On Board May 2017 May 2017Welcome to On Board - the quarterly news round-up from Southern Housing GroupAs one of southern England's largest housing associations, we provide homes for more than 67,000 people. Our challenge is to provide excellent services for our customers, develop a portfolio of new homes for a range of needs, remain an employer of choice, and continue to build on our financial strength. We believe that succeeding in meeting these challenges will fulfill the needs of all our stakeholders. HCA In-Depth Assessment results in V1 and G1 ratingSouthern Housing Group received notice that the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA) would conduct an In-Depth Assessment (IDA) in early 2017. The Group Strategy Team and the non-executive members of the Board worked together with colleagues to ensure that we were fully prepared for the IDA. After a number of interviews and discussions, the HCA confirmed our ratings as V1 and G1 for viability and governance. These are the highest attainable standards and confirms us as an organisation that is well governed and financially robust. Keeping our customers at the centre of it allWe strive not only to provide excellent homes for our customers but also help improve the quality of their lives. Here are some positive stories that we are proud to share. We have partnered with Liz Earle on the Isle of WightWe have recently launched a new initiative in partnership with global beauty brand Liz Earle to help young people living at the Atkinson House in Newport. This partnership will see representatives from Liz Earle working with residents on the property's garden and teaching them about growing their own plants. Liz Earle staff will visit the scheme roughly three to four times a year to ensure residents are on track with their gardening ambitions, including replanting the garden to include a wildlife section, growing vegetables, and creating a sculptured plant bed. In addition, experts from the botanically-based beauty company will host open days and other educational events at their Ryde-based offices for Southern Housing Group customers living on the Island.
New way of working in Sheltered housing is a successScheme Services Coordinators are now based at each scheme to help residents access our repairs service, carry out health and safety checks, work to make sure they have access to local services, and support them with local community activities. Sheltered Services Managers support Scheme Services Coordinators and manage several schemes in a geographical area. It’s a new approach mirroring the successful service we already deliver in our sheltered housing schemes on the Isle of Wight. Positive changes we've seen so far include:
Residents in one of our schemes, Swan Court in Gosport, Hampshire, recently paid glowing compliments about their new service:
Update on our services and delivery improvementsUpdates to our repairs procurement We have recently completed our procurement process for repairs in London and the South region. Our customers tell us how important an excellent repairs service is to them. So we have made changes to how we will monitor our contracts with our repairs suppliers and focused on how we ensure excellent customer service and communication. In London, we have appointed DW Support Services to carry out day-to-day and voids repairs for Hackney and Haringey. Wates Living Space will cover all other London Boroughs. In the South region, we have also appointed DW Support Services to carry out all repairs and voids work. We will be listening to our customer's feedback very carefully to make sure we see an improved repairs service.
An excellent result for care services on the Isle of Wight Team members from our Isle of Wight Domiciliary Care Agency with Registered Service Manager, Tina Stuart. A recent CQC inspection of our Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA) service and Byrnhill Grove on the Isle of Wight resulted in us achieving a 'good' rating across five key standards of care. The inspection assessed whether our services were safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led for providing at-home personal care and support to Island residents. Many of these residents have learning disabilities, physical care needs, memory loss and mental health needs. In addition, a recent survey conducted by Health Watch Isle of Wight of people receiving domiciliary care on the Island, found the Group's DCA service was regarded positively by customers who completed the report.
Love London Working The Love London Working Team. From Left, Minaz Uddin, Rachel Dolan, Sam Johnson, Marie Cooper and Leah Compass. Last year, we signed up as a Love London Working partner to support unemployed Londoners into work. We now have a dedicated Love London Working Team who internally work closely with colleagues across the Group, most notably within Community Investment, as well as other departments such as the Home Services Teams and the Service Centre. Externally the Team take part in job fairs and build relationships with external employment and training services including job centres. In December, one of our Senior Employment Skills Officers, Minaz Uddin, supported an impressive 30 customers into employment.
Recognition for our development projectsThe Featherstone wins the 'Best New Development in the South' in First Time Buyer Reader's Awards 2017The First Time Buyer Reader's Awards recognise the best companies helping first time buyers to get on to the property ladder. The Featherstone, one of the Group's newest developments in London has been named the 'Best New Development in the South' for 2017. The Group is nominated for two Considerate Constructors Scheme National Site AwardsThe Considerate Constructors Scheme recognises sites that have raised the bar for considerate construction. The scheme looks at the measures a site has put in place to be more considerate towards the local neighbourhoods, the public, the workforce and the environment. Little Island and Centenary Close, Downs Way and Portland Close, two of our Reinvestment Team's schemes have been shortlisted for their National Site Awards. Find out more about Considerate Constructors Scheme National Site Awards.
Corporate Strategy 2017We have reviewed our five corporate challenges and refined them to be explicit about our intention to remain independent and excel at customer service whilst continuing to build quality homes.We launched our new Corporate Strategy three years ago to change the way we work by building on our foundations and becoming a thriving business with social objectives. We have achieved a lot over the last three years, providing homes for those in a variety of housing needs and supporting our customers. We are now focusing on Building our Future, our internal transformation programme (more below), investing in transforming our customer service and creating a viable future for our business, our customers and their homes. Over more than a century we have built on our original vision of housing the poor of London, with an emphasis on the low paid. In doing so we have built a business across the south east that is strong, reliable and, above all, stable. To maintain this stability, our financial strength and our independent position in the sector we must continue to change and innovate in the way we do business. By reinvesting our profits back into homes and services we can build a range of new homes to house those who need them and invest in communities. Through our Building our Future programme we are repositioning our customer service offer, whilst bolstering our operating surplus through efficiencies. What's new this year? We have reviewed our five corporate challenges and refined them to be explicit about our intention to remain independent and excel at customer service whilst continuing to build quality homes. 2016 has been another exceptionally challenging year for the sector and we move into the future with continued enthusiasm, focus and clarity.
Simon Goulding, Director of Compliance appointed into the Group Strategy Team (GST)GST is responsible for formulating and implementing the Group's strategic objectives and corporate governance. The addition of Simon is designed to strengthen the Group's approach to compliance. Simon joins current members:
Our plan to excel at customer service'Building our Future', the Group’s transformation and change programme, aims to improve the service we give our customers, in part by introducing new, innovative and agile ways of working. Over the past few months, we've made some significant changes internally to improve our service. Now, we have focused our priorities into five project groups that encompass improvements to how we want to work and what we want to collectively achieve. These project groups are:
We now have clear objectives, timelines have been captured in a 'Road Map' and the Project Groups are meeting regularly to begin implementation of these objectives. Be social and follow usTo find out more about the work we do and how to get involved, follow us on Twitter: @SHGroupUK. We’re also on LinkedIn where you can find out about our developments, resident initiatives, career opportunities, and more. Contact usIf you have any questions, media enquiries or simply would like to speak to one of us in the Group, you can email us: communications@shgroup.org.uk |