Resident Involvement Impact Assessment Report 2013/14 Every year we produce a report which shows how residents have been involved with New Charter Homes (NCH) throughout the year, and more importantly, what a difference involvement has made and how things have changed as a result. This year, the report is available on-line to reduce the cost of printing, therefore creating Value for Money. (Printed copies are available upon request to the resident involvement team on 0161 331 2000.) Throughout the year all teams at NCH have reported to the Tenants Panel on their involvement activities. This information has assisted the Resident Involvement Team compile this report and to identify areas NCH need to improve on and achieve better value for money. Each involvement activity has been given a score. Firstly a score for the impact i.e. what difference it has made, and secondly for Value for Money, looking at the resources used to achieve the outcomes. High Impact Happy Face Good value for money Medium Impact Medium face OK value for money Low Impact Sad face Poor value for money
Resident Involvement Tenant Management Team Throughout 2013/14 the scrutiny panel completed two new scrutiny projects with a total of 30 recommendations. These were the New Charter website and the external window cleaning service. In addition to this they have done a thorough review of the lettability standards scrutiny. The team have also shared their experiences and knowledge with other organisations, helping them to set up their own panels and delivering training sessions at Trafford Hall. Three members of the team successfully completed the Chartered Institute of Housing level three award in Scrutiny, Impact: All the recommendations made via the scrutiny projects have been agreed and are being implemented, which involved the window cleaning services being brought in-house. This have improved services, improved Value for Money and increased tenant satisfaction levels. They have also made the website more user friendly and relevant to tenants. With the CIH qualification, individuals have learned new skills, new confidence, and helped make them more work ready. The team were recognised for the work they do at the Northern TPAS Awards, winning Excellence in Tenant Led Scrutiny category. The Tenants Panel The Panel meet every two weeks to monitor Resident Involvement across the company and monitor the Consumer Standards as set by the Homes and Communities Agency. They also review survey results and monitor the work of resident working groups and panels. Impact: The work of the Tenants Panel greatly assisted the achievement of the TPAS accreditation. It is envisaged that the findings of the Tenants Panel will highlight areas of improvement required and highlight areas which TMT can scrutinise.
Independent Tenant Solutions We have established the Independent Tenant Solutions panel with Salix homes, Pendleton together, City West and Southway Homes. This is one of the first independent Tenant Panels, who will act as independent advocates for complaints and as a panel to hear complaints once internal stages have been exhausted. Tenant volunteers have all been trained to take part. The panel heard its first complaint in March 2014. Impact: Resolving residents complaints at a local level, leading to savings in time and expenses, whilst ensuring that resident issues are being fairly dealt with. Grounds Maintenance Monitoring Group This group continue to monitor the grounds maintenance service provided by Green Charter. They regularly complete monitoring forms which are passed onto the manager of the service. In addition they meet monthly with the Head of Service to monitor the delivery and performance. They are also ensuring that the contract is adhered to by Green Charter. Impact: The work of the monitors assists the Grounds Maintenance Manager to highlight areas for improvement and to establish training requirements for the Green Charter team. Tenants are having their say on the service delivery and NCH are listening and acting on their feedback. Satisfaction has increased from 25% to 92% since taking over the contract.
Great Opportunities This programme will help local people back into work, by delivering activities across our neighbourhoods. This has involved helping residents to get job ready, support with further training or education, work placements, apprenticeships and even volunteering. The programme, this year has provided over 346 people with training, secured nine voluntary work placements for those of workable age and 22 work experience places for schools and colleges. We have also been successful in supporting over 80 people gain paid employment. We now have 13 work clubs sessions established as part of this project across the borough, that operate from our local community hubs. They are supported by Job Centre Plus and other partners. Impact: The impact for each individual is immense especially for those who have gone into employment. InBloom This year we had 14 entries to the In-Bloom competition, improving the appearance of neighbourhoods and creating a community spirit across age groups. Hundreds of residents join in these projects to improve their neighbourhoods by planting, weeding, grass cutting, painting fencing and preparing their estates for judging day. All groups that entered either won Bronze, Silver or Gold within their category Impact: Bringing communities together and improving the environmental aspect of estates. This can have a major impact for individuals who may have found a new hobby and increased their social life.
Stars that Shine Awards The Stars that Shine awards are a public recognition for those who have made a difference to their community. This years categories included a community safety initiative, individual achievement and making a stand against anti-social behaviour. Impact: The public recognition and thanking of individuals encourages further involvement and translates the appreciation by New Charter to individuals who are willing to make a stand for their community. This recognition may be all that is needed to keep someone involved. HQN Estate Accreditation NCH received this award for the second year in a row. The assessors were particularly impressed with the development of neighbourhood plans and were praised for the tenant and staff engagement and for directing resources to areas most in need. This also included illustrating how residents are involved in a day to day basis on the running of their neighbourhood. Impact: The accreditation formally recognises NCH for providing and achieving extremely high standards in estate management work. This highlights NCH on a national stage and leads to being asked to speak at events and to showcase work. The Accreditation also leads to attracting the best staff to join the organisation. Young Flyer Alliance Awards Several young New Charter residents were nominated for their contribution to making their communities a better place to be, and were invited along to a prestigious ceremony at Old Trafford football stadium. At the event, they received a highly commended. Impact: Young residents were rewarded for their initiative and contribution to making the communities they live in a better place. Impact of them attending the ceremony and recognition will hopefully increase desire to stay involved and add to their CV for future employment opportunities.
Policies and Procedures Panel New Charter has consistently consulted with the Policies and Procedures group in regards to any reviews or new Policies and Procedures. The panel provides tenants an opportunity to shape policies and procedures by making recommendations to Senior Managers. Some of the policies and procedures residents have reviewed this year are the Arrears Procedure, Rent and Service charges and the ASB strategy. Impact: The policies and procedures reviewed are now clear and easy to understand and take into account residents needs. They also ensure that they are workable from a residents perspective. Equality Accreditation New Charter worked with residents to obtain the kite mark of excellence in Equality work. This included illustrating how New Charter ensures that Equality is adhered to throughout the company in all contact with residents. Impact: New Charter has achieved excellent standard which recognises the commitment shown to equality throughout the company. This demonstrates the organisation is open and honest to both customers and staff Residents Showcase Event Residents worked with New Charter to plan and facilitate an annual showcase event in September. The event was open to all residents and consists of interactive workshops, information stands and consultation. The 2013 event was themed around your neighbourhood past and present and produced an amount of information on where New Charter needed to make improvements. Impact: It is a Thank you to our residents and an ideal opportunity for residents from across Tameside to network. It increased the profile of AKSA residents due to a joint working approached and increased the number of residents wishing to get involved.
Resident Inspectors The Resident Inspectors have assisted both New Charter and the Tenant Management Team throughout the last year. The team of inspectors have assisted scrutiny topics by helping TMT to assess whether New Charter are meeting service standards, by speaking to residents, visiting empty properties and completing surveys. They continue to monitor the standards on properties which are let out to tenants. Impact: The findings of the Resident Inspectors have influenced TMT scrutiny reports and have led to recommendations being made by TMT through their scrutiny reports. For example, feedback gained upon speaking to residents about the current services, lead to the recommendation to bring the communal window cleaning service in-house. Connect In April we switched to one single contact number for customer enquiries. The contact number for all enquiries to New Charter is now 0161 331 2000 and all calls will be dealt with by our Customer Contact team Connect. The service is now able to help with: Logging repairs and arranging gas/electric servicing appointments Enquiries about renting one of our homes or current applications Tenancy issues and Green Charter services Reporting anti-social behaviour Paying rent Accessing New Charter s switchboard We made these changes after listening to our customers. Previously we have used many different telephone numbers for a range of products and services but feedback told us that many customers found this confusing. Impact: The impact has seen the reduction of calls reduce from 40,000 to 18,000 per month (meaning queries are answered first time) and satisfaction rating improve to 94%.
Tenant Board Members All Tenant Board Members, together with other Board members, have played an important role in decision making at NCH by taking an active part in discussions. New Board members undertake training to learn about the organisation and help them to contribute effectively as quickly as possible. Impact: Increases New Charter s accountability to tenants. Increase skills for individuals, greater confidence, training and keeping people active Mystery Shoppers Throughout the year we have trained a number of mystery shoppers to carry out a reality check on Services at New Charter. Work for the mystery shoppers can be commissioned by New Charter Homes, Tenants Panel or the Tenant Management Team to assist scrutiny projects. Throughout 2013/14 the team have completed mystery shops on the new Connect telephone service and made recommendations for improvements. In addition they have tested the service offered by Tameside Housing Advice which is the homeless service New Charter provides for Tameside council. A full programme for mystery shopping will be continued throughout 2014/15 in conjunction with the Connect service. Feedback from one mystery shopper: I was asked to be a mystery shopper in April 2013. I felt that we were given an opportunity to help design a call system that really reflected what I as a customer might genuinely need to know. New Charter weren t afraid of finding out where the weaknesses in their service were. This was in my view a good, in-depth experience. When carrying out the calls, she was very pleasant and gave me an impression of confidence in the system and was very knowledgeable on the options open to me as a customer. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the service received. Shortly after being a mystery shopper my wife needed to report an electrical fault in the kitchen and found an equally effective level of customer service. It s good to know they are consistent. On the whole, it s stuff like this that makes the telephone experience really, really good from my point of view and so much improved from the experience using it in the past. Impact: Mystery shops completed on the Connect service and Tameside Housing Advice have informed that the service is continually improving.
TPAS Accreditation New Charter continues to be recognised for excellence in resident involvement by TPAS, the Tenant Participation Advisory Service. Renewed for three years, the accreditation means that as a whole company, we excel at involving our residents in everything we do. Impact: National recognition helps focus Resident Involvement and maintains its importance throughout the company. Bowel Cancer Awareness Month April was Bowel Cancer awareness month, Neighbourhood, Resident Involvement and Regeneration teamed up with Bowel Cancer UK, NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme and Macmillan and The Christie's Let's Be Clear - Get It Checked Cancer Awareness project. The intention was to spread the word about how to reduce the risks of Bowel Cancer and detect symptoms early. Free healthy breakfasts were given to residents and a hamper raffled off in each neighbourhood. Every event was supported by staff from the NHS bowel cancer screening programme who spoke to over 100 residents about the risk factors of Bowel Cancer and the screening process. Over 100 residents benefited from the campaign and a hamper containing a mixture of healthy foods was also raffled off in each area to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK. Other local partners were involved too resulting in positive conversations about other health issues, debt, loan sharks & enterprise. Impact: Gave valuable information and advice to residents of which the impact may be lifesaving if someone recognises the symptoms of bowel cancer early. New Charter Community Awards Over 95 young people received awards for contributions to their communities. Nominations were taken in four categories, community and environmental, sports, performance and an award for continued dedication and commitment. Impact: The public recognition and thanking of individuals encourages further involvement.
Healthy Breakfast Clubs New Charter and Greggs have teamed up to provide healthy breakfasts for children as young at four to give them the best start to their days. These have been held at Silver Springs Academy and Broakoak Primary School. Impact: Children that don t always get a breakfast at home enjoy a healthy breakfast to get the best start to their school day. In addition parents are getting involved who wish to develop new skills and the confidence to help them be more job ready. Timebanking New Charter contributes to Timebanking - an informal exchange of skills in communities which is administered by Community Volunteering Action Tameside (CVAT). The co-ordinators work closely with those involved and give advice and guidance on issues such as health and employment and skills. In addition to swapping skills, participants engage in large events including gardening, fun days and arts and craft events. They also help with leaflet drops with organisations such as Hollywood Bowl on Ashton Moss, who provide them with free tickets. Over the last 12 months the programme has achieved the following successes:- Scheme has increased its membership to 228 active members and is still growing. Access to employment seven people have got into sustained employment 50% have gone on to formal volunteering positions 29% have gone onto training 21% have joined a local work club. Healthy living 17% now take regular exercise, 8% have quit smoking, 42% have reduced their alcohol intake 33% eat healthier. Impact Residents are benefiting from finding employment, entering into training and joining work clubs. This all helps with peoples wellbeing and has also seen a rise is people adopting a healthier lifestyle.
Tenant Training Events Training opportunities for residents have continued throughout the year. These training courses have included a number of new opportunities including, Safeguarding children, Risk Assessments and Paediatric First Aid, which have supplemented existing offers of Basic Food Hygiene, Basic First Aid and Basic IT skills. Impact: All sessions have been fully allocated, teaching individual residents new skills. These skills will either benefit the community or help lead individuals back into employment. The confidence two sisters gained after completing this training helped them to secure employment. Neighbourhood Plans To create great neighbourhoods we asked everyone to work together to decide how their local communities should develop and grow in the future. To make this happen, we have produced a Neighbourhood Plan for each of the New Charter Homes 32 newly defined neighbourhoods. These plans will run for three years and are reviewed annually. The targeted approach our team structure and plans provide, enables us to work effectively with stakeholders and partners and measure how successful we are. Out of a total of 1560 interventions across our neighbourhoods over the three years from 2013-2016, we have completed 880 in this first year alone. The highlights of the annual review undertaken in March 2014 shows that the star ratings of our neighbourhoods have improved overall, with five star neighbourhoods increasing from eight to fifteen and three star neighbourhoods reducing from eight to three. Impact- Better working relationships between co-ordinator, regeneration and resident involvement. Improved services i.e New cash points in some areas, working with residents helps to establish priorities, and improved neighbourhoods.
Sheltered Forum The forum is open to all residents of sheltered housing schemes to discuss issues which affect them and to share ideas for social activities. The forum meets on a quarterly basis and meeting venues are rotated around the different sheltered housing schemes. Impact: Sharing of information has led to the improvement of social activities at all schemes and has increased the confidence of those involved. Restorative Justice Neighbourhood resolution panels bring victims and offender together to resolve conflict and harm caused by anti-social behaviour and crime. The process is victim-led and can often be used to address disputes and disagreements on our estates and avoid enforcement action being taken against a person s tenancy. Impact- Has addressed disputes and disagreements in our communities and avoided enforcement action being taken. Silver Springs Academy This was the first primary academy in Tameside when it opened its doors in 2012. In April it received a good rating from Ofsted with leadership and management rating as excellent. Impact: Inspectors said that the teaching, behaviour and achievements of the pupils gave them a good start to their educational life.
Recruitment and Selection This trained panel of residents who form part of the recruitment and selection policy for front line staff at New Charter. During the year these pools has grown and during 2013/14 residents were actively involved in the recruitment in twelve areas of the business, which included Resident Involvement Officers, Connect Advisers and Neighbourhood Coordinators. Impact: Adds a customer input into recruitment and selection to ensure all newly appointed staff are right for both the organisation and our customers. Tatton Park Visitors loved the New Charter beach at this year s RHS Tatton show which took place between 25th and 28th July. Complete with sand, a Punch and Judy show and even a donkey, the display was created by 50 young people aged 8-16 on New Charter s Dreamscheme. They not only came up with the ideas, but volunteered a total of 200 hours hard work to create the garden. Their efforts at Tatton won us a silver award now for the second year in a row. The plants and materials used at the event were recycled and used by residents to build community gardens in their own neighbourhoods. Impact: Children are learning new skills which hopefully they will carry on into their communities, in addition the recognition achieved will keep them volunteering, Customer Communications Group (CCG) The group exists to help improve communication with customers, from information sent out electronically, on paper and face to face. During 2013/14 the group have been working with New Charter staff to monitor the quarterly newsletter and the website. Impact: The production of clear, concise and easy to read publications of interest to customers and the launching of a newly designed newsletter which is easy to navigate and contains relevant up to date information.
Keys to Your Door Is an exciting new programme for 18-39 year olds to help you gain a tenancy with us. The course is run in-house, and we work closely with our partner organisations to make sure we have experts on hand to deliver the best possible advice and training at each session. To complete the course, the following modules need to be completed: Make Your Home Work It's All About the Money Learn to Cook/Cook to Learn Who Do You Want To Be? Have Pride in Your Pad Communities A total of 167 customers have completed our Keys To Your Door programme since it started in April 2012. 77 people have successfully gained a tenancy with us and a further 13 are in the process of moving in. We have completed eight courses, each containing seven modules and facilitated by our staff from all sections of the business and our partners from five different organisations. Of the 77 households, 18 have now been with us for over a year and only five have moved on. We, alongside with Threshold, have also been working with City and Guilds to have the course accredited. Impact: Our customers learn the necessary tools to conduct a successful tenancy, they also receive a recognised qualification which can go onto their CV. Conclusion Resident Involvement activities throughout 2013/14 have been extremely successful. Residents have had substantial influence over the way services are provided and the impact is clearly evident. Getting Involved If you are interested in getting involved in any of the projects, panels or initiatives detailed within this report please contact the Resident Involvement Team on 0161 331 2000 or email residentinvolvement@newcharter.co.uk