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bringing a touch of colour to your year

incorporating Plus Dane Group customer annual report 2012-2013

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http://www.neighbourhoodinvestor.com

Hello and welcome to Plus Dane Group’s annual report for 2012/13. Every year we try to bring you this important information in new ways and this year, working with the Tenants Communications Group, we have produced our update on how we’ve performed and delivered our seven promises as a calendar, which we hope you will keep and enjoy throughout the year.

Plus Dane Group has continued to perform well over the last 12 months and we remain well-placed to tackle the challenges that the current economic climate is presenting for us all. Our key achievements include:

• Strengthening our approach to governance, building on the appointment of Linda Minnis as Plus Dane Group Chair last year along with further new board appointments. This will continue to

be a focus in the year ahead.

• Successfully delivering the first year of the Ellesmere Port and Neston housing management contract on behalf of Cheshire West and Chester Council and achieved or exceeded the main key targets for the first year.

• Securing three new floating support contracts in Cheshire East, enabling the Group to deliver an additional 13,000 hours of support a year to vulnerable people over the next three years.

• Setting up and delivering four new floating support contracts in Halton, Merseyside.

• Leading Liverpool’s bid for the Big Lottery Fund’s Multiple and Complex Needs Programme to transform support for people with multiple and complex needs across the city, worth up to £10m over five years.

• Developing more than 200 homes and helping over 400 households into home ownership. In addition we are delivering a comprehensive Empty Homes programme which has brought 33 empty properties back into use.

• Visiting 3,000 customers affected by the government’s changes to benefits as part of our Big Benefit Shake Up programme of support.

Over the coming year we will build further on these achievements, focusing on ensuring that the Group becomes more resilient to ensure we can tackle the challenging external environment. This includes reviewing our business plan, strengthening our approach to risk management and governance and ensuring that we are offering all the support we can to help customers affected by the impact of welfare reform.

Most importantly, we will remain focussed on continuing to target our investment and support to benefit tenants, residents and neighbourhoods.

INTRODUCTION

Linda MinnisChairPlus Dane Group

Ken PerryChief ExecutivePlus Dane Group

/plusdanegroup

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follow stories of the communities we serve at www.nifireside.com

“We’re all neighbours and that’s nice, that’s what you want.”

Notes:

1st: New Year’s Day

JANUARY

http://www.nifireside.comhttp://www.neighbourhoodinvestor.comhttp://www.twitter.com/plusdanegrouphttp://www.facebook.com/plusdanegrouphttp://www.youtube.com/plusdanegroup

Plus Dane continues to work hard to deliver a first class repairs service which we know is a top priority for the customers we serve. Over the last year, satisfaction with our service has remained high across Merseyside and Cheshire and we continue to work to ensure that we meet our targets across all areas from the average time it takes us to complete a repair to levels of satisfaction with the delivery of aids and adaptations and other major works.

In 2012/13 we have:

• Continued to provide a well-managed service that meets customers’ expectations.• Improved the way we tackle empty properties by developing a toolkit

that helps us to assess all empty homes more quickly and prioritise investment into sustainable homes.

• Continued to meet Decent Homes requirements for all homes that we own and manage. • Expanded the work of our in-house trades team by an additional £2.4m.• Secured over £1.5m grant funding to deliver a range of energy efficiency programmes across Merseyside.• Ring-fenced over £600,000 a year for major adaptations – reducing waiting times to their lowest for over five years. • Improved the energy efficiency of homes in Ellesmere Port and

Neston by installing more than 400 new boilers, carrying out significant re-roofing in Parklands and overcladding work to Hawksley Bungalows.

• Delivered award-winning improvements to homes – our external wall insulation to improve the energy efficiency and look of over 30 homes in Middlewich, Cheshire, was recognised as the Best Refurbishment and Renovation Project at the 2012 Brick Awards.

During 2013/14 we are:

• Continuing to deliver a leading repairs and maintenance service that meets the needs and expectations of customers.• Investing over £10m in planned improvements to homes across

Merseyside and Cheshire. • Securing Energy Company Obligation funding to allow us to further

extend work to deliver external wall insulation and solar panels to help residents reduce their energy use and save money, as well as offering energy efficiency advice.

INCREASED INVESTMENT IN EXISTING PROPERTY

Increased investment in existing property

Percentage of homes with valid gas certificates in Merseyside

Percentage of homes with valid gas certificates in Cheshire

Percentage of homes with a valid gas certificate in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Percentage of customers satisfied with their repairs service in Merseyside

Percentage of customers satisfied with their repairs service in Cheshire

Percentage of customers satisfied with their repairs service in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Average time to complete a repair in Merseyside

Average time to complete a repair in Cheshire

Average time to complete a repair in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Percentage of repairs completed at first time fix in Merseyside

Percentage of repairs completed at first time fix in Cheshire

Percentage of repairs completed at first time fix in Ellesmere Port and Neston

99.72% 99.97%

99.82% 99.95%

100% 100%

91.02% 90.12%

Paper basedsurveys *88.41%

7.76 days 7.18 days

91.24%91.35%

6.05 days 6.83 days

5.32 days

89.37%

91.6%

5.77 days

90.02%

88.25%

– 95.02%

2011/12 2012/13

*In 2012/13 a new collection method was introduced in Ellesmere Port and Neston to gather feedback for

customer satisfaction using an independent company called Voluntas which conducts telephone surveys to

measure real-time satisfaction with our repairs service.

/plusdanegroup

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follow Shaf’s story at www.nifireside.com

“I am passionate about encouraging people from different racial backgrounds to work together in the area in which I live.”

Notes:

FEBRUARY


Last year we refocused one of our promises to ensure that residents continue to enjoy good wellbeing. This is even more important during the challenging times that changes such as welfare reform are bringing to many customers.

We want to develop vibrant, healthy communities that support good wellbeing and offers opportunities for everyone.

In 2012/13 we have:

• Offered over 100 opportunities for residents to learn new skills through our Residents Academy.

• Carried out visits to more than 3,000 customers affected by benefit changes to offer advice and support.

• Enhanced the Group’s financial inclusion services.• Continued to improve the environment of neighbourhoods across

Merseyside and Cheshire through the work of our In Environmental Services Team.

• Supported resident volunteers to plan and deliver a range of community and neighbourhood wellbeing events.

• Created a Friendship Group in Cheshire to reduce social isolation.• Completed the Bromley Farm Wellbeing Inquiry in Cheshire, which

brought local residents together to debate how wellbeing can be improved in their area and set recommendations for change.


• Coordinating a programme of wellbeing activity to bring communities together and encourage local decision-making.

• Continuing to support residents impacted by the challenges of the government’s changes to benefits.

• Implementing a programme of health and wellbeing initiatives through close partnership working with health agencies and other strategic partners.

• Implementing a wellbeing strategy.

ENSURE NEIGHBOURHOODS ENJOY GOOD WELLBEINGEnsure neighbourhoods enjoy good wellbeing

Percentage of rent arrears in Merseyside

Percentage of rent arrears in Cheshire

Percentage of rent arrears in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Number of homes that have been empty in Merseyside this year

Number of homes that have been empty in Cheshire this year

Number of homes that have been empty in Ellesmere Port and Neston this year

Average time to re-let these homes in Merseyside

Average time to re-let these homes in Cheshire

Average time to re-let these homes in Ellesmere Port and Neston*

Percentage of new customers satisfied with their home in Merseyside

Percentage of new customers satisfied with their home in Cheshire

Percentage of new customers satisfied with their home in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Stock turnover – Merseyside

Stock turnover – Cheshire

Stock turnover – Ellesmere Port and Neston

Percentage of stock vacant and available to let in Merseyside

Percentage of stock vacant and available to let in Cheshire

Percentage of stock vacant and available to let in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Former tenant arrears – Merseyside

Former tenant arrears – Cheshire

Former tenant arrears – Ellesmere Port and Neston

2011/12 2012/13

3.42% 3.45%

2.08% 1.81%

604 609

4.74%4.79%

467 533

455454

31.3 days 31.8 days

53.3 days 35.8 days

19.74 days19.88 days

97.37%93.55%

90.35% 94.55%

85%78.57%

8.20% 9.41%

8%8%

0.71% 1.07%

1.41% 1.7%

0.58%0.79%

£1,054,362 £2,218,683

£358,240

£946,966

£495,226

£514,228

7.45% 7.72%

*excluding time taken to complete major works

/plusdanegroupfollow Ashlyn’s story at www.nifireside.com

“We’re going to give a different perspective, a different view.”

Notes:

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MARCH


Residents continue to tell us that community safety is one of their main concerns and we are committed to making sure that the neighbourhoods we serve are safe for everyone. We do this in a wide range of ways from building partnerships with the police and local authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour and promote community safety measures, to helping people experiencing antisocial behaviour and encouraging anyone causing a nuisance to change their ways with the right support.

In 2012/13 we have:

• Achieved 100% target for responding to reports of antisocial behaviour, domestic abuse and hate crime for the second

year running. • Developing the roles and skills of our Community Safety Team to

meet customers’ needs and help the antisocial behaviour process run more smoothly.

• Strengthened partnership working with key agencies in all local authority areas.• Supported residents through delivering target hardening measures

more efficiently – these measures have benefited over 50 residents in the last year and include measures such as anti-vandal paint, fireproof letter boxes and installing safety lights.

• Improved our package of support offered to support victims of domestic abuse, hate crime and antisocial behaviour.

• Delivered support for perpetrators of antisocial behaviour to help people to turn their lives around.

• Created a Community Safety Task Group in Ellesmere Port and Neston to drive forward service improvements.


• Increasing investment in targeting hardening measures across Merseyside and Cheshire to deal with all forms of community safety.• Developing our existing resource to manage and improve the Group’s approach to tackling antisocial behaviour.• Further supporting perpetrators of antisocial behaviour through our floating support services.

INCREASED COMMUNITY SAFETY MEASURES

Increased Community Safety Measures

Number of antisocial behaviour cases raised in Merseyside

Number of antisocial behaviour cases raised in Cheshire

Number of antisocial behaviour cases raised in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Percentage of antisocial behaviour cases responded to in time in Merseyside

Percentage of antisocial behaviour cases responded to in time in Cheshire

Percentage of antisocial behaviour cases responded to in time in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Number of hate crime cases in Merseyside

Number of hate crime cases in Cheshire

*Number of hate crime cases in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Number of closed cases in Merseyside

Number of closed cases in Cheshire

*Number of closed cases in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Number of open cases in Merseyside

Number of open cases in Cheshire

*Number of open cases in Ellesmere Port and Neston

270 186

64 44

99% 100%

90N/A

100% 100%

100% 100%

– –

– –

– –

46 3272 52

346 182

61 60

5 9

3 2

2011/12 2012/13

*From April 2013 antisocial behaviour data for Ellesmere Port and Neston is being

measured using a new system to improve reporting in this area which will allow us to

report back on this in 2013/14.

/plusdanegroup

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follow Joanne’s story at www.nifireside.com

“Putting something of value back into my local community was very important to me”

Notes:

APRIL

18th: Good Friday

20th: Easter Sunday

21st: Easter Monday


Plus Dane works to create opportunities that enable everyone to fulfil their potential. We deliver a wide range of support to help vulnerable customers to live independently, maintain successful tenancies and access opportunities.In 2012/13 we have:

• Secured three new floating support contracts in Cheshire East, enabling the Group to deliver an additional 13,000 hours of support a year to vulnerable people over the next three years.

• Set up and delivered four new floating support contracts in Halton in partnership with voluntary sector support provider SHAP.• Led Liverpool’s partnership bid for Big Lottery Multiple and Complex Needs Programme Funding, worth up to £10m over the next five years.• Successfully delivered over 100,000 hours of support to vulnerable people across Cheshire and Merseyside.• Maintained the quality of our support offer, ensuring high levels

of customer satisfaction and maintaining our reputation with commissioners as an excellent service provider on inspection.

• Set up and trained a group of Safeguarding Champions across the organisation.• Visited over 3,000 customers to discuss the government’s changes

to benefits and raise awareness of the support available as part of our Big Benefit Shake Up campaign.


• Leading Liverpool’s Multiple and Complex Needs partnership to develop a business plan for the delivery of the city’s five year Big Lottery Programme.• Exploring the potential to pilot new support services linked to the Troubled Families Programme and Local Community Military Covenants.• Procuring a new Group-wide Community Alarm service.• Developing and delivering extended winter support provision for

homeless people working with our partners.

FURTHER SUPPORTING VULNERABLE CUSTOMERS

Further Supporting Vulnerable Customers

Number of tenancies failing within 12 months in Merseyside

Number of tenancies failing within 12 months in Cheshire

Number of tenancies failing within 12 months in Ellesmere Port

Housing for older people occupancy rates in Merseyside

Housing for older people occupancy rates in Cheshire

Occupancy of supported housing in Merseyside

Additional benefits/income achieved in Merseyside

Additional benefits/income achieved in Cheshire

46

40

25

New performance indicator for 2012/13





54

52

14

98.33%

97.47%

96.45%

£746,095

£780,754

2011/12 2012/13

*There is no housing for older people under Plus Dane’s management in Ellesmere Port and Neston.

/plusdanegroup

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follow Phil’s story at www.nifireside.com

“We are the ones who have built this and we are really proud of what we have achieved.”

Notes:

MAY

5th: Bank Holiday

26th: Spring Bank Holiday


Our commitment to working in partnership with residents to identify and deliver tangible benefits in neighbourhoods is more important than ever. We ensure that customers are involved at every level of Plus Dane from being represented on our boards to involving young people through the Youth Shadow Board and other scrutiny groups. We also work to engage with communities to give residents a say in how they want to see investment targeted in their areas.

In 2012/13 we have:

• Worked in partnership with residents to prepare for the Ellesmere Port and Neston Housing Management contract.

• Used tenant inspectors to review our allocations, lettings and void services to assess the customer experience – with the service receiving a ‘good’ rating overall.

• Recruited and trained 28 Welfare Reform Tenant Champions to help those residents affected by changes to benefits to receive the right information and are signposted to services that can offer support.

• Delivered a series of awareness roadshows and projects to address the implications of welfare reform and digital inclusion, supporting residents to get online.

• Successfully delivered the ‘Move On Fund’ to secure 16 employment opportunities in Cheshire East.

• Established job clubs in Runcorn and Cheshire to help residents with practical support to access job opportunities.

• Delivered a streets sports programme to over 100 young people in Cheshire.• Developed a new scrutiny panel to begin Ellesmere Port and

Neston’s journey towards co-regulation.• Established a youth shadow board and trained shadow board

members for their roles. • Won the Northern Region Tenant Participation Advisory Service

award for ‘Excellence in Youth Involvement’.


• Continuing to work in partnership with residents and partners to help empower communities and support neighbourhood investment to deliver lasting change.

• Working with residents to design a new framework for involvement, building on our existing leadership and engagement.

• Continuing to work in partnership with young people to ensure they have a strong voice in helping to design, shape and influence services.

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH RESIDENTS

Working in Partnership with Residents

Percentage of customers satisfied that their views are taken into account in Merseyside

Percentage of customers satisfied that their views are taken into account in Cheshire

Percentage of customers satisfied that their views are taken into account in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Complaints resolved at Stage One in Merseyside

Complaints resolved at Stage One in Cheshire

Complaints resolved at Stage One in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Number of tenants graduated through the Ni Residents Academy

75%

70%

–

92.94%

97.5%

94.85%


84.33%

78.87%

83.81%

94.39%

100%

94.32%

99

2011/12 2012/13

/plusdanegroup

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follow Rick’s story at www.nifireside.com

“I think the quality of a neighbourhood is down to individual people.”

Notes:

JUNE


Plus Dane remains committed to using our own resources to create employment where possible, developing enterprise opportunities and forging partnerships to create local jobs and working with local partners to create places that attract and retain employers.

In 2012/13 we have:

• Delivered over 100 apprenticeships, work placements or traineeships, exceeding our targets.

• Helped over 80 businesses to grow and develop through Making Business Work, a European Regional Development Fund programme aimed at supporting small businesses

across Merseyside.• Developed our In Environmental Services team’s work in Cheshire,

securing an expanded contract to deliver grounds maintenance across Cheshire East to create 10 new local jobs.

• Successfully led £600,000 of improvements in Liverpool 8 including improved sports facilities managed by a new social enterprise, a local heritage trail and heritage website, public arts along a main city corridor and an illumination extravaganza attended by hundreds of residents and their children. Over 90% of works were delivered by local companies.

• Created new employment opportunities in North Liverpool through the Beautiful North partnership’s community carpark project which is generating investment for the local area through providing carparking on match days.

• Supported 18 charities to complete more than 50 successful collaborative projects in Cheshire through our support for the Skillshare initiative, a thriving skills bank scheme.


• Hosting 80 apprenticeships, work placements or traineeships across the Group, including four in Ellesmere Port and Neston.

• Continuing to deliver Making Business Work to support a total of 200 social and local businesses, including the continued expansion and diversification of In Environmental Services.

• Establishing the Baltic Community Carpark in Liverpool to build on the success of the North Liverpool initiative – the project is creating three full time jobs and reinvesting any proceeds into local community projects.

• Continuing our commitment to creating opportunities in North Liverpool through Beautiful North.

INCREASED CREATION OF LOCAL WORK

Increased creation of local work

Satisfaction with grounds maintenance service in Merseyside

Satisfaction with grounds maintenance service in Cheshire

Number of apprenticeship and trainee opportunities created across Plus Dane Group in Merseyside, Cheshire and Ellesmere Port and Neston



23

91.54%

81.44%

139

2011/12 2012/13

/plusdanegroupfollow Drew’s story at www.nifireside.com

“Straight away he began to get a sense he was achieving something. He’s got a plan, he’s feeling confident.”

Notes:

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Since 2008 Plus Dane Group has built nearly 2,000 affordable new homes as part of our commitment to addressing the housing shortage and offering more choice to customers. We continue to deliver high quality, energy efficient homes that help to make neighbourhoods great places to live and this remains a key commitment in the current year.

In 2012/13 we have:

• Continued to deliver our commitments through the £8m secured from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to develop over 650 homes between 2011-2015.

• Secured £3.5m to bring more than 180 empty homes back into use between 2012-2015.

• Established the Liverpool City Region Empty Homes Consortium (Restore), working collaboratively to provide solutions to long-term vacant properties and securing nearly £17 million HCA Clusters of Empty Homes funding on behalf of the Consortium.

• Helped over 3,000 people into home ownership since 2008 and helped over 400 first time buyers into home ownership across Plus Dane Group in the last year alone.

• Helped 215 families to stay in their homes over the last three years through the Mortgage Rescue Scheme delivered by Homeshub.

• Secured £2.03m from the Get Britain Building Fund to part finance homes for sale at the Delph scheme in Oldham, where Plus Dane’s Three60 subsidiary is delivering 46 homes.

• Completed nearly 100 new homes in Ellesmere Port and Neston, including 65 new affordable homes at Rossfield Park.

• Secured a £500,000 grant from the HCA to enable the Group to purchase 25 apartments at the Renaissance scheme in Neston, improving the provision of affordable homes for residents

aged 55 and over. • Through HomesHub the Group helped 426 first time buyers

purchase a home of their own.


• Responding to the challenges of welfare reform through the type and design of the homes we build. For example, in Kirkby, Liverpool, our development of 160 new homes as part of the Destination Kirkby regeneration scheme has been designed to ensure that residents currently affected by the bedroom tax will not be in their new homes.

• Delivering our targets through the HCA’s Affordable Homes Programme.• Working collaboratively to link our empty homes programme to the Group’s asset management strategy.• Reviewing our growth strategy as part of the business review for our

2014-19 business plan.

INCREASED SUPPLY AND CHOICE OF HOMES

Increased Supply and Choice of Homes

Number of new homes delivered in Merseyside

Number of new homes delivered in Cheshire

Number of new homes delivered in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Number of Right to Buy and Right to Acquire schemes delivered in Merseyside

Number of Right to Buy and Right to Acquire schemes delivered in Cheshire

Existing homes re-let at affordable rent in Merseyside

Existing homes re-let at affordable rent in Cheshire

Existing homes re-let at affordable rent in Ellesmere Port and Neston

Households helped into home ownership across Plus Dane Group

164 110

259 190

114 426

– 92

New performance indicator for 2012/13 8New performance indicator for 2012/13 4

New performance indicator for 2012/13 290New performance indicator for 2012/13

Non Council properties

Non Council properties

157

2011/12 2012/13

/plusdanegroup

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follow Andrew’s story at www.nifireside.com

“We want to work better together and improve the outcomes for the neighbourhood.”

Notes:

AUGUST

25th: Summer Bank Holiday


Plus Dane Group has continued to perform strongly over the last year and our results show that we are in good shape.

This remains more important than ever as we continue to face the challenges of the government’s austerity measures, the uncertain economic climate and the impact of welfare reform which are creating hardship for many of the people we serve.

Achieving the best possible value for money is even more crucial to further strengthening our financial position to enable that every penny possible goes back into neighbourhoods to deliver the projects, work and support that tenants and residents want.

Value for money is a core factor embedded in how we deliver all of our services, working with residents every step of the way. Residents are represented on Plus Dane’s value for money working group to oversee our work and continue to play a key scrutiny role. This will be further strengthened in the year ahead through the delivery of our new framework for involvement developed working in partnership with residents.

Over the last year we have achieved good value for money through a range of measures including:

• Strengthening our procurement processes.• Creating a new development framework as part of a consortium of partners to

deliver savings on the work we procure through our development projects.• Pooling resources with partners to deliver joined up services. • Adding social value to measure our social return on investment - for example,

for every £1 spent on working with tenants to resolve complex antisocial behaviour issues, we achieve a social return of £27.

Through these and many other measures we have performed well and our focus remains on making sure that we build on this further to support our Neighbourhood investor commitment.

VALUE FOR MONEYWHERE EACH £ WENT - 2012/13

Management and service costs 23p

Repairs and maintenance 22p

Depreciation and impairment 12pInterest payable and similar charges 16p

Cost of property sales 5p

Other costs 6p

Cost of management contract 16p

INCOMERent receivableDevelopment and management servicesPrivate contract and other incomeSale of propertiesService charges receivableSupported People fundingIncome from finance leasesInterest and investment incomeJoint venture income

£000s49,61412,9223,9553,5422,6131,85042639674,967

%66.2%17.2%5.3%4.7%3.5%2.5%0.6%0.1%0.0%100.0%

EXPENDITUREManagement and service costsRepairs and maintenanceCost of management contractInterest payable and similar chargesDepreciation and impairment of fixed assetsOther costsCost of property salesProvision for bad and doubtful debtsCorporation tax

Retained surplus for year

16,16015,79811,65011,4118,5544,5383,282307671,706

3,261

22.5%22.0%16.2%15.9%11.9%6.3%4.6%0.4%0.0%100.0%

/plusdanegroup

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follow stories of the communities we serve at www.nifireside.com

“Every week there’s more and more people coming in.”

Notes:

SEPTEMBER


Plus Dane works hard to gather customer feedback as part of our commitment to continually improving our services to meet the needs of customers.

We have a good track record of resolving complaints and have continued to improve our performance this year – over 92% of complaints are resolved at the first stage and we use any feedback that we receive to review our services and make improvements based on what you tell us.

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

Your feedback Our action

A customer told us that they couldn’t get through to the customer access team through the main repairs number

A customer experienced issues with their new central heating system

A resident highlighted the poor condition of a communal area in the scheme where they lived

A customer was unhappy with the condition of a garage they rented from us

A customer told us they were unhappy with the service they had received from a contractor

The team have put in place strengthened processes to monitor contractors to ensure that they comply with the service we commit to providing customers

Our property management team continue to remind tenants of their roles and responsibilities in keeping communal areas clean and tidy

We have issued guidance to staff advising of the types of repairs that can be dealt with by our responsive repairs team

We have provided contractors with the Plus Dane code of conduct and continue to monitor future service delivery to ensure they comply with the standards we set

We made immediate changes to the repairs hotline as a direct result

/plusdanegroup

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follow Lee’s story at www.nifireside.com

“I’ve worked hard and got unconditional offers on all the university places that I applied for, something I would have never thought possible four years ago.”

Notes:

OCTOBER


Plus Dane Group is committed to making sure that we meet the needs of all the customers we serve, ensuring that our services and communications are accessible to everyone.

We work to celebrate and embrace diversity and promote equality by removing barriers and creating opportunities for all.

In 2012/13 we continued to achieve this by:

Making our information accessible to all

We work to ensure that the information we send to tenants and residents is accessible to everyone and meets everyone’s needs. For example documents in a wide range of formats and languages at customers’ request.

As part of our commitment to delivering services that are available to all, Plus Dane staff also work to ensure anyone that needs extra support gets the help that they need. For example, when our Income Team in Ellesmere Port and Neston worked with a customer that needed information translating into their native language as they spoke little English, the team went the extra mile and arranged for the information to be explained to the resident in person, arranging for the customer’s family to be present during the visit to translate. This enabled the team to make sure that the customer understood the information and was more effective in helping to resolve the issues they were having.

Translation and interpretation

Plus Dane reviewed the Language Interpretation and Translation Services that we provide during the year to improve the service that is offered to customers and as a result we adopted a new supplier which offered enhanced services and was also more cost effective.

We now offer a larger portfolio of languages through a service that is quicker and easier for staff to use, allowing customers to receive these services more efficiently.

The benefits of this new service are already making a difference to tenants and residents. For example, in Ellesmere Port and Neston, a resident living in supported housing needed their tenancy agreement translating into Lithuanian, as well as information about benefits and adaptations. The team has been working closely with the resident to deliver this and, following the introduction of our enhanced translation services and through building a good relationship with the resident’s family, have been able to open up communications further to better deliver support plan reviews which have been essential.

Transforming our reception areas

Following a wide ranging review of our office reception areas, led by residents, Plus Dane has transformed our reception spaces across Merseyside, Cheshire and Ellesmere Port and Neston to put in place new features to support customers. These changes include new self-service options, kiosks where customers can pay their rent online, apply for homes, report repairs and search for jobs, printing facilities, notice boards for local news and events, telephones with free direct dial to our Customer Access Team and some local authority services and new seating and play areas for children. Customer interview rooms have also been redesigned and plasma screens in each reception now show our latest news and developments.

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

/plusdanegroup

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follow Colin’s story at www.nifireside.com

“It made me feel proud, increased my confidence and enabled me to look at my future in a positive light.”

Notes:

NOVEMBER


Plus Dane recognises the diversity of the neighbourhoods we serve as a strength and we work to promote this both throughout the organisation and in communities.

We were proud to once again be recognised as the North West’s most gay friendly housing association in the Stonewall Top 100 employers list, achieving a ranking of 51st place after being placed 90th the previous year. Our improved rating was due to efforts to build on an already strong commitment to diversity, and we hope to build on this further during 2013/14.

We also provided our support once again for Liverpool Pride, as well as sponsoring the first ever Chester Pride event and have a thriving diversity group called Something for Everyone, which promotes respect, equality and diversity across the Group and has implemented a number of schemes including creating a network of champions to whom lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff can turn to with any issues they have.

As part of our support for Merseyside Black History Month, we hosted our annual fundraising gala dinner, which not only showcased local talent, but raised over £4,000 to create a Young Persons Independent Fund which aims to help young people access employment, skills and training opportunities by helping with anything from buying new smart clothes for interview, to paying for work uniforms and training courses.

The year ahead

Plus Dane will continue to strengthen our approach to equality and diversity to improve our services further and offer even more to customers. A key development will include strengthening resident involvement, building on a new framework developed during 2012/13 working in partnership with the Tenants Together Forum. The framework outlines how Plus Dane will implement the recommendations for increasing resident involvement set out through the review, including a focus on greater diversity in involvement.

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY IN NEIGHBOURHOODS

/plusdanegroup

M T W T F S S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

follow Sue’s story at www.nifireside.com

“I’m so pleased that we have a permanent and secure home.”

Notes:

DECEMBER

25th: Christmas Day

26th: Boxing Day


Calendar Photography & Design by Plus Dane Communications Team ©2013

STORIES ABOUT THE PEOPLE AND PLACES WE LOVE

Plus Dane Group is a storytelling organisation, and Fireside is where we share the stories of the people and neighbourhoods we serve.

We work as a Neighbourhood investor - we maximise investment in neighbourhoods to create great places to live and vibrant communities

which offer opportunities for everyone to fulfil their potential.

Tenants and residents have a strong voice in our business, and play an active role in shaping the way we do things - and there are some great stories to tell along the way.

Take a look at Fireside and listen, watch or read about some of the remarkable people we work with and the inspiring things they do.

www.nifireside.com
http://www.nifireside.com

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