The Key Spring 2011

In this issue... Comments and Complaintson our services...Page 2

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

Locksmith Trainingfor TRL operatives...Page 3

What you said about our servicesand what we are doing to improve... 0

For all the local news about your community Issue 66 – Spring 2011

Tel: 0300 303 1190 Email: [email protected] Web: www.shropshirehousing.org.uk

Spring has sprung!2011 let’s get started

Comments and

on our services...

Locksmith Trainingfor TRL operatives...Page 3

57001_The Key_Spring_2011_HR.indd 1 3/7/11 11:28 AM

CONTENTSH

OW T

O C

ON

TACT

US

DAVID MULLINS has lived in the area since 1989 and was a member of the original SSHA Board from 1994 to 2002. He returned for a second term on SSHA Board in December 2007. David is a Professor of Housing Policy at the University of Birmingham and has published widely including two books on the housing sector and housing policy: After Council Housing: Britain’s new Social Landlords (with Hal Pawson, 2010) and Housing Policy in the UK (with Alan Murie, 2006).

David MullinsSSHA Board Member

2 | The Key Spring 2011 | Tel: 0300 303 1190

Meet the board2 Meet The Board/Comments and Complaints 3 Our Service To You/Total Response4 Local Projects5 Group News9 Tass Page10 What You Said About our Services12 Competitions

If you require this document in audio, braille, large print or if English is not your fi rst language then please contact us.Si vous avez besoin de ce document en audio, braille, gros caractères, ou si l’anglais n’est pas votre langue première veuillez nous contacter. French Jeśli wymagasz tego dokumentu w audio, Braille’a, duże wydruku, lub jeśli angielski jest nie pierwszy język prosimy kontakt. Polish Если вам требуется этот документ в аудио, Брайля, крупных печатных, или если английский является не ваш первый язык напишите нам. RussianOs oes angen y dogfen hon mewn ffurf wahannol, er enghraifft Braille, llythrennau mawr, tâp audio neu iaith wahanol, gadewch i ni wybod os gwelwch yn dda. WelshSe ha bisogno di questo documento in audio, Braille, grande stampa, o se inglese è la prima lingua contattaci. Italian You can contact us in a number of ways:� PHONE 0300 303 1190 � REPAIRS FREEPHONE 0800 592418� EMAIL [email protected]� IN WRITING by sending your letter to us at

South Shropshire Housing Association,The Gateway, The Auction Yard,Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 9BW.

� IN PERSON by coming along to the reception desk at Craven Arms.

OFFICE OPENING HOURSOur normal offi ce opening hours are:9.00am - 5.00pm Monday - Friday.

COMPLIMENTSHere are some of the compliments our staff have received recently: Mrs Jones is extremely happy about the repair to her front step.

Mrs Buy is very happy with fencing repair.

Mr Langley. John Dorricot and TRL are both brilliant – John worked very hard and Mr Langley is grateful for the spotlight in his kitchen.

COMPLAINTS

We received a complaint stating there was severe damp to the walls and fl oor in the property, that the plaster and wallpaper was peeling off and the radiators were not getting hot.

In our response we arranged for the heating system to be completely fl ushed out and the controls on the radiators to be checked as the loss of background heat was contributing to the severe condensation.

The complaint was upheld and the tenant was sent a leafl et on how condensation could affect the property, and a £30 decoration voucher.

Mrs Buy is very happy with fencing repair.

Mr Langley. John Dorricot and TRL are both Mr Langley. John Dorricot and TRL are both brilliant – John worked very hard and Mr Langley is grateful for the spotlight

Britain’s new Social Landlords (with Hal Pawson, Britain’s new Social Landlords (with Hal Pawson, 2010) and Housing Policy in the UK

COMPLIMENTSCOMPLIMENTSHere are some of the compliments

Mrs Buy is very happy with fencing repair.Mrs Buy is very happy with fencing repair.

13 45 6

2


www.shropshirehousing.org.uk | The Key Spring 2011 | 3

Our regulator, the Tenants Services Authority has

asked all social landlords to produce ‘local offers’

through six standards that cover all aspects of the

work we do.

Local offers are the services you want Shropshire Housing

Group to offer in the future. Our current service is set out in the

Tenants Report 2010.

We will give you updates on how we are shaping the local

offers in each issue of your newsletter. The updates will be

highlighted with the appropriate sticker (see right) for the

standard it applies to.

Tenant Involvementand Empowerment

standard

Tenant Involvement

13 45 6

213 45 6

2Neighbourhoods

and Communities standard

13 4

5 6

2

Value for Money standard

13 45 6

2Tenancy standard

13 4

5 6

2

Governance and Financial Viability

standard

13 45 6

2Home standard

One of the operatives has already put his new-found skills into practice, when he gained access to a property in seconds, causing no damage and potentially saving £500 on a replacement door and frame.

Recently two TRL operatives attended locksmith training.

Our annual prize draw for the gas servicing 1st time access and audit checking took place recently.

The winner of the 1st time access prize draw was Mr Harris from All Stretton who won £250 of Tesco shopping vouchers.Mr Harris was presented with his prize by TRL operative, Richard Ince.

The winner of the gas audit prize draw was Mr Heiron from Ludlow who won £100 of Tesco vouchers. Mr Heiron was presented with his prize by Mike Bates from TRL.

Gas audit winner Mr Heiron and Mike Bates from TRL

Recently two TRL operatives attended

Mr Heiron from Ludlow who won £100 of Tesco

1st time acces

s winner Mr H

arris

and Richard I

nce from TRL


As well as working with local people and schools in the two community gardens and three school gardens, Leila is talking to budding gardeners who want to take advantage of the Grow Cook Share garden mentoring scheme. As well as practical help and advice, thanks to funding from TASS, Grow Cook Share may also be able to provide resources to get your garden ready to get you growing your own fruit and vegetables. The Rockspring Community Garden in Sandford Road, Ludlow is starting regular Thursday morning sessions at 9:30am from March onwards, where we will be growing lots of fruit and veg!

The Craven Arms Community Garden at Onny Meadows, has nine new plots up for grabs! If you are interested, please contact Grow Cook Share for more details and information.

If you live in Craven Arms or Ludlow East and would like to have a go at growing fruit and veg, then come along to the Get Growing! Workshops are starting this spring for new growers.

Grow cook share is running free cookery courses. Don’t miss the opportunity to get expert tuition in producing economical, healthy tasty meals. Grow Cook Share also provides a free crèche if you have children under 5.

We are planning some fun day trips in 2011. Get in touch if you’d like to visit the wonderful Ryton Organic Gardens in Warwickshire this summer!

If you live in Craven Arms or Ludlow East and would like

spring for new growers.

cookery courses. Don’t miss the opportunity to get expert tuition in producing economical, healthy tasty

Leila and Valerie

Welcome to our new Community Gardener, Leila Smith.

Opportunities on your doorstep

Homegrown has run free short courses since January for young people aged 16 to 25.

If you are not in full-time work or education and you’d like to develop skills that could help you to earn a living, please contact Helen Vaughan on 01588 676235. Homegrown runs courses covering a wide range of activities from catering to rural land management.

Tel: 07896 866299 Email [email protected]

January for young people aged 16 to 25.January for young people aged 16 to 25.

to earn a living, please contact Helen Vaughan on 01588 676235. Homegrown runs courses covering a wide range of activities

The GOTV team (media and fi lm making

skills) get set to make a documentary about

small local businesses during half term week.

Learning Dry Stone

walling skills with Natural

England on the Stipperstones.

Young people from Bishops Castle completed a course on how to present

themselves for interviews, followed by work experience with a local company and the opportunity to write about it in

the Shropshire Star.



Group News

www.shropshirehousing.org.uk | Group News Spring 2011 | 5

Once again, Shropshire Housing Group are holding their annual tenants’ day.

This year we will be having a Family Fun Day with lots of events and activities

to entertain the whole family. The Family Fun Day will be held at Shrewsbury

Sports Village on Saturday 13th August.

Look out for more information coming your way soon!

Once again, Shropshire Housing Group are holding their annual tenants’ day.

The resident involvement team encourages tenants to become involved in shaping our services to you.

The team also plans events and supports the residents groups,TARCA and TASS.

To fi nd out how to get involved, please contact them on 0300 303 1190.

Meet the Resident Involvement TeamInvolvement Team

Sarah Plat

t -

Resident I

nvolvement

Manager

Sheila Standley - Resident Involvement Offi cer (MMHA)

Mike Cotton - Resident Involvement Offi cer (SSHA)

57001_Group_News_Spring_2011_HR.indd 1 3/7/11 11:26 AM

6 | Group News Spring 2011 | Tel: 0300 303 1109 www.shropshirehousing.org.uk | Group News Spring 2011 | 7

What is a non-dependant?A non-dependant is someone who normally lives in your property but who are not dependent on you fi nancially. These can include:

• Your children over the age of 18• Other relatives living in your household• Anyone else that lives in your household that is not

related to you

Any non-dependant that lives with you can affect the amount of housing benefi t and council tax benefi t you are entitled to. Deductions are usually made from your benefi t for non-dependants over the age of 18.

No deductions are made if you or your partner are registered blind or get Attendance Allowance or the care component of Disability Living Allowance.

If you have more than one non-dependant living at home then a non-dependant deduction will apply to each of them.

The amount of deduction is increasing in April 2011. This means that the amount of housing benefi t you receive will go down and you, as the tenant will have to pay more rent directly to Shropshire Housing Group.

If you believe that you may be affected by these changes we suggest that you need to think about taking the following steps:

• Visit a benefi ts advice agency to establish how much money you will lose each week.

• Talk to the people who live with you and explain that they will have to pay you a contribution each week, in return for living in your home, to make up for the reduction in your benefi t.

What can you do?It is important that you take advice before taking any rash steps. In particular, it is important to think carefully before you ask any non-dependants who may be living with you to leave home, in order to avoid the non-dependant deduction being applied to your benefi t. This is for two reasons:

1. The non-dependant may struggle to fi nd somewhere to live with 8,000 households already registered on Shropshire Homepoint’s waiting list. Housing benefi t is also going to be restricted for single people aged under 35 from April 2012.

2. From 2013 the Government plans to limit housing benefi t to the number of bedrooms a household needs. So, any household that under-occupies a property will lose housing benefi t for every unoccupied bedroom.

Changes to Welfare Benefi tsNon-Dependant Deductions to Housing and Council Tax Benefi t


6 | Group News Spring 2011 | Tel: 0300 303 1109 www.shropshirehousing.org.uk | Group News Spring 2011 | 7

Deductions to Housing Benefi tNon-dependant’s income if on benefi t

Weekly deductions: 2010


Aged 25 & over, and on: Income Support orJobseekers Allowance (Income Based) orMain phase Employment & Support Allowance (Income Related)Or aged 18 or over & not in paid work

£7.40 £9.40

Deductions to Housing Benefi tNon-dependant’s income if aged 18 or over and in paid work



Gross income (before tax & deductions) less than £122.00 per week £7.40 £9.40

Gross income is £122 to £179.99 per week £17.00 £21.55




Gross income is £387 & above per week £47.75 £60.60

Deductions to Council Tax Benefi tNon-dependant’s income if aged 18 or over and in paid work



Gross income (before tax & deductions) is under £180.00 per week £2.30 £2.85



Gross income is £387 or more per week £6.95 £8.60

Others aged 18 or over £2.30 £2.85


We want to provide the best possible service we can to all our customers, whoever they are and whatever their needs.

To enable us to do this well, we need to have detailed, up-to-date information about you, the people we’re working for.

We will shortly be sending out a questionnaire to all our tenants and customers. By completing this questionnaire you will be helping us ensure you get the service you need.

SHG and You

Decent HomesAll social landlords had a responsibility to reach the Governments Decent Homes standard by December 31st 2010.

Meres and Mosses and South Shropshire Housing Associations have reached the target.

The Decent Homes Standard is only a minimum standard and both Association’s are targeting a higher Shropshire Housing Group Standard.

The higher standard will include fi ghting fuel poverty, agreeing communal area standards and working towards Decent Estates.

Plans for the new Shropshire Housing Group Standard will be discussed with tenant groups over the coming months resulting in a new Shropshire Housing Group Investment Plan from 2013.

Please contact us if you would like to become involved

Meres and Mosses and South Shropshire Housing Meres and Mosses and South Shropshire Housing

Standard will be discussed with tenant groups over

8 | Group News Spring 2011 | Tel: 0300 303 1109

You don’t have to answer every question if you don’t want to. It will help us, though, if you answer as many questions as you can.

By returning your form quickly, you will be automatically entered into a free draw with a choice of prizes worth £100 each. If you have any questions please contact the Resident Involvement team on 0300 303 1190.

Re-letting our homes

When a tenant moves out of their home, Shropshire Housing Group then starts work on it, to make sure it is up to our lettable standard to be re-let to someone else. We try and carry out this work in the shortest time possible, to reduce the waiting time for the new tenant to move in.

We monitor the time this work takes as part of our performance monitoring programme. The results below

show the average number of days properties were empty for, from the end of one tenancy to the start of the next.

Target 25.3 days SSHA January 27.9 days MMHA January 24.1 days


AGM

Tass recently held its Annual General Meeting, where Joan Grant was again voted as Chair, Dennis Lanman voted Vice Chair,

Amie Smout as Secretary and Graham Gordon as Treasurer. Gordon is reunited

with his familySome of you may know Graham Gordon, as a member

of Tass and a resident of Boraston Drive, Burford.

Recently Graham had a tentative phone call which led to a

surprising turn of events. The Children’s Social Services in Cornwall

rang Graham out of the blue and asked him to confi rm his identity,

as they may have someone who was looking for him.

Graham confi rmed that he was born in 1946 and

adopted to the Gordon family of Nesscliffe in 1947.

He then received a phone call from his sister

Jenny from Launceston in Cornwall, who he had

never met. Jenny informed him that he had 5

half sisters in all and the pair arranged to meet.

Since then Graham has met 4 of his sisters, some

of whom don’t live too far away, and he hopes to

meet the remaining sister, Sylvia, who has not

yet been traced. Graham said ‘Finally a big hole in

my history has been fi lled and I feel a greater sense of who I am’.

Tel: 01588 676285 email: [email protected]

Tenants Enhancement Charter UpdateOver 90 projects have been completed and £85,000 spent on enhancements to properties.

Graham Gordon as Treasurer.

Tenants Enhancement Tenants Enhancement

Graham Gordon, Tass Me

mber

Although we have regular contact with most

of our tenants, we feel that it is important to

carry out routine tenancy visits.

These visits will ensure that tenants are able to talk

to someone about their needs, ensure that we are

doing everything we can to support them, and that

the information we hold about them is correct.

The visits will be carried out by Community

Housing Offi cers over the next three years, and

will also give tenants the opportunity to ask

questions, report repairs, and give feedback about

the services we offer.

If you would like more information,

please contact customer services.

13 45 6

2



What did you say about our services?

2008: General Housing Sheltered Housing

2010: General Housing Sheltered HousingKEY

What you said about our services We’ve recently had the results from our 2010 customer satisfaction survey.

The survey was carried out by an independent organisation, the National

Housing Federation’s Feedback Services on behalf of a group of housing

organisations – South Shropshire Housing Association, Meres and Mosses

Housing Association and Severnside Housing.

We are pleased that there has been a big improvement in satisfaction with our

services since the last survey in 2008 and that, for all tenants, overall satisfaction

is as good as that for the top 25% of associations across the country

and in some areas as good as the top 10%.

Satisfi ed with the services provided by SSHA

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

20102008

87%

96%

82%

96%

Satisfi ed with the quality of their home0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

20102008

84%

97%88%

97%


about our services 13 45 6

2


0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

Whilst we are pleased with the results overall, there are areas of our service that we need to improve. For example, we know that many tenants are not satisfi ed with the way in which we deal with anti-social behaviour.We have already invested in a new system which will help us to monitor action we take. We are also working with the Council to look at ways to make reporting anti-social behaviour easier and to provide extra staff training.

Tenants are also not very satisfi ed with some of our grounds maintenance services. We will be working with you over the coming year to fi nd out what you want from this service and how we can improve it whilst keeping an eye on costs.

Satisfaction with some aspects of our customer service has dropped slightly – for example, a slightly smaller number (73% of tenants compared with 77% in 2008) found it easy to get hold of the right person. We have made some changes to how tenants contact us and over the coming months will work with you to make sure you know how to contact us and that our staff are able to deal with your enquiries more effectively.

We also know that younger tenants, leaseholders and those people who occupy shared-ownership properties are generally less satisfi ed with our service and will be digging a bit deeper to fi nd out the reasons for this and how we can improve2010

2010

2010

2008

2008

20102008 2008

Satisfi ed with the overall repairs and maintenance service

Tenants felt that SSHA kept them informed

Thought SSHA took account of their views

Said their rent is value for money

64%

81%

84%80%

79%

89%

96%

89%

86%

83%

84%85%

69%

94%

92%94%



✃

5700

1: 0

7/03

/11

Name

Parent/Guardian

Address

Postcode

Telephone number

Please send all entries to: Vicki Coleman, Communications Offi cer, The Gateway, The Auction Yard, Craven Arms SY7 9BW by Friday 15th April.

The winner of the Christmas Quiz was Ann Booton from Cleobury Mortimer who won a £30 ‘Love to shop’ voucher.

Adults CompetitionFind the words listed below for your chance to win £30 worth of ‘Love to Shop’ Vouchers.

Competition Winners

APRIL GARDENING BABY ANIMALS GROWTH BIRDS MAYBIRTH MILD BLOOMS PLANTING BLOSSOMS RAINBUDS SHOWERS EASTERTHAW FLOWERS UMBRELLA

Name

Address

Postcode

Telephone number

A S T R O A P R I L N O M I BC A L L M S L P R I N G B E IG I N S A W A I T H T H E S RP R I N Y G N E R E T S A E DQ U I N Y O T X A N D H E N SB A B Y A N I M A L S O A D SL W I T D H N T L H E W S W UO M N E S R G F L O W E R S SS N I A R O L S E T I R C E HS S R R E I N H R G T S I T MO E D A H Y T L B I S G R H TM H O U T W R S M D L I M A RS E B L O O M S U A B T L E AS T T R M W E B D L V E H O UR S G N I N E D R A G A D A Y

Competition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition Winners

Adults Competition

Competition WinnersCompetition WinnersCompetition Winners

Kids Competition for under 16sDesign a Thank You cardShropshire Housing Group would like to have a Thank You card designed and printed. The cards would be used for many different things, including thanking tenants for a particularly well looked after garden or for tenants who have gone ‘the extra mile’ to help someone in their community.

If you would like to design a thank you card, please draw your design on an A4 piece of paper and send it along with the entry form to the address below.

Enter now for your chance to win a £30 toy or games voucher.


The Key Spring 2011

Documents

Transcript of The Key Spring 2011