Annual Report
2012/13 #notjusthousing
Message from the Chair
Elaine Ballard, Chief Executive Taff Annual Report 2012/13
Hi Elaine, It’s that time of the year again when we need to do our annual report to go out to all our Tenants, shareholders and the other organisations we work with. I don’t want it to be boring, so can you come up with something that tells people about all our achievements in a bit of a fun way? The Board are really pleased with the work you’ve done to help Tenants with the new benefits system and the number of new homes we’ve built. And managing the finances to create such a healthy surplus has been a fantastic achievement, which keeps the Regulator happy! What we’re most impressed with, though, is how all the services are shaped by listening to our customers – keep it up! Anyway, let me know if you can come up with something a bit different – we do want people to read it after all! Message from the Chief Executive
Jane Pagler, Chair re: Taff Annual Report 2012/13
Thanks for those kind words! I was thinking the same thing – it’s no good doing an annual report if no-one reads it. I like your thoughts on how we listen to our customers, so how about a theme around conversations? For me, talking to people regularly, listening to what they have to say, and then acting on it, is what makes Taff special. So how about we use a ‘social media’ theme – over the last year we’ve really stepped up the amount of info we circulate through Twitter, Facebook and our website? I’d like to include some highlights like retaining our IIP Gold status, the feedback from our Stakeholder Survey, and some of the awards we’ve been nominated for. Then there’s the whole ‘new business’ thing – we’ve worked really hard to prepare for launching our new Lettings Agency, ‘Adore’. And we’ve almost smashed our 5 year target for getting people on a ‘jobs journey’ in year one! Ok, I’ll get writing!
Want to know ho w we’ve done in the first year of our 5 year Business Plan #n otjusthousing? Read all about it here….
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Taff Housing Association
1279 homes • 2894 residents • 170 staff • • • •
Housing Association since 1975 Provider of Choice Partner of Choice Employer of Choice
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Highlights
Taff Housing Association 5 minutes ago
Taff Housing Association 10 minutes ago
Quality Street
Stakeholder Survey
100% of our homes now meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard! 428 kitchens have been renewed, 615 showers installed, new windows and doors have been fitted to 370 properties, with over £2.5m spent on other works; the final piece of the jigsaw is now complete, with every home having a shed for storage.
We regularly ask the people and organisations who work with us already, as well as potential future partners, to tell us what they think about us and the work we do. We were absolutely delighted when the results revealed that we are seen as ‘innovative, flexible, collaborative and inclusive’ while our staff were described as ‘friendly, approachable, competent, caring and conscientious, as well as sensitive to the needs of the people they provide services for.’ In addition, every single respondent rated our reputation as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.
‘I want to say a big thank you to the maintenance team for fitting my kitchen perfectly. Dave did a professional job and Kevin the electrician was a really hard worker.’
Commitment to our Community Taff continues to invest in our local community – this year we have supplied much needed kits for local football team the Canton Rangers, as well as forging a partnership with Tribal Basketball to create a new community team for young people. We also provide informal school holiday activities for local children and young people, including Circus Skills coaching, Play Aloud street sessions, and the ever popular Dr Bike workshops. 3
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Outcome One
Elaine Ballard 35 minutes ago
Taff Housing Association 56 minutes ago
Taff Journey Star
We can see clearly now…
Our Customer Investment Team has designed an easy to use tool for Tenants to map their involvement journey with us, right from their first activity. This journey star will help us see which activities are offering the most benefit, which new activities might be beneficial, and where we can make improvements to our Customer Involvement programme. We’ve begun rolling this out to our Tenants and within the next few months we will have enough data to inform our planning in this area.
Ty^ Enfys had all its windows replaced, meaning savings on energy bills and very happy residents – here’s one of them!
Like • Comment • Share 1 tenant likes this news very much
We’re listening…
90 Tenants contributed to our Service Charge review and from next year will benefit from reduced charges without any significant difference in service levels. Photo tag: Taff Journey Star
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656 tenants were better off
1000 tenants like this
Outcome One
Our Customers will be nefit from cost effect ive and quality services.
Action plan: Establish a benchmar k for getting things ‘R ight First Time’ and agree target in co nsultation with Tenant s. Consult Tenants on wh y they feel Service Ch arges are not value for money, and determine and implem ent changes. Continue involving Cu stomers to help us refin e our priorities, influence ou r service design and fe edback on our improvement activities. A plan to manage fall in grant income. 4
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Jane Pagler 2 hours ago
Taff Housing Association 5 hours ago
Maintenance Survey 2012
Another Award!
Our Tenant Inspector Team conducted a survey of our maintenance service, and out of the 246 responses received, the overwhelming majority were positive about the services received from Taff and our Contractors. We received some lovely comments, including:
The quality of our communications was recognised by the judges at the Community Housing Public Relations Awards! The huge amount of regeneration work that went into transforming derelict allotment plots was promoted in the South Wales Echo, Housing publications, and in the Tenants’ magazine Talkabout. Staff members Leon Williams and Steve Dixon were presented with an award for Successful Partnerships by Pippa Davies, and were congratulated on the way this work had been widely recognised and promoted.
“Your usual maintenance team are all lovely, kind, efficient and professional.” “Thank goodness I am a Taff Tenant – thanks for all you have done over the years.” “Taff responded professionally and quickly.” “Having GKR on board has helped raise your standards – a big thank you.” “Very good high standard.”
Right First Time!
“Always have tenants’ needs uppermost in mind.”
We’ve improved and streamlined our repairs systems so that 97.76% are Right First Time!
“Quick and efficient, friendly and polite.”
Like • Comment • Share 101 tenants like this
The survey also highlighted some useful pointers as to how we can improve our service even more, including reviewing our maintenance evaluation system and offering support for people who find it difficult to communicate their maintenance needs by telephone. We will make sure this useful feedback helps us keep our Maintenance service absolutely the best it can be.
Taff Housing Association 11 hours ago
Recognition!
We were delighted to be shortlisted for Best Small Landlord at the UK Housing Awards in March!
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Outcome Two
Elaine Ballard 12 hours ago
Taff Housing Association 14 hours ago
But it’s ‘not just housing’….
We want to give our Tenants the confidence and the tools to enjoy life to its full potential, and the added value activities we offer are key to this. Last year 427 Tenants attended an activity provided by Taff – up from 397 in the previous year. Small steps in engaging with activities lead to big changes in people’s lives; this year we worked with a Tenant who didn’t have the confidence to leave their house; through gradually attending Taff activities with a support worker, this developed their confidence and skills, and they now have a job.
Jobs journeys
We’d hoped that over 5 years, we’d help around 500 people take steps on their individual journeys to eventual employment. At the end of year one, we were at 486 and counting! We were able to help people in lots of different ways, but one project that we are especially proud of is Our Business, run in conjunction with Gofal and three other Housing Associations, which helped 15 Taff Tenants take steps towards becoming employed. We also host regular work placements and volunteering opportunities within Taff.
Energy savings
We have installed Voltage Maximisation Devices at Ty^ Haul and Ty^ Seren, which are reaping rewards in lower electricity bills; we will continue to test and roll out energy saving initiatives so that our Tenants can continue to benefit from lower bills. Photo tag: Knitters & Natters Group Photo tag: Battle of the Bills/Welfare Day 656 tenants were better off
Outcome Two
ancial and personal
omic, fin Our Customers’ econ will be improved.
Action plan:
potential
and t a co-ordinated Jobs Create and implemen Training Strategy s nefits advice for Tenant Be e ar elf W ed et rg ta Provide gs devices range of energy savin a st te to s nt na Te th Work wi of measuring e framework capable om tc ou an of t en m Develop es of our support work om tc ou l ba glo or all er ov mmunity er involvement and co om st Cu of ion at inu nt d Co ese have economic an th e er wh s itie tiv ac t developmen financial benefit 6
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Taff Housing Association 19 hours ago
Taff Housing Association 16 hours ago
Eats, shoots and leaves
Help with Benefits
Our Allotment Working Group have done amazing things with their once derelict plot of land – food has been grown, cooked, eaten and pickled, and more and more tenants are expressing an interest in getting involved and learning to grow their own food.
There have been massive changes to welfare benefits this year, and it has been a real challenge to make sure everyone knows how they will be affected. We’ve worked closely with Community Housing Cymru on the ‘Your Benefits are Changing’ campaign; we’ve also held events including the BME Housing Information Day, Battle of the Bills Day and Welfare on the Web Day. Our Benefits Adviser has given individual advice to 150 Tenants, as compared to 110 the previous year, and 67 people were better off. In addition, an amazing 656 support clients were better off as a result of our intervention, by an average of £616 per year.
Taff Housing Association 17 hours ago
A helping hand
Our Support Service helps Customers to take control of their circumstances, and to put into place strategies for coping with day to day life. As a result of our support, income was increased by an average of £15.70 a week, and debt was reduced by an average £261, per Customer, while 94% of people said that they felt more confident, and able to carry on without further support.
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Jane Pagler 22 hours ago
Energy efficiency
The more energy efficient our properties are, the more money our Tenants save. This is measured using a tool called SAP – and we were aiming for 95% of our properties to have a SAP rating of 65+. We’re delighted to say that we’ve achieved this for 99.67% of our properties! Like • Comment • Share 1 tenant likes this
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Outcome Three
Looking after the pennies…
Elaine Ballard 23 hours ago
We also managed to maintain our ratio of debt funding – put simply, this means we can continue to benefit from existing favourable interest rate agreements. We also continued to review our suppliers to ensure we get the best deal possible on everything we purchase, from teabags to training courses.
New Builds
We completed 39 new homes, including the high spec development at Cwrt Treganna; but we didn’t stop there – two further schemes were started during the year, including one at Picton Place where we worked closely with the Council to regenerate unused land right in the heart of Canton.
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Taff Housing Association 24 hours ago
Keeping it local
We aim to make sure that at least 30% of labour used on each development is from the local area – for this year our figure was 80%!
Photo tag: Opening of Cwrt Treganna
Outcome Th
ree
People in Ca rdiff, in hous ing need, wil increased su l benefit from pply of socia an l housing.
Action pla Providing 38
Providing 16
n:
new homes supported ho
using bedspa ces Creating a su rplus of at lea st £900K to fu extra develop nd ments
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Adaptability
Taff Housing Association 32 hours ago
Thanks to a £71K grant from the Welsh Government we adapted 15 properties to make them into suitable homes for Tenants with specific needs.
Homes for those who need them
We plan to house 500 additional people over the five years of our plan; we have made significant inroads by providing 121 units of accommodation for 345 people. Half of these properties were let to people who were at direct and immediate risk of becoming homeless.
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Taff Housing Association 2 days ago
Downsizing, not downgrading
18 months ago, we identified 200 Tenants who needed to downsize, and have been working closely with them to help this happen. So far we have helped over 60 people move to smaller properties, meaning a more manageable rent bill for them, and freeing up other larger properties for those in housing need.
Jane Pagler 37 hours ago
We’ve surpassed our surplus!
Our surplus for the year was £1.323 million, against a target of £900,000. This was achieved by disposing of properties which are no longer suitable for our Tenants’ needs, and a programme of careful budgetary management by the Finance team. This means we have more money available to take advantage of land deals as they arise, so we can build more homes for people who need them.
Avoiding the voids…
We have reduced void periods from 23 days to under 18, meaning that properties are available more quickly. Like • Comment • Share 20 tenants like this
Our homes are at the heart of what we do
We are happy to say that 98% of new Tenants feel safe in their new homes, and 99% of new Tenants are satisfied with where they are living. Like • Comment • Share 99% of tenants like where they are living
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Outcome Four
Taff Housing Association 5 days ago
Elaine Ballard 3 days ago
Build a Business
Forging links
Our Build a Business project has taken the place of the planned Head of Business Growth position. The project has drawn on expertise from a wide range of sources to develop our first commercial venture, Adore Cardiff. Projected to be in profit within three years, Adore will enable Taff to continue to invest in added value services for our Tenants.
Towards the end of the 2011-2012 financial year, we created a Business Development post, with the remit of seeking out existing funding opportunities, and creating partnerships for future income generating projects. 2012-2013 saw the forging of strong links with organisations in Wales and further afield; as a result, excellent progress was made on a major partnership bid for the Big Lottery, and several other projects are now coming to fruition as a result of our investment in this post. Taff Housing Association 5 days ago
Strong foundations for the new financial landscape
We have created opportunities from the changes we are faced with. Less money for local councils means they will have less to spend on Support Services, so it’s important the money goes where it’s most needed. Taff will play a key part in the Regional Collaborative Committee for Cardiff and the Vale, giving us a significant input into the planning process for new services and developments.
Like • Comment • Share Photo tag: Elaine Ballard with new Adore signage
It’s a PASS!
The Welsh Government Housing Directorate judged Taff as a PASS in their Financial Viability Judgement – this is the highest rating it is possible to achieve, and shows that Taff is considered to be a sustainable and sound business.
Outcome Four
Our Customers will benefit from a growth in our business.
Action plan: Appointment of a Head of Business Growth Developing a strategic approach to funding opportunities Development of a plan to manage the impact of redistribution, real cuts and new commissioning arrangements for Supporting People funding. 10
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Arrears down
Jane Pagler 7 days ago
By offering targeted advice to Tenants struggling with overdue rent, we have managed to bring the total arrears due to Taff down by 36%. This means a healthier financial position and less worry for individual Tenants, as well as meaning Taff can divert more funds into doing what we do best – creating homes and opportunities for local people!
Team work works!
We have brought Gas Servicing in house, and developed a new way of working with our contractors, offering Tenants a ‘one-stop’ service for repairs and maintenance. This is a much more efficient way of working, leading to significant and ongoing cost savings – helping to make sure Taff remains a sustainable business for the future.
Taff Housing Association 2 weeks ago
Lean Machine
Our Corporate Services Team have been busy this year, streamlining anything that moves! By moving away from paper based board papers to administrating them electronically, and issuing basic Tablet computers to all the Board Members and Leadership Team, we have saved over £2,500 in year one, with a predicted ongoing saving of over £7,000 per annum. Our recruitment process is now completely online as is our training and development administration, staff monitoring information and personal details – savings in these areas mean that we can invest in more services for Tenants and residents.
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Training and development
Continuing to place a strong emphasis on training and development means that our staff remain well equipped to meet the challenges of their jobs, despite the changes to the financial and commissioning landscape within the Housing Sector. During 2012 – 2013, 741 training sessions were delivered to our staff and board members, covering everything from Child Protection to Tenancy Law.
Combatting Cuts
Though there was an unavoidable cut in our grant from Cardiff County Council, resulting in the loss of two posts, we managed to redeploy existing team members to avoid redundancy costs. Like • Comment • Share 1000 tenants like this Elaine Ballard 1 month ago
Sustainability
We undertook a major job evaluation and salary review exercise this year, which puts us in a strong position to be able to maintain our current levels of staffing. As part of this process, we also ensured that all members of staff are paid at least a Living Wage. 11
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Taff Housing Association 5 months ago
Equality and Diversity
We are continuing to take active steps to ensure that all our Customers benefit equally from our opportunities. Our Equality and Diversity Day was a brilliant opportunity to engage with minority groups, and Taff’s specially appointed Diversity Champions have built on this, supporting various groups including most recently the Taff Pride Group and the Disability Awareness Group. We now undertake impact assessments on all our policies and events to ensure that minority groups benefit equally. We continue to be Stonewall Champions and Positive about Disability, and are actively working with the BME contact group to develop further links with the BME community.
Jane Pagler 3 months ago
Welsh Language Scheme
Comments, compliments and complaints
We are committed to embedding the Welsh Language into our relevant activities, and encouraging and supporting staff who wish to increase their proficiency, and we have enshrined this commitment in our Welsh Language Scheme. Following our most recent Tenant Profiling exercise, we know that 7 of our Tenants speak Welsh, with two people choosing to receive correspondence in Welsh, and we have fulfilled these requests with letters, emails and phone conversations with these Tenants. Two developments have been given Welsh names – including Cwrt Treganna, and all permanent signs erected during this year were fully bilingual. We will be undertaking a further Tenant Profiling exercise during the next year and will be asking for further information about the Welsh Language skills and requirements of our Customers this year. We continue to meet all the relevant requirements for the scheme, and have not received any complaints about its operation. You can find out more details from our annual monitoring report to the Welsh Language Commissioner, which is published on our website or available by emailing info@ taffhousing.co.uk.
We received 31 informal complaints and 14 formal complaints; these were responded to within an average of 3.2 days, and all were resolved at the first stage of the complaints procedure, with none being referred to the Ombudsman. We also received 30 formal compliments, as well as many more informal messages of thanks and appreciation for our staff. Elaine Ballard 7 months ago
Staff
Our staff are at the heart of everything we do, and we know how much they are valued by our Customers. We value them too, and we work hard to make sure that Taff is a brilliant place to work, so we were delighted to hear, following a rigorous re-assessment, that we had retained the prestigious Investors in People Gold Award in November – the first organisation in Wales to win this for the second time!
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Message to Tenants, Customers and Stakeholders, from Elaine and Jane We hope the last few pages have given you a flavour of some of the hard work that’s been going on here at Taff during the last 12 months, and how our activities have contributed towards us completing our Action Plan for year 1 of our 5 Year Business Plan. The good news is that despite some unprecedented external financial challenges, we are ahead of where we hoped to be at this point, thanks to the hard work of our team of staff and volunteers, our partners, and of course the contribution of many Tenants who continue to help us shape our services for the future. Before you turn over the page to see a summary of our Performance Indicators and our Annual Accounts, here’s a few of our favourite photos from the last twelve months. We hope you like them – and if you want to see more throughout the coming year, as well as keep up with the latest news, why not join us on twitter.com/taffhousing, facebook.com/taffhousing or flickr.com/taffhousing
Michelle Davis added photos to Taff Housing 2013 |
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