Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Housing Service
2015-16 Service Plan
Supporting Development Department’s vision:
“Enabling our communities to develop their potential”
Page 1 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Vision Statement ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Drivers for Change.............................................................................................................................................. 4
About Us .............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Who We Are .....................................................................................................................................................................................5
Organisational Chart ......................................................................................................................................................................5
Locations .........................................................................................................................................................................................6
Governance .....................................................................................................................................................................................6
Regulation and Compliance ...........................................................................................................................................................6
What We Do .....................................................................................................................................................................................6
Our Customers ................................................................................................................................................................................7
Our Costs and Income ....................................................................................................................................................................8
Funding and resources ..................................................................................................................................................................9
Aims and Objectives........................................................................................................................................... 9
Detailed Actions/Plan for Change.................................................................................................................... 10
Previous Actions Completed in 2014/15 ........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Ongoing Actions/Projects Started prior to 2015/16 ...................................................................................................................11
Page 2 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
New Planned Actions Due to Start in 2015/16 .......................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Risks to Delivery ............................................................................................................................................... 13
Performance Indicators .................................................................................................................................... 14
Performance Indicators from Council Wide Performance Measures .......................................................................................14
Key Directorate Indicators ...........................................................................................................................................................15
Directorate Performance Indicators from the Local Government Benchmarking Framework ...............................................18
Directorate Performance Measures from the Shetland Single Outcome Agreement ................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Other Performance indicators .....................................................................................................................................................22
Contact Details.................................................................................................................................................. 22
Introduction
Every year, each Service within the Council is required to produce a Service Plan for the following year. This Service Plan provides an
overview of the Housing Service for 2015/16, the Housing Service is in the Development Directorate. This plan contains information on major
activities, aims, objectives, actions, targets, performance indicators and risks.
Service plans are approved and “signed off” at Director Level as part of the Executive Manager’s Employee Review and Development process.
Vision Statement
The Housing Service is committed to supporting the Development Directorate’s Vision of “Enabling our communities to develop their potential”.
The Housing Service’s vision is set out in the Local Housing Strategy 2011-2016 – “We will work in partnership to enable everyone in Shetland
Page 3 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
to have access to: a choice of affordable housing options across all tenures that are warm and safe, energy efficient and in keeping with the
Shetland environment, of good quality and in good repair, able to meet demand and the particular needs of households in inclusive and vibrant
communities.”
Drivers for Change
There are a number of national drivers steering change in Housing, both nationally and locally.
The introduction of the Scottish Social Housing Charter has heralded a new era of national performance reporting for all social landlords and
has also increased obligations to ensure greater involvement of tenants, applicants and customers in our service.
The Health and Social Care Integration agenda has also impacted on Housing and more change is anticipated in this area as the integration
process is implemented. As part of the preparation for that we are redesigning how we deliver housing support locally.
The resolution of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital debt has made a significant difference to the future of the account. In order to
plan for a sustainable future, focussing on affordable rents and good quality housing stock, a 30 year business plan is being produced.
Combined with financial modelling and new policies on asset management and future investment this will shape the future of the HRA.
Continued partnership with Hjaltland Housing Association (HHA) is vital to ensure the continued development of houses in Shetland to meet the
needs of those on the waiting list.
About Us
The Service has been in place since 1987 and was placed in the Development Department following the Council organisation and management
re-structure in 2011.
Page 4 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Who We Are
This Service sits within the Development Department is led by the Director of Development (Neil Grant) the following Services are also in the
Development Department: (Shetland College, Community Planning & Development, Economic Development, Planning and Transport
Planning)
Organisational Chart
Chief Executive
Mark Boden
Developement
Directorate
Neil Grant
Shetland College
Page 5 of 23
Community Planning &
Development
Housing
Anita Jamieson
15.05 FTE
Economic
Development
Housing Support
George Martin
23.36 FTE
Asset Management
Andrew Lyall
38.81 FTE
Housing Management
Ian Bray (Acting)
11.78 FTE
Planning
Transport Planning
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Locations
The Housing Service is located at 6 North Ness Business Park (40.64 FTE), Gremista Depot -Repairs Service(31.81 FTE) and Housing
Support Workers (16.5 FTE) throughout Shetland.
Governance
The Housing Service is part of the Development Directorate and reports to the Social Services Committee.
The Service’s performance is reported to the Directorate Management Team monthly and PIs from this plan are reported to the Social Services
Committee 4 times per year as part of the Department’s quarterly performance report.
Regulation and Compliance
Housing operates within a range of specific legislation from the Housing (Scotland) Acts 1987, 2001, 2006, 2014
Codes of guidance on homelessness
The Housing Service is accredited to ISO9001:2008 standard.
The Housing Support Service is registered with the Care Inspectorate.
The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is the regulatory body for all social landlords in Scotland.
We must produce an annual return on the Charter to the SHR
What We Do
The Housing Service provides a range of services, some in partnership with other agencies. The range of services includes:
Page 6 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16







providing a strategic planning and development function across all tenures;
providing and maintaining a housing register for those applying for housing;
managing the SIC’s housing stock;
providing an estate management service for our housing stock;
providing a responsive and planned maintenance service;
providing services for homeless people in the area;
assessing and managing housing support services.

The Housing Service works in partnership with many agencies within and outwith the Council.
The services we provide include general needs, temporary, supported and sheltered accommodation, and we operate a common
housing register and allocations policy to ensure we provide homes to meet the needs of our applicants. A responsive and planned
maintenance service is also provided for all of our homes. We provide a homelessness service in line with our statutory obligations.
Housing services are provided 24 hours a day. Duty staff provide cover for emergency repairs, supported accommodation and the
alleviation of homelessness outside office hours.
The Housing Service is also responsible for the strategic overview of housing provision in Shetland through the Local Housing
Strategy. The local authority has a statutory duty to analyse housing need across all tenures and report on the improvements that
are planned. The Housing Need and Demand Assessment is the evidence base for the Local Housing Strategy and is certified as
‘robust and credible’ by the Scottish Government.
Our Customers
We provide landlord services to approximately 1800 tenants and up to 200 homeless applicants. We are obliged to maintain a register of
housing applicants. We also have a statutory enabling role in terms of housing provision across all tenures through the Local Housing Strategy
Page 7 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
and Strategic Housing Investment Plan which are based on a robust and credible evidence base, the Housing Needs and Demand Assessment
(HNDA)
Our Costs and Income
The Service has 89.01 full time equivalent staff and annual revenue expenditure of £ XXX [and a capital budget of £5.5million]. As detailed
below:
Service
Number of
Staff (FTE)
Gross
Expenditure
Income
Net Budget
Capital Budget
Executive Management
12.05
4,.037,782
-6,714,633
-2,676,851
Nil
Asset Management
39.81
3,476,360
-679,191
2,797,169
1,728,000
Housing Support
24.36
700,626
-24,910
675,716
Nil
Housing Management
12.78
1,085,391
-532,251
553,140
Nil
Housing Service – inc HRA
89.00
9,300,158
-7,950,985
1,349,174
1,728,000
Page 8 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Funding and resources
Aims and Objectives
[This section is about how the Directorate’s Objectives support the Corporate Plan Aims.
Note:
"Aims" are what you/we want to achieve
"Objectives" are what you will do to achieve them.
Or if you prefer this definition:
"Aims" are where you want to get to
"Objectives" are how you will get there]
Directorate Plan Aims
Action
Supporting adults to be independent
Increase services that help people to live longer independently in their own homes,
and provided extra-care housing options to provide supported homely settings
Working with partners to achieve best results
Develop a community benefit policy. A key outcome is to contribute to the provision of
affordable housing
Deliver on the Local Housing Strategy through joint working with Planning and
Hjaltland Housing Association and other partners. A key objective is to achieve 200
new homes identified in the 5 year Strategic Housing Investment Plan.
Protect Vulnerable and disadvantaged people
Page 9 of 23
Complete the restructure of Housing Support Services
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Directorate Plan Aims
Action
Being a properly led and well-managed council
Deliver our day to day services within the reduced budget
Complete HRA Business Plan to ensure sustainable HRA into the future
Achieve Scottish Housing Quality Standard
Service Aims/Priorities
Objectives/Actions (Details below)
Detailed Actions/Plan for Change
[Similar to the “what we did last year” section in last year’s Service Plans]
Previous Actions Completed in 2014/15
Description
Page 10 of 23
Delivered Early/ontime/late
Achieved original intention?
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Page 11 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Ongoing Actions/Projects Started prior April 2015
Title/Heading
Service Redesign of Housing
Support
Production of HRA Business Plan
Page 12 of 23
Team
Housing
Support
Start
2013
Executive
Manager 2014
Output
Expected Outcome/Supported
Aims/Objectives
2015
Due to complete in
June 2015
This will modernise the Housing Support
Service to meet national and local aims, fitting
closely with the Integration agenda to deliver
locality based services across all tenures.
2015
Due to complete
March 2015
This will provide an integrated financial and
service planning base for the HRA
End
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
New Planned Actions Due to Start in 2015/16
Title/Heading
Strengthen tenant involvement in
line with the Scottish Housing
Charter
Full implementation of HRA business
planning
Investigation of additional works
required to meet the Energy
Efficiency Standard in Social
Housing (EESSH)
Team
Start
All
April 2015
Executive
Manager
April 2015
Asset
April 2015
Management
End
Ongoing
2020
Output
Expected Outcome/Supported
Aims/Objectives
Refreshed Tenant
Participation Strategy
Greater tenant engagement in
service delivery.
Approved Business
Plan
A sustainable HRA account into the
future with clear information to
tenants on levels of investment and
affordability of rents.
Option appraisal for
meeting standard
Full assessment of ability to meet
standard and investment
requirements to achieve
compliance.
The Directorate level actions or most strategically significant operational actions to be delivered are set out in the Directorate Plan and will be
monitored each quarter by the Directorate Management Team and Committee Members as part of the quarterly reviews. The key actions for
this service are set out in this operational Service plans.
Risks to Delivery
[Risk Management will assist with complete this section]
Page 13 of 23
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Performance Indicators
Performance Indicators from Council Wide Performance Measures
[P&I will establish next year’s “Council Wide” measures; they are likely to include the ones below. P&I will populate the table APART from the
Directorate and Service target and the 2 statements, Directorates should complete these. These statements should declare what the Services
will do to improve these indicators.]
Development
Directorate
Council
Housing Service
Indicators / Measure
2014/15
(Projected)
2015/16
Target
2014/15
(Projected)
Sickness Absence Rates
3.9%
3.9%
3.4%
Employee Review and
Development Meetings
held in Policy Period (MarMay)
26%
100%
17%
100%
12%
100%
Employee Review and
Development Meetings
held in the previous 12
months (as at Jan 2015)
57%
100%
37%
100%
29%
100%
Return to Work Interviews
N/A
100%
Page 14 of 23
2015/16
Target
2014/15
(Projected)
2015/16
Target
3.2%
100%
100%
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Key Service Indicators
Performance Measure
Performance
2012/13
Performance
2013/14
Performance
2014/15
Target
2015/16
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
Plan in place to
achieve 100% by
April 2015.
Work towards
achieving 100%
target, a legislative
requirement.
Continued regular
monitoring.
190
Time has reduced
but is still well above
target due to
pressure on housing
stock/supply.
Continued regular
monitoring.
28
Housing void policy,
together with
continuing demand,
has led to some
improvement in time
taken.
Continued regular
monitoring.
6.9 hours
Average length of
time to complete
emergency repairs
was lower than the
Scottish average in
2013/2014 which
was 6.9 hours
Housing – 8a
% Stock achieving SHQS
(SHR)
85
89.5
100
Housing – 8b
Average length of time in
temporary accommodation
(days) (SHR)
438
300
295 (AprSep14)
Housing – 8c
Average time to re-let not
low demand properties
(days)
23
36
24 (Apr-Sep
14)
Housing – 8d
Average length of time to
complete emergency
repairs (SHR)
Page 15 of 23
5.56 hours
8.09 hours
(Apr-Sep 14)
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Performance Measure
Performance
2012/13
Performance
2013/14
Performance
2014/15
Target
2015/16
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
Continue to monitor.
8.2 days
Average time to
complete was higher
than the Scottish
average, but as
housing
organisations can
set their own
timescales, it is
difficult to measure.
This indicator
includes jobs with
the priority of urgent
(3 days), routine (1
month) and 3 month.
Continue to monitor.
35.7 days
This indicator
includes all re-lets
whether they are low
demand or not. The
reason for the high
number of days to
re-let is mainly due
to the lack of
demand for
properties in the
isles areas.
Housing – 8e
Average length of time to
complete non emergency
repairs (SHR)
12.32 days
16 days (AprSep 14)
Housing – 8f
Average time to re-let
properties in the last year
(SHR)
76.67 days
Page 16 of 23
53 days (AprSep 14)
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Performance Measure
Performance
2012/13
Performance
2013/14
Housing – 8g
% of tenants satisfied with
the overall service
provided by their landlord
Page 17 of 23
77.86%
Performance
2014/15
Target
2015/16
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
Lower than the
Scottish average of
87.8%.
Continue to gather
this information
through regular
surveys with the SIC
tenants and monitor
regularly.
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Service Performance Indicators from the Local Government Benchmarking Framework
[P&I will complete this table, unfortunately the 13/14 figures aren’t due to be published till November 2014. However, these statements will
declare what the Service will do to improve these indicators. ]
Scotland 2012/13
Shetland
Indicator
Min
Avg
Max
HSN1a Current tenant
arrears as a
percentage of
net rent due
3.34
Page 18 of 23
6.86
11.0
Year
Value
Rank
10/11
3.49
4
11/12
2.81
1
12/13
3.67
3
Target
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
The collection of rent
arrears remains as a
priority for the
Housing Service.
Joint working
between Housing
and Finance staff
leads to a very low %
of tenants with
arrears in
comparison with
other authorities.
The joint working and
close monitoring will
continue to ensure
our performance
continues to be high.
Management Team
monitor this on a
regular basis.
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Scotland 2012/13
Shetland
Indicator
Min
Avg
Max
Year
Value
Rank
HSN1b
Gross rent
arrears (all
tenants) as at
31 March each
year as a
percentage of
rent due for the
reporting year
2.60
5.73
9.39
11/12
No data
12/13
No data
13/14
7.58
21
HSN2
Percentage of
rent due in the
year that was
Page 19 of 23
11/12
1.86
20
12/13
1.60
17
Target
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
Original figure
submitted in Charter
Report was 7.58%.
However following
further checks this
was revised and
resubmitted at 5.04%
This would move
from rank 21 to rank
11 and take us below
Scottish Average.
The joint working and
close monitoring will
continue to ensure
our performance
continues to be high.
This figure was
reviewed following
Charter submission
ant revised figure of
1.81% has been
We are committed to
continuing to seek
ways of advertising and
promoting low demand
properties, and will
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Scotland 2012/13
Shetland
Indicator
Min
Avg
Max
Year
Value
Rank
lost due to voids
0.38
1.42
3.48
HSN3
Percentage of
dwellings
meeting SHQS
62.10
HSN4a Percentage of
Page 20 of 23
83.72
96.32
13/14
2.72
24
11/12
85.72
4
12/13
86.22
6
13/14
75.98
23
10/11
84.73
25
Target
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
submitted. This
would move ranking
from 24 to 21.
continue to monitor our
performance.
This mainly relates to
properties being void
in low demand areas,
particularly in the
North Isles.
Our Void Policy has
been updated and
close monitoring on
this will continue.
Reported figure in
13/14 is based on
Charter reporting
which does not
include exemptions.
This accounts for the
apparent drop
between years.
Planned works are
currently in hand to
ensure that the
standard is achieved.
We will continue to
work towards the
legislative
requirements
whereby all
properties are to
meet the SHQS by
March 2015.
In 2012/2013, the
deterioration in
Continued regular
monitoring of
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Scotland 2012/13
Shetland
Indicator
Min
Avg
Max
repairs
completed
within target
times
12/13
84.71
92.11
99.20
HSN4b
Average time
taken to
complete nonemergency
repairs
Year
13/14
11/12
12/13
2.89
10.22
17.41
13/14
Value
Rank
92.11
17
84.71
26
No data
No data
12.32
18
HSN5
Percentage of
council
Page 21 of 23
11/12
86.63
12
Target
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
performance was
mainly due to an
increased level of
staff sickness, a high
level of storm
damage, and the
changeover to a new
computer system.
The comparable
figure for 13/14 is
92%, although this is
no longer a Charter
indicator.
performance by staff
and management.
This indicator
includes all work
ordered which is not
an emergency
Priority timescales
are set locally so
direct comparison
with others is difficult.
Continued monitoring
by staff and
management team.
Reported figure in
13/14 is based on
Charter reporting
which does not
We will continue to
work towards the
legislative
requirements
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
Scotland 2012/13
Shetland
Indicator
Min
Avg
Max
dwellings that
are energy
efficient
Year
12/13
75.66
89.40
100.00
13/14
Value
Rank
86.96
17
76.53
24
Target
Performance
Statement
Improvement
Statement
include exemptions.
This accounts for the
apparent drop
between years.
Planned works are
currently in hand to
ensure that the
standard is achieved
whereby all
properties are to
meet the SHQS by
March 2015.
Other Performance indicators
The annual Scottish Housing Regular Charter submission includes all performance indicators relevant to the Housing Service. Performance
information can be obtained through the Scottish Housing Regulator and Shetland Islands Council website.
Contact Details
Housing Service
6 North Ness Business
Park
Lerwick
Shetland
Page 22 of 23
Service 2
Address 1
Address 2
Postcode
e-mail
Phone Number
Service 3
Address 1
Address 2
Postcode
e-mail
Phone Number
Service 4
Address 1
Address 2
Postcode
e-mail
Phone Number
Service 5
Address 1
Address 2
Postcode
e-mail
Phone Number
Housing Service Plan 2015/16
ZE1 0LZ
Tel: 01595 744 360
Page 23 of 23