YHN Board meeting 22 September 2020

YHN Board Tuesday 22 September 2020 at 5.00 pm Meeting to be held via Microsoft Teams 0203 443 6279 Conference ID: 633 154 28#

Contact Officer: Andrew Baker-Daley

Email: Andrew.baker-daley@yhn.org.uk

AGENDA Page No 1.

Welcome and Apologies for Absence

2.

Declarations of Interests

3.

Chair's Items

To exclude the press and public during discussion of remaining agenda items because of the likely disclosure of confidential information. The definitions of what is considered confidential are contained within Section 16 of the Company’s Standing Orders.

Abri Trading Ltd. 4.

Minutes of 28 July 2020

1-2

5.

Action Log

3-4

Main Business Items 6.

Leazes Homes Partnership Offer

5 - 106

7.

Safe Living Update

107 - 114

8.

YHN Financial Strategy (Principles) - Presentation

9.

Finance Forecast and Budget Outline

115 - 120

10.

GDPR Compliance Progress Update

121 - 130

Your Homes Newcastle Limited. Registered in England and Wales Registration Number 5076256 Registered Office: Newcastle Civic Centre, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8PR. A company controlled by Newcastle City Council

11.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Update

131 - 152

Minutes/Forward Plan 12.

Minutes of 28 July 2020

153 - 158

13.

Confidential Minutes of 28 July 2020

159 - 162

14.

Action List (Public)

163 - 164

15.

Action List (Private)

165 - 166

16.

Forward Plan

167 - 168

17.

2021 Board and Committee Calendar

169 - 170

18.

Assurances from Subsidiaries 

19.

Asfaleia Limited 19th August

Assurances from Committees/Groups    

171 - 174

Health and Safety 18th August Finance and Performance 25th August Customer Service Committee 16th September (verbal) Group Audit and Risk 21st September (verbal)

20.

Petitions Monitoring

21.

Any Other Business

22.

Date and Time of Next Meeting

175 - 178

24 November 2020

2

Agenda Item 10

To be first for housing

Your Homes Newcastle Board 22 September 2020

TITLE

General Data Protection Regulation Compliance Progress Update

AUTHOR

Jill Davison - Assistant Director Business Support

COMPANY

Your Homes Newcastle

ACTION REQUIRED

For Discussion

SUMMARY

The purpose of this report is to provide Board with an update on our progress in year two of ensuring YHN is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 and Data Protection Act 2018.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

3. Strong business fit for today, ready for tomorrow

STRATEGIC RISK REGISTER

NUMBER & TITLE

SR5: Data Breach/Cyber Security Breach

LIKELIHOOD

3 (Moderate)

IMPACT

4 (High)

FINANCIAL / VALUE FOR MONEY IMPLICATIONS

Considerable financial implications would result from non-compliance.

CUSTOMER IMPACT / VIEWS

Customers rights have been strengthened as a result of the legislation however their views or consultation were not required to enact any changes.

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY CONSIDERATIONS

An Equality Impact assessment has been completed on the Data Protection Policy.

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Your Homes Newcastle General Data Protection Regulation Compliance Progress Update 1.

Purpose of report

1.1

This report provides Board with an update on the progress made to date towards ensuring organisational compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) since the last board report of July 2019.

Your Homes Newcastle has continued to review the use of personal data of its customers, suppliers, employees, workers and other third parties. Improving the processes for recording Data Incidents, Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests.

2.

Background information

2.1

Previous board update Board received a report and presentation on GDPR in July 2019 which provided an overview of Information Governance activity from March 2018 to July 2019.

2.2

Internal Audit An internal audit was carried out in May 2020 on YHNs information governance practices which received a moderate level of assurance. The audit’s outstanding recommendations are highlighted in the section 7 of this report.

2.3

Covid-19 Covid-19 has presented challenges with traditional ways of working and emphasised the importance of working in a more agile way. We had to completely change the way we operated in just a few short weeks, with a focus on enabling staff to work from home. The shift to home working presented challenges in relation to the physical working environment and the information security (physical and electronic) risk that this posed. To mitigate these challenges we worked jointly with NCC to develop a comprehensive communication campaign providing guidance and support for staff which covered information security, cyber security and best practice advise for protecting data whilst working from home.

The Information Governance team worked closely with the business to ensure that GDPR was at the forefront of any process changes and that the appropriate considerations and documentation was in place. Some examples of the work that the team were involved in during this period are;

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1. Technical restrictions; Microsoft Teams functionality was disabled to prevent downloading of documents to personal devices.

2. Collaborative work with the business; we worked on a number of projects with the business including voucher scheme, virtual viewings, contact centre remote working pilot.

3. Corporate communication systems; we implemented an approval process to ensure that the business understood the importance of utilising corporate systems (e.g. Teams) and that any other system requirements required a business case and Director approval. (e.g. third-party communication software Zoom, WhatsApp).

4. Communication channels; we worked with the business to enable virtual 1:1 sessions with customers and Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings.

Compliance monitoring; implemented a system to monitor staff compliance in relation to the Covid-19 Corporate Risk Assessment and staff guidance handbooks.

Whilst the pandemic is still affecting the lives of all of us, and the world adapts to many different ways of working, the increased risk of cyber crime and data incidents remains high. Organized crime groups are exploiting the fear, doubt and uncertainty which Covid-19 brings and are targeting individuals and businesses in many different ways.

In May, Group Audit & Risk Committee agreed to increase the risk rating of our strategic risk: Data Breach/Cyber Security Breach, to moderate likelihood and high impact (12) and we will remain with this level until the external threat is more significantly reduced.

3.

Current Position as of August 2020

3.1

The table below provides Board with an overview of additional key developments that we have undertaken since the last update:

Table A: GDPR actions July 2019 - to date Identified action

Status as of August 2020

Carry out comprehensive audit of data that is being physically stored and securely destroy all information for which there is no legitimate reason to retain.

Complete

Identify and procure a document management service for archiving and disposal of confidential waste.

Complete

Inbond contract drawn up and archives moved to their warehouse.

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Ensure all staff complete bespoke Year 2 Data Protection and Cyber Security e-learning modules (12 in total).

Complete

Launch a campaign to test organisational resilience to cyber-attacks etc. phishing.

Complete

Campaign launched and baseline established.

Ongoing resilience testing planned in line with training and awareness strategy.

Review all contracts, Data Sharing Agreements

Complete

Review and improve the way in which Freedom of Information Requests and Subject Access Requests are identified, recorded, processed and monitored.

Complete

Review and improve the way in which data security incidents and personal data breaches are identified, recorded, processed and monitored.

Complete

Procured a new supplier for confidential waste and extended contract to include Housing Plus, Leazes homes, YPS and L & D schemes.

Complete

Table B- Identified actions that have been started this year and are ongoing: Identified action

Target completion

Training workshops with customer facing business areas:

September 2019

Bespoke training session developed and delivered to Housing Plus and Ostara.

Housing services face to face sessions cancelled due to Covid. Virtual sessions planned for Autumn 2020

Status: Ongoing

Undertake a series of face to face good practice workshops with staff across the business to further embed new policies and processes

December 2019

Combined with training workshops above

Status: Ongoing

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Ensure all BCE and contact centre staff are compliant in GDPR awareness through completion of e-learning module.

August 2019

Contact Centre, BCE Managers and Operatives with AD accounts are fully compliant.

Complete

Approach implemented to ensure that new operatives complete training, linked with IT services issuing mobile devices so all operatives get training at point of issue.

Ongoing

Undertake privacy impact assessments on all data processed by new BCE and Contact Centre services (Internal Audit) Develop a more systematic approach to obtaining, recording and monitoring customer consent for use of personal data.

The IG team have worked with customer facing areas of the business to develop a consistent approach to obtain and manage consent.

March 2020 Status: Ongoing March 2020

Ongoing

The work needs to be further developed to enable effective management but has dependencies on the Data Management Strategy and technology.

Options appraisal for the procurement and implementation of a Document Management System This is being appraised as part of the corporate ICT Strategy.

Implement information protection tagging system to prevent accidental data loss The team have worked with NCC and appraised their current approach to Data Loss Prevention. It was assessed that this would not mitigate our risks.

We will continue to work with NCC to develop a new framework.

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March 2020

Ongoing March 2020

Ongoing

4.

Data Incidents and Breaches One of the key objectives of the Information Governance team over the past months has been building relationships with service areas, it is important that services understand our team are responsible for ensuring that appropriate policies and guidance are in place, but that we are also there in a supportive role and actively encourage services to report any concerns and work with us to come up with solutions.

Over the course of the last year our approach has provided the organisation with a clear central point of contact and the necessary information governance expertise to effectively manage incidents and breaches. We have further developed our systems to ensure a full audit trial which is an important part of the Accountability principle of GDPR. Importantly we are also better positioned to be able to gather the necessary insight in order to drive continuous improvement, lessons learnt and the way in which we manage personal data and reduce the risk of further data security incidents and personal data breaches occurring.

4.1

Reporting Analysis The information Governance team commenced records in January 2019. The reporting analysis is cumulative for the period January 2019 to July 2020 to reflect the current position to date.

The table below shows the numbers of data incidents and breaches reported per month. The analysis shows; •

Reports have averaged 3 per incidents

•

Reports increased in January 2020, this was due to retrospective reporting of incidents that took place during the last working days of December 2019. To mitigate this from happening again this year we have planned a comms campaign early December 2020.

•

During lockdown [April -June 2020] some services ceased operating, such as Choice Based Lettings, some services had limited access to ICT, staff were re-deployed, predominately welfare calls. The reporting reflects this change with only 3 incidents being reported during this period.

•

Reassuringly reporting has increased in July 2020 in line with services resuming which shows the services still have an awareness of information governance and recognize the importance of reporting.

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Reported Incidents and Breaches January 2019 to July 2020 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Reports

Average

The table below shows the number of data incidents since January 2019 to date and categorises the reporting. It should be noted that the reporting periods differ and are therefore not directly comparable. Future reports will come to Board in September each year and we will report on the period 1st August to 31st July to enable reporting periods to be aligned.

The analysis shows that 57% of incident reporting were classified as a data breach in Year 1, compared to 43% of reports being in year 2. This evidences that staff understand the importance of reporting and are more confident in reporting all incidents to the information governance team. We will continue to use to assess staff awareness and engagement with the information governance team.

Year 1

Year 2

(7-month period)

(12-month period)

1st Jan 2019 – 31st July 2019

1st August 2019 – 31st July 2020

Total number of data security incidents

28

35

Number of data security incidents confirmed as data breaches

16

15

Number of data breaches reportable to the ICO

1

0

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4.2

Lessons Learnt One of the key areas for the Information Governance team this year is facilitating formal lessons learnt sessions with the business. The sessions have been focussed around the key challenges that the individual service areas face, based on analysis of trends in incident and breach reporting. The three key areas that we have identified as Accidental sharing of information, loss of equipment/documents and disclosed in error.

This is an integral part in our journey to raise awareness of the importance of good governance and reiterating individuals’ responsibilities.

Embedding a Lessons Learnt culture will enable us to continuously learn from incidents and improve working practices. It also empowers staff to take ownership and inform the control measures.

During recent sessions, changes to process and procedures have been identified by the service areas themselves and implemented immediately, this results in a greater buy in from the service area as they are acting on their own solutions.

5.

Monitoring Organisational Awareness

5.1

We have developed a holistic approach to enable us to demonstrate staff compliance. The approach enables us to benchmark organisational awareness and monitor staff compliance.

• • •

Measuring adoption of data protection policies and pass rate for survey completion Phishing campaigns; provides insight into organisational vulnerabilities and staff actions relating to Phishing.

Monitoring compliance with mandatory e-learning GDPR and Cyber Security modules

6.

Collaboration with Newcastle City Council

6.1

Your Homes Newcastle have a shared Data Protection Officer (DPO) with Newcastle City Council. Our Governance and Implementation Team work very closely with the DPO, NCC’s Information Governance team and Legal. The teams have commenced joint weekly meetings which is a useful forum for sharing best practice, forward planning and to ensure we have a consistent corporate approach to GDPR.

7.

Priorities and Next Steps

7.1

In addition to the actions outlined in Section 3.1 (Table B) the Information Governance team have identified the following priorities; i. ii. iii. iv.

Board eLearning on GDPR The recruitment of an additional Information Governance Officer Review all YHN Privacy Notices Develop and implement cookie policy to support website build

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v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii.

Work collaboratively with NCC to appraise Data Loss Prevention options Implement technical measures to support the Information Security Policy Implement new confidential waste contract Support the Customer Service Directorate in relation to Records Retention and Disposal Work collaboratively with the business to support service reviews Continue to work with the business to implement secure by design business processes and solutions Continue to monitor compliance in relation to training and policy cascade Develop and implement annual communication plan in line with emerging priorities and risk themes Development and implement annual training plan in partnership with NCC

8.

Conclusion and recommendations

8.1

The substantial financial sanctions and reputation implications associated with GDPR non-compliance should ensure that all of the members of the Board and Executive Team recognise the importance of compliance and of the work and resources that YHN have deemed necessary to ensure this.

This report is intended to maintain awareness of the regulations and provide assurance on the on-going steps that YHN is taking to maintain compliance and deal with the increased risks due to Covid-19.

8.2

Board are recommended to receive the update on GDPR implementation and consider the information that has been provided.

Background Papers Internal Audit Report May 2020 Contact Officer: If you have any questions about this report that you would like clarifying before the meeting or would like more detail on any of the actions outlined in the report, you can contact Karen Hedley- Governance and Implementation Manager by email: karen.hedley@yhn.org.uk.

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Agenda Item 11

To be first for housing

Your Homes Newcastle Board 22 September 2020

TITLE

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Update

AUTHOR

Jill Davison, Assistant Director, Business Support

COMPANY

Your Homes Newcastle

ACTION REQUIRED

For Discussion

SUMMARY

This paper provides an update on YHN’s roles and responsibilities for EDI, the current EDI policy and practice, progress against our EDI strategic objectives and key actions and priorities for the coming year.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

1. Revolutionary services that support successful living 2. Amazing places where people are proud to live 3. Strong business fit for today, ready for tomorrow

STRATEGIC RISK REGISTER

NUMBER & TITLE

SR16: Failure to drive cultural change

LIKELIHOOD

3 (Moderate)

IMPACT

3 (Moderate)

FINANCIAL / VALUE FOR MONEY IMPLICATIONS

A number of the actions outlined e.g. training have cost implications. However, poor performance on EDI could breach legal and regulatory responsibilities and be detrimental to organisational reputation.

CUSTOMER IMPACT / VIEWS

Our EDI strategy and Policy were informed by consultation with customers and work with the Customer Service Committee

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY CONSIDERATIONS

EDI is the focus of this report.

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Your Homes Newcastle Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Update 1.

Purpose of report

1.1

This paper provides an update on: • • • •

roles and responsibilities for EDI at YHN; current EDI policy and practice at YHN; progress against our EDI strategic objectives; key actions and priorities for the coming year

2.

Our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) responsibilities

2.1

As a social housing provider, there are legal and regulatory requirements we must meet. All public authorities have a legal duty to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and give due regard to the following in the performance of all our functions: • • •

Eliminate discrimination Promote equality of opportunity Promote good relations between different groups of people.

At YHN, we want to comply with our legal and regulatory equality duties, not just because we have to, but because it is the right thing to do and is good for our organisation.

2.2

The Equality Act 2010 sets out nine groups of protected characteristics which are covered by equality legislation as highlighted in the table below: Age

Sex

Disability

Sexual orientation

Gender reassignment

Pregnancy and maternity

Religion or belief

Marriage and civil partnership (employment)

Race (including ethnic or national origin, colour, or nationality)

2.3

As set out in our EDI policy, EDI is the responsibility of everyone at YHN including our board members, leadership team, employees and others who represent us.

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Jill Davison, Assistant Director, Business Support is the Corporate Management Team (CMT) lead on EDI. The action plan is co-ordinated by the Policy and Innovation Team within Business Support.

Helen Neal, Assistant Director, Supported Services is the Corporate Management Team lead for working with our Staff Network Groups.

3.

EDI policy, strategy and plans

3.1

Performing well on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is essential to achieving our vision ‘to be first for housing’.

Our EDI commitments (see Appendix 1) are set out in our EDI Policy, which is supported by our EDI Strategy 2018-2021. In our EDI Strategy, we state that our overarching goal is to embed and sustain positive EDI practice throughout our business so that it is never an “add-on” but part of who we are and how we work. Our five equality objectives are: i.

To continue to develop our EDI culture through strong leadership, management and governance

ii. To make sure our services are convenient and easy to access iii. To understand our customers through richer data, which will help us make better decisions and re-shape service delivery iv. To recruit, retain and support a diverse, motivated and enabled workforce who reflect the communities we work with v. To support independent and successful living.

3.2

Our EDI Strategy is supported by an action plan. This is currently being reviewed and updated to reflect the impact of the pandemic and other recent events. The revised action plan will be agreed with Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and then reviewed and monitored by them quarterly.

3.3

We are also currently updating our People Strategy. EDI is an integral part of our vision for our people: “We want to have a diverse and inclusive YHN team known for our innovation, positive attitude and motivation to succeed. People feel valued and well supported at YHN throughout their entire employee journey with us.

Opportunities to progress and develop along the way, together with our commitment towards health and wellbeing, makes YHN an Amazing Place to Work”.

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4.

Our city, tenants and employees

4.1.

Understanding the diversity of our customers and employees helps us to shape services and ensure that we are meeting both customer and employee needs.

Appendix 2 shows a comparison of the diversity profile of our city, tenants and employees. The information displayed in the table shows that: • 44% tenants 1 are aged 55 years or over, compared to almost 25% of the city’s population. Nearly half the YHN workforce is aged over 45 • The percentage of customers (16.2%) who identify themselves as disabled is broadly consistent with percentage of Newcastle residents (18.8%) who said that day to day activities were limited a little or a lot, in the 2011 census. It is possible that disability is under-recorded in the tenant demographic information we hold, as in a recent customer survey, almost 40% customers identified themselves as having a disability. Disabled people are under-represented in the YHN workforce (only 5.4% of employees identify themselves as disabled) • The gender split of the city is close to 50:50. We have more female than male tenants (61.1% are female). Substantially more women (57%) than men work for YHN • In the 2011 census, 81.9% of Newcastle residents identified themselves as White British (with 3.6% from Other White groups). 77.3% of tenants identify themselves as ‘White British’ (with 3.1% from ‘Other White groups’). 86.5% of employees identify as White British (with a further 1.8% from Other White groups) • In the 2011 census, after White residents, Asian/Asian British residents made up the next largest percentage of the city’s population at 9.7%.

Asian/Asian British tenants are under-represented amongst YHN customers at 4.4% • Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities (BAME) communities are under-represented in the YHN workforce (6.8%) compared to the tenant base (11.8%) and the population of the city (14.5%). However we do not have ethnicity recorded for almost 5% staff and almost 8% tenants • The percentage of tenants who identify themselves as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual (1.1%) and the percentage of the YHN workforce who identify themselves as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or other (2.5%) is lower than national estimates (5-7%)

Demographic information is only recorded for the lead tenant in each household, rather than for all household members.

1

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5.

EDI objectives: current position, key priorities and actions Our EDI Strategy 2018-2021 sets out our five strategic objectives. For each objective, we have set out the current position, key priorities and actions.

5.1

Equality objective 1: To continue to develop our EDI culture through strong leadership, management and governance Current position We are embedding EDI into YHN’s culture through: Visibility of diversity issues and support from the leadership team: •

Tina Drury has given several presentations about her experience of being a female social housing leader at Women in Social Housing (WISH events) and led YHN’s participation in Pride Events.

Encouraging conversation about EDI: •

During ‘My Conversations’, managers ask their team members, ‘Are you able to be yourself at work’ to start to explore any concerns about inclusivity, dignity and respect or barriers in the workplace.

•

As part of their induction, new starters are required to undertake mandatory E&D e-learning including Trans and LGB awareness, equality in the workplace and disability discrimination and read key policies including the EDI, domestic abuse and dignity and respect at work policies.

Supporting community initiatives: •

The Community Investment Fund was launched in July 2018 and committed £100,000 annually to supporting local groups and projects.

In the first two years of its operation, a total of 27 projects have been funded providing support for groups with protected characteristics. The projects ranged from alleviating social isolation in older people to developing life skills to improving the fitness and wellbeing of young people.

•

A Community Spirit fund of £10k was launched in partnership with Ideal Boilers to support local projects and charities to respond to the pandemic. Projects, which received up to £250, benefit groups with protected characteristics, including children and young people, older people and BAME groups.

•

YHN has sponsored events at the Pride Festival and a category at this year’s Glass Slipper awards celebrating inspirational women.

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Supporting wellbeing and mental health issues: The Health and Wellbeing Staff Group, chaired by Jen Vinton, Customer Services Director, drives forward the health and wellbeing agenda.

Comprehensive support, available to staff on mental health, includes: • staff blogs • signatory to Mindful Employer Charter • member of Mindful Employer Plus - a 24/7 helpline where employees can speak to a trained advisor about difficulties with work or their personal life • Contact support colleagues – informal and impartial support and guidance to help people find solutions to home and work problems • Mental health first aiders – trained YHN employees who can discuss the mental health of a fellow staff member • Health assured – a confidential 24-hour counselling service for all employees to discuss any issues including financial difficulties, relationship problems and health and wellbeing concerns • Relate counselling service – to support the physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing of staff.

Networks and learning:

5.2

•

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and were in the Stonewall Top 100 Employers Workplace Equality Index (WEI) for 10 years to 2019.

We decided to pause submission to the WEI as we wanted to focus our effects across the whole equality agenda in the short term.

•

We are a member of the Housing Quality Network (HQN) Equality and Diversity Network to enable access to additional expertise, good practice and case law.

Key priorities and actions in relation to Equality Objective 1 Our priorities for the coming year include: a) Further increasing the visibility of CLT in demonstrating support for EDI issues across all protected characteristics by: i) CLT attending staff network group meetings to listen to staff views ii) CLT reviewing action plan progress every quarter. iii) Raising the profile of EDI issues through working with the staff network groups to ensure a regular programme of communications, campaigns and events across all protected characteristics. b) Presenting an annual report to Board on our EDI performance. c) Undertaking a self-assessment of our EDI strategy and action plans against an industry recognised benchmark by December 2021 with a view to seeking external accreditation after this.

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d) Delivering training on EDI to Board and Customer Service Committee.

6.

Equality objective 2: Make sure our services are convenient and easy to access

6.1

Current position We are making sure we are easy to do business with through: EDI training: •

Equality and diversity training is delivered both via e-learning on the Learning Management System (LMS) and face-to-face. All EDI courses are mandatory including, Equality in the workplace, LGB Awareness, Trans Awareness and Disability Discrimination

•

Additional training on EDI is commissioned in line with need. This has included delivery of face-to-face transgender awareness sessions to managers by StonewalI and unconscious bias training.

•

First Impressions ICS training: As part of YHN’s move towards ICS accreditation, First Impressions Training has been delivered to frontline customer service employees and will continue to be rolled-out across the business over coming months. Within the course content, the attendees explore what great service may look like from customer to customer, ensuring their individual needs, aspirations and expectations are considered.

Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs): •

Equality Impact Assessments are a key stage of policy and strategy development and service development. Members of the Policy and Innovation Team have received both internal and external EIA training so that they can facilitate EIAs and support the rest of the business to undertake these

•

YHN’s EIA toolkit was updated in August 2020 to reflect the latest best practice

•

In addition to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act, we follow recognised good practice and consider the impact on different socio-economic groups as many of our tenants experience challenges related to low income and financial inclusion.

•

EIAs will be integrated into the forthcoming programmes of post-covid service reviews being led by Assistant Directors.

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6.2

Key priorities and actions relating to Equality Objective 2: Our priorities for the coming year include to: a) Work with staff network groups to review and develop EDI training at YHN including: i.

Ensuring LMS e-learning is current and there are no gaps

ii. Considering introducing additional face-to-face training to enhance our EDI e-learning offer iii. Working with the Show Racism the Red Card charity to deliver antidiscrimination training across the business. b) Continue to develop and ensure the implementation of a systematic programme of EIAs, when new policies/services are developed or reviewed/changed, to ensure equality and fairness in relation to all protected characteristics. c) Develop a dedicated practical EDI support section on the intranet to provide advice and support to staff including guidance on interpretation and translation and an updated EDI staff handbook.

7.

Strategic objective 3: To understand our customers through richer data, which will help us make better decisions and re-shape service delivery

7.1

Current position Covid-19 pandemic: We know that there are certain factors that have contributed to some groups, with protected characteristics, being at greater risk of contracting the virus than others including: • People with a pre-existing medical condition - Office of National Statistics reported that there was a pre-existing condition in 91% of deaths from COVID-19 from March to June this year.

• Ethnicity - The PHE ‘Disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19 report found that people from Black ethnic groups were most likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19, and death rates from COVID-19 were highest among people of Black and Asian ethnic groups.

• Sex - Office of National Statistics reported a higher death rate of men than women from the virus, with just over 65 deaths recorded per 100,000 men compared to just over 43 deaths per 100,000 women.

• Disability - The Women and Equalities Committee survey showed that 94% of disabled respondents reported an impact on them due to their disability.

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• Socio-economic status – PHE’s report ‘Disparities in the risk and outcome of COVID-19' reported that mortality rates from the virus in the most deprived areas of the UK were more than double those in the least deprived areas.

Further studies are underway to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on groups with protected characteristics. We can use these findings going forward to understand more about the impact of the virus on our customers and help tailor the services we provide in the post Covid-19 world.

There are many examples of where we have shaped our pandemic response to meet the needs of groups with protected characteristics.

These include: •

We made over 26,000 welfare calls to customers including:  older people (aged 55+ living in general needs accommodation)  customers who were shielding  Ostara customers  customers living in Learning Disability schemes  customers at risk of/ongoing cases relating to domestic violence  other customers with a vulnerability flag on our system

•

Developed several initiatives during lockdown in partnership with NCC via Get Online Newcastle to digitally enable customers from different equality groups

•

Bespoke communication materials developed for use with Learning Disability schemes and tenants where English is not their first language, to ensure residents were able to stay safe and reduce social isolation during the pandemic

•

MARAC meetings (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference) meetings, where agencies talk about the risk of future harm to people experiencing domestic abuse, were moved from fortnightly to weekly to accommodate increased number of Domestic Violence cases during lockdown. Welfare calls made to victims following Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) guidance and each case risk assessed to determine further action required.

Further information about how our pandemic response has been shaped by the needs of our customers can be seen at Appendix 3.

Think Big and the Customer Experience Strategy: The Customer Experience Strategy will outline our aspirations to deliver a great customer experience by understanding what matters to our customers and how we will empower all of our staff to deliver it The Customer Service Committee are leading a co-creation project underpinning YHN’s ambition to achieve ICS Servicemark accreditation.

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Utilising external support, CSC will ask for customer and staff views on a series of topics before working with YHN to design, improve and target services better around customers’ changing needs and aspirations.

Insight from Think Big will inform the Customer Experience strategy. The strategy will help define excellent customer service, how YHN will achieve it and how our customer service needs to take account of individual need.

Customer Service Survey: We have conducted an in-depth consultation with customers who use YHN Customer Services including Leaseholders and Leazes Homes tenants to find out what impact Covid-19 has had on them. The survey included questions on changes to services during the pandemic and asks for feedback on how we can adapt our services to better support customers in the future. The survey is currently being analysed and will help understand how the pandemic has impacted differently on different groups of customers.

7.2

Key priorities and actions relating to strategic objective 3: Our priorities for the coming year include to: (i) Use the results of the Customer Service Survey to inform service reviews and equality impact assessments to help ensure that the needs of customers from groups with protected characteristics are met. (ii) Carry out an audit of data collection in relation to protected characteristics across the organisation and identify any gaps. (iii) Use information from Think Big to inform the Customer Experience Strategy and ensure the strategy is aligned with our EDI policy and strategy.

8.

Equality objective 4: To recruit, retain and support a diverse, motivated and enabled workforce who reflect the communities we work with

8.1

Current position Gender Pay Gap: Gender Pay Gap reporting was introduced in 2017 to measure the difference in average hourly earnings between men and women. (Gender pay gap is not the same as equal pay). In 2019, YHN’s gender pay gap results were: Mean pay

Women’s mean hourly rate is 5.6% higher than men’s

Median pay

Women’s median hourly rate is 17% higher than men’s

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At this time 54% of YHN’s workforce was female and 46% was male.

This is very different to the picture nationwide, where based on median hourly pay, women earned 17.3% less than men.

Ethnicity Pay Gap: Unlike Gender Pay Gap Reporting, Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting is not a legal requirement. However, support for the Black Lives Matter movement has pushed this up the national agenda. Equality and Human Rights Commission Chair, David Isaac, said in June 2020 that significant progress could be made in improving equality if businesses published, and acted upon, the difference in pay between ethnic groups.

One of the major barriers to reporting on the average pay of different ethnic groups, nationally, has been identified as the lack of available data.

This is particularly due to employees’ reluctance to provide their ethnicity data because of concerns around confidentiality and how it would be used.

Recruitment and retention: We have a number of measures in place to support the recruitment and retention of a representative workforce including: •

a job evaluation process that ensures we have a transparent means of paying staff regardless of gender.

•

use gender balanced interview panels where possible.

•

a wide range of flexible working options to enable our employees to achieve a balance between their home and working life.

•

we are a ‘disability confident’ employer (the successor to the ‘two ticks scheme’). We guarantee to interview applicants who meet the essential criteria for vacancies if they have a disability and provide reasonable adjustments to disabled applicants at all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

•

Your Homes Your Jobs (YHYJ): This programme employs between 30 and 40 Your Homes Your Jobs recruits and has been very successful in recruiting a diverse intake. Recruits generally come from a broad range of age groups and are also ethnically more diverse than the workforce as a whole: in 2019/20 72% identified their ethnicity as White British, 6% as ‘white other’ and 22% from ‘other ethnic groups’.

Steps are also being taken to increase the diversity of YHN apprentices. Our apprentices tend to be less diverse in age and ethnicity than with YHYJ recruits , and male apprentices outnumber female apprentices by 2:1.

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•

Palatine Beds: At least 70% of full time employees has a disability and Palatine work to help disabled people gain and maintain employment, recruiting new employees through the YHYJ programme, working with other organisations. The Palatine workforce worked through most of lockdown to deliver a MOD contract, with new working arrangements in place to ensure a Covid-19 secure workplace.

Staff Network Groups: YHN supports three staff network groups: •

Proud@YHN – formed out of previous LGBT and ally groups.

Proud@YHN aims to promote a work environment where LGBT+ employees feel supported and valued.

•

Multicultural Staff Network Group (MCSNG) – Under the leadership of two new co-chairs, the group is starting to plan future activities. The aim of MCSNG is to take the lead to promote multicultural awareness within YHN and the communities we serve.

•

vis-Able Staff Network Group- represents colleagues living and working with a disability. vis-Able hasn’t met for more than two years; however before lockdown, there were discussions about restarting the group and we are now looking at how the group can best be relaunched.

As an organisation, the staff network groups are really valuable to us because they: •

Help promote a diverse, inclusive and representative workforce

•

Can raise awareness of issues/identify areas that need action that affect either our workforce or our customers helping to generate ideas and solutions Provide expertise to the organisation and act as a consultation group for both policies and practice e.g. the network groups provided input on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Strategy in 2018. They have also commented on the new Employee Code of Conduct and more recently an E&D training module.

•

Each group receives £1000 funding per year to spend on their priorities.

HIVE staff surveys: Hive supports timely staff engagement through regular pulse surveys.

During lockdown, we carried out a survey to find out about the impact of COVID-19 on our staff to identify issues and ensure staff knew how to access appropriate support. The results have been used to inform the interim People Strategy. Directorate and service specific concerns have also been picked-up and responded to. We are planning the next survey for October which will focus on equalities.

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8.2

Key priorities and actions relating to Equality Objective 4: Our priorities for the coming year include to: 1. Undertake further analysis of recruitment and selection data to identify any potential barriers to recruiting a more diverse workforce.

2. Further develop and support the Staff Network Groups, including the relaunch of vis-Able.

3. Carry out a HIVE survey to explore staff perceptions of EDI at YHN and work with staff network groups to explore the findings.

4. Explore whether YHN can gather the relevant data to produce an ethnicity pay gap report.

5. Explore how we can work towards a more representative workforce that reflects our local communities.

9.

Equality Objective 5: To support independent and successful living

9.1

Current position Our Housing Plus Service has worked with the Housing LIN (Learning and Improvement Network) to develop our Housing Plus vision. Housing LIN produced a report called, “An evidence base and plan for support and housing services for older people” and we used this independent report to draft our housing plus vision and action plan. This was approved by Asfaleia board last year. We are also working with Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Northumbria University to facilitate an innovative approach to diversifying our offer to meet a range of needs.

Throughout the pandemic, YHN has supported independent and successful living in many ways including: • YHN worked in partnership with Newcastle City Council to set up an Emergency Lettings Panel (ELP) to provide direct-lets to those in priority need during lockdown. We launched the Complex Needs Panel (CNP) in June when restrictions were lifted and ELP ceased to operate to focus on lettings and allocations where people have tried all other routes to access housing. The CNP has already been very successful in tackling very complex cases and providing innovative solutions that may not have been explored before.

• We continued to deliver a range of homelessness services during the pandemic and support residents to move-on from supported and temporary accommodation into YHN tenancies.

• We continued to open new schemes for vulnerable customers including those with a learning disability and with mental health issues during the

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pandemic including two in July and a further two in August. Three more are due in September/October. • We doubled storage space provided to Fare Share food poverty charity to enable more food parcels to be dispatched to very vulnerable customers. • We provided support to customers struggling with finances including budgeting support on managing essential household bills and emergency gas and electric meter top ups.

Immigration advice permissions are in place to deliver advice to our EEA national tenants. We have applied for funding to deliver a project over the next 6 months to ensure that all our EU tenants can successfully apply for their pre or settled status and secure their long term future to live and work legally in the UK. 9.2

Key priorities and actions relating to Equality Objective 5: Our priorities for the coming year include: i. HousingPlus offer: We will continue to turn the HousingPlus vision into practice as we reshape our services so that customers can focus on living their lives to the full. ii. Homelessness Prevention offer: We will continue our work to produce and publish our homelessness prevention offer that will support the City Council’s aspirations to end rough sleeping and homelessness through systems change and proactive partnership

10.

Recommendations

10.1

Board are recommended to: a) Receive this EDI update and note the progress being made; b) Endorse the key priorities and actions, set out in this report, which will guide our EDI work over coming months; c) Continue to monitor progress on EDI through receiving an annual report; d) Commit to undertaking EDI e-learning

Contact Officer: If you have any questions about this report that you would like clarifying before the meeting, you can contact Helen Bell by email: helen.bell@yhn.org.uk

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Appendices Appendix 1. YHN’s EDI commitments (as set out in the EDI policy) Our commitments We want to be an organisation where Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is part of who we are and how we work. We will: •

treat everybody fairly, with dignity and respect

•

be tolerant, understanding and not judge others comply with our legal and regulatory equality duties, not just because we have to but because it is the right thing to do and good for our organisation

•

take strong action against discrimination, bullying, harassment and hate crime and provide support to customers and staff who experience it

•

deliver appropriate, accessible and responsive services

•

get to know our customers so we can shape services to meet their needs

•

build an inclusive and supportive workplace where every-one can bring their whole self to work and succeed in being their best

•

consider how the decisions we make impact on equality, diversity and inclusion

•

promote equality, diversity and inclusion with our customers, suppliers, partners and other organisations who we work with.

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Appendix 2: Table comparing diversity of the workforce with our customer base and the population of the city.

Age

Newcastle upon Tyne

YHN Tenants*

YHN Staff

19 yrs and under: 23.3% 20 - 24 13.2% 25 - 34 17.1% 35 - 44 10.8% 45 - 54 10.8% 55-64 10.3% 65+ 14.5%

Under 18 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

0.1% 3.2% 14.4% 18.8% 19.5% 19.0% 25.0%

16-24 25-44 45-64 65-74

5.8% 46.6% 46.3% 1.3%

Female Male Unknown

61.1% 38.8% 0.1%

Female Male Prefer not to say Prefer to self-describe

57.0% 42.3% 0.4% 0.3%

Source: ONS population mid- year estimates 2019

Gender

Female Male

49.4% 50.6%

Source: ONS population mid- year estimates 2019

Ethnicity

White 85.5% (White British 81.9%) (Other White backgrounds 3.6%) Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups 1.6% Asian/Asian British 9.7% Black/African/ Caribbean/ Black British 1.8% Any other ethnic groups 1.5%

White 80.4% (White British 77.3%) (Other White backgrounds 3.1%) Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups 1.0% Asian/Asian British 4.4% Black/African/ Caribbean/ Black British 4.0% Any other ethnic groups 2.4% Does not wish to say 1.2% Not known 6.6%

White (White British (Other White backgrounds Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups

Heterosexual/ straight Bisexual Gay man Gay woman Prefer not to say Unknown

Heterosexual/ Straight Bisexual Gay man Gay woman Prefer not to say None declared Other

88.4% 86.5%) 1.8%)

1.3%

Asian/Asian British Black/African/ Caribbean/ Black British Any other ethnic groups Does not wish to say Not known

3.3% 1.8% 0.4% 0.3% 4.5%

Source: 2011 Census

LGB+

5-7%

Source: Government estimate.

Stonewall suggest that this is an underestimate

Trans

Not known

Not known

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54.9% 0.5% 0.5% 0.1% 10.5% 33.5%

80.1% 0.5% 0.8% 0.9% 5.5% 11.7% 0.3%

Disability

Day to day activities limited a lot or a little: 18.8%

Yes No Not known

16.2% 83.1% 0.7%

Yes No None declared Prefer not to say

5.4% 91.0% 3.0% 0.6%

Christian No religion Not known Prefer not to say Buddhist Hindu Jewish Muslim Sikh Other

38.0% 21.6% 29.2% 5.0%

Christian No religion None declared Prefer not to say Unknown Buddhist Jewish Muslim Sikh Other

49.0% 36.0% 1.2% 4.2% 5.5% 0.3% 0.1% 2.4% 0.3% 1.0%

Source: 2011 Census

Religion/ belief

Christian No religion Religion not stated Buddhist Hindu Jewish Muslim Sikh Other religion

56.4% 28.3% 6.3% 0.6% 1.1% 0.2% 6.3% 0.4% 0.3%

Source: 2011 Census

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0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 4.4% 0.1% 1.3%

Appendix 3: Response to the pandemic

Protected Support provided by YHN during pandemic characteristic Age

• Welfare calls made to all older customers (aged 55+), older customers with flag of known vulnerability and shielding customers prioritised • Onward referrals made to Citylife Line, Adult Social Care and other agencies to support customer needs • Housing Plus Officers taken out of extra care and sheltered schemes to minimise contact. Mobile team created and daily welfare calls implemented to reduce social isolation • Regular updates provided to customers living in sheltered and extra care schemes including signage on 2m spacing, advice on communal area use and FAQ • Engagement activities organised including VE day packs, singers and mobile library • Continuation of emergency lettings into sheltered and extra care housing.

Race/Ethnicity • Posters produced for high-rise blocks and social media posts also shared in different languages • Website containing information about the pandemic available via RECITE translation

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Disability

• Staff remained in place at Learning Disability (LD) schemes to enable continuity and maintain the same level of support for residents • Easy read posters created by communications team to support customers with a cognitive impairment to understand the local and national changes applicable to them • 25 FAQ documents created by communications team for use by Support and Progression and Housing Plus staff on changes affecting customers living in supported housing schemes • Computer tablets purchased for residents in LD schemes in conjunction with Leazes Homes to digitally enable residents and use for contact with family • Opened two new schemes during pandemic (Belmont Court and Eastgarth) – further five due to be opened in August • Engagement activities organised for LD schemes including Easter quizzes, art and craft activities • Activity booklet created for residents in LD schemes filled with memory puzzles, tips on keeping fit and active, art and craft ideas all designed to be done whilst following social distancing guidelines • Guides produced for staff on working from different locations during the pandemic including the importance of maintaining positive mental health and wellbeing • Information made available on YHN Intranet and via staff briefings on support available including 24-hour counselling service, Relate counselling service, Occupational Health support and Employee Financial Assistance programme

Sex

• MARAC meetings moved from fortnightly to weekly to accommodate increased number of cases (71 active cases as at 23 March, 224 active cases as at end of July) • More streamlined process implemented to move victims quickly via ELP • Welfare calls made to all known victims following DAHA guidance issued during lockdown. Three reasonable attempts made to contact victim via email or telephone. Level of risk assessed over the phone – where high scores were achieved we then worked closely with Police and partner agencies to minimise risk • Where victims were assessed as low/medium risk they were offered a referral to Newcastle Integrated Domestic Abuse Service (NIDAS) including refuge and outreach support • Several surveys have identified that during the pandemic child care, home schooling and other caring responsibilities have fallen disproportionately on women. The suspension of flexitime

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and other flexible working arrangement have provided support to staff • As women are more likely than men to have been furloughed or lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, YHN’s support on benefit advice and financial inclusion has been particularly valuable to women Religion and • Food parcels tailored to meet culture of communities living in cultural needs West End of Newcastle (successful bid via Community Spirit Fund) Sexual orientation Homeless people

Financially vulnerable/in poverty

• Staff took part in a sponsored virtual 5K hosted by the Northern Frontrunners, as part of Pride, to raise money for Rainbow Home, a charity who work with LGBT asylum seekers • ELP used to support 88 residents to move on from supported accommodation into YHN tenancies and free up spaces so noone was left on the streets • Continued to deliver Young Person’s Direct Access Hostel, Young Person’s Supported Accommodation, Beechgrove scheme (vulnerable customers move-on from supported accommodation) and Housing First project • Set up hostel from scratch as a nightingale project. In two weeks furnished and carpeted 26 flats and identified and trained staff to work on the scheme • Mobilised staff to process newly granted refugees through ELP and newly formed complex needs panel when restrictions were eased, and government advice changed. Worked with 65 newly granted refugees and prevented them from presenting as homeless • Worked with NCC around a few very complex cases involving homeless people and found a solution by involving other agencies to provide additional support • Support provided to Universal Credit claimants (over 20% increase in claims compared to same time last year) • Budgeting support on managing essential household bills and emergency gas and electric top ups provided • Welfare calls made to all leaseholders and if no contact could be made, follow up letter sent offering support. Additional time provided to customers struggling to pay service charges.

Signposted to financial inclusion team where additional support required.

• Doubled storage space provided to Fare Share food poverty charity to enable more food parcels to be stored and dispatched to vulnerable residents.

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Other vulnerable groups

• North East Ambulance service contract continued throughout pandemic. Full PPE supplied to staff from start of lockdown and staffing levels maintained. All requests for support were met. • Accommodated three asylum seeker families via sub-leasing arrangements with NCC (cannot usually support asylum seekers as they have no recourse to public funds).

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Agenda Item 12

YHN Board 28 July 2020 (5:05pm – 6:45pm) Present: L Blakey, A Cuthbertson, L Docherty (from item 747), T Gates (Chair), L Hobson, G Kane, K Lowry (from item 747), J McCarty (Vice-Chair), H Simpson, B Tebay In attendance: A Baker-Daley J Davison T Drury D Langhorne G van Enk-Bones J Vinton

Governance Officer Company Secretary/Assistant Director Business Support Managing Director (from item 748) Assets and Development Director Interim Finance Director Customer Services Director

A Senior

Head of Fairer Housing Unit, Newcastle City Council

745

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from S Copley, M Page and P Scope.

746

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

The Chair indicated that L Docherty and K Lowry will have an interest in the report relating to their re-appointment, as a such will leave the meeting temporarily whilst other members consider the recommendations.

747

CHAIRS ITEMS (PUBLIC)

Order of business The Chair reminded members of a discussion at the away day regarding the order in which the Board consider confidential and non-confidential items.

More substantive items are considered at the start of the meeting, such as Abri Trading, as time allocated to these have been questioned previously. The Chair asked members for their views on keeping the current approach or keeping report types together, whilst also considering the challenge on why items are protected, whether content can be reviewed that would allow a report to be made non-

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confidential. However, there will be reports that will always be protected due to their sensitive content.

G Kane expanded on the query from the last meeting; at NCC meetings the general approach is that items are discussed in public unless they really can’t be, and as a body providing a public sector role it seems to question the perception of openness.

In addition, for those who are NCC members talking to tenants and leaseholders about issues, it would be easy to know what can be shared freely and what can’t, that it could be made easier by keeping non confidential reports together, that it functions well at NCC. J McCarty noted that one of the reasons why the agenda is structured as it is currently is because previously crucial areas of the business were placed at the end of the agenda and sometimes didn’t get an adequate level of scrutiny and challenge from members. Whilst it has worked for NCC, a lot of YHN reports are commercially sensitive and would feel rushed if at the end of the agenda. One of the reasons Board took the decision to change the order some years ago was to try and prioritise areas of importance. Whilst it might mean sometimes changing from confidential to non-confidential reports, it is about the priority of work considered by Board.

The Chair acknowledged the balance in the effective running of business whilst maintaining openness and transparency, asking if members had any further comment.

J Davison, in response to G Kane’s comment on what can be discussed with tenants and leaseholders, advised that non-confidential versions of the Board papers are published on the YHN website.

The Chair suggested that the report order be kept in mind for future agenda planning with Executive Team.

2nd June away day and board meeting feedback The Chair thanked members for their comments and input at both meetings, and for their feedback received afterward, which was clear that members felt that the day worked well. The Chair suggested a facilitated session in the future to continue getting to know each other and engage in team building exercises as it is felt that the Board are currently at this stage. The Chair will consider this further and update members in due course.

There was also a desire from members for the Board to create more time to consider strategic issues, such as splitting into two groups to discuss a topic each, however the downside was that the Board has to re-convene and feedback to each other, which takes more time. With that in mind, for the meeting today, the Chair has asked the Executive Team to give shorter introductions to their reports by highlighting key points for discussion.

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Board member appraisals Appraisals have now completed, and members have done well to contribute in light of the virtual format. Learning opportunities have been identified with members, and it is clear that the Board are engaged, motivated and skilled. They are keen to achieve a lot more for YHN but also acknowledge that YHN has achieved a lot as well. Some themes of interest have emerged, including strategic issues on housing and policy, greater visibility of the customer voice, equality and diversity, safeguarding and sustainability.

The Chair has asked officers to consider his own appraisal.

Conferences and events The Chair asked members to consider the list circulated by email last week and to inform A Baker-Daley of their interests so these can be co-ordinated.

Chairs meetings The Chair acknowledged comments from members that the information provided following the weekly and now fortnightly chairs meeting has been useful. The meetings have helped chairs support the Executive Team but to also gain assurances on the impact and response to Covid-19. In moving to the next phase of resuming services, the chairs group will likely change. The Chair would like to continue the format but on a less frequent basis, as it provides a good sounding board for the Managing Director, and an opportunity to inform chairs of strategic challenges, but stressed that it is not a platform to make decisions on behalf of the Board.

748

HEALTH AND SAFETY ANNUAL REPORT

D Langhorne presented the annual report, which gave a summary of health and safety performance during 2019/20, adding that the Health and Safety Committee review these matters in more detail quarterly.

Key highlights of the report included: • • •

•

A downward trend in accidents Training has had a positive impact on manual handling Near misses has increased, though still viewed as a low number across BCE. There is a focus on near misses as it is through reporting that something can be done to help avoid further potential accidents in future. Further training will be undertaken with BCE to raise awareness A summary of compliance in areas of health and safety against legislation and measures taken. This is also subject to NCC scrutiny

B Tebay noted that a meeting of the Health and Safety Committee is scheduled for 5th August, which will give a high level of scrutiny, adding that it would be good to look into outstanding fire risk assessment actions further.

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J McCarty commended the approach to gas servicing in both compliance and preventative work, asking that thanks be passed on to the team.

RESOLVED – that the report was received and information noted.

749

MODERN SLAVERY STATEMENT

D Langhorne introduced the report, which sought Board approval of the Modern Slavery Statement covering the 2019/20 financial year. The Statement gives assurance YHN is committed to addressing the issue of modern slavery. It has been further developed through work with NCC procurement to develop a combined Modern Slavery Policy and Concept of Operations.

RESOLVED – that the Board approved the Statement, will be signed by the Chair in due course and published on the YHN public site.

750

GOVERNANCE ISSUES

L Docherty and K Lowry left the meeting temporarily.

J Davison presented the report, which set out recommendations given by the Remuneration and Nominations Committee on re-appointments and appointments, the annual appointment of the Vice Chair, and outlined current committee memberships.

B Tebay highlighted the intention to hold the vacancy that will arise from H Simpson’s retirement, asking if it is likely this will be taken by a potential group member. The Chair replied that in part it is, but to maintain flexibility.

A Cuthbertson asked in what format the last skills audit was presented, to which the Chair replied that members completed a self-assessment against a skills matrix.

Remuneration and Nominations Committee feel that it is now time to revisit skill sets to identify what will be required for upcoming challenges in support of Destination 2022. J Davison added that the matrix was completed as part of the 2016/17 governance review completed with consultants Campbell Tickell, though the format of the next skills audit members will complete is open to discussion.

The Chair explained the Vice Chair appointment process and asked members interested in the position to self-nominate. J McCarty was proposed, to which there were no further nominations, and unanimous agreement received from members.

The Chair commented that during appraisals there were some requests from members to change committees. It is proposed that changes aren’t made until later in the year, once a skills audit has been completed. However, Group Audit and Risk Committee has been without a chair following the retirement of Richard Clark, and Stephen Bramwell will also retire next month following the dissolution of Asfaleia. It was therefore being proposed that current member K Lowry is appointed as Chair, and in being appointed as Co-optee, Dennis Hall would join the committee. He will be able to support the Committee with his experience of audit. If appointed, Dennis has agreed to serve on the Committee in addition to Health and Safety Committee.

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This would be reviewed later in the year during the aforementioned review of membership across all committees.

A Cuthbertson queried the position of Vice Chairs across committees, to which the Chair and J Davison commented that there are some vacancies due to the recent changes in Board membership, and that it is a decision left to committees themselves to appoint to the position. During the annual review of their terms of reference, the committees could also review this subject - ACTION. RESOLVED – that the Board: • • • • • • • • •

Approved the re-appointment of K Lowry as independent member for a threeyear term; Approved the re-appointment of M Page as independent member for a threeyear term; Approved the re-appointment of L Docherty as co-optee for a one-year term; Approved the re-appointment of J McCarty as Vice Chair for a one-year term; Agreed to maintain an independent vacancy pending group structure discussions and an updated skills audit of the current Board membership Noted the update on committee memberships; Approved the appointment of K Lowry as Chair of Group Audit and Risk Committee; Approved the appointment of D Hall as co-optee for a one-year term and for their appointment to Group Audit and Risk Committee; Agreed committees would consider Vice Chair positions during review of their terms of references.

L Docherty and K Lowry returned to the meeting.

751

MINUTES OF 19 MAY 2020

The minutes of the Board meeting held on 19 May were agreed as a true correct and would be signed by the Chair in due course.

752

MINUTES OF 2 JUNE 2020

The minutes of the Board meeting held on 2 June were agreed as a true correct and would be signed by the Chair in due course.

753

FORWARD PLAN

The Chair noted that confidential items are indicated within the plan, but the order in which these and non-confidential items are presented would be continually reviewed.

RESOLVED – that the forward plan was received for information.

754

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

H Simpson took the opportunity to say thank you and farewell to members and officers, she joined the Board three years ago during a transition period where a

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governance review had completed and the Board were moving to a skills based membership. She appreciated the work of Steve Bramwell as Chair of Asfaleia, adding that as the society closes there is a positive in that the wider Board will get to see the fantastic work of the services it monitored. She enjoyed working together with officers and prior chairs on strategy working groups, adding that she is moving on to a different role in social housing.

On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked H Simpson for the support she had given personally and to other members, giving well wishes for her new role. J McCarty added that H Simpson was appointed for her digital skills background, and upon reflection it has turned out to be an important area of development over the years.

The Chair gave thanks to the corporate team for their work in helping the Board continue their work since March, providing digital solutions to meet deadlines and schedules. He added that for future meetings, it is intended that the September Board could be the last virtual meeting, that later in the year conditions may hopefully allow physical meetings to be more likely.

Meeting ended 6:45pm

…………………………..

T Gates Chair 22 September 2020

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YHN Board 22 September 2020 Action Log (Public) Minute ref.

Action required

28 July 2020 750 Committees to consider appointing Vice Chairs

By whom

Target date for completion

Current status

As soon as practicable

December 2020

Complete - Agenda item for November committee meetings

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Agenda Item 14

YHN Board Forward Plan 2020 Meeting 24 November 2020 Purpose Approval

Confidential? ×

Report Author Interim Finance Director

Risk Update

Approval



Interim Finance Director

Financial Strategy

Approval

×

Interim Finance Director

Health and Safety Policy

Approval

×

Assets and Development Director

Housing Investment Update

Discussion



Assets and Development Director

Proposed Newcastle City Council HRA Rent Amendment 2021/2022

Approval



Interim Finance Director

Financial Regulations Update

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Approval

×

Interim Finance Director

Group Governance Handbook Update

Approval

×

Assistant Director Business Support

Committee Memberships

Approval

×

Assistant Director Business Support

Assurances from Committees/Groups: • Customer Service 16th September • Group Audit and Risk 21st September • Property Group 28th October • Finance and Performance 3rd November • Health and Safety 4th November • Group Audit and Risk 12th November

Discussion



N/A

Discussion



Finance & Commercial Director

ABRI TRADING Abri Trading – Business Activity Update

Agenda Item 16

Report Name Annual Report and Financial Statements

Agenda Item 17 Board and Committee Calendar 2021 Month

Date

Meeting

Timing

January

26

YHN Board

5-7pm

February

2 9 18

Health and Safety Committee Finance and Performance Committee Group Audit and Risk Committee

5-7pm 5-7pm 5-7pm

March

10 23

Customer Service Committee YHN Board

5:30-7pm 5-7pm

May

5 11 18 20

Health and Safety Committee Finance and Performance Committee YHN Board Group Audit and Risk Committee

5-7pm 5-7pm 5-7pm 5-7pm

June

1 16

YHN Away Day Customer Service Committee

10am – 5pm 5:30-7pm

July

8 27

Group Audit and Risk Committee YHN Board

5-7pm 5-7pm

August

4 24

Health and Safety Committee Finance and Performance Committee

5-7pm 5-7pm

September

21 22 5-9

YHN Board Customer Service Committee Customer Service Week

5-7pm 5:30-7pm

November

2 3 11 23

Finance and Performance Committee Health and Safety Committee Group Audit and Risk Committee YHN Board

5-7pm 5-7pm 5-7pm 5-7pm

December

7

Board Away Day

10am – 5pm

April

October

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