Tenants Annual Report

September 2010

stoke.gov.uk

Contents

Chapter Sub Sections Page(s)

1 Introduction 3

1.1 TSA Standards 3

1.2 Local Offers 4

1.3 Annual Report To Tenants 4

1.4 Our Housing Landlord Services 5

1.5 Improvement Planning 5

1.6 Service Standards 5

2 Tenant Involvement and 6

Empowerment Standard

2.1 Access to Services 6

2.2 Complaints 7

2.3 Understand the Needs of Our Customers 9

2.4 Tenant Involvement and Empowerment 10

3 Home Standard 14

3.1 Repairs and Maintenance 14

3.2 Quality of accommodation 15

4 Tenancy Standard 19

4.1 Allocations 19

4.2 Tenure 23

5 Neighbourhood and 25

Community Standard

5.1 Neighbourhood Management 25

5.2 Local Area Co-operation 27

5.3 Anti-Social Behaviour 28

6 Value For Money Standard

6.1 Value For Money 29

Appendices

2009/10 Performance Against 32

Key Indicators

2

Introduction

1 IntroductionThe Tenant Services Authority (TSA) became the regulator for social housing in April 2010.

It has introduced a set of common standards that apply to all social housing providers, in-

cluding councils who like ourselves have retained their housing stock. The standards have

been developed by extensive consultation with tenants, councils, housing associations and

other partners. The standards are designed to help improve the services that you as a ten-

ant receive.

The TSA wants tenants to be actively involved to help review, scrutinise and develop local

offers to enhance the service, reflecting local priorities and improving the quality of life for

all tenants.

1.1 TSA StandardsThe Standards are set out in the table below. The standards are concerned with the

outcomes for tenants, rather than being prescriptive on having to use any particular

processes or system. The TSA therefore allow organisations flexibility on how they are

delivered, so long as the outcome can be met. The standards are new and there will be

some areas where we, along with other providers, may not fully meet the standards.

Where this is the case, we will show how we intend to improve the service to meet the

standard.

Standard Service areas

Tenant Involvement • Customer service,

and Empowerment choice and complaints

• Involvement and

empowerment

• Understanding and

responding to diverse

needs of tenants

Home • Quality of accommodation

• Repairs and maintenance

Tenancy • Allocations

• Rents

• Tenure

Neighbourhood and • Neighbourhood

Community management

• Local area co-operation

• Anti-social behaviour

Value For Money • Value for money

There is a sixth standard, for

Governance and Financial

Viability. This is not applicable

to councils. We are governed

by our elected Members and

our financial viability is checked

by the District Auditor.

The full ranges of the standards

are available on our web pages

or in a leaflet available at any

Local Centre.

3

4

1.2 Local OffersLocal offers are designed to help improve the services that tenants receive, by enhancing

the TSA standards. Local offers can reflect local priorities and choices by tailoring services

based on what tenants want. Tenants must have the opportunity to help develop local

offers and we must consult fully with tenants over these.

The content of local offers is a matter for us to agree in consultation with our tenants. Local

offers are likely to cover a number of areas related to the TSA standards; specifically those

related to the Tenant Involvement and Empowerment, Home and Neighbourhood and

Community Standards. Other areas can be developed as well.

There is also a requirement in the Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard for

providers, in offering opportunities for their tenants to agree local offers, to take into

account:

(i) Standards of performance offered to tenants

(ii) How performance will be monitored, reported to and scrutinised by tenants

(iii) What happens if local offers, having been agreed with tenants, are not met, which

may include redress for tenants

(iv) The arrangements for reviewing local offers on a periodic basis.

Between now and March 2011, we will work with tenants to listen to the priorities you have

and to develop local offers to reflect these.

Local Offers - Actions Planned:We will discuss priorities and improvements to services with as wide a range of

tenants as possible, starting with the Tenants Conference in October 2010, and

other events during the autumn. We will use this feedback to look at priorities and

what aspects of the services tenants would like to see developed into local offers.

We aim to introduce a set of agreed local offers in early 2011.

1.3 Annual Report to TenantsThe TSA has set out a timetable for reporting our performance to tenants. For 2010, we

have to make an annual report available by 1 October. This report will set out how we are

currently meeting the standards, what gaps we have, how we intend to improve these and

how we intend to develop local offers.

We have worked with tenants from the Housing Services Review Group and Service

Improvement Teams to collate, review and scrutinise the contents within this report.

Annual Report - Actions Planned:Our first Annual Report to Tenants will be made available to tenants from September

2010. A copy will also be sent to the Tenants Services Authority.

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1.4 Our Housing Landlord Services

We manage 19,300 properties and have 340 leaseholders. In

addition, we manage over 1,100 garages and 55 shops.

These properties are managed by 8 Local Centres, plus teams

based at the Civic Centre. The services are also accessible via

our call centre (Stoke on Call) and 4 One Stop Shops, offering a

range of council services.

Our housing budget for 2010/11 is £58m, which comprises:-

1.5 Improvement PlanningService improvement plans provide us with the framework to record and manage a range

of improvements to the way we deliver our services. Improvement plans are monitored

regularly and the performance against key milestones and outputs is provided to

managers to allow a review of progress and ensure we achieve the aims set out.

For the purposes of this report so it is easier to understand, each section has a box

summarising the actions planned to address issues relating to the TSA Standards or to

help continue to improve our services. A separate detailed service improvement plan will

capture all of these. We will report back on progress to these within the annual report for

2011.

1.6 Service StandardsEach of our services has a range of service standards. These are highlighted at the

beginning of each chapter. The full set, including how we will monitor these, are available

in a leaflet format or from our web pages (www.stoke.gov.uk).

Repairs, maintenance and planned investment programmes - £39m

Staff, Office Buildings and Support Charges - £15m

Capital and other financing charges - £4m

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Tenants Involvement and Empowerment Standard

Our service standards for this service are:

2.1 Access to services:Our aim: the council is committed to ensuring that we offer a wider and appropriate

range of methods to contact and access our services.

The council provides accessibility to a wide range of both housing and other council

services through various access channels including telephone, face to face, text, email,

post and internet.

Stoke on Call is a telephone contact centre delivering all housing related services at the

first point of contact to all customers wishing to access services by telephone.

Customers wishing to access services face to face can visit one of the Local Centres or

One Stop Shops that are located across the city. Again all housing/tenancy related

services are dealt with at the first point of contact in each of the locations, making services

easy to access within the locality.

Services are publicised through a variety of methods such as Our City magazine that is

distributed across the city on a quarterly basis, and a tenants’ newsletter (Our Tenants)

which is also produced on a quarterly basis communicating any relevant service updates

and developments.

Customer Charter:

We will be polite, helpful and professional

We will provide you with accurate advice

and information

We will resolve your enquiry at the first

point of contact

If you ring us, we will answer your telephone

call within 30 seconds

If you visit us in person, we will greet you

within 2 minutes and start dealing with your

enquiry within 10 minutes

If you have an appointment with us, we will

see you on time

If you visit our website we will make sure

that it is quick and easy to find information

about all of our services

If you send us a letter, we will respond to

you within 5 working days

If you send us an email, we will respond

to you within 1 working day

If you consider that we have not met our

standards or you are not satisfied with the

service you receive, we will help you to

make a complaint

Complaints:

We aim to acknowledge your complaint

within two days

We aim to acknowledge your request for

a stage 2 within two working days

Our target is to give you a full response

within 10 working days at stage 1 and

within 20 working days at stage 2.

However if your complaint is complicated

it may take longer to sort out, but we

will keep you informed

We will treat your complaint confidentially,

and fairly, and you should not be treated

negatively as a result of making a

complaint

We run the compliments, comments and

complaints procedure in line with our

equalities policy

Where we are at fault, we will do our best

to put things right

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A text and email service is also available to customers. Customers

can request services from their mobile phone or PC at their own

convenience from anywhere at anytime. Their request will then be

actioned and a response returned to the customer.

Web access is provided by our website (www.stoke.gov.uk) which

provides customers with information on services delivered by the

organisation and how to access services.

Service standards are in place for each service area so that

tenants have a clear understanding of the level and quality of

service they can expect to receive from us. These standards

have been developed in consultation with tenants and were last

reviewed and updated in May 2010. Service managers will be

responsible for the monitoring of these standards and reviewing

them on an annual basis. This will help us to keep on improving

the services that we deliver.

The standards will be measured as set out in this document and

we will report back to tenants on how we are performing.

Access to Services - Actions Planned:We intend to review our service standards on an annual basis and publish our performance in meeting them in the Our Tenants newsletter.

2.2 Complaints:Our aim: compliments, comments and complaints help us to

understand issues from the customer’s view and will help us

provide better services.

Our corporate Customer Feedback Process allows tenants to

communicate with the council to either make a compliment,

comment or complaint. Any member of staff can record the

request from the tenant and the form will go directly to the

Customer Feedback team for processing.

During the year 2009/10, there were 1,181 complaints for the Housing, Environmental and

Neighbourhood (HENS) Directorate.

These can be broken down into the following:

Stage 1 Stage 2 Appeal Stage Local Government

Ombudsman

Housing 936 72 15 4

Neighbourhoods 245 26 5 6

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Complaint

Complaint regarding lack of

heating for 2 weeks

Upheld Partially Not

Upheld Upheld

Stage 1 243 143 550

Stage 2 5 3 18

Appeal 1 1 3

Stage

Out come of Complaints Housing

Stage 1, percentage upheld and partially upheld = 41.2%

Stage 2, percentage upheld and partially upheld = 30.8%

Upheld Partially Not Upheld Upheld

Stage 1 40 55 150

Stage 2 17 16 39

Appeal 3 3 9Stage

Neighbourhoods

Stage 1, percentage upheld and partially upheld = 38.8%Stage 2, percentage upheld and partially upheld = 45.8%

Complaint

Decent Homes kitchen

upgrade – disappointment in

what was provided

Stage 1 Stage 2

Number Number Percentage Number Number Percentage

In Time Out of Time within In Time Out of Time within

timescale timescale

Housing 841 95 89.9% 64 8 88.9%

Neighbourhoods 220 25 89.8% 20 6 76.9%

Performance within 15 working day target

Complaints help us to improve our services. The following speach bubbles shows some

examples of complaints made and the learning action taken as a result.

Complaint

Customer not happy to find

scaffolding erected outside flat with

no notification from us

Complaint

Complaint concerning

damage done to guttering

Learning Action

Better communication with

customers where flats are

concerned and a letter to be

sent before commencement

of work.

Learning Action

Roofing contractor to visually check

condition of adjoining gutter before

leaving site

Learning Action

The issue was not explained to the tenant

and incorrect information was given. All

communication to be agreed before

relaying to tenant.

Complaint

Not happy that housing application was

cancelled and did not want to register

Learning Action

Explained that application cancelled due to no reply.

However, application has now been reinstated

Learning Action

Complaint identified that

there was no procedure in

place to accommodate

emergency gas turn offs.

Process now in place to

deal with these situations

9

Complaint

Certain repairs have been

outstanding for months

Complaint

Complaint regarding fencing

put up around his property

Learning Action

There was a lack of consultation over the scheme.

Checklist now in place identifying what needs to

occur before any scheme is approved.

Complaint

A subcontractor of Kier did

not attend to do a job

Learning Action

Responsive team to place orders with sub contractors

directly, instead of through the Gas team, so that they

take complete ownership and monitor work process.

This will prevent any lost time occurring when work is

passed between two teams and reduce any further

delay to the customer

Learning Action

When multiple repairs are logged that the correct

appointment date and time is communicated to the

customer and to the contractor

Complaints - Actions Planned:An area for improvement is a full breakdown at service area for compliments,

comments and complaints. Previously they have been reported on a directorate

basis but to enable the service to improve and learn from complaints, these are to be

broken down into service and sub service areas.

2.3 Understanding the Needs of Our Customers:Our aim: we want to provide services that reflect the needs and requirements that

our customers have.

We recognised in 2009 that we did not hold sufficient information regarding the profile of

our tenants. As a result, we looked at what information requirements were needed and

also looked at how other organisations had collected this type of information. Once we had

this, we arranged for a customer profile questionnaire to be developed and ensured that a

group of tenants were involved in this process. We aim to have completed this

exercise by the end of the summer.

Once we have done this, we will review what gaps we may still have and look at alternative

ways of collecting the information (two examples being the use of the annual tenant review

visits and the use of Kier Stoke when they attend for repairs). The information and profiles

held will help us to shape and develop services to meet the requirements of our customers.

Customer Information - Actions Planned:

• Complete customer profiling exercise

• Review gaps in profile information and look at opportunities to collect this

• Begin to use profile information to shape service delivery

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2.4 Tenant Involvement and Empowerment

Our service standards for this service are:

• Provide a range of ways for tenants to get involved at a level that suits you

• Cover agreed out of pocket expenses for all tenants who take part in activities, such as transport, childcare etc

• Carry out an annual review of every tenant association to ensure it is following its constitution

• Produce in conjunction with tenants a newsletter 4 times a year. This newsletter will include outcomes achieved through the different tenant groups and inform of

forthcoming events

• Arrange a tenant conference, open to all tenants, once a year

• Provide opportunities and training for tenants to develop their skills, knowledge and confidence

• Review service standards annually

The tenant involvement service has the following aims.

• To support tenant associations giving them the necessary skills so they can develop to

be able to take an active role in improving the locality in which they live.

• To provide a range of opportunities for tenants to be involved in decision making, the

formulation of policies, the review of our performance and the development of local offers

• To provide value for money services which produce positive outcomes and increased

customer satisfaction.

The tenant involvement service includes a Tenant Involvement Manager and five

Involvement Officers. The involvement officers are patch based in the five neighbourhood

management areas. The council recognises the benefits of tenant involvement which

include:

• Detailed local knowledge from local tenants on the need for housing policy decisions

and their likely effect.

• Tenant associations can represent their local communities and act as non political

advisors to the council.

• Tenant consultation helps to ensure that resources are spent effectively on the

services local people want most.

• Through involvement the background to the council’s decision making is better

understood and a shared vision can be developed.

• Tenant involvement allows more effective use of our resources to be made by making

neighbourhoods places tenants want to stay in and others want to move into.

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What methods do we offer to achieve these aims?

The diagram helps to show the various methods of involvement that we have.

Customer Engagement

and

Involvement

Tenant Conferences

Mystery

Shopping

Reading

Panel

Street

Inspections

Ward

Events

Housing Service Review Group

Partners and

Community Together

(PACT)

Older Persons

Forum

Youth

Forum

Community

Empowerment

Network

Leaseholders

Neighbourhood Voice

Group

Resident Associations

City

Neighbourhood Forum

Direct Delivery

Groups

Task to Finish

(Themed)

Service Improvement

Teams

Neighbourhood

Forums

The Housing Services Review Group

(HSRG) – this group represents the

interests of the tenants and leaseholders of

the council. It exists to ensure that tenants

and leaseholders are able to monitor the

delivery by the council of the decent homes

investment programme and the undertakings

contained in the Housing Revenue Account

Business Plan.

The role of the Housing Service Review

Group includes being involved in the annual

planning and review process to determine

the form and content of investment

programmes and service priorities relating

to council owned stock from year to year.

Estate Walkabouts – a programme of

estate walkabouts is produced each year

that allows tenants and residents to go

on walkabouts around their estate with

members of the neighbourhood management

team and local Councillors. All issues are

noted and an action plan with timescales

where appropriate is agreed and passed

on to the resident associations in the area.

City Neighbourhood and Local Forums -

City Neighbourhood Forum (CNF)

comprises representatives from the 74

tenant associations in the City. The forum

meets every two months and is chaired by a

resident nominated each year by the rest of

the forum. In addition a City Neighbourhood

Forum Review Group is elected each year

to meet with officers and agree the agenda

for meetings and which guests to invite.

In the last 12 months the council’s Chief

Executive, the Chief Constable of

Staffordshire and the Chief Executive of

North Staffordshire Primary Care Trust

have all addressed recent meetings.

Each of the five neighbourhoods holds a

quarterly Local Forum made up of the

neighbourhood management team,

representatives of resident associations

and constituted community groups within

the neighbourhood boundary. At the Local

Forum, performance, local issues and ward

budgets are discussed. If a local issue

cannot be resolved at the forum and has

city wide implications it is passed upwards

to the City Neighbourhood Forum.

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Resident Associations - the council has

74 recognised tenant associations all of

whom receive a £100 each year provided

they have adhered to their constitution. Of

these, 45 are compact compliant, and have

at least 25% of their membership made up

of tenants. The tenant associations are

supported by the involvement officer for

their area and a full training programme is

provided in subjects such as how to chair

meeting, how to take minutes and how to

be a treasurer.

Each year the Involvement Officers carry

out an audit of the tenant associations and

helps them complete an action plan for

the year ahead. This helps the tenant

association focus on their priorities and

also identify any training and development

needs.

Service Improvement Teams - the

objectives of service improvements teams

is to actively involve the customer in the

processes which have an impact on the

services they receive and to develop

partnership working and create opportunities

for customers to develop their skills. The

service improvement teams meet on a

regular basis to identify good practice and

review the policies and procedures for

council service areas. A training programme

is drawn up with all service improvement

team members including data protection,

equal opportunities and how to chair a

meeting.

The council has service improvement

teams in the following service areas:

Allocations

Antisocial Behaviour

Community Support

Customer Access

Environment

Planned Maintenance

Responsive Maintenance

Revenue

Each service improvement team is chaired

by a tenant elected by the group on an

annual basis and is run in conjunction with

council’s service lead. Examples of tenant -

led service improvements include:

• Voids service improvement team took a

lead role in agreeing the new voids

standard

• The responsive maintenance service

improvement team designed a call back

card for operatives to leave when they

could not complete a job first time.

• The programmed maintenance service

improvement team has chosen the type

of extractor fan fitted in kitchen and

bathrooms and type of electric fire to be

installed.

• The customer access service

improvement team designed a leaflet

outlining all the ways you can access

council services.

• The revenue service improvement teams

designed the rent statement that goes

out annually to all tenants.

Mystery Shopping - the council has a

group of tenants and residents who carry

out a programme of mystery shopping

exercises each year. The aim of mystery

shopping exercises is to review how staff

and the processes they use perform

against known standards. The exercises

measure these and the results are used

to increase customer satisfaction. A full

training programme is provided to tenants

before they carry out a mystery shopping

exercise.

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Tenant Involvement - Actions Planned:

• Local offers to be developed with tenants in line with the TSA framework

• Tenants Conference in October to enable tenants to tell us their views on

priorities and areas for improvement

• Website to be developed to be more user friendly and include on line forums

• Tenant Involvement Policy to be reviewed to reflect the TSA framework

• Local Forums to be reviewed to make them more inclusive to try and attract a

wider audience

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Home Standard

3 Home Standard

Our service standards for this service are:

• We will ensure tenants expectations are always met

with regard to the quality of repairs delivered

• We will ensure council owned gas appliances are

serviced and safety checked every year

• We will ensure routine repairs are completed within 20 days

• We will respond to emergency repairs within 4 hours

• We will respond to essential repairs within 3 working days

• We will ensure empty properties are repaired and

returned to use as soon as possible

3.1 Repairs and MaintenanceOur aim: to meet the high standards expected by our customers, ensuring properties

remain in a good standard, achieve value for money and protect the environment.

We provide a repairs and maintenance service to 19,300 council homes, 340 leasehold

homes, and 1,100 garages across the city. Completing over 80,000 repairs on an annual

basis and returning over 1500 voids back into use in 2009/10. We also invested over £16

million in improvements to enable our housing to achieve the decent homes standard.

In February 2008, the council entered into a 10 year Joint Venture partnership with Kier

Stoke for the delivery of repairs and maintenance services to its housing stock.

Some of the council’s aspirations for the Joint Venture Company (JVCo) were as follows:

• to deliver best in class maintenance, repair and construction services,

• recover the set up costs of the council in forming the Joint Venture Company,

• access new markets and expand the work base of the new company,

• contribute to the improvement and enhancement of the social, economic and/or

environmental well being of the City of Stoke-on-Trent,

• deliver Best Value solutions for all clients,

• improve the quality and consistency of service delivery,

• and the Council maintains control over the future direction and focus of the new

organisation

The tender process and contract award generated savings against the former repair job

costs of 6% for responsive repairs and 10% for relet (void) work. The following table

shows the anticipated savings over the life of the contract from these efficiency savings.

15

Annual % saving Annual Saving over Budget Saving the term of

the Contract

Relet Repairs 4,200,000 10% 420,000 4,200,000

Responsive 5,600,000 6% 336,000 3,360,000

repairs

Total £7,560,000

The contract also covered capital type replacement works along with planned and cyclical

maintenance work. The costs supplied and currently used were tendered in open competition

and represent excellent value for money. To ensure these rates remain competitive, regular

benchmarking is undertaken through the use of Housemark and the Efficiency North

Partnership, where comparisons are made with similar council’s.

Getting repairs right first time is a major aim. The table below shows the response to

repairs and completion of repairs for 2009/10 and provides comparison with other similar

landlords:

Stoke City

Council Council 1 Council 2 Council 3

% of responsive repairs

with appointment made

and kept 93.00% 91.26% 84.89% 85.54%

% of all responsive repairs

completed within target 88.00% 98.04% 97.09% 94.54%

Kier Stoke has now been operating for almost two and a half years and is currently being

reviewed, using the Vanguard lean thinking approach. The purpose of the review is to

apply an improved approach to service delivery.

Repairs and Maintenance - Actions Planned:

• We will improve our approach to repairs through our Vanguard review project

• Improvements to the diagnosis and way we deal with repair requests

• Empowering operatives to diagnose the repair or authorise a replacement and to

carry out any other repairs identified by the tenant at the time of the visit.

• Offering time specific appointments to tenants at a time convenient to them

3.2 Quality of AccommodationOur aim: to use our resources to maintain and invest in our properties so they meet

the decent homes standard.

16

The Council has in place significant

programmes of investment for planned,

cyclical and capital investment type

works. In 2010/11 the council will carry

out the following items of programmed

works activity as shown.

Replacement Element

Rewire

Bathroom

Kitchen

Roof

External doors

External decoration

Gas Service

Adaptations

Number

100

807

1,200

75

900

3,250

17,000

200

Figure *** Stock Condition information In order to test validity of this statement Stoke CC are to commission an independent stock condition survey to be completed by end March 2011. The purpose of the survey is to validate the data held in Codeman 4, the Councils asset management database, and to inform the investment decisions of the Council over the next 30 years. In addition an in- house survey of 20% of the stock is to be undertaken each year to inform works programmes for the following year. These programmes will be advertised on the Councils Website and displayed in all council offices.

Figure: Actual to Planned non-decency levels (from August 2009 – December 2010)

Component Tenants Choice

Kitchen Unit fronts, Worktops,Floor tiles, Wall tiles, Paint colour

Bathroom Bath Panel, WC seat, Paint colour

Entrance Doors Colour, Style

Central Heating Fire type, Electric fire surround style and colour

The council’s Decent Homes Plus Standard offers a wide range of choice to tenants on the

work to be carried out to their homes. This includes:-

The council will complete its Decent Homes Programmes by October

2010, ahead of schedule and within approved budgets

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A new programme of works to blocks of flats and servicing to non domestic buildings has

been produced. This information is to be shared with tenants and leaseholders and will

allow the council’s leaseholders to plan for investment work in their blocks and to make

financial provision where they are required to contribute.

The council has in place a relet standard agreed with tenants. This standard has been

written in consultation with tenants who sit on the Void Service Improvement Team. The

council manages around 1,500 relet properties per annum. The councils ‘Quit to Let’

target for 2009/10 was 33 days and the actual outturn position was 36.7 days.

Performance of Kier Stoke in this area is shown below.

The relet process will also be subject to a Vanguard review (in conjunction with the

allocations service as these two services operate together) and it is anticipated this will

result in changes to the way this service is delivered and will improve performance and

raise tenant satisfaction levels.

The council considers the health, safety and well being of its tenants its highest priority

and invests heavily to ensure compliance with all legislation and regulation relating to the

health and safety of the occupants of their homes.

The council carries out the annual gas safety check and service to around 17,500 individual

gas appliances each year along with communal boilers. In 2009/10 99.17% of appliances

were checked and serviced. As at 21 July 2010, 99.36 % were checked within the target –

meaning only 108 properties have not had a service within the previous 12-month period.

This is still too high a number and we proactively tackle cases where tenants do not let us

in to carry out the annual gas safety checks. Kier Stoke provide a paperless service using

the handheld electronic devices and the electronic storage of the landlord’s copy of the

CP12 gas safety certificate. This brings administrative efficiencies and a reduction in costs

to the council.

The council has been undertaking asbestos surveys of all our properties including communal

areas and sheltered accommodation. The council has to date carried out over 7,000

surveys and is now preparing to notify all tenants where asbestos containing products

exist within their home. A leaflet campaign and the training of front line staff to assist

tenants with advice when they express concern about the notification they receive, will

support this process.

Type of void % Completed Number of Average

on time Properties Cost

Minor void (12 day, £0-£2,500) 94% 818 £1,407

Intermediate void (22 day, 96% 454 £3,197

£2,501-£5,000)

Major void (45 day, over £5,000) 94% 238 £5,842

All void types 95% 1510 £2,669

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The council is nearing the end of a 5 year programme to

carry out full periodic electric testing to all our homes

and the aim is to complete this by the end of 2010/11.

This will ensure that all our stock has been fully checked

and certified and has had any urgent works carried out.

The results will also identify electrical investment

requirements which need to be built into our future

planning processes.

Adaptations are an important part of our service to support

tenants with disabilities to continue to reside within their

homes. A joint officer working group has been established

to manage the process of delivering adaptations to the City.

The group is made up of officers from Disability Resource

Team, Kier Stoke, Housing Standards and the Contract

Management Team. The group consider strategic issues in

the first part of the meeting and individual cases in the latter

part ensuring both operational and strategic issues are dealt

with in a joined up manner.

Funding of £1.9 million has been provided for the period

2010/11 to deliver adaptations to Council owned properties.

The funding for council adaptations has been increased this

year by £600,000 to clear a backlog in past referrals. It is

anticipated by December 2010 that the backlog will be cleared

and the maximum wait for major adaptations should not exceed

12 weeks from this time.

Quality of Accommodation - Actions Planned:

• We will improve our approach to voids (in conjunction with allocations) through

our Vanguard review project

• We are exploring the possibility of offering some repair services to leaseholders,

to bring in additional income and ensure improved safety in all of our properties.

• Other initiatives under consideration include fitting interrupters on boilers where

tenants frequently fail to give access for gas safety checks (for tenants who are

not vulnerable) and co-ordinating visits with requests for routine repairs.

• A new Client intervention team is also proposed to ensure all gas servicing is

delivered within its anniversary date.

• We will undertake an asbestos notification and advice process.

19

Tenancy Standard

4 Tenancy Standard

Our service standards for this service are:

Housing Options Service:

We will provide you with a personal housing options adviser

We will keep in touch to make sure that the advice and assistance

we have given has provided a good housing outcome for you

Lettings Service:

We will confirm your decision to join our housing register and assess your

application within 5 working days of you providing us with all requested information

We will offer you an accompanied viewing before we ask you to sign up for a tenancy

We will keep you informed on a weekly basis of the progress of a property that you

have been successful for

We will contact you at least twice a year to check that you wish to stay on the

housing register

Homelessness:

We will explain your legal rights and responsibilities in plain language

We will give you a decision on your application within 33 working days and we will

tell you if there is going to be a delay

Some other service standards apply within this standard but also cover the

Neighbourhood and Community standard, so are covered within that chapter.

4.1 AllocationsThe council has been offering a choice-based

letting system (CBL) since June 2004. This

process allows customers to have a say in

where they wish to live. As of July 2010 there

were 9,277 people on the housing register,

consisting of Homeless, Transfer and Waiting

List applicants.

In keeping with the council’s allocation policy, and

commitment to helping those in greatest need, each

applicant is allocated a ‘banding’ as follows:

Band Description

1 Must find a home

2 Must move soon

3 Need to move

4 Want to move

20

Property Type Occupant Profile

Flat Singles, Couples and families

Houses Families with children

Bungalows Singles and couples over the age of 60 or with a disability

where a bungalow is deemed as the only suitable

accommodation. Bungalow accommodation is occasionally

allocated to applicants over the age of 55 where we have not

been able to identify an eligible applicant.

Adapted Properties To the applicant who is best suited to the adaptations in the

property (subject to Occupational Therapy approval)

In addition to this, the council aims to match the tenant to the most appropriate property;

therefore the guideline criteria are as follows:

Property Allocation - By Property Type

0

200

400

600

800

Bungalow Flat House

As part of its strategy for addressing

homelessness, the council works

with other Registered Social Landlords

(RSLs), including Housing Associations

and Accredited Landlords.

A ‘nomination agreement’ has been

established with Registered Social

Landlords; this ensures all vacant

properties offered to the council are

advertised through the Homeline free

sheet. This information is published

weekly in a newsletter and is available

on the Internet – www.homeline.org.uk,

as well as at the Housing Advice

Centre, Local Centres and other

customer access points.

Applicants are assessed in accordance

with the council’s Allocations Policy. In

the year April 2009 to March 2010,

316 properties were allocated as

nominations to Registered Social

Landlords:

Registered Social Landlord Allocations

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

SANCTUARY

SOT HSL

STAFFS HA

MIDLAND HEART

BROMFORD

WILLIAM SUTTON

RIVERSIDE

During the period April 2009 to March 2010,

1,536 properties were allocated:

In order to address the issues of under-occupation and overcrowding, the council operates

a Transfer Incentive Scheme. Tenants who qualify for this scheme are given a priority

banding on the Housing Register to facilitate a quicker move, and financial incentive is

offered in order to attract tenants to the initiative. Designated officers are assigned to the

tenant to assist them with the actual practicalities of moving. This allows applicants on a

priority banding to be found appropriate accommodation more effectively.

The council operates a Mutual Exchange Scheme; this offers current tenants the opportunity

to exchange their home with other like-minded occupants.

Every customer on the Housing Register is sent a Homeline Scheme User Guide. This

document explains how the Choice Based Letting scheme operates and includes information

on the other housing options that are available to them, for example mutual exchange,

HomeBuy schemes, private rented properties, sheltered housing and retirement villages.

The guide provides information on the council housing stock, the number and type of

properties available and the average waiting times. This information can be found on the

Homeline website. For applicants who are either vulnerable or have mobility issues,

Homeline is available by post.

Adapted properties are advertised in the free sheet with a mobility symbol, details of the

adaptations, and a statement is put on the advert to advise that priority will be given to

those applicants whose mobility needs match the adaptations.

The current Allocations Policy was implemented in March 2008. It outlines how the banding

system is implemented. All applicants are notified in writing of their banding and eligibility.

A written copy of the full policy is available to customers on request, or it can be

downloaded from the Homeline website - www.homeline.org.uk

As of July 2010, the banding of

the 9,277 applicants on the

housing register was as follows:

In order to make the allocation

process widely accessible,

access is available in a number

of ways. Methods include

application form, telephone

and in person at any Local

Centres or One Stop Shop.

Applicants can bid by telephone, text, via the website, calling

into an access point or email. The Council offers assisted

bidding for vulnerable applicants who are unable to place bids

themselves.

Customers can be supplied with information in large

print, Braille or on Audio CD. A Learning Disability Guide

(MAKATON), explaining the registration, banding and CBL

process is currently being developed. We are working to

ensure that information we provide will be simplified. One

example is the use of symbols and sign-language for

customers with different learning disabilities.

21

22

Applicants with a vulnerability or support need are identified during registration and given

assistance. When suitable accommodation has been offered to this group of applicants,

support needs are identified, and referral is made to the council’s Community Support

Team and to Smartmoves where applicable.

Housing Solutions work closely with the council’s Translation and Interpretation Service.

Their role is to help explain the registration and Choice Based Letting process to customers

who do not speak English as a first language, and who may have difficulties with written

English. A translator is used during the sign-up process so that the tenancy conditions,

details of the rent etc are clearly explained to the applicant. The Letting Team helps

customers who have difficulty with English, or have support needs, to complete forms.

The ‘Performance Monitoring and Vulnerable Persons Officer’ within the Lettings Team,

has put reporting mechanisms in place for identifying, contacting and assisting customers

who have support needs. The Officer has also developed strong links with support

agencies/providers.

The Lettings Team work closely with the Housing Options and Homelessness team and,

where applicable, share information about customers who have support needs and/or

vulnerability issues.

The council have worked with the ‘Places to Live Team - Learning disabilities’ on a pilot

scheme. The aim is to match properties with the needs of customers with learning disabilities.

This can be in terms of property attributes and location. Potential properties are assessed

for their features; suitable properties are offered and let to customers identified by the

‘Places to Live Team’. These homes are not advertised through the usual Choice Based

Letting system.

Housing Solutions work with ‘Children and Young People Services’ (CYPS) to identify

suitable homes for families. Appropriate properties are offered and let to customers identified

by the CYPS team; these are not advertised though our Choice Based Lettings system.

In order to monitor the allocations performance indicators, a number of indicators are

reported on a monthly basis. These include:

• Percentage of properties re-let within 10 working days once all work has been completed;

• Average time taken to re-let local authority housing

23

Allocations - Actions Planned:

• We will improve our approach to allocations (in conjunction with voids) through

our Vanguard review project.

• Develop more robust performance monitoring and recording mechanisms to

show who is on our housing register and what their housing needs are.

• Undertake wider consultation with our service users, tenants and potential

tenants on the way the allocations policy operates.

• Provide access to clear relevant advice about housing options. Also need a more

detailed and comprehensive booklet on the range of housing options available.

• Develop local area guides in order to help maximise choice and enable tenants

and potential tenants to move to other areas in the City to access employment

opportunities or to meet the needs of their family. Local area guides will help to

give customers more information about areas they may dismiss because they

know very little about them in terms of employment, schools, churches, mosques,

health centres, regeneration projects, leisure/parks recreation facilities and so on.

• Improve partnership working with Registered Social Landlords and monitor their

performance against nomination targets. Nomination arrangements need to be

revisited and reviewed as a matter of priority over the next 12 months.

• Local Lettings Policies need to be revisited/reviewed; customers need clear information on local letting policies and we need to be able to demonstrate that they are effective.

4.2 TenureOur aim: to provide high quality tenancy management services.

Our Tenancy Agreement sets out the council’s responsibility as a Landlord and the

responsibilities of a tenant. All tenants at sign-up are given a Tenancy Agreement and it

is also available online to view and download if required.

We have a range of processes and services

in place to deliver tenancy management.

We undertake both visits to new tenants

and annual tenancy review visits to a

sample of 25% of homes each year.

The visit helps us to check tenancies, ensure

properties are occupied by the correct

tenant and to see if any support requirements are needed. If support requirements are

identified, cases can be referred to our Community Support Team, who can offer support

services and also link to other partners for more in depth support if needed.

Activity Performance

2009/10

% of New Tenancy visit 97.6%

completed within 6 weeks

of tenant moving in

% of Tenant Review Visits 101.0%

completed within target

24

We recognise that tenants can get into debt and we provide a welfare benefits advice

service through the A4E Advice for Stoke service to tenants with rent arrears and other

debts. We are currently looking at ways to review how our debte advice service operates

this service.

A4E Activity Performance

New clients assisted 838

Total amount of debt identified, £3,033,989.20

existing and new clients

Total amount of debt re-scheduled with £2,665,340.30

creditors for existing and new clients

Total amount of Benefits claimed £1,065,161.60

for clients

Number of evictions prevented 27

Tenure - Actions Planned:

• Reviewing the ways that the debt advice service operates.

Neighbourhood and Community Standard

5 Neighbourhood and Community Standard

Our service standards for this service are:

• We will carry out review visits on all new tenancies within 6

weeks and then again after 6 months and 9 months

• For all existing tenancies, 25% of the stock will be visited

each year as part of an annual review

• We will provide assistance and/or refer to specialist

agencies if you are experiencing difficulty in maintaining your tenancy

• We will consult with you on any changes to your Tenancy Agreement or

to the services you receive from us

• If you request an alteration or an improvement to your home, we will write to you

with a decision within 10 working days

• We will treat all complaints of antisocial behaviour seriously and deal with these

cases in accordance with our antisocial behaviour policy

• We will carry out street inspections on all council estates ensuring each street will be inspected quarterly and an action plan drawn up to deal with any issues

that arise

• We will remove any offensive graffiti within 24 hours of being reported, any other

forms of graffiti will be removed within 5 working days

• We will attend to assess reports of fly tipping within 24 hours, try to identify the

perpetrator and arrange for it to be removed

5.1 Neighbourhood ManagementOur aim: to provide neighbourhoods

that are safe and clean, by working in

partnership with tenants, leaseholders,

and other tenants and stakeholders.

Providing services at the local level is

about our tenants’ priorities, concerns and

involvement. To provide services and

improve neighbourhoods, the city is divided

into five neighbourhood areas, each of

which has its own Neighbourhood Team that

works closely with tenants,

leaseholders, other

tenants, local Councillors,

statutory, voluntary and

community agencies.

A core function of Neighbourhood Services

is the estate management service to our

tenants and leaseholders, provided

through 8 Local Centre’s (throughout the

5 Neighbourhood Areas). The table below

provides information about the areas

managed and our council housing stock,

which totalled 19,300 at the end of March

2010. In addition, we also have 1,100 lock

up garages and 972 garage plot sites, as

well as 55 shops within our housing estates.

A number of the garage sites are no longer

sustainable and over the next year or so, a

review will be undertaken to assess the

demand, the income, expenditure and

potential alternative uses some of these

sites may have. A longer term review along

similar lines will be undertaken for our shops.

25

Area Wards Council housing stock

Northern Type 2009/10

Burslem North Houses 3,260

Chell and Packmoor Flats 556

Norton and Bradeley Bungalows 645

Tunstall

Eastern Type 2009/10

Bentilee and Townsend Houses 3,491

Abbey Green Flats 545

Berry Hill and Bungalows 857

Hanley East, East Valley

Western Type 2009/10

Burslem South Houses 757

Hanley West and Shelton Flats 537

Northwood and Bungalows 572

Birches Head

South Type 2009/10

Western Blurton Houses 2,534

Fenton Flats 1,041

Hartshill and Penkhull Bungalows 577

Stoke and Trent Vale

Trentham and Hanford

South Type 2009/10

Eastern Weston and Meir North Houses 2,512

Meir Park and Sandon Flats 499

Longton North Bungalows 917

Longton South

26

27

We have developed our approach to tenancy and estate management by working directly

with our tenants, through both formal and informal engagement. For example, we work

directly with the Service Improvement Teams in developing service standards to improve

our services and to be accountable to our tenants. Our service standards are illustrated at

the beginning of this chapter.

Our Neighbourhood Management service operating from each Local Centre includes

Neighbourhood Housing Officers, who look after a specific patch of properties,

Neighbourhood Impact Officers who deal with responding to litter, graffiti and they also

undertake street inspection and low level tenancy contacts, and Enforcement Officers,

who deal with serious tenancy breach cases or anti social behaviour enforcement actions.

We will carry out a peer review of estate management services in conjunction with Hull

City Council. This includes the involvement of tenants and staff from both Stoke and Hull

in visiting each other’s housing estates and assessing conditions, as well as a review of

policies and procedures. We hope this review will highlight both good aspects and areas

where we can improve the way we carry out estate management activities.

We recognise that our existing Tenancy and Estate Management policy

is now outdated and over the next year, we will work with tenants to

develop a revised policy.

5.2 Local area co-operation We work closely with other partners within the city. This is made stronger by our development

partnership working with a number of Registered Social Landlords, including Moorland’s

Housing, Staffordshire Housing, Affinity Sutton, Aspire and Great Places. We are working

on a range of regeneration and new development projects on our estates with these

Registered Social Landlords, so we all have an interest in ensuring a high standard of

housing management and estate management services are provided, both to our respective

tenants and the wider community.

Our Neighbourhood Service teams include Area Implementation team staff (AITs) who

undertake the co-ordination of tenant and tenant engagement including neighbourhood

forums and ward events; the production and delivery of ward plans, (reflecting local

priorities in consultation with elected Members, tenants and partners). The teams also

coordinate the direct delivery Groups and assist community groups with community events

and activities. The Area Implementation teams are responsible for leading and coordinating

the Area Implementation Partnerships that concentrates on local problem solving.

Partners comprise of the police, health, youth services, voluntary sector, etc.

Neighbourhood Management - Actions Planned:

• Peer review of service with tenants and another Local Authority

• Development of Tenancy and Estate Management Policy

28

5.3 Antisocial behaviour Our aim: to work in partnership with tenants, leaseholders, and other stakeholders

to tackle anti social behaviour within our communities.

We recognise that antisocial behaviour is damaging to both tenants and the wider

communities and we will take effective action to tackle it. We work closely with the council’s

Safer City Partnership, which exists to deliver national crime, disorder and substance

misuse strategies at a local level, through partnership working. The partnership ensures that

crime, disorder and substance misuse planning and programmes are delivered effectively,

in a structured and coherent manner, in our neighbourhoods.

Initiatives include the use of an Antisocial Behaviour hotline to report incidents, the delivery

of Respect Action Weeks in neighbourhoods and the use of Police Community Support

Officers, Enforcement Officers, Neighbourhood Housing Officers, Neighbourhood Impact

Officers and Safer City Partnership Officers to tackle Antisocial Behaviour.

Local area co-operation - Actions Planned:

• Strengthen working with Registered Social Landlords to tackle Antisocial

Behaviour

Anti Social Behaviour - Actions Planned:

• Implement new Antisocial Behaviour IT system

• Implementation of new corporate Antisocial Behaviour policy

(by the council’s Safer Cities Partnership team)

Total actions

across all

neighbourhoods

Verbal warnings 10

Written warnings 697

Parental Control Orders (PCA’s) 0

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) 132

Acceptable Behaviour Agreements (ABAs) 14

Acceptable Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) 9

Acceptable Behaviour Injunctions (ASBIs) 12

ASB related Notice of seeking Possession (NOSPs) 44

Demoted Tenancies by Local Authority 7

Evictions Orders (ASB related) 6

Gating Orders 23

Antisocial Behaviour enforcement over a

12 month period included the following actions:

29

Value for Money Standard

6 Value for MoneyOur aim: we are committed to ensuring that our services provide

value for money for the benefit of all tenants.

6.1 Value for MoneyTo do this we need to understand our tenants’ needs, priorities and

the cost drivers of the services we provide, so we can be confident

that we have allocated and prioritised our resources to the range of

housing services and improvement projects we have.

The way in which we use our income (mainly derived from rents) should, quite rightly,

be scrutinised by tenants. To help our drive towards value for money, we need all staff and

tenants to assist by avoiding waste, improving productivity and efficiencies, seeking improved

ways of providing better services, seeking new funding sources and sharing ideas with us.

Our average weekly housing management costs per property for 2009/10 were £13.47. Our

average maintenance costs were £14.46. Our benchmarking against the major cities group

and the larger stock retained authorities group shows our costs being slightly lower than

average in comparison to other organisations – our size enables some economies of scale.

The council now has a medium term 3 year rolling financial strategy, which helps to identify

the resources available and assist in both forward planning and the identification of

efficiencies required.

We have provided a range of efficiencies including the provision of “an invest to save” post

dealing with insurance claims under £500. By removing these from the council’s corporate

insurance cover, we have reduced our insurance premiums and that, together with a

stronger focus on the identification of insurance risks, has resulted in substantial savings,

of £139,000 for the insurance years 2008/09 and 2009/10.

We have a long term partnership to deliver our

repairs and maintenance services, through the

creation of the Joint Venture Company, (JVC) with

Kier Stoke. By adding private sector expertise from

Kier, we are aiming to improve services, reduce costs

and provide more training opportunities. The JVC is

the only organisation providing repair and maintenance

services to the council’s housing stock.

From a maintenance perspective, the Joint Venture

Company’s procurement contract award process

resulted in cost savings of 6% to responsive repairs

and 10% to relets. As discussed in section 3.1 (repairs

and maintenance), we are using benchmarking

information to ensure that our repair costs remain

competitive.

We have undertaken a number

of housing management

reviews into the way some

of our services are being

delivered. Services that have

had a review include:

• Leasehold Management Service

• Tenancy and Estate Management

• Access and Customer Care

(linking into a corporate review)

• Community Support

• Gas servicing

30

The Tenancy and Estate Management service is being reviewed to a further degree as part

of a much wider Task and Finish review of the way the council is delivering neighbourhood

management services, with the outcomes of this expected to be reported in the autumn of

2010.

In addition, a fundamental review of the way we provide all housing services will be

undertaken using the Vanguard systems thinking approach. The first project for this is for

our repairs service, with voids and allocations being the next. It is likely that the outcomes

from these reviews will be put into operation during late 2010 / early 2011.

There are a number of key objectives that we want to achieve as part of our drive to

deliver efficient value for money services. These objectives are as follows:

Sustainable Housing Revenue Account

(HRA) business plan - the current business

plan is due for replacement. The next

business plan faces some challenges to

ensure that the short, medium to long term

financial projections are viable and that all

our investment requirements are captured

and planned for.

We have responded to the Government’s

HRA Offer Prospectus “Council Housing –

A Real Future” which examined the benefits

of both opting out of the HRA subsidy

system (and becoming self financing) as

opposed to staying within it. We are waiting

for the Government to make a further

announcement in respect of it’s plans for

the HRA subsidy system and self financing

options. Once this is clearer, we will review

the best options for the council and build

these into a new business plan.

Understanding our costs - we want to

ensure that we fully understand our costs

and how these compare to other providers,

as well as the link between costs,

performance and customer satisfaction. A

greater use of benchmarking (comparing

our data with other housing organisations)

through HouseMark and the Association

of Retained Council Housing (ARCH)

performance club will be made, with clear

comparative indictors set up. We have also

members of Efficiency North, a northern

procurement consortium, to enable us

to obtain more specific repairs and

maintenance benchmarking information.

In addition, we recognise that we want

tenants to be involved in reviewing the

costs of the services we provide and how

this links to priorities, our aims and

aspirations and where applicable, to the

service charges that are in place.

Improve the way performance is

managed - while there are a number of

targets and indicators in use, the way in

which this information can be used to

manage the business could be improved,

particularly as we develop further ways

for tenants to review and scrutinise this

information.

31

Undertake service reviews and quality

audits - we have already undertaken a

number of service reviews and will continue

to do so, to incorporate wider reviews into

how services are provided, including the

use of the Vanguard system thinking

process review. We will want tenants to

be involved and will ensure that they have

any necessary training and development.

This will capacity build them so they are

fully part of any decision making process.

Running alongside service reviews are

quality audits, where reviews are undertaken

to established polices and procedures, to

ensure that these are being applied as

designed, consistently and that

non-conformities are highlighted as part

of an agreed action plan. Non-conformities

may result in additional costs by staff using

inappropriate working practices or failing to

use the most effective way of carrying out a

function.

Maximise service and cost improvements

from the Joint Venture Company, Kier

Stoke – the Joint Venture Company is a long

term partnering agreement which used the

European OJEC procurement process to select

a suitable repairs company to carry out all our

repairs and maintenance services. We believe

that the Joint Venture Company enshrines the

principles of partnering and a group of tenants

were involved throughout the procurement

process. We now want to ensure that we can

maximise the service improvements that the

Joint Venture Company have introduced to the

repairs and maintenance service and show

that cost savings made from the procurement

are re-invested into our long term investment

programme.

Develop a clear culture for Value

For Money - as the availability of

resources becomes more restricted

and the pressures for further stock

investment and provision of front line

services continues, the need to focus

on value for money is vital to ensure

that we achieve our aims. Staff and

customers must be involved at all

levels to encourage ownership,

accountability and ideas to further

raise the focus of value for money

and to improve services that

customers want.

Value For Money - Actions Planned:

• Development of replacement Housing Revenue

Account business plan

• Understanding our costs

• Improve the way performance is managed

• Undertake service reviews and quality audits

• Maximise service and cost improvements from the Joint Venture Company

• Develop clear culture for Value for Money

32

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R

LP 0

8 %

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e re

pair

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(prio

rity

code

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com

plet

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targ

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erio

d 81

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91

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cess

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revi

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as

part

of le

an th

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ppro

ach

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y H

omes

09

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Mar

ch 2

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et

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faile

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2 %

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ent l

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due

to v

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t with

in 1

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void

wor

k co

mpl

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83

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ties

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type

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f S12

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0%