Not just

Five Year Business Plan 2012 to 2017

2012

2

Chapter Content Page

1 Introduction 3

2 Executive Summary 4

3 Context & Challenges 5

4 Strategic Outcomes - Our Goals 8

5 Budget 18

6 Implementation 19

7 Appendices 21

Taff – A Charitable Housing Association Registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 No. 21408R

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1.1 Taff is a community based Housing Association, founded in 1975. We have over 1200 homes mainly located in the diverse communities of Canton, Riverside and Grangetown in Cardiff.

1.2 Our Vision is to be the Partner, Provider & Employer of Choice – we aim to deliver value to our stakeholders, customers and staff. Our results demonstrate some success in achieving the Vision – our Tenant & Support Users’ satisfaction ratings are 91% and 98% overall respectively; our staff survey gave us a position of 5th Best Workplace in the UK in the ‘Great Place to Work’ list; and our stakeholders feel we make a vital contribution to their work – ‘it is an extremely successful and valued partnership’ (Cardiff Council Officer).

1.3 Our Vision is underpinned by strong values – Accountability, Equality, Flexibility, Openness, Professionalism and Quality – which are embedded into the culture of the organisation.

1.4 Taff is ‘not just housing’, and since 2003, we have been a significant provider of housing related support services. We provide support to our own Tenants (both via floating support & hostel based projects) and to Tenants of other organisations including Cardiff, Newport and Vale of Glamorgan Councils.

1.5 We also take our role as a community organisation seriously, and have created a series of community development activities that help improve health & well-being, employment & training prospects and contribute to improving the quality of life of our customers and their neighbourhoods.

1.6 Much of our work now involves partnerships, spanning a considerable variety of activity: from providing accommodation to third sector organisations to helping speed up hospital discharge; from supporting and providing financial inclusion initiatives to keeping children off the ‘at risk register’; and from providing tuition in new technology to older people to creating apprenticeships. We nurture and value these partnerships which help us address the challenges faced by our customers.

1.7 Our Financial and Governance bases are strong. Our current annual turnover is £9.4m, with assets of £37m. Our Board consists of 12 people, mainly local, with a range of skills including finance, legal, governance, risk management, housing, support and regeneration. It includes a full complement of 4 Tenant Board Members, and there are places for an additional 3 co-optees.

1.8 The Leadership Team consists of a Chief Executive, Director of Finance, Director of Corporate Services, Director of Support & Continuous Improvement and a Director of Customer Services & Development.

1.9 Our size often works to our advantage – we are light on our feet and have embedded a ‘can do’ attitude amongst our staff. This means we can respond quickly to new challenges and provide solutions for customers and partners. Our track record is excellent and we will face the challenges identified in this plan with energy, enthusiasm, commitment and determination.

Chapter 1 Introduction

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2.1 Taff is a successful community based Housing Association, located in Cardiff.

2.2 The challenges we face are mainly financial – less grant for development, reduction in Supporting People (SP) funding and imminent changes to our rent regime, coupled with a less favourable lending climate.

2.3 Our customers also face challenges – growing unemployment, longer waiting lists, more homelessness and higher fuel bills.

2.4 In writing our Business Plan we have been conscious of local and national strategic priorities and are using a ‘Results Based Accountability’ framework to help demonstrate our contribution to these agendas.

2.5 Taff starts from a strong base in meeting the challenges – we can demonstrate excellent levels of customer, staff and stakeholder satisfaction and we have a team of innovative & talented staff. Furthermore, our customers have a major input into and influence over all our work.

2.6 Our long term strategic Outcomes are as follows:

• Our customers will benefit from cost effective & quality services• Our customers’ economic, financial & personal potential will be improved • People in Cardiff, in housing need, will benefit from an increased supply of

social housing• Our customers will benefit from growth in our business

2.7 We have a series of high level measures to monitor whether people are better off as a result of our efforts and a suite of indicators to monitor our service performance.

2.8 As a basis for delivering our Outcomes we have in place a clearly defined Vision and set of Values as well as effective back office systems.

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

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3.1 SummarY OF COntext

3.1.1 Nationally and internationally there is a great deal of uncertainty in the financial markets. We are not immune to the effects of this: there is upward pressure on loan margins; a pension valuation undertaken in September 2011 is likely to lead to increased costs; and public sector budgets have been severely squeezed. Unemployment rates in the UK are rising, as is homelessness, and our customers are vulnerable to both.

3.1.2 Real wages are decreasing across the UK at around 2% pa and have decreased over each of the last three years as the economy has shrunk or stagnated. This has been reflected at Taff and gives rise to some tensions where this may not be aligned with staff expectations, particularly as our income and surpluses continue to grow.

3.1.3 Welfare Benefit reforms will affect the majority of our Tenants, with a potential knock-on effect to our income. We have collected good information on over 90% of our Tenants which enables us to target those most affected by current and future changes.

3.1.4 There is a new Welsh Government, still in the early days of clarifying its housing priorities. The Housing Minister has issued a consultation paper entitled ‘Meeting the Challenge’ which outlines the challenges around supply of new homes, quality, homelessness, financial inclusion and collaborating with other sectors.

3.1.5 Cardiff Council’s Community Strategy (‘What Matters’) contains 7 high level themes – essentially, they want Cardiff to be a safe, healthy, sustainable, prosperous and fair place to live, where everyone achieves their potential. We need to be able to contribute to these themes.

3.1.6 Welsh Government Budget constraints affect both Social Housing Grant (SHG) and Supporting People (SP) funding, and the change in the rent regime (now to be implemented 2013) will affect our primary income source. Also, changes in the way SP is organised and funded will have an impact. The limited availability of SHG puts pressure on our gearing, and therefore affects our ability to continue developing – despite this, our Board has given a clear message that provision of new homes remains a key priority.

3.1.7 The prospect of migration to a new funding model for Support has necessitated internal changes to salary structures within the Support Teams, and this will be actively monitored during implementation. Redistribution of SP monies will mean that Cardiff loses significant funding – 21% over 5 years. As our biggest contract, this is cause for concern.

3.1.8 Recent changes to Feed in Tariffs (FITs) have derailed our plans for Photo Voltaic solar panel installation. Despite this, help with fuel bills is reported as Tenants’ number one priority in our recent satisfaction survey, so we will need to respond in different ways to this need.

Chapter 3 Context & Challenges

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3.2 StrengthS, ChallengeS and Our aBilitY tO reSPOnd tO the FinanCial and POlitiCal COntext

3.2.1 One of our main internal challenges is how to finance development – Gearing has become a major problem and securing what little grant is available in future will be easier if we have ‘land banked’ sites. If we can’t borrow to fund the purchase of sites, we have to find another way – this has implications for the rest of our services. On the positive side, we have strong and innovative financial leadership to help us make the right decisions.

3.2.2 Our recent comprehensive Tenant Satisfaction Survey, which we undertake every 3 years in order to set our priorities for customers, was very positive. We received scores well above benchmark (BM) for most indicators, including 90% satisfaction for repairs (BM 80%). We believe this is the highest for any General Needs Association in the country.

table 1:

general needs taff Score BenchmarkOverall satisfaction 91% 84%

We listen to your views and act on them 84% 68%

Satisfaction with Repairs service 90% 80%

3.2.3 The same high scoring was achieved from the Support Service Users’ Satisfaction survey, as shown below:

table 2:

Support taff ScoreOverall satisfaction 98%

Satisfied with Support Worker 100%

Support has made a positive difference to my life 95%

3.2.4 There are some new priorities from the General Needs Tenants’ Survey – fuel poverty is a major concern. This and dealing with the Welfare Benefit reform plus demonstrating outcomes/added value from our work will be the focus going forward. Given our very high satisfaction ratings, and in anticipation of more limited resources associated with public funding cuts, our plans will focus more on maintaining these levels rather than chasing significant improvements, for which there is limited scope.

3.2.5 Significant improvement to energy ratings on some of our older properties will be difficult and/or expensive. These may need to be classified as ‘acceptable fails’ for Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS). We will do all we can to minimise the costs in use to Tenants.

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3.2.6 For Support, two separate priorities for improvement emerged: for the service users in the Hostels the issues of repairs and updating of premises were identified as important; and for all service users in temporary accommodation the issue of good quality move-on being available in a timely fashion was seen as an area that needed more work. As all the ratings relating to the provision of Support were at near maximum levels, our work needs to be targeted to those areas to make any tangible gains.

3.2.7 We have undertaken a number of Training & Employment and Social Enterprise initiatives over the last few years, achieving significant success particularly via our supply chain. Such initiatives will become a major focus for our future work and we will pull together some of the smaller projects into a co-ordinated plan.

3.2.8 The financial pressures we face will mean we have to look for cost savings and generation of larger surpluses to fund future development and look at new income streams to supplement our ‘added value’ activity.

3.2.9 In our Support Teams, we have to prepare for the changes mentioned above and have already taken steps to cap salary costs. There are risks to staff morale, but our open culture and on-going staff dialogue, together with strong leadership, will help us maintain staff motivation.

3.2.10 Though the Association has many strengths, with skilled and motivated staff, we have lacked the ‘entrepreneurial’ skills and capacity that might have allowed us to respond to a wider variety of opportunities than just those in our core business of Housing and Support. This is something we will address.

3.2.11 These are without doubt challenging times, but our good working relationships with partners, particularly the Local Authority, and our flexibility and pro-active approach will stand us in good stead to respond.

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4.1 Over the life of this Plan, we will focus on four main Outcomes:

• Our customers will benefit from cost effective & quality services• Our customers’ economic, financial & personal potential will be improved • People in Cardiff, in housing need, will benefit from an increased supply of

social housing• Our customers will benefit from growth in our business

We will also ensure that our ‘back office’ systems and our Vision, Values & Culture are supportive of what we want to achieve.

4.2 In order to align our work with Cardiff Council and Welsh Government priorities and expectations, we have identified how the work we will undertake towards each Outcome will contribute to the achievement of Community Strategy (‘What Matters’) priorities, and the Delivery Outcomes Framework.

4.3 In respect of Delivery Outcomes, we have included all indicators here to illustrate the range of data collected for management information. Not all are reported to Board on a regular basis, but all will form part of our self-assessment and overview to Board each year.

Chapter 4 Strategic Outcomes – Our Goals

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4.4 In framing our Outcomes we have taken a ‘Results Based Accountability’ approach to mirror the emerging methodology being used by both Local & Welsh Government. This in itself can be a challenging process and we recognise that our expertise in applying it will evolve over time.

4.5 Lastly, we have noted our improvement actions against ‘core business’ activities in the Delivery Outcomes tables. Other improvements are included within the body of the Plan in the pages that follow.

4.6 OutCOme 1: Our CuStOmerS Will BeneFit FrOm COSt eFFeCtiVe & QualitY SerViCeS

4.6.1 We recognise that we have come a long way in improving performance in our main areas of service evidenced by our excellent satisfaction results.

4.6.2 For Taff, delivering what customers want (not what we think they want) has been central to our thinking since adopting lean principles almost a decade ago. In a climate where we will need to use every pound wisely, our focus will be on delivering our current level of service in the most cost efficient manner, being always mindful of customer defined priorities.

4.6.3 It is important that we place this in the context of viability for the whole business, which is why we have chosen to focus on the income stream with most risk attached (Support) to measure for cost effectiveness/on-going viability.

4.6.4 Our measure of quality will be customer satisfaction, which will include a target to improve our ‘right first time’ performance in relation to repairs, as it was identified as a driver for customer satisfaction in our recent survey.

table 3:

measure target or data development

Customer Satisfaction in relation to UK benchmark Above national benchmark (which is currently 84%)

Percentage repairs ‘right first time’ Target of 90% of repairs completed Right First Time

Services are affordable, viable & sustainable as measured by: Viability status of current/future Support contracts (Context: real cuts anticipated from redistribution, new commissioning arrangements, and real cuts to Supporting People funding)

Maintain current levels of contribution to business from our Support Services

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4.6.5 We also include the following Welsh Government Delivery Outcomes under this strategic outcome:

table 4:

delivery Outcome indicators improvement actions

We place the people who want to use our services at the heart of our work – putting the citizen first

Overall satisfaction results (including Support Satisfaction results) for ‘We listen to your views and act upon them’

We let homes in a fair, transparent and effective way

Number of properties letNumber of days property void

Reduce void turnaround times from 23 days total end to end time

Performance against targets set by Cardiff Council for reletsNo. of properties by allocation typeRe-let lettings

Data collection – establish if Council can give performance against targets for all common waiting list partners so Taff is in a position to benchmark own performance

Lettings by equality strandReasons offer not accepted% offers refused

Benchmark equality data to ensure lettings activity demonstrates fair outcomes

Grant received from WG for adaptations

% of people satisfied with their new home (new build and relets)

Target of 90 % of new Tenants feeling safe in their home

New build lettingsNo. of families and single people who now have a permanent home

No. of Tenants whose homes have been adapted to meet their needs

% of Tenants who are better off because of moving into one of our homes

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table 4 - continued:

delivery Outcome indicators improvement actions

We manage our homes effectively

Rent collection

Legal activity Reduction in the number of Tenants in arrears of 13 weeks rent +Reduction in the number of Tenants in arrears of £500 +

No. of Tenants who received tenancy support for arrears

No. of people seen by Welfare Benefits Advisor

Effect of support on arrears

Arrears at end of financial year (amount) benchmarked against previous year’s

% net arrears

No. of Tenants in arrears of more than 4 weeks

Amount that Support clients’ arrears reduced by

Increased income for Taff to spend on services to Tenants as a result of arrears reducing

Satisfaction with Value for Money (VFM) of Service Charges

Housing Management legal activity (excluding arrears)

Improve satisfaction with VFM of Service Charges

No. of Tenants who have received support to sustain tenancy

No. of Tenants who carried out a mutual exchange

Length of tenancy with Taff

% of probationary tenancies converted to assured tenancies

Tenancy turnover

Anti-social Behaviour (ASB)

No. of cases where ASB stopped/reduced (agreed with Tenant)

Establish a benchmark and set target from April

Performance against service standards impact of Taff intervention on ASB

No. of Tenants of working age (defined by pension credit entitlement) who are under-occupying

Provide advice and assistance to Tenants who wish to downsize

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table 4 - continued:

delivery Outcome indicators improvement actions

We repair and maintain homes in an efficient, timely and cost effective way

Performance against WHQS plan

No. of responsive repairs (to include trend)

No. of voids

Average cost of voids

Spend on planned and responsive repairs

Average spend per property on WHQS works

Satisfaction survey results (overall satisfaction)

% repairs completed within target

% homes with valid gas certificate

% with up to date electrical test

% homes with showers

No. of properties that have had 5 or more and 10 or more responsive repair requests in last 12 months

Reactive and planned spend per unit (benchmarked against other RSLs)

4.6.6 Our action plan in Year 1 will include:

• Establish benchmark for ‘Right First time’ and agree target in consultation with Tenants

• Consult Tenants on why they feel Services Charges are not value for money and determine and implement solutions

• Continue customer involvement activity with desired outcomes of refining priorities, influencing service design and getting feedback on our improvement actions

• A plan to manage fall in public expenditure on Supporting People & Social Housing Grant, including re-modelling support staffing structure in line with new contracts

• WG Delivery Outcome improvements identified in Table 4 above

4.6.7 In achieving this Outcome, we will also contribute to the ‘people in Cardiff are safe, and feel safe’ outcome of the Community Strategy ‘What Matters’.

4.6.8 Cardiff Council Neighbourhood Management Measures (How safe do you feel after dark?) and Taff survey results (satisfaction with locks and security) will be used to monitor this. The current figures are as follows:

table 5:

area of Operation Cardiff Council taff

Grangetown 46% 89%

Riverside (Cardiff South West) 64% (overall statistics) 82%

Canton (Cardiff South West) 90%

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4.7 OutCOme 2: Our CuStOmerS’ eCOnOmiC, FinanCial & PerSOnal POtential Will Be imPrOVed

4.7.1 This is the essence of our role as a ‘not just housing’ provider. Lack of work, poor health, debt, isolation and low self-esteem all contribute to poor quality of life for some of our customers. As a trusted landlord & support provider, we have a relationship with our customers that other agencies often struggle to establish. As a community based organisation we are well placed to link in with others for the benefit of not just our own Tenants, but for the wider community. Combined with our skills base, partnerships and procurement opportunities, we are ideally placed to help people with many of these problems. If we can help get people back to work or training, increase their disposable income, encourage healthier lifestyles or help them fulfil personal goals, we will make our communities better, more vibrant places to live.

4.7.2 Economic activity helps people on a number of levels: as well as providing an income, it can improve social interaction, give further training opportunities, stimulate the local economy and, in some cases, improve health. Our goal is therefore to help our customers prepare for and find work through a variety of interventions and initiatives. These will include work placements and volunteering in our own organisation; confidence building/work ready programmes; Targeted Recruitment and Training opportunities via our contractors’ supply chain; participation in government programmes; our Quality Assured Lifelong Learning Programme; and our Foyer project. Grouped together, we will refer to these opportunities as a ‘Jobs Journey’ and will measure the number of people we have helped onto such a ‘Jobs Journey’.

4.7.3 At a time of high unemployment, not everyone will be able to find a job. Some of our customers, due to age, family commitments or disability, will be reliant on benefits. In view of the changes anticipated in the Welfare Reform Bill, it will be important to help our Tenants maximise their benefit income. We will measure the impact of our work by evidencing the amount of extra benefits achieved as a result of our interventions.

4.7.4 A major concern for our customers is their energy bills. We will work with customers to help reduce their consumption via energy efficiency measures and will measure reduction in energy consumption as a result of our interventions. We will complement this with awareness raising, advice and participation in any new government funding programmes.

4.7.5 Our experience tells us that we have both the skills & the opportunity to help our customers increase their aspirations and their personal potential. In particular, we are keen to help the children of our current Tenants to aim higher and achieve more. A safe, affordable home is of course the foundation for this to happen; but our work in supporting families and young people and our customer involvement and community development activities go further to help raise self-esteem and confidence levels and promote social inclusion. ’Personal potential’ is of course difficult to measure, but we will use global outcomes from our Support Plans to measure increased self-confidence, and will measure rates of involvement of our Tenants in our various activities.

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table 6:

measure target or data development

No. of People in work or on a ‘Jobs Journey’ 500 People will achieve work or commence a ‘Jobs Journey’ over the life of this Plan

Additional benefits achieved through our interventions

At least 500 people will be better off financially as a result of our intervention· Annualised amount· One off payments· Backdated payments

Energy consumption in representative sample of homes reduced (SAP ratings increased) Sub measures:Average SAP value of our propertiesLowest SAP valueMedium SAP valueHighest SAP valueNo. of our properties with energy saving measures

95% of our properties will have a SAP value of 65 or more

Self-confidence increase (Support Service Users)

Increased % of Tenants involved

National Outcomes FrameworkBenchmarks to be established from April 2012

Financial impact of receiving support Income and debt at start and end of support

4.7.6 The WG Delivery Outcomes included with this work are:

table 7:

delivery Outcome indicators improvement actions

We engage with others to enhance and maximise outcomes for our service users and the community

Monetary savings to Tenants as a result of TimeBanks

Increased take up of TimeBanks scheme

Cash value of ‘benefit in kind’ of B2B/Fun Days and similar events

Establish and measure the relationship between health and allotment activity in conjunction with Cardiff Metropolitan University.

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4.7.7 Our Action Plan in Year 1 will include:

• Creating and implementing a co-ordinated Jobs and Training Strategy• Targeted Welfare Benefits Advice for Tenants• A Fuel Poverty Strategy including some pilot installations of a range of energy

efficiency measures to our Tenants’ homes, measuring the effectiveness of the work that we have already done coupled with educational/awareness raising work, and other initiatives to reduce costs for Tenants

• Work with Tenants to test a range of energy reduction devices/methods• Development, in conjunction with partners, of an outcome framework capable of

measuring overall or global outcomes of our Support work• Continuation of our Customer Involvement & Community Development activities

where these have economic, financial, personal or community benefit• WG Delivery Outcome improvements identified in Table 7 above

In achieving this Outcome, we will also contribute to the following ‘What Matters’ themes:• People in Cardiff are healthy• People in Cardiff achieve their full potential• Cardiff has a thriving and prosperous economy• Cardiff is a great place to live, work and play• Cardiff is a fair, just and inclusive society

4.8 OutCOme 3: PeOPle in CardiFF, in hOuSing need, Will BeneFit FrOm an inCreaSed SuPPlY OF SOCial hOuSing

4.8.1 This is our Board’s top priority. Cardiff’s common register has an ever increasing list of applicants, and homelessness is rising dramatically. Developing in our heartland areas (Canton, Grangetown and Riverside) ensures that people can fit in well with existing communities and be close to all facilities. These areas are some of the most in demand in the City, with private sector rents and homes to buy being beyond the reach of many families. Our preference would always be to develop family homes, but the economic reality is such that we also have to include flats (which are of course also in demand) on most sites, as greater density makes schemes more viable. We will continue to do whatever it takes to build new homes to help meet housing need in our areas. This means pushing the boundaries of our financial capacity, whilst still ensuring the long term viability of the business.

4.8.2 We want to maximise the impact of our spend in two ways: to house more people in safe, affordable and comfortable homes and to create a regeneration impact through our development activity. Our measures will focus on bedspaces provided, rather than units of accommodation, which will reflect our delivery of family homes as well as flats. We also want to measure the economic impact of our contracts – a simple measure is the ratio of £1.93 economic benefit for every £1 spent using a Welsh based contractor (based on Value Wales Community Benefit tool). We also want to look for more local measures where appropriate, possibly using the CREW toolkit ‘ALH’ – Atmosphere, Landscape, Horizon.

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table 8:

measure target or data development

No. of homeless people or people in housing need housed in our heartland areas

No. of properties built

500 additional people housed over the next 5 years

150 properties built

Economic benefit in £

Local Labour usage

£1.93 x estimated contract spend over next 5 years = £37.6m

30% of labour used on each development site to be from local area

Local ALH measures To be developed

4.8.3 The WG Delivery Outcomes included with this work are:

table 9:

delivery Outcome indicator improvement action

We build and renovate homes to a good quality

Satisfaction with new homes

% Tenants whose new homes meet their needs

We do not breach Gearing covenants

Maintaining Gearing below covenant levels by increasing surplus and maintaining average grant rates of at least 40%.

4.8.4 Our Action Plan in Year 1 will include:

• Providing 38 new homes • Providing 16 supported housing bedspaces • Creating a surplus of at least £900k in order to fund extra development

4.8.5 In achieving this Outcome, we will also contribute to the ‘What Matters’ theme of ‘People in Cardiff have a clean, attractive and sustainable environment’, which we will monitor using the following measures:

table 10:

area of Operation CCC (rubbish lying around is a problem – agree)

taff (neighbourhood as a place to live – satisfaction)

Grangetown 58% 80%

Riverside (Cardiff South west) 39% 80%

Canton (Cardiff South west) 39% 80%

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4.9 OutCOme 4: Our CuStOmerS Will BeneFit FrOm grOWth in Our BuSineSS

4.9.1 There are many financial pressures on our business, as outlined on the previous pages. Our decision to be ‘not just housing’ has financial implications, so to sustain all our Support and other ‘added value’ activities, we need to look for new income streams. We see this as both a necessity and as an opportunity to use our skills in a wider arena. Whilst we are excellent at delivering the business, we are not always as successful in securing new business, which is why we will bring in new skills to complement those we already have.

4.9.2 To finance our development programme, we need to maximise our surplus to supplement grant and borrowing so as to maintain the current Gearing level. This means that any surpluses that were previously used for ‘new initiatives’ may now be diverted to development, so we need new funding sources. Our measures will focus on how much additional income we bring in, and what extra services we can deliver as a result. We will explore options around expansion of current services, new contracts, new business ideas and new sources of funding (such as lottery funding).

table 11:

measure target or data development

Value of additional income To be developed

Contribution from the income To be developed

Surplus generated from the income To be developed

table 12:

delivery Outcomes indicators improvement actions

We are a financially sound and viable business

Financial Forecasts

Development Capability

Welsh Government Judgement

4.9.3 Our Action Plan in year 1 will include:

• The appointment of a Head of Business Growth

• Developing a strategic approach to funding opportunities

• Development of a plan to manage the impact of redistribution, real cuts, and new commissioning arrangements for Supporting People funding.

4.10 These are the four outcomes we will work towards over the coming 5 years. We recognise that everyone in the organisation has a part to play in delivering our ambitions, and it will be important to ensure the Vision, Values, Culture and systems are in place to support our work. These foundations are described further in the ‘Implementation’ chapter.

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Chapter 5 Budget

Budget headlineS inClude:

• Turnover from Social Housing increases by £459k to £5.9m resulting from recent growth in units and application of WG’s Benchmark rent increases of 5.1%.

• Income from Support Services remains flat at £1.5m.

• Budget surplus is set at £926k.

• £2.2m Social Housing Grant, together with £2.5m additional long term loan finance, will finance the completion of 53 new units at a cost of £5.1m whilst retaining Gearing at around 51% throughout the year.

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6.1 Staff

6.1.1 Successful delivery of our Business Plan depends upon our staff. They need to be committed to our Vision and Culture, motivated by our Values, and equipped to do their jobs effectively.

6.1.2 We also need to have effective systems in place that support staff to deliver excellent services. Without these key foundations in place, we will not be able to reach our goals.

6.1.3 In practice, this means ensuring Staff are fully engaged in the business as a whole. We do this by involving staff from across the organisation in Business Plan groups which are the main delivery vehicle for the Plan. We also consult with Staff via a well-established Staff Forum in order to deal with any issues or problems that arise. In addition we also have a well-established supportive performance management process in place.

6.1.4 Every three years, we carry out the ‘Great Place to Work’ survey to test the ‘Employer of Choice’ strand of the Vision. Our latest survey and culture audit saw us placed 5th overall in the UK. Whilst this is a fantastic result, the survey also gives us pointers to areas where we can improve further.

6.1.5 One such issue relates to our salary structure and in particular, how staff have been able to progress towards the ‘benchmark’ salary. We will work with staff to review the current policy and establish a more easily understood system.

6.2 Systems

6.2.1 IT - It is important that our systems are driven by our business goals rather than the other way around, so we will continue to review major operating systems in relation to their functionality, fitness for purpose and ease of use during the course of this Plan. In addition we will also look for new ways in which IT can streamline our work.

6.2.2 Priorities will include:

• Data reporting of performance and management information• Expanding our Housing Management computer system• Using the intranet for collaboration and streamlining the business• Disaster recovery planning to ensure all systems are disaster resilient

6.2.3 The IT Team will continue their ‘get closer to the business’ programme, to gain a real understanding of the organisation’s needs, and to promote understanding of the potential of new IT solutions.

6.3 Value for money

6.3.1 There is an awareness among staff of the organisation’s financial position and a commitment to saving money where possible while maintaining an excellent level of service. We recognise the importance of ‘back office’ functions to our front-line work and need to ensure that these both add value and are affordable.

6.3.2 Similarly, we need to ensure that our support services remain competitive and that we have structures in place that will maximise service delivery and minimise costs.

6.3.3 To assist us in this, we will develop and pilot a value for money toolkit.

Chapter 6 Implementation

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6.3.4 The following Delivery Outcomes are also relevant to providing a firm foundation for the delivery of our Business Plan.

delivery Outcome indicators improvement actions

We live public sector values, by conducting our affairs with honesty and integrity, and demonstrate good governance in our behaviour

Stakeholder Survey results Carry out a new Stakeholder Survey embracing the new Regulatory Framework (2012)

We make sure our purpose is clear and we achieve what we set out to do – knowing who does what and why

Great Place to Work survey – question re: ‘Management is competent at running the business’Achievement of Business Plan Outcomes

Carry out next GPTW survey (2013/14)

We are a financially sound and viable business

As Outcome 4 above

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Chapter 7Appendices

REF: APPENDIX

A BUSINESS PLAN ASSUMPTIONS

B BALANCE SHEET; INCOME & EXPENDITURE; CASHFLOW; SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

C RISK STRATEGY

D MAIN SERVICES

E BOARD PROFILE

F LEADERSHIP TEAM PROFILES

G ORGANISATIONAL CHART

H OUTCOMES 2011/12

I MEASURES & INDICATORS 2012/13

J IMPROVEMENT PLAN

K WHQS WORK PROGRAMME

L CUSTOMERS’ SUMMARY

M SATISFACTION SURVEY SUMMARY LEAFLETS

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Not just

Taff Housing Association LtdAlexandra House

307-315 Cowbridge Road EastCardiff CF5 1JD

Tel: 029 2025 9100 Fax: 029 2025 9199

E-mail: info@taffhousing.co.ukwww.taffhousing.co.uk