Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

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p 54 London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) 332 We also found the links between HFI’s targets in the SDP and DSPs and their objective to deliver the council’s corporate objectives was unclear with a lack of definable targets for objectives like the ‘green agenda’. 333 There is an acknowledgement by HFI that the linkages could have been tighter in year one but that the emphasis was in getting the improvements implemented. The 2005/06 business planning process will address these issues for the second round of delivery plans. 334 There are still some inconsistencies in service delivery and feedback is not comprehensive, this could have a negative impact on future plans. Will improvements be delivered? 335 In our previous inspection we considered that there were ‘promising’ prospects for improvement as the service had a number of barriers to overcome. 336 HFI has overcome the barriers to drive improvement and built on existing strengths. We found there is clear leadership from the board and senior staff and challenge to performance. We also found that there is clear prioritisation and risk management. HFI is building capacity to meet business needs in terms of HR and financial capacity, it is also using partnerships to help deliver key services to improve capacity. 337 Staff and residents have all acknowledged the improvements made and the clear leadership of the board and senior staff. The IIP assessment <strong>report</strong> is very positive about HFI and the leadership and focus of the organisation and HFI has attained IIP status in its own right. ‘Top managers are clearly and effectively committed to directing and developing a leadership and management culture ready for the challenge of the post funding situation’ (ALMO funding). 338 There have been clear and step change improvements since the inception of the ALMO in April 2004 driven by the ambitions of its leadership to deliver customer focused improvement. 339 The board have set out the aims of the organisation which are underpinned by corporate strategies which have been developed and approved by the board. These have been developed early so the organisation has had clear direction from the start. They have developed their own key strategies such as HR and communications which have been important in ensuring the identification and ambitions of the organisation are understood and well publicised and that staff have felt part of the new organisation. 340 HFI sees itself as a key partner in delivering the council’s corporate objectives and the council acknowledge this and support the ALMO in its objectives to work with residents to deliver services it wants in the future. 341 Because there is a large number of residents involved in the consultative panels, reference groups and the board are engaged with residents at local meetings, and there is a good understanding of key objectives among residents. 342 There are examples of priorities being set. For example, in the short term the board have decided to resource the re-badging of staff uniforms, logos on letters, communications and office signage, to ensure recognition of the new organisation by residents. However, the cost of re-signing all the estates is being resourced over a longer period as funds were not immediately available and it was not seen as such a high priority. These priorities have been encompassed in the communication strategy for HFI.
London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) p 55 343 HFI has prioritised the review of high risk support services, a review group chaired by the CE includes membership from board directors, the management and performance teams. The group have ensured that support services contracts include specifications, they have reviewed costs and service level agreements have been signed with all council providers. 344 The creation of the ALMO has given the organisation greater control over HR issues and this has resulted in a more strategic approach to dealing with issues such as the use of temporary staff, recruitment and retention and the restructuring of the organisation to meet business needs. There are a number of board members with a HR background or with knowledge and skills that have provided focus and support for the implementation of the HR strategy, consequently transfer arrangements and the restructuring have happened smoothly. 345 The board are investing in staff and are working towards achieving the IIP leadership and management award, including a recruitment and retention strategy which is improving staff morale. There is a staff reference group that provides a sounding board for HR issues and there are regular staff meetings with the CE that have assisted in embedding the changes. An employee assistance programme provides independent support for staff that can help them deal with the organisational and cultural changes taking place. 346 The unions consider that communications with HFI are better than they were with the council and both consider that there is a positive relationship between them. The unions have direct access to the board as employers which they feel is useful, they also consider meetings with both the board and CE are effective in that issues get resolved and they are kept informed of any delays in decisions making. In addition HFI and Unison have developed a joint lifelong learning programme for staff that is a positive partnership. 347 There have been a number of successful training events with TMOs and there are a range of regular training opportunities provided to TMO boards with three conferences held last year. These have provided updates on changes to <strong>report</strong>ing arrangements and workshops on issues that affect TMOs as employers that have been positively received. 348 There is a strong board with wide ranging skill, this capacity has been enhanced with a comprehensive learning plan, board members have been trained on housing issues, had inter-personal development which has strengthened the board and the relationship between board members. The Chair of the board is now identifying competencies and personal development needs for individual members and is developing a process of appraisals to ensure this is maintained. There is a great deal of commitment from board members with around 80 per cent attendance at meetings. Arrangements and meeting schedules have been altered to address the changing needs of the organisation and to maintain a reasonable balance of work to sustain involvement of board members. 349 There are positive partnerships to deal with ASB, tenancy support, repairs and with TMO and HFI is building on these for example, they hosted a conference entitled ‘making partnerships work’ for managers of both Caxtons and framework contractors. 350 All permanent and temporary staff employed continuously since September 2004 have been promised a one off payment of £250 if the outcome of this inspection is two stars. Board directors wanted to reward staff for good performance.
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Inspection report
Page 3 and 4: Summary London Borough of Islington
Page 5 and 6: London Borough of Islington - Homes
Page 7 and 8: Recommendations London Borough of I
Page 9 and 10: © Audit C
Page 11 and 12: The service London Borough of Islin
Page 13 and 14: How good is the service? London Bor
Page 45 and 46: Service charges London Borough of I
Page 53: London Borough of Islington - Homes
Page 59 and 60: Summary London Borough of Islington
Page 61 and 62: Documents reviewed London Borough o
Page 63 and 64: Gary Doolan GMB London Borough of I
Page 65 and 66: Positive practice London Borough of
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Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

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