WITH THECOMMUNITY AT HEART:Annual Report to Tenants

Equality Statementsbh aims to ensure that Equality and Diversity lies at the heart of our business and allows ourcustomers to access high quality services tailored to their individual diverse needs.

It is our policy to provide access to services and employment equality to all, irrespective ofage, race or ethnic origin, gender, marital or family status, religious or philosophical belief or political opinion, disability, nationality or sexual orientation.

As part of our commitment we, and our working partners, aim to treat everyone as equal citizens and recognise, support and value the diversity of the communities in which they live.

Please ask us if you would like this document in other languages,in large print or on audio tape.

0845 505 5500

Key to symbols used in this annual Report

further information on this is available on our website

www.sedgefieldboroughhomes.co.uk

If you do not have access to the internet please contactJanice Wayman on 0845 505 5500

This is a key piece of information

Spotlight)

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ANNUAL REPORT TO TENANTS

Contents

Introduction 04

Our Journey So Far 05

Home Matters 06

Repairs 07

Improving Your Home 08

Neighbourhoods 09

Access and Involvement 10

Developing New Homes 11

Finance 12

‘Your voice...local choice’ - The sbh Local Offer 14

Annual Report 4 5

INTRODUCTION:Welcome to sbh’s (Sedgefield Borough Homes’) first Annual Report toTenants (Annual Report) for the business year April 2009 to March 2010. The report has been written by tenants for tenants and covers what you have told us is important to you.Everyone who has been involved in writing this report is listed on the back cover.

So what is it for? Well, you told us that you wanted to know more about the services we provide andthis report sets out how we provide these services to you and how we are performing against expectednational standards. Perhaps more importantly it also includes our plans for new services and improvingexisting services still further.

With this focus on services in mind, the report describes progress made by sbh since we were established,provides a brief update on the pre-transfer promises and looks at current performance levels. It is broken downinto seven key service area chapters and sets out in a straightforward way how we are doing and what we haveplanned for the 8,500 plus homes we own.

There is an additional section at the end outlining further plans for developing a more tailored local offer to you – one that fits your local community.

This is our first Annual Report so we hope you enjoy reading it and find it informative. We also recognise that there is always room for improvement so if you have any questions or if you wish to make a comment please e-mail:

contactus@sedgefieldboroughhomes.co.uk

or telephone:

0800 587 4538 (free from a landline)

0300 111 2344 (cheap rate from mobiles depending on your network)

We would also be grateful if you could spare five minutes to complete the questionnaire at the back ofthe report. This information is really important to help us to improve your services still further.

Best Wishes

The Editorial Team

OUR JOURNEY SO FAR...We have achieved a great deal in a short period and in this first Annual Report we set out what we have achieved during 2009/10 toaddress the priorities identified by you, our tenants. Key achievements and highlights of the year which we think are worthy of specialnote are identified by a symbol throughout the report. Where statements are backed up or explained by further information onour website this is identified by a symbol.

In 2009/10 we specifically focused on the following 3 key priorities and we are pleased to report that...

Priority 1 - Keeping our promisesWe have made a good start on delivering our promises and are on track tomeet all 12 key promises. The promise to improve homes to the sbhstandard is particularly important to tenants and we have made significantprogress on this. It will take us another three and a half years to completeevery home but we have already brought 3,800 homes up to the sbhstandard, including fitting new doors, kitchens, bathrooms, central heatingboilers, electrical rewiring and roofing works.

Priority 2 - Improving access to our servicesIn response to what tenants have told us, we are now delivering our services‘on the phone and in your home’. This means we now offer more convenientways for tenants to access our main services, including: choosing homes,discussing tenancy matters, raising complaints and giving feedback, payingrent and reporting repairs.

Priority 3 - Ensuring we give our tenants value for moneyWe have maintained our service levels whilst delivering services andachieved savings in our planned budget through partnership working. As a result we have saved over £2.8 million and received positive reportsfrom funders, auditors and our regulator on the shape of our finances.

We have reinvested savings in the services our tenants have told us areimportant to them, including:

• Accelerating the home improvement programme so that tenants’ homes can be brought up to the sbh standard earlier than promised

• Introducing greater service choice in relation to paying rent

• Introducing improved telephone access

So...how are we doing?We judge how well we are doing by:

How satisfied our tenants are with our services

We measure how satisfied tenants are with the services that they considerimportant and we are very pleased to report that we are performing well in relation to:

• 94% of tenants are satisfied with the repairs service

• 85% of tenants are happy with home improvements

• 82% of tenants are happy with new-let properties

• 84% of tenants are satisfied with services overall

We do not currently measure how satisfied tenants are withNeighbourhoods and this is something we will put in place in 2010/11.

A self assessment against the Tenant Services Authority National StandardsWe have recently completed a self assessment of our performance againstour independent regulators: the Tenant Services Authority’s: NationalStandards. This work was carried out with staff, tenants and our partners,and was overseen by an independent external consultant, Baildon, Dean andTambe in all services areas. The self assessment concluded that we meetthe standards in relation to Repairs, Improving your Home, Home Matters,Access and Involvement, Governance and Financial Viability. However, weneed to improve significantly in relation to Neighbourhoods, hence our ‘on the phone and in your home’ campaign.

Other areas for improvement identified by the self assessment are listed inthe remaining chapters of this report.

Performance Measures Our performance in relation to the services you have told us are important to you is regularly scrutinised and considered by our tenants groups,committees and Board and during 2009/10 our performance in relation tothese measures was GOOD.

9 of our 15 key performance targets were exceeded, a further 3 wereachieved and 3 were not achieved. We remain a top performer in relation toour repairs service but we need to improve further, particularly in how wedeal with empty properties and how we handle complaints.

In 2010/11 we intend to provide more information to tenants on ourperformance and offer more opportunities for tenants to directly andmeaningfully scrutinise our performance.

Other external assessments and validationsThe achievements, outcomes and performance information contained in thisAnnual Report have been validated via external assessment. During2009/10 we received positive feedback about our progress from ourindependent regulator. We have also received assurances on our internalcontrol arrangements and performance measures from Price WaterhouseCooper. As mentioned earlier, Baildon, Dean and Tambe provided externalfacilitation of our self assessment against the National Standards and GrantThornton have audited our accounts. Importantly this Annual Report hasbeen produced by tenants for tenants and they have verified its content asfactual and relevant. Finally the report has been considered and approved byour Board.

Annual Report 6 7

REPAIRS:

So what have we done?• Completed 25,617 of 29,909 (86%) urgent repairs within

target time.

• Made 13,293 appointments and were able to gain access to 12,228 (92%) of these.

• Introduced a ‘text ahead’ service to improve our appointments process.

• Completed on time 99.7% (8,173) of gas servicing to homes which have a gas boiler.

• Completed all minor adaptations for disabled tenants within 7 days.

• Carried out disabled persons’ adaptations to 531 homes.

• Improved the way we handle out of hours repairs by responding quicker and completing 2,843 (69%) repairs on the first visit.

• Recycled 84% of repairs waste such as plasterboard, timber, metaland electrical fittings, bathroom suites and kitchen fittings.

This chapter is about how we respond to requests for repairs to your home, plan repairsand maintenance and generally improve the quality of your home. We are committedthrough the repairs partnership with Mears to delivering an excellent repairs service andduring the last year we carried out almost 45,000 repairs to homes.

So what are we planning to do?• Review our disabled persons’ adaptations service to reduce

assessment times.

• Review our policy for charging tenants for any deliberate damage in their home.

• Improve our gas safety appointments process to give more choice to tenants to arrange appointments at convenient times.

• Improve how we handle repair reporting to ensure we getit right first time.

• Offer more choice to tenants for repairs appointments.

• Improve how we plan repair work so that we can get even better value for money.

HOME MATTERS:This chapter is about how we provide choices in selecting homes that meet your needs.Home Matters also includes how we ensure your move is as easy as possible for you and importantlyexplains your rights and responsibilities in relation to your home, neighbourhood and rent.

So what have we done?• Piloted a new empty property standard in Spennymoor where

major improvements are finished before tenants move into their new home.

• Introduced a Choice Based Lettings Scheme and let 457 homes using this new approach between 1 October 2009 and 31 March 2010.

• Reviewed ways of paying rent and introduced a wider range of options including direct debit, internet payments, telephone payments and payment cards which can be used at approximately 60 local outlets.

• Signed up over 8,000 tenants to the new sbh tenancy agreement.

• Collected over 97% of rent due.

So what are we planning to do?• Make it easier for tenants to contact us on the phone

and if they prefer we will visit them in their home.

• Visit new tenants regularly to offer advice on managing their home.

• Introduce regular visits to existing tenants to ensure we keep the ‘community at heart’.

• Develop a Financial Inclusion Service to help and advise tenants who may have financial problems.

• Improve the services we provide by introducing specialist teams todeal with at first point of contact neighbourhood issues, rent matters and letting our homes.

• Work with tenants to produce a new easy to use tenants’ handbook.

• Extend the new empty property standard across our whole area.

Did you know...We have introduced a Choice Based Letting Scheme and let 457 homes using this new approach.

Did you know...We completed on time 99.7% (8,173) of gas servicing to homes which have a gas boiler.

IMPROVING YOUR HOME:This chapter is about how we are working in partnership with Mears and Bullock to deliver the HomeImprovements we promised in our offer document including fitting internal and external doors, newcentral heating boilers and carrying out environmental works such as fencing. We have made a good start and are on track to meet our promise but it will take us another three and a half years to complete every home and bring them to the higher quality sbh standard.

So what have we done?• Improved 3,800 homes to the offer document

sbh standard.

• Fitted new doors to over 3,800 homes.

• Installed 280 new kitchens.

• Installed 366 bathroom suites.

• Installed 1,252 central heating boilers.

• Fitted smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors to 8,300 homes.

• Carried out electrical rewiring works to over 750 homes.

• Completed roofing work to 134 homes.

• Improved over 8,300 homes to the Decent Homes Standard.

So what are we planning to do?• Continue with the Home Improvement Programme

to ensure homes meet the sbh standard.

• Reduce our carbon footprint and improve our recycling rates in relation to the Home Improvement Programme.

• Develop a programme of improvements to garden walls and fences.

• Consider how we can improve car parking on estates and start providing additional parking spaces.

• Introduce a new decoration policy to assist vulnerable tenants after they have received major home improvements.

• Provide tenants with clearer information about Home Improvements including telling them when work will be carried out in their home over the next three and a half years.

NEIGHBOURHOODS:This chapter is about how we look after open spaces, garages and gardens and how we aim to makeour neighbourhoods places we can all be proud of. We have set aside a sum of money for carrying outthis work and we are working with you to agree where it should be spent. This chapter is also about how we are dealing with Anti Social Behaviour which is a concern for some ofyou and how we are working in partnership to improve lives, neighbourhoods and communities.

So what have we done?• Provided a Helping Hands service in our Supported Housing

Schemes to improve the communal areas.

• Adopted the Government’s Respect Standard for dealing with Anti Social Behaviour.

• Introduced a mediation service for dealing with neighbour disputes.

• Fundamentally changed how we engage with tenants at the neighbourhood level.

So what are we planning to do?• Work in partnership to provide a joined up approach

to tackle worklessness, improve health, tackle crime, improve the physical environment, and raise educational achievement in our neighbourhoods.

• Work with communities and existing groups to implement our Neighbourhood Policy, and develop and start to deliver Neighbourhood Plans.

• Make sure our gardening service is fair and available to those in greatest need.

• Secure value for money from our grasscutting service.

• Inspect communal areas on a regular basis and take action to address any problems.

• Review how we can provide more choice in the services we provide to our tenants.

• Offer 24 hours, 7 days per week reporting of Anti Social Behaviour.

• Extend the support available to witnesses of Anti Social Behaviour who are giving evidence during court hearings.

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Did you know...We have improved 3,800 homes to the offer document sbh standard.

Did you know...We made £200,000 available for Tenant Led Environmental Improvements.

DEVELOPING NEW HOMES:This chapter is about our commitment to ‘working together’ with you to deliver improved services that recognise your priorities. It also sets out how we intend to improve the way we will do this.This chapter is also about how we can give you improved access to our services ‘on the phone and in your home’.

So what have we done?• Consulted with over 800 tenants and started to provide

services ‘on the phone and in your home.’

• Implemented new complaints and feedback arrangements after consulting with our Tenants’ Panel.

• Introduced new ways for tenants to get involved with us, including internet surveys, readers’ panels and focus groups.

• Held our first tenant celebration event.

• Established a Tenants’ Panel to enable tenants to be involved in developing and shaping services.

• Involved tenants in choosing our partners Mears and Bullock who are delivering the Home Improvement Programme.

So what are we planning to do?• Deliver excellent customer service and aim to increase levels

of satisfaction with services from 84% to 88%.

• Develop and implement a Resident Involvement Strategy to extend the range of ways for more tenants(particularly younger people) to become involved in shaping services.

• Develop the tenant scrutiny role to ensure tenants are able to hold us to account and monitor our performance.

• Implement a range of Service Standards to clearly set out what tenants can expect from us in all key service areas.

• Set up a new Customer Service Centre to handle telephone calls at first point of contact and to improve response times for customers.

• Complete the collection of information on all tenants and use this to ensure the services we offer best reflect the needs of tenants.

• Develop an Equality and Diversity Strategy to ensure our services meet the needs of all our tenants.

ACCESS AND INVOLVEMENT:This chapter is about how we will provide affordable quality homes and invest in the future. Increasing the number of affordable homes within our area will assist us in addressing housing need and regeneration. Our approach to development is to build new homes on plots of land that we already own. We are committed to ensuring that all homes we build will be as energy efficient as possible and allow tenants to live independently.

So what have we done?• Identified potential sites where we can build up to

105 new homes.

• Helped 4 private residents facing repossession by buying their homes and giving them a sbh tenancy.

• Introduced partnership working to ensure we can build new homes at the best prices.

• Assisted Durham County Council shape plans to decide where newhomes should be built and the number that would be for rent.

• Consulted with local residents near the first 55 homes to agree thedesign and layout of the new homes.

So what are we planning to do?• Progress planning applications for a range

of different types of homes.

• Commence building new homes (subject to Government funding and planning approval).

• Ensure all new homes built are suitably designed and equipped to enable tenants to live independently.

• Ensure any homes built will be at an affordable rent.

• Match the building of new homes to the needs of tenants.

• Ensure new homes built minimise any impact on the environment and have small fuel bills.

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Did you know...We have consulted with over 800 tenants and started to provide services ‘on the phone and in your home.’

Did you know...We have identified potential sites where we can build up to 105 new homes.

Annual Report 12 13

FINANCE: This chapter is about how we provide excellent quality affordable services. In an effort to deliver value for money services we have, in our first year, worked closely with our partners, Mears and Bullockto buy better products at cheaper prices and in doing this we have made over £2.8 million of savings.This means we can reduce our borrowing, pay off loans quicker and reinvest savings in other serviceimprovements.

So what have we done?• Delivered services under our planned budget.

• Following the involvement of tenants in selecting our partners, we have saved over £1.8 million from the Home Improvement Programme to buy better quality fittings.

• Worked closely with our partners Mears to improve the Repairs Service and saved over £500,000.

• Made savings in the Repairs Service by securing improved warranties with suppliers and by installing better quality fittings.

• Received positive reports from funders, auditors and our regulator on the shape of our finances.

• Involved tenants in reviewing the choice of payment methods.

• Carried out a detailed analysis of how money is spent so we can compare ourselves with others to identify where we can improve value for money.

So what are we planning to do?• Develop an approach to providing tenants with the flexibility

to choose the services they want to take from us at a cost which is affordable.

• Move from 1 year to 3 year spending plans to improve financial planning and secure further value for money.

• Exploit with our partners ways to improve the quality of services for the same cost.

• Provide clearer information to tenants on our financial performance.

• Continue to review the way in which we manage our finances and looking at how we can improve value for money whilst developing new services for tenants.

• Use the analysis of how we spend money to benchmark with others and identify value for money improvements.

• Introduce new methods for paying rent to improve convenience and value for money.

• Explore options for further savings in the way we deliver services through ‘on the phone and in your home’.

Did you know...Following the involvement of tenants in selecting our partners and products, we have saved over £1.8 million from the Home Improvement Programme and bought better quality fittings.

Environmental Improvements

25p

2p

21p

47p

5p Repairs

Home Matters & Support costs

Home Improvements

Other Costs

Tenants have asked us to tell them how we spend our income. In the year since we transferred we spent over £33 million in both revenue and capital expenditure on providing services and improvingyour homes.The chart below shows how every £1 was spent on the services provided.

‘YOUR VOICE...LOCAL CHOICE’

We believe these promises should continue to shape our services, but we are also aware that priorities and needs change and we therefore wish toupdate our service offer by commencing a ‘your voice…local choice’consultation in November 2010.

Recent changes to the National Framework within which we operate requireus to talk to tenants to determine whether they want us to set local offersagainst National Standards to meet local priorities. This is excellent newsand allows us to build on the substantial local offer we made in 2008.

We will consult meaningfully to determine what ‘your voice...local choice’means to you and over the coming months we will consult widely using a‘menu’ of consultation methods, including:

• Internet surveys

• Drop in sessions in local communities

• Residents’ Groups

• Tenants’ Panel meetings

• Tenants’ Housing Services Group meetings

This is an important time to have your say about how we deliver services. If you are unable to attend meetings or drop in sessions and you have accessto the internet please go to our website and complete the ‘your voice...localchoice’ survey using the following link:

www.sedgefieldboroughhomes.co.uk/yourvoicelocalchoice

Alternatively, you could complete the short questionnaire using the tear-off slip at the back of this report.

As many of you already know, we have worked closely with tenants in recent years to find outwhat matters to you. We set out our promises to you in our offer document in 2008 ahead of our transfer ballot.

THE sbh LOCAL OFFER

YOUR VOICE...LOCAL CHOICE

This Annual Report has been produced by tenants for tenants. The costs associated with producing the Annual Report are in the region of £6,000.

We would like to thank the Editorial Panel for their assistance in producing our first Annual Report.

Janice Wayman

Sylvia Dodsworth

Heather Linford

Martin Goldberg

Christine Hall

Dorothy Lonsdale

Anne Linsley

QUESTIONNAIRE:Question 1

Was the annual report useful?

Very useful

Useful

Not useful

Question 2

Do you think sbh provides value for money?

Great value for money

Reasonable value for money

Not value for money

Question 3

What could sbh do better? (maximum of 3 suggestions)

Question 4

Would you be interested in taking part in our ‘your voice...local choice’ consultation process?

Yes

No

If yes how would you like to be involved?

Internet forum

Focus Group

Meetings

Question 5

Would you be interested in being involved in developing and shaping services?

Yes

No

If yes how would you like to be involved?

Board

Tenants’ Panel

Tenants’ Housing Services Group

If you do wish to be involved with developing ‘your voice…local choice’ please provide your details below in order that we can contact you:

Your Information

Name

Address

Email

Telephone Number

GLUE

Sedgefield Borough Homes LimitedGreen Lane OfficesSpennymoorDL16 6JQ

Thank you for your time. Please fold here and return to address included.

Contact us

Sedgefield Borough Homes Limited, Green Lane OfficesSpennymoor, DL16 6JQ

E: contactus@sedgefieldboroughhomes.co.ukT: 0800 587 4538 (free from a landline) or

0300 111 2344 (cheap rate from mobiles depending on your network)

hpmgroup 0191 300 6941

T: 0845 505 5500F: 01388 824103