders to deliver within controlled financial parameters. Finance managers meet monthly with budget holders to support robust financial control and keep track of planned value for money efficiencies. The new corporate strategy has required a review of performance management reports including financial reporting. Balanced scorecards have been recalibrated, however, they continue to include performance indicators under the headings of strategic, risk, financial, customer internal process and learning and growth, whilst our financial reporting has been updated to better align with the new strategic objectives. During 2016/17 we responded positively to the challenges set last year to mitigate the impact of the 1% rent reduction, on-going roll out of universal credit and protecting front-line services.
The Group saved just over £1m in response to the £1 million challenge from day to day operations in 2016/17.
A further £4m of savings have been secured in 2016/17 against the target to achieve £10m of efficiencies through reduced costs and increased profitability on its development and regeneration activities.
The loss on Mallard Point was due to unbudgeted additional costs following a leak during mechanical and electrical installation in the construction phase of the project. After taking into account these costs, the project remained profitable.
Employees at all levels of the organisation have contributed ideas to find the necessary savings. All of these ideas and resulting actions are captured and monitored through our budgeting process. During 2016/17 we:
In 2017/18 we plan to:
Our planning and funding is structured to fully support the financial viability of the business plan. The planning process aims to allocate resources to deliver the Group’s new Corporate Strategy as effectively as possible by minimising borrowing costs and mitigating the Group's exposure to refinancing and interest rate risks. Decisions on funding are made through the Group Investment Framework. This standardises assumptions used for interest rates, payback periods, discount rates etc. so that different projects can be appraised and trade-offs considered on a consistent basis. Additional funds are generated from our commercial business streams to reinvest in new social housing and support communities. The Group continues to benefit from the debt restructure and bond issue, which generated a £1.3m per annum saving against the original business plan assumptions, delivered in 2014/15. A further £60m of retained bonds were issued during this financial year at a competitive yield of 3.33%. As the yield was lower than the bond coupon of 3.625% the transaction generated over £3m of additional cash. The proceeds of the retained bond issue were used to repay floating rate bank loans to further reduce the Group's exposure to future increases in interest rates. During 2016/17 the regulator acknowledged following a stability check that our development plans were within an acceptable capacity. The business plan has been stress tested against multiple scenarios and plans are in place to mitigate the Group's exposure to private sales risk which has been increased by the uncertainty created by Brexit. The graphics below set out where our funding came from in 2016/17 and how it was spent in absolute cost terms.
Our commercial entities offer the key benefit of being able to gift aid profits to reinvest in affordable housing and the associated functions of the Group. In 2016/17 we achieved the following: Our development programme, specifically the private sales of new build homes, generates the vast majority of profits to gift aid. At the centre of Swan’s mission are its growth plans for increasing the supply of high quality affordable and private homes. This activity significantly enhances the group’s ability to deliver against its objectives and generate value for the communities it serves. We continue to focus on brownfield regeneration. Working closely with partner local authorities, the GLA (Greater London Authority), HCA and private developers to bring forward these opportunities, ensures a holistic approach to the transformation of places and neighbourhoods. The Group has responded positively to changes in the operating environment, including cuts to local authority funding, reduced availability of grants and, the 1% social housing rent reduction.
Social / affordable housing Shared ownership Private sale Totals
2014/15
2015/16
30 7 33 70
247 19 144 410
2016/17 Delivered 0 7 114 121
277 33 291 601
2017/18
2018/19
0 13 78 91
69 222 252 543
2019/20 Forecast 36 61 238 335
105 296 568 969
The table above illustrated that in the three years to 2016/17 approximately half of the new homes built were affordable. Over the next 3 years this will reduce slightly to 40% to reflect scheme phasing and the mix of development schemes on site. Crucially, we intend to provide a range of tenure types to best meet future housing demands, making efficient use of the profits obtained from sales to maximise new affordable units. Going forward, smaller properties and studio flats potentially present a practical and viable offering when appropriately designed, particularly in London. The Group takes an innovative approach to the challenges ahead. Acting as our in-house construction contractor, NU Living provide the Group with technical expertise in design development, procurement efficiencies, greater certainty over product quality and ultimately, highly competitive pricing. In addition we are exploring off-site manufacture as a delivery channel and this emerging approach presents vast potential benefits including: We possess a pipeline from our regeneration schemes of circa 3,500 new homes to be delivered and this forward thinking initiative, where viable, will have considerable benefits for our development and regeneration programmes and deliver significantly increased value for money on the group’s investments.
The Group Investment Framework provides a common process for appraising investment projects. It scrutinises the costs and benefits of each project to ensure they fit with our mission and objectives. The framework links closely with the wider business plan so that any investment has sound financial grounding and complies with the covenants of relevant funding agreements. Key to deciding where to invest is establishing where we can make the greatest difference and add most value to the local community. In 2017/18 we plan to:
Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. Our Social Value and Engagement Strategy sets out our commitment to resident involvement, developing sustainable communities and meeting our CSR requirements / objectives. It aims to ensure we are able to meet our co-regulation requirements whilst delivering an enhanced service to residents that increases their life chances and supports them to respond to the changes and challenges faced through welfare reforms. We have worked with residents to understand what is important to them and how we can provide a cohesive approach to social value and engagement. Key to delivering the best service is understanding customer priorities and involving them in the decision making process. We involve residents in the monitoring and improvement of our services and provide a programme of multiple opportunities for residents to engage, aimed at maximising the diversity of those who do. Swan continues to provide a range of community development activities to help break down and remove barriers to effective engagement. This includes providing English as a second language (ESOL) classes, as well projects such as providing free health checks to residents.
The residents’ scrutiny panel has undertaken a number of detailed reviews of services and has a key role to play within the delivery of Swan’s Value for Money Strategy. It provides input and scrutiny of the value for money action plan and self-assessment and setting residents’ value for money priorities. The London and Essex Resident Consultative Committees (RCCs) are Swan’s main resident groups. The RCCs analyse and challenge our performance and oversee the strategy and policy review process. In addition, four residents sit on Swan’s Operation’s Committee and have direct input in the service delivery decision making process. Residents are also represented at key partnership meetings between Swan and Axis.
We recognised early the negative impact welfare reforms were likely to have on our residents and our income. We set up a welfare reform working group to identify key issues and initiatives to mitigate them. The group co-ordinate the work of the organisation, ensuring changes to benefits are communicated to staff and residents and that residents have access to the funds that they are entitled to. Our welfare reform officers, provide a targeted approach to helping individuals to access employment opportunities, and our Community Development Team deliver projects around worklessness to help to support this work especially around those individuals who fall into the long term unemployed category. A cohesive approach enables savings to be made to the organisation whilst enhancing the service that is offered. Through partnership arrangements with organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau and Financially Inclusive Tower Hamlets Project, we are able to offer training and support for residents around accessing bank accounts and other financial products and services. Our work on digital inclusion includes providing ‘how to get online’ and ‘applying for jobs and benefits’ classes.
Our apprenticeship scheme enables our apprentices to work towards qualifications ranging from business administration and IT skills to customer service. We have seen a total of 20 apprentices secure employment after completing their apprenticeship.
We are committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and can demonstrate this through our priorities and very nature of the work we do. We have engaged staff through our Get Involved Scheme, which allows them to volunteer their time outside of the organisation during their normal working hours. The Swan Foundation – is a charitable organisation established to support residents living in Essex and East London, to help build cohesive communities whilst enabling individuals to realise their potential. The Foundation’s priorities are:
The Foundation builds partnerships with businesses and works with funding organisations to invest in communities and turn aspirations into reality. Since it was established it has donated over £500,000 in grants to local projects in East London and South Essex.
One way of appraising Swan’s added value activities, is to test SROI. This attributes a cash value to the benefits realised, and compares it to the cost of the project. Whilst this approach applies a definite cash value to gains that often vary, it provides a consistent methodology for comparing projects. For every activity we do with our residents we measure the impact of the involvement focusing on what value the outcome has had. The activity is also assessed on how well it delivered value for money.
As part of our comprehensive menu of engagement options every year we host our annual resident conference and in 2016, we piloted a new format of the event known as SwanFest providing residents with an opportunity to be informally consulted on various service areas to influence our service improvement agenda. Over 330 residents attended the event from various geographical locations which gave the participants an opportunity to meet others from different estates and regions including key members of Swan staff and representatives from 16 local partner organisations. The overall social impact was £163k and equates to £8.17 of social value for every £1 invested. This return was calculated on the basis of 330 attendees at the event, 23 residents expressing an interest in being involved, 49 residents contributing to the estate services consultation and 30 households obtaining service information
Summer Night Lights an annual community cohesion and engagement event. The project is managed by our Community Development team and this year brought together over 2000 residents and a total of 20 local partners, including Housing Associations, local Authorities, Police, Fire Services, NHS and community organisations. The overall social impact was £46k and equates to £3.45 of social value for every £1 spent. This return was calculated on the basis that 9 estates directly benefitted from the event, 3 health check programmes were carried out, 10 residents signed up to the “myworksearch” initiative and 10 residents expressed an interest in digital inclusion training. In 2016/17 we:
In 2017/18 we plan to:
Improving services We have an ethos of continual improvement of our services, systems and processes to ensure they remain fit for purpose and can demonstrate value for money by being effective and efficient. Our commitment of continuous improvement is embedded throughout our performance management framework. Our corporate mission and objectives flow into our operational strategies and form the basis for our service improvement action plans. These improvements are then used to form team plans and individual staff objectives. Performance information is reviewed at all levels of the organisation. Management reports include cost, performance and satisfaction data to enable value for money judgements to be made.
In 2017/18 we plan to:
Customer satisfaction is our core measure of the quality of our service delivery. We use an independent market research company to carry out an annual STAR survey. This data is then used to help us identify problem areas, inform service improvements and set priorities. The results have a direct influence on our direction and maximise value for money by ensuring resources are directed to where our customers say they are most needed.
The above chart shows the core STAR survey questions over the last three year. Satisfaction with value for money for rent has seen an increase of over 9% and for service charges 10% during this time. In line with our new Corporate Strategy we are now increasing our focus on making it easier for our customers to do business with us. We believe this will increase customer satisfaction and an increase in on-line transactions and self-service will enable us to increase our efficiency and effectiveness and demonstrate real value for money achievements.
Linked closely to high customer satisfaction is an organisation’s ability to handle complaints. We view complaints as a key method of learning from our mistakes and improving services and regular review how we manage them. We actively encourage complaints and understand the value this type of feedback offers in terms of a learning opportunity. Trend analysis reports are reviewed at a variety of levels across our operations to help identify areas for improvement and inform action plans. 63% of our complaints were related to repairs. 100% of complaints were acknowledged and responded to within target. The average time to response to a complaint was 3.6 days, with 96% of complaints resolved at stage one. Satisfaction with complaint handling was 77% and remained in the top quartile of our peer group. Amongst other actions, during 2016/17 we:
Our annual Striving for excellence programme sets out our service improvements for the year. Last year’s programme consisted of 54 actions that arose as a result of a service review, benchmarking, analysis of customer satisfaction results or other forms of customer feedback/involvement. The theme for the year was ‘fit for the future’ and a focus on customer insight. Amongst other actions, during 2016/17 we:
During the year we carried out a review of our repair appointments. Our performance on appointments made and kept had fallen in our peer group and the most common category for repair related complaint was customer service, with 25% of these regarding a missed appointment Before the review residents were offered a two hour appointment slot for all routine repairs. If an operative failed to attend within this slot the resident would receive a payment of £20. If a further appointment is missed, the payment rises to £25 and £50 for a third and any consequent missed appointment. These payments were costing approximately £10,000 each year. The review set out to achieve a better understanding of why appointments are missed and how it impacts on satisfaction, allowing us to better manage expectations and reduce the number of complaints relating to missed appointments. The review found no evidence to suggest two hour slots had improved satisfaction, all the research carried out as part of this review suggested they were actually having the opposite effect. Following st consultation with residents we introduced from 1 April 2017 appointment times over three slots: The potential value for money gains through introducing such a relatively small change to repair appointments could be considerable. Productivity - the ability for schedulers to plan operative workloads over a wider time period will increase their availability for repairs considerably and reduce waiting times for repairs as flexibility increases. It will also reduce the time staff spend dealing with complaints about missed appointment and enable them to spend more time on other repair related complaints. Monetary – money paid out for missed appointments would be expected to fall from £10k per year to under a £1k. Satisfaction – by better managing expectations we would expect customer satisfaction with repairs to increase slightly and we would also expect to see a greater reduction in dissatisfaction.
Swan’s latest CSE standard accreditation report (April 2017) highlighted the Group’s strong partnerships and commitment to deliver high quality services. Three elements of the standard were awarded a ‘compliance plus’ rating, demonstrating good practice, taking the total to 14. We view compliance to the standard is an important independent test of services and the value they deliver to customers. We monitor performance against the five overarching standards. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
– how well do we know our customers? – do we have a customer focused culture? – how well do we communicate information to our customers? – how well do we carry out our main business and deal with problems? – how do we set and monitor our service standards?
By carrying out an annual assessment we can assess that our services are meeting their expected outcomes and contributing to our aim of increasing customer satisfaction.
Value for money is embedded in our operational activity and decision making process, and is a crosscutting theme throughout the Group’s strategy and policy framework. Our strategy is clear on how we define value and sets out how it will be achieved, monitored and measured. Customers have a key role to play in this process. The feedback they provide, and formal engagement at Board level and through the scrutiny panel and resident consultative committees, helps to set our priorities. We appreciate that value for money should be considered in the context of meeting an organisation’s objectives. As such the Group is purposely structured to best deliver our mission “to deliver effective services, enterprising solutions and exemplary homes and communities”. Our commercial subsidiaries gift aid profits to the housing association. In doing so they help to support value added services that might not otherwise be delivered, at the same time as increasing affordable housing and regenerating communities. We have a detailed understanding of the financial and social returns on the Group’s assets, and assess the financial performance and sustainability of housing stock, so that alternative delivery options that potentially offer better value can be considered. The performance management systems we have in place help to drive value for money and foster a culture of continuous improvement. We regularly compare our costs and performance against others to identify where efficiencies could be found, or services improved. Our financial performance is sound and the Group take a prudent approach to managing finances and planning funding. We recently issued a further bond and have the funding in place to deliver our ambitious Corporate Strategy. We have responded positively to changes in the operating environment saving over £1.2 million from day to day operations and securing over £3.4 million from our development and regeneration activities through reduced costs and increased profitability. Through our procurement activity we strive to achieve value for money. £1.3m of savings are forecast over the next three years, which will be reinvested in new homes and front line services.
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