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REPORT TO HCP
FROM POOLE HOUSING PARTNERSHIP LTD
12TH JANUARY 2004
AUDIT COMMISSION REPORT
1.0
Purpose of Report
To present to HCP the outcome of the Audit Commission Inspection.
2.0
Recommendation
Members of HCP are asked to note the contents of the report.
3.0
Report
Appendix 1 is an extract from the Audit Commission report. We are
delighted with the conclusions of the inspection which stated we are a
3* organisation with promising prospects for improvement.
This means we are rated by the inspectors as one of the very top
performing housing organisations in the country.
The achievement of 3 stars was achieved for a variety of reasons but a
major factor was the conclusion of the inspectors that the involvement
of tenants and leaseholders in the participative structure had a tangible
impact on service delivery.
The inspectors made several recommendations for further progress
and one of our priorities has to be the involvement of a wider range of
tenant opinion in the participative process.
The outcome of the inspection means PHP can now proceed with its
long awaited improvement programme and there is a report on the
agenda of this meeting which demonstrates how this will be
commenced.
Members of HCP are asked to note the contents of the report.
David Mullany
Estates Manager
4th January 2005
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Appendix 1
Extract from the Audit Commission Report
Scoring the service
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We have assessed Poole Housing Partnership as providing an ‘excellent’,
three star service that has promising prospects for improvement. Our
judgements are
based on the evidence obtained during the inspection and are outlined below.
Scoring chart1: Poole Housing Partnership
A good service?
Prospects for improvement?
Poor
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* Fair
** Good
*** Excellent
Excellent
Promising
Uncertain
Poor
The service provided by Poole Housing Partnership (PHP) is excellent
because:

Services reflect the diverse needs of the community served by the
ALMO. This is reflected in arrangements for documents to be available
alternative formats, the development of tailored services and the
provision of floating support services for vulnerable tenants;

Diversity is embedded in the culture of the organisation evidenced
through a comprehensive training programme, compliance with the
CRE code of practice in rented housing and the development of
monitoring arrangements;

Services are accessible through the housing reception which is of a
high standard, via a high quality range of literature developed by the
ALMO, via a new website and via a freephone help desk number for
repairs enquiries;
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
Services are provided in a customer focused manner. Standard letters
for are clear and informative, staff are positive about customer care and
are delivering services in a consistent and open way;

There are high levels of tenant and leaseholder satisfaction with the
range of services provided;

Major repair and improvement works to tenants homes are of a high
standard and customer care arrangements are high;

The responsive repairs service is delivering high levels of satisfaction
and good quality repairs to tenant’s homes. There are high levels of
satisfaction with repairs completed to homes;

A handy person scheme is in operation for all sheltered housing
tenants delivering a service tailored to their needs;

Very high levels of gas servicing are achieved and a sensitive, but
effective approach to managing and monitoring no-access cases is in
place;

Collection rates for rent and service charges are high and the approach
to collection is customer focussed and sensitive to the needs of
vulnerable tenants or those with financial difficulties;

Consistent and effective services are being delivered in the
management of anti-social behaviour and racial harassment cases;

Estates are managed to a high standard and are free from graffiti,
abandoned cars and litter and grounds maintenance is also of a high
standard;
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
A new choice based lettings allocations system has been introduced
which is accessible and is delivering increased satisfaction among
tenants for their new homes;

Sheltered housing schemes are well managed and delivering high
levels of satisfaction for tenants;

The quality of sheltered housing schemes has been improved to
increase the sustainability of tenancies by improving access and
providing storage and charging facilities for mobility vehicles;

The tenancy support service is providing a valuable floating support
service for tenants who require some assistance with managing and
sustaining their tenancy;

PHP are providing well managed, efficient leaseholder services which
are actively involving leaseholders in service development;

Satisfaction with opportunities for participation has increased and there
is good coverage in the specialist housing areas of sheltered and
leasehold housing;

PHP have a clear understanding of the costs of the services they
provide and can demonstrate the delivery of value for money in most.
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However there are areas for further improvement:

Tenant participation arrangements are currently still focused on a small
number of tenants;

The broad base of tenants is not actively involved in service planning
and decision making. This includes key areas such as decisions on
major investments to homes;

The repairs appointment system is basic and does not enable tenants
to make an appointment at the time of reporting a repair;

PHP have no detailed long term investment plans for tenant homes
meaning that tenants currently do not know what improvements they
will receive or when;

Empty homes and block cleaning standards are basic and are not to an
equal standard as those for estate management services;

Tenants requiring major adaptations to their homes have a long wait for
the work to be carried out;

The arrangements for telephone access are not consistent or equitable.
Three separate freephone numbers for repairs and separate local rate
numbers for housing management services are confusing and do not
provide equity of access.
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There are promising prospects for improvement because:

PHP have delivered a wide range of service improvements and have
successfully tackled most weaknesses identified in earlier inspections
demonstrating progress in all;
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
Increased levels of tenant satisfaction are noted across the range of
services provided by PHP;

There is evidence of learning from performance to improve services in
a way tenants would recognise;

The use of best value as a tool to drive improvement is beginning to
facilitate an increase in the involvement of tenants in challenging
services and recommending area for service improvement;

Service planning is developing and there are clear strengths in plans
developed out of best vale reviews;

There is strong leadership for the ALMO from the board, senior
managers and the council and there is a clear and challenging aim for
the delivery of the decent homes standard and excellent services;

PHP have the capacity in place in terms of the board and staff, IT and
an evolving performance management framework to be able to ensure
the delivery of improvements;

PHP make effective use of external partners and consultants to
maximize their capacity to deliver service improvements.
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However there are some areas for improvement:

PHP have not developed a long term vision for services beyond
delivering the decent homes standard nor long term plans to improve
services. What plans exist are of a variable quality and are
inconsistent.

There is not a consistent approach to learning from service
weaknesses and benchmarking as yet.
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
Tenant involvement in developing plans is limited and the range of
tenants actively involved in service planning is not representative of the
community.

There are weaknesses in some areas of capacity such as an inability to
fill key posts in technical services, the ongoing development of IT
services and the effectiveness of performance management in aiding
managers to deliver service improvements.
Recommendations
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To rise to the challenge of continuous improvement, organisations need
inspection reports that offer practical pointers for improvement. In this
context, the inspection team makes the following recommendations:

Ensure services are accessible to the diverse range of people in the
community by:

Develop the level of representation of the whole community in
service delivery, planning and governance over the next 12 months.

Improve access arrangements by telephone to ensure a consistent and
equitable approach for all tenants and leaseholders within six months.

Improve repair and maintenance services for tenants by:

Developing with tenants, within six months, an investment plan and
publicise this to all tenants and leaseholders letting them know what
improvement works will be delivered to their home and when and what,
if any, potential cost there may be to leaseholders.

Taking action within three months to improve the repairs appointments
system so that tenants can make an appointment at the time of
ordering any responsive repair.
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
Agreeing with tenants improved standards for the repair of empty
homes and implement revised procedures to ensure the worsened relet
time for empty homes is tackled effectively, within six months.

Within three months set challenging targets for reducing the long
waiting time tenants are experiencing for major adaptations to their
homes.

Improve the consistency of tenancy and estate management services by:

Within six months revising the block cleaning and caretaking
standards to tackle inconsistencies in service and ensure that tenants
can easily see cleaning monitoring notices in communal areas in their
blocks.

Ensuring all tenancies are reviewed in a planned programme of
tenancy audits to ensure that there are no inconsistencies in tenancy
status for people on non-secure tenancies and licences. To be
commenced within six months.

Improve resident involvement by:

Working with tenants and leaseholders currently involved in formal and
informal arrangements for participation to swiftly progress planned new
arrangements for resident involvement to ensure the transition is as
effective as is possible.

Publicising existing and proposed new arrangements for resident
involvement as widely as possible within three months, including on the
web-site and via internal newsletters and the local press.
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
Seeking ways to develop the involvement of groups not well
represented at present in resident involvement with existing partners in
the community, within 12 months.

Ensuring that within 12 months an appropriate balance between
general needs housing groups and specialist forums is achieved in
residentinvolvement structures.

Within 12 months developing a clear resident involvement strategy with
tenants and leaseholders which sets out the aims of resident
involvement within PHP and review the exiting compact to reflect the
new status of the ALMO and changes in resident involvement.

Minimise the risks to service delivery and improvement within 12 months
by

Developing a long term strategy for PHP involving tenants, the board,
staff, the council and other key partners in the community.

Developing a set of consistent action plans for strategic direction and
service improvement. Develop medium and long term targets within
plans which reflect the opinions of a wide range of tenants and which
are focussed on service outcomes for tenants and leaseholders.

Developing a systematic and consistent approach to learning from
internal and external experiences including an analysis of areas of
service strength and weakness and service focussed outcomes form
benchmarking analysis.

Address all other areas of weakness identified in this report.

Report the findings of this report to all parties concerned including
tenants and leaseholders, the board, the council and other key partners.
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