leadership
viability
customers
growth
support
VALUE FOR MONEY
STRATEGY 2016 - 2020
mission
vision
values
Homes people choose
Pride Passion Respect Innovation Teamwork
Deliver quality homes, build communities & improve lives
MA CD O C LD NA OURT
In delivering our vision, we expect to achieve a number of key outcomes: Provide a choice of good quality homes and services. Deliver excellent services tailored to the needs of individual residents, with additional support for those who need it. Support the development of vibrant, sustainable communities. Continue to provide new homes, working within financial constraints.
corporate objectives From the Corporate Strategy 2016-2020
The key corporate objectives we are seeking to contribute towards in this strategy are: • Achieve sustainable growth from the delivery of new homes and new forms of home ownership • Maintain financial strength and resilience • Deliver efficiency through value for money through innovation in all we do to maximise financial capacity for reinvestment in services and new homes.
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WOOD REGEN R ER E A SH
ON TI
Value for money strategy improve efficiency, adopt a more technology based approach to service delivery, move to self-service transactions where possible, eliminate processes that cannot be justified on a cost/benefit basis and make best use of our assets.
Our governance and financial viability remain This strategy sets out our value for money strong, as demonstrated by the In-Depth approach, definition, objectives and high level Assessment carried out by the HCA in 2016 in actions we will take to improve value for money which we retained the highest ratings of G1 and V1 over the next four years. for governance and financial viability respectively. Our Corporate Strategy 2016-2020 outlines the We remain a relatively low cost organisation rapidly changing landscape for social housing compared to other housing associations as and the challenges we will face in coming years.
confirmed by analysis1 produced by the HCA,
These challenges include the reduction in social which showed that our overall cost per social rents, welfare reforms, changes brought about by housing unit in 2014/15 was in the lowest 25% of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and changes housing associations. to the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) Regulatory Framework, which places far greater In producing this strategy we have consulted with emphasis on value for money. our customers on their priorities and have ensured that these are reflected in the strategy. Key themes In order to meet the many challenges ahead of were ensuring services are delivered ‘right first us we know we will need to improve efficiency, time’, improving communication and continuing to produce cost savings and continue to deliver good develop online services. quality core services to our customers. We will therefore review all aspects of our activity in order to
1Delivering Better Value for Money: Understanding Differences in Unit Costs –Technical Regression Report, Homes and Communities Agency, June 2016
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How we define value for money At Town & Country we define value for money as “producing as much social, financial and environmental value as possible from the resources we use in order to deliver quality homes and services, in neighbourhoods people choose, with the ultimate goal of improving lives.�
Our social objectives include providing good quality, affordable homes and providing appropriate support to those who are most vulnerable in our homes. We also provide social value to the wider community through our programme of learning, skills and employment activities, health and wellbeing and financial inclusion.
Our framework to help us achieve value for money consists of the following strands:
Service review and improvement
Resident scrutiny Business planning
Understanding costs and benchmarking
Value for Money
Performance management
Social value activities
Efficiencies and targets
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Return on Assets Procurement
Objectives and High Level Actions:
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objectiv e Use new technology to deliver efficiency in the way we work
Targets & actions • Rationalise our computer systems in line with the Information Communication Technology Strategy in order to reduce running costs, increase reliability and improve service quality through increased integration. Ensure that our systems support effective and efficient remote access working. • Maximise online transactions by improving our customer self-service systems and ensuring they fully integrate with our other computer systems. Increase the number of customers registered on My Home Online to 30% by March 2018 (21% of customers were registered as of August 2016). • Work jointly with our contractors to use information technology such as handheld devices and customer self-service to improve efficiency.
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2
e j b o ctiv e
Deliver social and environmental value by providing good quality homes and services and supporting the wider community.
Targets & actions • Develop a tenancy sustainability strategy which targets our support towards helping tenants maintain their tenancy, including dealing with the impact of the welfare reforms in line with the Welfare Reform Policy and managing ‘high risk’ tenancies (e.g. where there are mental illness or addiction issues). • Continue to have an effective response to fuel poverty by achieving the SAP2 targets for our homes as set out in the Asset Management Strategy, particularly focussing on the worst performing properties. • Meet the targets set out in the Foundation business plan for leveraging in external funding to help organisations with community development initiatives and reduce the Foundation’s reliance on income from Town & Country. • Train residents in digital skills and internet access. 2
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The Standard Assessment procedure (SAP) is a measure of energy efficiency in buildings
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objectiv e
Review structures, processes and systems to ensure they deliver efficient and effective services to customers.
Targets & actions • Reduce our operating cost per unit in real terms each year to achieve our business plan position. • Implement the service redesign programme in order to move to more efficient and cost-effective service delivery methods. • Benchmark our costs and services against a new benchmarking group following the sale of the Bromley stock and carry out efficiency reviews, focussing on areas that compare less favourably with the peer group. • Continue working with the Resident Scrutiny Panel to improve the quality of services, communication and value for money. • Utilise our Joint Venture Partner, Countrywise, to deliver all general maintenance responsive repairs from April 2017 and develop their capacity to deliver planned and major works. • Identify the potential for partnerships with others to share costs and add value.
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4
objectiv e
Use procurement opportunities to review delivery methods, service standards and costs.
Targets & actions • By March 2020 review all contracts and re-procure where appropriate with the aim of ensuring there is no cost increase in cash terms compared to existing contracts (this may involve examining potential trade-offs between quality and cost). • Formalise our approach to delivering social value through procurement, including understanding any trade-offs between costs and social value and how these should be dealt with. Ensure that all social value arising from new contracts is quantified and tracked. • For all procurement carried out ensure that the service specification is updated to include a focus on customer satisfaction and suppliers are provided with TCHG’s Code of Conduct for Contractors.
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e j b o ctiv e
Optimise the future return on assets by proactively managing our assets.
Targets & actions • Dispose of homes that fail to meet the criteria in our Asset Management Strategy such as homes with a low SAP rating where this cannot be addressed cost-effectively. Use surpluses created to build more homes and to fund priorities such as investing in energy improvements within our existing homes. • Review all garage sites, including examining opportunity costs in terms of potential redevelopment or sale. • Continue to refine our return on assets information by using open market valuations to identify the opportunity costs associated with individual properties in order to inform asset management decisions.
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leadership
viability
customers
growth
support Monitoring arrangements The objectives and high-level actions will be used to produce a detailed action plan, which will be monitored at an operational level by the Value for Money Group consisting of senior managers. The Board, Investment and Finance Committee and the Executive Management Team will monitor progress in meeting the objectives and high-level actions. The Value for Money Board Champion will continue to be the main point of contact at Board level on value for money issues. Monson House Monson Way Tunbridge Wells Kent TN1 1LQ 01892 501480 www.tchg.org.uk