Yhn business strategy 2016 2020 by Your Homes Newcastle

YHN Business Strategy 2016-2020

Who are we? Your Homes Newcastle manages 30,000 tenancies – Council and Registered Providers – across the city. We help customers find and keep homes, improve the city’s housing stock and services and we enable our customers to sustain their tenancies by providing a range of specialist support services. In October 2015 we established a new group structure with two new subsidiaries, Asfaleia Limited charitable subsidiary and Abri Trading Limited which is our trading subsidiary. This new group structure enables us to operate in the most tax efficient way, make the best use of our financial resources and better reflects the breadth of activity we carry out.

YHN Group structure:

YHN LIMITED (Parent) ABRI TRADING LIMITED (Subsidiary)

ASFALEIA LIMITED (Subsidiary)

What are we here to do? In developing this strategy we have taken the opportunity to reflect on what our purpose is. Our ethos remains the same but our purpose has been re-defined: Our purpose “Delivering great services, enabling people to thrive in great communities, supporting a great city”

Where do we want to get to by 2020? Our vision for 2020: “We will be high performing, innovative and focussed on providing quality housing management and support services. We will make the money deliver across everything we do while continuing to create positive outcomes for our customers”

The road ahead The world we operate in has changed a lot since we were established in 2004. The economy is in recovery but the pressure to reduce public spending remains. Our parent organisation Newcastle City Council (NCC) has already lost £191 million as a result of government cuts and unfunded cost pressures like inflation and rising energy costs (£1,567 for every household in Newcastle). We anticipate that NCC will need to reduce costs by a further £100 million over the next three years. This pressure is compounded by the government requirement on social landlords to reduce social rents by 1% for each of the next four years. This will mean a reduction of income into the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) of £593m over the next 30 years. Welfare Reform and the introduction of Universal Credit pose a further threat to income from rent, and the Housing and Planning Act will bring significant changes to social housing. Planned changes include an extended Right to Buy, the end of lifetime tenancies and the sale of high value council housing. From April 2016 we have a new ten year management agreement with NCC. This enables us to plan for the future and gives us a great opportunity to continue to deliver NCC’s housing services. However, given the financial pressures NCC faces, the management fee we will receive has been reduced to reflect the reduced income into the HRA. This will mean we have to innovate and transform our organisation so we can continue to deliver our vision. More than ever before we will need to make sure the money delivers; spending money where the need is greatest and focusing on services where we know it will make the biggest

difference. We must continue to build and strengthen our already excellent relationship with our key shareholder NCC, and work collaboratively with other partners to help the city achieve their key objectives in an incredibly challenging financial climate. We may need to make some difficult decisions along the way and be prepared to re-direct resources to ensure the best possible outcomes from the services that we provide on behalf of our landlords.

About this strategy The environment we operate in is constantly changing, so this strategy must be able to adapt to changes as they happen. It sets out where we want to be by 2020 based on what we know now. We will need to revisit our plans on a regular basis so they continue to reflect their environment. Every year we will publish an annual Delivery Plan which will set out how we plan to implement this strategy in the subsequent year.

Our 2016-2020 objectives We have categorised these into service and cross cutting objectives.

What we need to do: our service objectives This sets out what we need to do to ensure continued delivery of our core services and deliver our purpose. There is a particular focus on ensuring we are able to continue to comply with the conditions set out in the management agreements we hold with NCC, Leazes Homes and Byker Community Trust (BCT).

Our three service objectives are: 

Keep the housing stock decent, and neighbourhoods clean and safe

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Collect the rent and let properties efficiently

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Promote health and wellbeing and support vulnerable people to enjoy independence

How we will work: our cross cutting objectives We know we need to make some significant changes to the way we work. These six objectives will guide the way we do things over the next four years. They are fundamental to achieving our vision.

We will: 

Use modern technology and innovation to challenge and redefine service delivery

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Achieve efficiency at every level and direct resources to where they are needed most

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Have high performing people who understand how to contribute to our purpose

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Trade profitably and appropriately to support core services

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Work proactively with NCC and our other landlords

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Maximise partnerships to improve services

What our performance will look like in 2020 This sets out what we need to do to ensure continued delivery of our core services and deliver our purpose. There is a particular focus on ensuring we are able to continue to comply with the conditions set out in the management agreements we hold with NCC, Leazes Homes and Byker Community Trust (BCT).

We aim to be in the top quartile compared to our peers in the sector for the following: 

Rent loss due to empty properties (voids) as a percentage of rent due

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Amount spent on void reinstatement costs

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Overall management cost per property managed

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Rent collected as a percentage of rent due

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Percentage of dwellings that are non-decent at the end of the year

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Tenant satisfaction with overall housing services

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Tenant satisfaction with neighbourhood as a place to live

We also aim to improve our performance in the following areas:  Year on year increase in the proportion of Your Homes Your Jobs placements and apprentices that progress into employment, education or training  Maintain current tenancy sustainment levels for vulnerable tenants receiving support  Growth in daily internet use among Council tenants above national trend every year  Year on year increase in Abri Trading Limited profits as per the statutory accounts before gift aid payments

Service Objective 1 - Keep the housing stock decent and neighbourhoods clean and safe We rely on the rent we collect to carry out repairs and maintenance and invest in the housing stock and maintain surrounding estates. Investment ensures stock is able to meet the needs of the population of Newcastle and is sustainable, desirable and can continue to generate money in the future. The 1% rent reduction represents a loss of income of £593m in the HRA over the next 30 years. This reduces the money available to develop new homes and to invest in maintaining and improving the properties and the estates that we manage. As well as our commitment to maintaining the Decent Homes Standard we need to ensure we continue to provide investment to meet our landlords’ statutory responsibilities, such as gas servicing, fire safety, lift refurbishment and other health and safety issues. We will need to continue to seek external funding to ensure we maximise the money which is available to invest in the stock. Tenants have told us that the condition and appearance of the estates surrounding their homes is very important to them. It plays a major role in creating sustainable and cohesive communities where people want to live. Tenants and prospective tenants, like all of us, want to live in clean and safe neighbourhoods. Assumptions we have made  Repairs and Maintenance service delivered by NCC will continue beyond March 2016  Reducing fuel poverty will continue to be important to us  Land availability/contamination will mean fewer opportunities to build

Challenges we face  Low demand for some property types, particularly high rise flats  Reduction in HRA budget (capital and revenue)  Lower rents will mean payback will be difficult on some new developments  Changing demand for stock  Potential increase in anti-social behaviour case-load due to current economic conditions  More limitations on Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) grant  Unknown impact of Housing and Planning Act changes (e.g. sale of high value voids)  Average SAP rating lower than other similar organisations

By 2020:

Housing stock and neighbourhoods will be well maintained, sustainable, desirable and continue to generate money for the HRA

We will achieve this by:  Implementing our Asset Management Plan  Using performance management, benchmarking and market testing to ensure that our repairs and maintenance service and estate services contracts, deliver quality customer focussed outcomes and value for money  Flexing our programme of planned works to respond to changing circumstances and priorities  Empowering residents to contribute to improving their local areas  Delivering a more streamlined and efficient response to dealing with anti-social behaviour  Recommending a capital programme to NCC on an annual basis. Outcomes we will achieve:  The homes we manage are maintained to decency standard  We will deliver against the priorities most important to tenants  We make it possible for people to enjoy where they live  The appearance and reputation of council housing is improved How we will measure success: We will work towards improving our performance so we are top quartile compared with similar organisations in the following areas:  Percentage of dwellings that are non-decent at the end of the year  Tenant satisfaction with their neighbourhood as a place to live  Average SAP rating of housing stock

Service Objective 2 - Collect the rent and let properties efficiently Welfare Reform represents the biggest shake up in welfare for over 60 years, changing the way in which benefits are allocated and administered. The introduction of a new ‘bedroom tax’ has already had a considerable impact. Many of the tenants who are under-occupying their homes have had to move to a smaller property or are waiting to do so because they can’t afford to stay. Universal Credit (UC) will bring further challenges. Unlike Housing Benefit, UC is paid directly to claimants who are then responsible for making their rent payments to their landlord. This is a huge change for us and tenants, as currently around 65% * of tenants have some or all of their rent paid directly through Housing Benefit. It is having a negative impact on rental collection from tenants that are now claiming UC, and is pushing more of them into financial hardship. It presents further challenges for many tenants who are financially excluded without access to bank accounts. We have taken sustained intensive action to counteract the impact of the changes but this will be more challenging as more tenants switch onto UC. Alongside this challenge, the housing needs of the local population are evolving and some of the stock is not sustainable or desirable in its current state. Demand for good quality family and older person’s accommodation is stable, but we will need to continue to seek creative and cost effective ways to align available stock with what people need and can afford. The housing market itself is complex in Newcastle due to the diverse nature of its stock and communities. Private sector housing in Newcastle accounts for approximately 69%* of all housing stock, this is made up of a combination of owner occupied, private rented, empty private sector housing and some specialist accommodation. With numbers of private rented properties in Newcastle higher than the national average there is a greater need for us to operate competitively to ensure social housing is a viable choice for renters. *Figures correct as of January 2016

Assumptions we have made  The benefit cap will be lowered  UC will be introduced for other claimants  Discretionary Housing Payments will be used to support benefit cap cases  We will be successful in embedding a payment culture  We will continue to work as part of a regional partnership for letting homes  We will use data to understand markets, customer segments and

Challenges we face  Backdated UC will be limited to one month  UC means rent will no longer be paid directly to landlords for the majority of working age claimants resulting in a substantial reduction in guaranteed income  High number of financially excluded tenants  Increased workloads as more intensive rent recovery work required  We will need new models for service delivery and may need to redirect

behaviours  We are already experiencing low demand issues with some property types in some parts of Newcastle

resources  Matching the housing stock with local demand  We currently perform worse than our peers in rent collection and letting homes

By 2020: We will have sustained rent collection rates through the transition to Universal Credit and a positive payment culture means direct debit will be the expected payment method. Through partnership working, the properties we manage will be sustainable and let quickly to customers who value the service we provide, leading to successful tenancies.

We will achieve this by:  Implementing our Income Management Strategy  Promoting financial inclusion through the implementation of our Income Management Strategy  Implementing a revised void end to end process, which should reduce the amount of time a property is not available to let  Working with NCC to revise their Allocations Policy to allow flexibility to increase demand for less popular homes  Improving our marketing of our landlords’ properties to increase the audience reach and attract new markets particularly for difficult to let properties  Expanding the Tyne and Wear Homes Partnership to include other parts of the North East which will increase the housing options available and customer base Outcomes we will achieve:  Rent collection is optimised to enable service provision  Tenants’ debt levels are minimised  The negative impacts of empty properties are diminished How we will measure success: We will work towards improving our performance so we are top quartile compared with similar organisations in the following areas:

 Rent lost due to empty (void) properties as a percentage of rent due  Amount spent on reinstatement of void properties  Rent collected as a percentage of rent due  Average re-let time  Tenancy turnover rate

Service Objective 3 - Promote health and wellbeing and support vulnerable people to enjoy independence We support vulnerable young people with complex needs and provide housing and telecare support services to older people. Additionally we provide tailored advice and support to anyone who is struggling to sustain their tenancy for a variety of reasons. Going forward, supporting people to enjoy independence in their homes and sustain their tenancy continues to be a vital part of our service offer despite the reduction and eventual withdrawal of NCC funding. In October 2015 we created a new charitable subsidiary, Asfaleia Limited which reflects our on-going commitment to this valuable work and also helps us to make more efficient use of the limited resources that are available. Demand for these services is likely to increase, but the continuing impact of welfare reform and reducing public health and social care budgets within the local authority and health service means that those services will face significant cost pressures. The challenge will be how to continue to provide efficient and effective support to those who need help to sustain their tenancies and prevent crisis before it occurs. A reduced management fee means that it is likely that we will have to prioritise the clients who need our help the most rather than providing a universal service to everyone however preventative work will still form a crucial part of our service offer. Our Telecare service, Ostara, faces the specific challenge of operating without any NCC funding. Our first priority will be to convert the 2,800 existing NCC funded users of the Telecare service into paying customers. 1,600 other customers already pay for the service but if the majority of funded users opt out then the service will operate at a loss. This could not be sustained long term. Further challenges we face are high levels of poor health and wellbeing, closely linked with unemployment levels that over the years continue to be far higher than the national average. Unfortunately many tenants living in the homes we manage are affected which can lead to difficulties in sustaining tenancies. We have a vital role to play in promoting both health and wellbeing and employment and will need to continue to work closely with local partners to develop effective solutions. Assumptions we have made  HRA to fund some Advice and Support/Young people Service activity  NCC to cease funding for Telecare (Ostara)  Less locally provided debt and benefit advice available to tenants  Newcastle continues to have lower levels of employment and educational achievement  Tenants experience inequality in health outcomes compared with

Challenges we face  Increase in termination of tenancies as tenants cannot sustain tenancy without support.  Decrease in take up of tenancies if support services not in place.  Fewer older people living independently without support services i.e. telecare.  Increase in levels of social isolation amongst older people

other residents in Newcastle  Fuel poverty is an issue for some tenants and this impacts on their physical and mental health By 2020: We will have improved the health and wellbeing of tenants and tenancy sustainment levels through the provision of efficient and cost effective support services for vulnerable people who need it the most. We will achieve this by  Implementing our new Telecare (Ostara) marketing plan to increase our client base  Developing a more streamlined support offer for vulnerable tenants, that uses technology to improve efficiency  Implementing the actions resulting from our Health and Housing support review  Continuing to strengthen our partnerships with Health, Social Care and Public Health as this enables us to provide a holistic service to customers who have additional health and wellbeing requirements  Considering support and care requirements as part of our pre-tenancy service offer  Working with our Tyne and Wear Homes partners to make better use of adapted and adaptable stock across the region  Collaborating with local health partners to produce a YHN Health and Wellbeing plan aimed at improving health outcomes for tenants  Expanding our employability programme to increase the number of employment and training opportunities we are able to offer tenants  Strengthening our organisational approach to safeguarding and domestic violence by improving our policies and processes and collaborating with other partners to ensure a holistic response  Improving tenant financial stability to enable people to stay in their homes and meet their rent obligations  Developing a programme of community action events to help reduce the impact of social isolation  Implementing actions required to achieve our ambition that all housing stock achieves an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E or above by 2020 Outcomes we will achieve:

 The health and well-being of individuals is enhanced  Tenants are supported to become more self-sufficient  Support for the most vulnerable tenants is sustained  Unemployed tenants are more likely to secure and sustain employment How we will measure success:  Maintain current tenancy sustainment levels for vulnerable tenants receiving support  Revenue generated by Telecare (Ostara) service to be at least equal to expenditure by 2018  Year on year increase in the proportion of Your Homes Your Jobs placements and apprentices that move onto education, employment or training  Using HACT methodology to develop a baseline snapshot for health and wellbeing

Our cross cutting objectives- the way we will do things We will: use modern technology and innovation to challenge and redefine service delivery The importance of technology to YHN and NCC has grown significantly in recent years and plays an ever increasing role in the delivery of our customer services. The broad adoption of online services by the general public, together with greater availability and lower price of mobile devices and process automation solutions, present better opportunities to improve customer service whilst realising efficiencies at a time when we, like all public sector organisations, need to make significant financial savings. The move towards a “digital first” approach by Central Government (for example, requiring claims for Universal Credit to be made online) makes digital engagement a necessity for most of our customers. This presents us with a moral and practical need to support digitally excluded customers in acquiring the access and skills they need to survive and thrive in an increasingly digital world. Assumptions we have made  Our work in this area will continue to be guided by Newcastle City Council’s “Digital By Choice” strategy  Wherever possible, we will work collaboratively with NCC in the design and delivery of digital services  We need to invest in modern technology in years one and two so that we realise efficiencies further down the line  A continued upward trend in the number of people accessing the internet

Challenges we face  Council tenants in Newcastle are among the most digitally excluded people in the UK, so we will need to do more than most social housing providers to support tenants in getting affordable access to the internet and in developing the skills they will need to use digital services  There is growing demand within the business for new IT solutions to address a wide range of service delivery and process issues

By 2020:  We have reduced the digital inclusion gap between tenants and the rest of the UK.  Developed well-used digital service offerings for all common transactions with our customers  Made substantial savings by making better use of modern technology across YHN, while maintaining our focus on customer service

We will achieve this by:  Implementing our ‘Digital by Choice’ Strategy  Providing more digital services, so customers can self-serve and face to face service provision becomes the exception and is targeted at those that need it the most  Providing affordable access to the internet for tenants and ensuring they know how to go online so more tenants access digital services  Reducing costs of delivering services by adapting new systems, such as mobile working and workforce scheduling, that transform how we work  Improving or replacing key IT systems to maximise productivity Outcomes we will achieve:  More tenants are digitally included  Transactional and operational costs are reduced enabling greater productivity  Significant increase in the number of transactions completed online  Resources are freed up for those who still need personal contact and support How we will measure success:  Growth in daily internet use among Council tenants above national trend every year  The proportion of YHN transactions that are completed online more than trebled  Our technology-based service improvements deliver net savings within three years on average

We will: achieve efficiency at every level and redirect resources to where they are needed the most We have a vital role to play in ensuring that we make the money deliver. We need to make sure our house is in order to ensure maximum value for the Council and our other landlords. In particular:  We are now a service provider organisation to multiple clients;  Our main client (NCC) through the (HRA), is now self-financing and so needs to demonstrate financial sustainability;  There is a new relationship with NCC and increased scrutiny of our management fee;  Our clients and their tenants are coming under financial pressure from Welfare Reforms and cuts to Local Authority budgets; and  The HCA is exerting pressure on housing organisations to demonstrate Value for Money. Due to the financial pressures our clients and their tenants face we will have to change the way we deliver our services. NCC has confirmed that our management fee will be reduced by 5% per year over the next three years. This means we need to save money on all areas of expenditure across the organisation. This will mean spending less on the things we need to run the organisation, be it paper, power or people. We have a good track record of finding the best price for things we buy and this will need to continue. Staffing is our biggest expenditure so we will need to transform our organisation in order to reduce our costs. Implementing new technology will lead to efficiencies as will process improvement. Some services will face resource pressures over the next four years as we try to balance demand for services with cost savings. An important part of our approach will be to anticipate and identify these resource pressures so that we can redirect our resources. Our annual business and financial planning process will be used to identify areas where resource pressures are expected and enable managers to highlight areas where directing resources might be required. Assumptions we have made  Technology and process redesign will be key to achieving efficiencies. They may require upfront investment but will realise a cost saving by 2019  Year on year reduction in management fee. This equates to 15% reduction in the fee over the next three years  We will need to cut costs across all areas of expenditure  Services that are able to save more than 15% by 2019 will contribute those additional savings to help services with resource pressures

Challenges we face  1% reduction in rent reducing resources for the Housing Revenue Account. This in turn impacts our management fee and resources we oversee including repairs and the housing investment programme  Impact of welfare reform on money into the HRA  Right sizing services across our business will bring uncertainty for staff

By 2020:

We will have a more streamlined organisation led by a lean management structure. All of our teams will have eliminated wasted capacity, and are supported by fit for purpose systems and processes that drive the lowest cost per unit for our landlords.

We will achieve this by:  Implementing the Value for Money Strategy  Spending less on all of the things we buy  Reducing the cost of delivering services by adapting new systems, such as mobile working and workforce scheduling, that transform how we work  Eliminating waste and removing complexity through the use of improved, simplified processes  Restructuring across the organisation to right-size teams following system and/or process transformation  Considering if some services could be delivered more efficiently through partnership working, shared purchasing arrangements or outsourcing Outcomes we will achieve:  Teams that are optimised to eliminate wasted capacity  A lean management structure  Fit for purpose systems and processes that drive the lowest cost per unit for our landlords How we will measure success: We will work towards improving our performance so we are top quartile compared with similar organisations in the following areas:  Overall management cost per property managed 

Tenant satisfaction with overall housing services provided by YHN

We will: have high performing people all contributing towards our organisational goals In a financially challenging and changing environment, high performing people all positively contributing towards our organisational goals will be the key to our ongoing success. This will not be an easy task, particularly as we will need to reduce in numbers and restructure over the life of this strategy. We know that motivation and morale will be affected as our people are faced with considerable change. We will have to work hard to manage this. Despite this each and every one of us has to be committed to maximising resources so that we can meet our contractual obligations and demonstrate exceptional value for money to our clients particularly as the wage bill remains our highest cost. To achieve this, high performing people will need the skills to balance conflicting priorities. We need to ensure that all of our staff are clear about the focus of our business and their role in delivering this Business Strategy. We also need flexibility to utilise the varied skills of our people and place them where their skills are needed to contribute to delivery of projects in other parts of our business. Maximising productivity through effective engagement, management of performance and absence will continue to be a key focus of our people management approach. Assumptions we have made  There will be a learning and development budget but we will need to reduce costs  Operational HR and Organisational Development (OD) will continue to be provided by NCC

Challenges we face  Achieving our vision with a reduced number of employees  Dealing with considerable change and managing any drop in motivation and morale and higher levels of anxiety resulting from restructures  Sickness absence is higher than in other similar organisations

By 2020: Our people will demonstrate our values in all that they do, they will have adapted well to organisational change and are motivated to succeed, this will be demonstrated through both individual and our organisational performance.

We will achieve this by:  Implementing a new People Strategy to support us in managing the transformation of our organisation, supporting everyone to understand and deliver their role  Effective management of the HR and OD Service Contract with NCC to ensure we have provision that meets the needs of our business



Developing new organisational values to reflect the new People Strategy and to help everyone understand the ‘YHN way’ of doing things

 Sharing skills across the organisation better so that we can make more efficient use of the skills and knowledge of our staff  Developing and delivering a development programme for YHN managers to equip them for the future Outcomes we will achieve:  YHN remains a great place to work  We attract and retain high performing staff and achieve high levels of staff engagement  People have been supported through a period of significant change by effective leaders  A new cultural ‘norm’ has been established following transformation work How we will measure success:  Increase in engagement levels of our staff  Levels of sickness absence comparable with top quartile performers in the sector  Reduction in number of employee relations cases reported and investigated  Tenant satisfaction with overall housing services is maintained in top quartile compared with similar organisations

We will: trade profitably and appropriately to support delivery of services to tenants Trading profitably provides a material cross subsidy for our ALMO services. The income helps protect the services that benefit tenants. Our trading subsidiary, Abri Trading Limited, has two commercial services: Newcastle Furniture Service (NFS) and Palatine Beds. For NFS the trade within Abri is for any works carried out, that are outside of Newcastle City. NFS provides both sale of goods and furniture rental for landlords and local authorities. Palatine Beds manufacture and sell mattresses predominantly to other businesses but also have a retail outlet that sells to the public. Palatine Beds is a supported employer, whereby more than 50% of staff have a disability. In order to increase our trading activity we need to develop our commerciality and become much more business orientated whilst ensuring we retain the valuable social benefits in what we do particularly with regard to Palatine Beds. To do this we need to improve the commercial skills of our board, our senior management team and those involved in the direct day-to-day management of our trading businesses. By doing so we are confident that we will be better placed to expand our market share through the successful pursuit of new contracts and in turn increase our profits and investment back into services to tenants. Assumptions we have made  Our trading activity will not put our core services and performance at risk and vice versa  Resources will be directed to profitable contracts which all meet an appropriate level of return  We will reduce costs through improved systems, processes and structures  We will maintain our current level of supported employment at 25 protected FTE positions

Challenges we face  The growing reliance to increase profits to cross subsidise in the face of a reducing management fee.  The potential impact on the lower benefit cap on demand for furniture packs  The possible complete withdrawal of Work Choice funding for supported employment within Palatine from October 2017  Competitive market for retail (1907 brand)

By 2020: We will have an efficient and thriving furniture service concentrated on higher profit margin business with major landlords and local authorities. It generates significant surpluses before gift aid to Asfaleia Limited. Our Palatine Beds business will continue to demonstrate a clear Social Return on Investment by maintaining its levels of supported employment whilst breaking even after corporate overheads.

We will achieve this by:  Implementing the business plan and meeting the identified growth targets for Abri Trading Limited  Ensuring we have a simple procurement route for interested purchasing organisations  Avoiding contracts with small or poor profit margins  Increasing the rate at which we convert interest from organisations into contracts  Ensuring that our IT systems are fit for purpose and reducing manual intervention and reduce resource requirements Outcomes we will achieve:  Income levels are optimised to enable service provision  Palatine Beds maintains number of supported employees How we will measure success:  Year on year increase in Abri Trading Limited profits as per the statutory accounts before gift aid payments  Minimum number of supported employees equals 25 FTE’s.

We will: work pro-actively with Newcastle City Council and our other clients NCC is our sole shareholder and the Management Agreement between NCC and YHN covers the vast majority of our activity. NCC is the strategic decision-maker with regard to the HRA. A successful relationship with NCC, one in which our contractual requirements are met or exceeded, not only means that we earn the management fee, but also sets us up to provide high quality housing services to their tenants. Our objectives help the City Council achieve theirs. We work pro-actively with NCC on the delivery of our management agreement for their homes. We do this through a framework of meetings and sharing of information about our performance. Openness and communication is vital. We also support NCC to deliver against their objectives through collaborative working across other service areas. Customer service in all its forms, but especially the move to Digital by Choice, will be an important focus for us over the next few years. We achieve more working together than we can separately, and efficiencies can be realised this way. Relationships with Leazes Homes and Byker Community Trust (BCT) are also extremely important to us. We have recently extended our Management Agreement with Leazes Homes to 2018, whilst 2016 will see a change to our working relationship with BCT, as by the end of the year we will be providing fewer services for the Trust. Services to their tenants also need to be delivered well to maintain these contracts and the respective income. Assumptions we have made

Challenges we face

 Management Agreement with NCC until 2026  Management Agreement with Leazes Homes until 2018  Byker Community Trust continue to purchase some services from YHN

NCC and Leazes Homes will continue to be under extreme financial pressure for the lifetime of this strategy

By 2020: We will demonstrate success across all our service areas with all clients and will have retained all current contracts. We will enjoy a productive and collaborative relationship with our key shareholder Newcastle City Council whereby our recommendations are agreed, based on earned trust. We will achieve this by:  Aligning our Business Strategy and Business Plan with NCC objectives

 Delivering against our contract key performance indicators (KPIs) for our landlord  Producing timely and accurate reports on our performance for our landlords  Communicating with our landlords through an agreed framework of meetings  Working with NCC to deliver the Digital Newcastle programme to increase internet access and online service take up  Working with NCC to review customer service provision  Working with NCC to review service provision for financial inclusion  Develop a new approach to monitoring satisfaction with the services we provide Outcomes we will achieve:  Tenants benefit from Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) being met  Our income source is secured through our performance levels  Problems are resolved without unnecessary cost or upheaval  Savings and improvements to services are delivered through joint working How we will measure success:  Delivery of agreed KPIs for NCC, Leazes Homes and Byker Community Trust  Maintain landlord satisfaction with our performance against KPIs 

We will: maximise partnerships to improve and maintain services We have a variety of partnerships at YHN across the majority of our services with a range of objectives and working arrangements, although we have not really used them as a tool to reduce costs and continue delivery of essential services. As resources become even tighter we will need to be far more proactive in seeking out opportunities to work with others if we are to ensure that services valued by tenants can continue. As a minimum we should improve our relationships within social housing and other sectors to learn from others and develop our understanding of what other organisations can offer. In putting the customer first, we need to be open to new working arrangements, shared projects, reciprocal service offers and seek to eradicate duplication and/or pool resources wherever possible. It is also vital that we continue to work closely with tenants so that they can help us to improve services. As our customers they have the best insight into the services we deliver. Focusing on understanding their use and experience of our services can give us the insight we need to make our services better. Assumptions we have made  Our colleagues in social housing and in other sectors will be experiencing similar financial challenges  Most of our services are not unique and exist in other organisations  Some of our services may be delivered to a better standard by other organisations  There is scope to transform some of our service delivery through partnership working

Challenges we face  We have a culture of doing things ourselves rather than working with others  Our relationships with colleagues in social housing and in other sectors need to be improved  Ensuring we focus on realising as much value as possible from partnerships rather than monitoring the number of interactions with others  There are many definitions of partnerships  Engaging with a wider range of tenants and developing a deeper understanding of how they experience our services

By 2020: We will be working differently with tenants and partners to make sure that service quality levels remain high despite challenging financial environments

We will achieve this by:  Developing a framework of networks that allow us to improve our relationships with colleagues in social housing and in other sectors. This framework will cover all tiers of the organisation

 Expanding the Tyne and Wear Homes Partnership to other parts of the region to increase economies of scale  Considering commissioning or working in partnership for new areas of work where expertise already exists elsewhere  Consider options for partnership, shared purchasing or outsourcing for delivery of non-core services as part of service reviews  Focusing on partnerships that are clearly aligned with our objectives  Revise our approach to tenant involvement to ensure that we focus on the issues most important to tenants and to ensure we constantly expand and refresh the tenants we engage with Outcomes we will achieve:  Better relationships with other providers will provide opportunities which benefit service users  More efficient delivery models from making use of expertise rather than trying to do everything ourselves  Tenants are confident that their views have influenced decision making How we will measure success: We will work towards improving our performance so we are top quartile compared with similar organisations in the following areas:  Tenant satisfaction with overall housing services provided by YHN  Overall management cost per property managed  Tenant satisfaction that YHN listens to their views and acts on them  Partner satisfaction with YHN contribution to shared projects