Annual Review 2017-18
Tai Tarian's Annual Review for 2017/18
Tai Tarian's Annual Review for 2017/18
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OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong><br />
MAKING A<br />
DIFFERENCE
Looking back on another<br />
successful year…<br />
Page 2<br />
Introduction<br />
Welcome from<br />
Jonathon and Linda<br />
Page 4<br />
Page 5<br />
Page 20<br />
Page 27<br />
Page 28<br />
Page 29<br />
Page 32<br />
Page 34<br />
Vision, mission and<br />
strategic objectives<br />
Our highlights<br />
Our performance<br />
Delivering our Offer<br />
Document Promises<br />
Involving our tenants<br />
Focus on our future<br />
Our board<br />
and executive<br />
managementteam<br />
Our figures<br />
At TaiTarian we have always been<br />
passionate about making areal<br />
difference to people’s lives and<br />
their communities.<br />
This year has seen anew phase in<br />
our development and in July <strong>2017</strong> we<br />
changed our name from NPT Homes<br />
to TaiTarian. As aWelsh organisation,<br />
we felt it was important to have aWelsh<br />
name. Taimeans housing and Tarian<br />
means shield, reinforcing our ethos<br />
that we don’t just provide homes but<br />
offer support and help to our tenants<br />
and communities.<br />
2|MAKING A DIFFERENCE
We launched our new Corporate Plan<br />
‘Focus on Our Future’ in the summer<br />
of <strong>2017</strong> and this demonstrates our<br />
commitment to putting tenants at the<br />
heart of what we do. Our vision is to<br />
continue building upon the foundations<br />
set down during the first seven years<br />
of our organisation and to focus on<br />
delivering services which exceed<br />
tenant expectations.<br />
We’re very happy to report that this<br />
year has seen us deliver the remaining<br />
offer document promises, this was<br />
approved by our Board inMay 20<strong>18</strong>.<br />
We’re very proud of this achievement<br />
and will continue to work hard to<br />
deliver on our new plans.<br />
We believe that the ongoing work<br />
with our tenants and stakeholders is<br />
integral to what we do and we look<br />
forward tocontinuing to work closely<br />
with our tenants, Board, employees,<br />
contractors and partners over the<br />
coming year. These partnerships<br />
enable us to carry on doing what we’re<br />
passionate about –making apositive<br />
difference to the lives of individuals,<br />
families and the communities we<br />
work with.<br />
Chair, Jonathon Davies and<br />
Chief Executive, Linda Whittaker<br />
Our staff have continued to shine,<br />
with anumber receiving awards<br />
during the year. Wealso gained<br />
the Welsh Government’s Platinum<br />
Corporate Health Standard, which<br />
is the highest possible accolade,<br />
for the work we’ve done to improve<br />
the health and wellbeing of our staff<br />
and communities.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |3
‘We’re more than ahousing provider’<br />
We want to have apositive impact on our communities and the people who live in<br />
them. We believe we can do this by providing high quality homes, delivering great<br />
services and creating opportunities. This is reflected in our strategic objectives.<br />
Our Vision: Making aDifference<br />
Our Mission: Great Homes, Great Communities<br />
Our strategic objectives for <strong>2017</strong>-20<br />
We will;<br />
• Continue to invest in our current<br />
homes and communities<br />
• Develop our workforce to improve<br />
effectiveness of service delivery<br />
• Maximise our use of technology to<br />
deliver what matters to customers<br />
• Pursue opportunities for growth<br />
4|MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Our highlights<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |5
Our highlights<br />
We’ve got anew name<br />
In July <strong>2017</strong>, we changed our name<br />
from NPT Homes to TaiTarian.<br />
It is now six years since homes were<br />
transferred to NPT Homes from<br />
Neath Port Talbot Council, with the<br />
main purpose of the transfer being to<br />
bring homes up to the Welsh Housing<br />
Quality Standard (WHQS). This was<br />
achieved in March <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
As we look to the future wewill<br />
continue to invest in our homes and<br />
services ensuring we are meeting our<br />
tenants’ needs. We may also look to<br />
expand beyond Neath Port Talbot,<br />
continuing to focus on improving the<br />
services we deliver to our tenants.<br />
It felt the time was right to change our<br />
name, to help us achieve our future<br />
plans and also provide clarity within<br />
the local community that we are a<br />
separate organisation to the Council.<br />
Staff and tenant members were asked<br />
to give suggestions and more than 400<br />
possible names were received.<br />
Ashortlist of six names were put<br />
forward toastaff vote and TaiTarian<br />
was the clear favourite.<br />
As aWelsh organisation, we felt<br />
it was important to have aWelsh<br />
name. Taimeans housing and<br />
Tarian means shield, reinforcing<br />
our ethos that we don’t just<br />
provide homes but offer support<br />
and help to our tenants<br />
and communities.<br />
Linda Whittaker, Chief Executive<br />
6|MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Our highlights<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> | 7
Our highlights<br />
Old uniforms helping<br />
rangers in Zambia<br />
After changing our name we donated<br />
our old uniforms to the National<br />
Police Aid Convoys charity and<br />
were delighted to learn that they are<br />
now being worn byrangers at the<br />
Chipembele Wildlife Education Centre<br />
in Zambia.<br />
The rangers, who protect endangered<br />
animals from poachers, did not have<br />
uniforms so the donation has made a<br />
real difference.<br />
Jules Langstaff from the National<br />
Police Aid Convoys, who co-ordinated<br />
the donation, said:<br />
We are very grateful to TaiTarian<br />
for supporting this initiative<br />
and the uniforms are really<br />
appreciated by the Zambian<br />
wardens who are working hard to<br />
protect their country’s wildlife.<br />
8|MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Our highlights<br />
and experience to help them secure<br />
long term employment.<br />
The project has already had success<br />
with five of the first intake of recruits<br />
going on to gain full time employment,<br />
two with us and three with<br />
external organisations.<br />
Helping people back<br />
into work<br />
In summer <strong>2017</strong>, we launched anew<br />
initiative to help people struggling to<br />
find employment back into work.<br />
The Copper Foundation gives long<br />
term unemployed people 12 month<br />
contracts working alongside our<br />
experienced tradespeople to gain<br />
knowledge and experience in anumber<br />
of fields. They also receive mentoring<br />
and advice on how to compile CVs, fill<br />
in job application forms and interview<br />
technique training.<br />
By the end of their time with us, they<br />
will have gained the necessary skills<br />
Lewis Jones, who has gained ajob in<br />
our neighbourhood team, said:<br />
I’m over the moon to have landed<br />
this new opportunity. I’ve learned<br />
agreat deal over the past year by<br />
being part of the Copper Foundation<br />
project. I’ve worked with agreat<br />
bunch of boys and had fantastic<br />
support from my supervisors<br />
and manager.<br />
The project is set to expand further<br />
with up to 80 people being given<br />
opportunities over a five year period.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |9
Our highlights<br />
Fire safety<br />
Acampaign was launched and<br />
acommunity event held to raise<br />
awareness of fire safety to ensurewe<br />
keep our tenants as safe as possible in<br />
their homes.<br />
Hundreds of leaflets weredelivered to<br />
all of our flats warning tenants about<br />
the risk of potential firesifcommunal<br />
areas arekept cluttered. Our staff also<br />
tagged any items they saw in those<br />
areas, explaining to tenants that they<br />
must be removed to ensuretheir safety.<br />
Our community event was held at NSA<br />
Afan Community CentreinSandfields<br />
with South WalesPolice and Mid<br />
and West WalesFireService, and we<br />
wereable to offer lots of advice to<br />
our tenants.<br />
Platinum Corporate<br />
Health Standard<br />
The organisation was delighted to<br />
be awarded the WelshGovernment<br />
Platinum Corporate Health Standardfor<br />
the work we have done to improve the<br />
health and wellbeing of our staff and<br />
the local community.<br />
The award, which is the highest accolade<br />
given by the Corporate Health Standard,<br />
is presented to exemplar organisations<br />
who demonstrate commitment to<br />
anumber of key areas including<br />
partnership working, community<br />
engagement, transport, sustainable<br />
building and employment skills.<br />
Organisations must also show evidence<br />
of best practice that has gone above<br />
and beyond to improve health and<br />
wellbeing, as well as giving something<br />
back to its local community.<br />
10 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Our highlights<br />
Corporate Health Standard<br />
Assessment Panel Chair,<br />
AvaFine, said:<br />
TaiTarian’ssubmission for the<br />
Platinum Corporate Health<br />
Standardaward was of the highest<br />
standard. The organisation really<br />
demonstrates asustainable<br />
commitment to the community<br />
which goes beyond their normal<br />
everyday business. It was fantastic<br />
to see the lengths they have gone<br />
to engage with all areas of their<br />
community –tenants, volunteers,<br />
businesses, schools and more.<br />
One of the initiatives that caught<br />
the judges’ eye was our Bee<br />
Project that helped us to connect<br />
with local communities, educate<br />
local young people about the<br />
importance of looking after wildlife<br />
and develop our outdoor areas.<br />
The work involved building bee<br />
hives and creating awildlife garden<br />
at our headquarters. Local school<br />
children were encouraged toenter<br />
acompetition to design bug houses<br />
for the garden and the winners<br />
and their classmates were then<br />
invited to meet our resident bee<br />
keeper and find out how the bees<br />
produce honey.<br />
The winners of the competition,<br />
Crynall Primary School pupils Sam<br />
John and Lowan Hitchings said:<br />
It was really fundesigning and<br />
making the bug houses and we<br />
learnt lots during our visit. We really<br />
had agreat time!<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |11
Our highlights<br />
Beware ofloan<br />
sharks campaign<br />
Our campaign to raise awareness of<br />
the dangers of illegal money lending<br />
and loan sharks has reached more<br />
than one million people.<br />
The focus of the campaign was a<br />
hard-hitting video based on the reallife<br />
experiences of one of our tenants<br />
and the misery, stress and dangers<br />
caused by borrowing money illegally.<br />
The campaign urged our tenants and<br />
anyone in our communities who has<br />
become avictim of aloan shark, to<br />
seek help and advice.<br />
Our tenant whose story was key to<br />
the campaign said after watching<br />
the video;<br />
It brought back alot of feelings<br />
about the situation Iwas in and I<br />
hope that people that are inthe<br />
same predicament that Iwas in<br />
watch your film and get the help<br />
which Ireceived from TaiTarian.<br />
Youtotally changed my life and I<br />
can’t thank everyone at TaiTarian<br />
enough who does this excellent<br />
work in helping people who are<br />
in trouble financially or otherwise.<br />
Keep up the good work and<br />
thanks for everything.<br />
Leaflets and posters were produced<br />
with details of the help on offer for<br />
our tenants. We also held a‘Money<br />
Saving Matters’ community event<br />
with partners to promote ways in<br />
which tenants can make their money<br />
go further.<br />
12 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Our highlights<br />
Five apprentices<br />
secure full time jobs<br />
Five apprentices who joined our<br />
organisation <strong>18</strong> months ago have<br />
gained long term roles in our<br />
trade workforce.<br />
Tomos Grace, Fraser Richards,<br />
Joshua Hambley, Morgan Jones and<br />
Shane Lewis have been studying<br />
for their Level 3Multi Trade Building<br />
Maintenance Operative Apprenticeship<br />
at Neath Port Talbot College while<br />
gaining work experience in<br />
our properties.<br />
Andrew Carey, Deputy<br />
Director of Assets, said:<br />
The apprentices have really<br />
impressed us in the last <strong>18</strong><br />
months and are fully deserving of<br />
their full time positions with us.<br />
We are proud to be investing in<br />
construction talent locally.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |13
Our highlights<br />
Working with Michael<br />
Sheen to end high<br />
cost credit<br />
We’re proud to be supporting anew<br />
organisation founded by Port Talbot<br />
actor and activist Michael Sheen,<br />
aimed at tackling the unfair targeting of<br />
high cost credit to those who can least<br />
afford it.<br />
We’re one of the key partners of The<br />
End High Cost Credit Alliance which<br />
was founded by Michael in <strong>2017</strong> and<br />
launched in March 20<strong>18</strong>.<br />
The Alliance aims to find ways to make<br />
change happen and many of the ideas<br />
will be tested in Port Talbot.<br />
One of our strategic priorities is to<br />
seek opportunities to help tenants<br />
make their money go alittle further.<br />
The Alliance will help us to do this by<br />
exploring alternatives for tenants to<br />
access low cost credit.<br />
Michael said:<br />
From the very beginning of this<br />
initiative Isat down with TaiTarian<br />
to explore the challenges locally and<br />
they have been an integral part of<br />
the Alliance. Our message is simple,<br />
credit is good but not in asystem<br />
where itisunfairly targeted and<br />
maximised for profit over<br />
social impact.<br />
We need ideas, we need solutions<br />
and most importantly we need to<br />
act. Ilook forward toworking with<br />
TaiTarian to create afairer deal for<br />
our communities and the<br />
entire country.<br />
14 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Our highlights<br />
Pledging to end<br />
mental health stigma<br />
Our commitment to supporting our<br />
staff and tenants who may have mental<br />
health struggles was underlined when<br />
we signed up to the Time to Change<br />
Wales pledge on World Mental<br />
Health Day.<br />
The pledge, which aims to improve<br />
understanding about mental illness,<br />
reinforces our aims to think and act<br />
positively to help people who may be<br />
suffering. It follows on from aseries<br />
of awareness raising events we held<br />
during Mental Health Awareness week.<br />
Michael Harvey, from Time to<br />
Change Wales, said:<br />
We are really thankful to<br />
TaiTarian for supporting us. It’s<br />
really important that organisations<br />
get behind our campaign and<br />
help tackle the stigma that exists<br />
around mental health.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |15
Our highlights<br />
Giving back to our<br />
communities<br />
Our Community Challenges went<br />
from strength to strength with nine<br />
projects including community centres,<br />
churches, playgroups, schools and a<br />
local foodbank benefitting.<br />
Outdoor spaces were transformed<br />
and buildings given make overs,<br />
including new kitchens<br />
and redecoration.<br />
The challenges are apartnership<br />
programme between us and our main<br />
contractors to give something back<br />
to the community by providing free<br />
building or maintenance work.<br />
The biggest challenge took place at<br />
Ysgol Hendrefelin in Bryncoch and<br />
involved our staff clearing overgrown<br />
grounds, building new paths and<br />
erecting fencing. Anew viewing<br />
platform was created along with<br />
seating areas in asensory garden.<br />
16 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Our highlights<br />
Angela Lewis, from Ysgol<br />
Hendrefelin, said:<br />
We are sograteful to TaiTarian for<br />
the work they have done at the<br />
school. It has opened the space<br />
up and helped pupils explore<br />
their senses and discover the<br />
environment around them.<br />
Many of our workforce helped to<br />
deliver the building in just 11 days,<br />
making areal difference to the charity<br />
which supports children in care and<br />
young adults who are transitioning to<br />
independent living.<br />
Chris Jones, TaiTarian Property and<br />
Maintenance Inspector, who took<br />
part in the build, said:<br />
Our staff also joined forces with<br />
other local organisations to support<br />
aspecial BBC DIY SOS project in<br />
Swansea. The popular television show<br />
aimed to build anew headquarters for<br />
Roots Foundation Wales aspart ofthe<br />
Children in Need appeal.<br />
When we heard that DIY SOS<br />
were looking for people to help<br />
out at their Children in Need build<br />
in Swansea, my colleagues and I<br />
jumped at the chance to take part.<br />
It was agreat experience to be<br />
part of the project and we all felt<br />
very proud to have been able to<br />
contribute to this worthy cause.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |17
Our highlights<br />
Award winning staff<br />
We’re proud that the great work<br />
our staff do every day has been<br />
recognised by anumber of<br />
national awards.<br />
Our Organisational Development<br />
(OD) team scooped ahat-trick of<br />
wins at the Wales HR Awards, being<br />
named HR Team of the Year and OD<br />
Specialist Kelly Mordecai won Best<br />
HR Professional as well as the overall<br />
award ofHRStar.<br />
Our work with contractor Mi-space UK<br />
Ltd to upgrade wiring and insulation in<br />
tenants’ homes received the Customer<br />
Excellence Award atChartered<br />
Institute of Housing Cymru Welsh<br />
Housing Awards.<br />
The project, which took four years to<br />
complete, was praised for an excellent<br />
approach to customer service that<br />
showed ahigh level of satisfaction<br />
with 98% of tenants reporting a<br />
good experience.<br />
<strong>18</strong> |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Our highlights<br />
Our Transport<br />
Manager, Mair<br />
Jones, won<br />
Transport<br />
Manager of the<br />
Year at the UK<br />
<strong>Annual</strong> Talent in<br />
Logistics Awards.<br />
Mair, who is responsible for keeping<br />
our fleet of 130 commercial vehicles<br />
on the road, was praised for her<br />
outstanding commitment to road user<br />
safety, customer service excellence<br />
and high levels of compliance.<br />
Charlie Thwaite, one<br />
of our young<br />
apprentices,<br />
was a finalist in<br />
the Youthbuild<br />
UK Awards.<br />
The <strong>18</strong> year<br />
old apprentice<br />
carpenter was<br />
shortlisted for the<br />
Young Builder of<br />
the Year award inrecognition of the<br />
outstanding progress she had made<br />
since joining our organisation.<br />
Stephanie Preedy, works in our Assets<br />
department, was shortlisted for the<br />
Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru<br />
Apprentice of the Year award. She<br />
was recognised for her commitment,<br />
learning and excellent people skills<br />
shown in her role with tenants.<br />
Our organisation was also a finalist<br />
in the Integration and Collaborative<br />
Working and Client of the Year<br />
categories of the Constructing<br />
Excellence in Wales awards.<br />
We were recognised for our<br />
refurbishment work on Ty Gnoll<br />
Newydd in Neath and providing value<br />
for money.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |19
Our performance<br />
Seal of approval from<br />
Welsh Government<br />
Our latest Regulatory Judgment from<br />
Welsh Government, which assesses<br />
how we have been performing over<br />
the last year, was Standard –the<br />
highest possible rating.<br />
The purpose of the assessment is<br />
to ensure that the organisation is<br />
well governed with good levels of<br />
tenant involvement. It also assesses<br />
whether the risks facing the business<br />
are well managed, that there are<br />
robust processes in place to assess<br />
performance and that measures are<br />
being taken to continually improve the<br />
services offered to our tenants.<br />
The assessment also looked at our<br />
financial performance to ensure weare<br />
financially sound and are<br />
delivering value for money<br />
in all areas of the business.<br />
20 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Community reinvestment<br />
Using the Welsh Government’s Value Wales Toolkit we have been<br />
able to demonstrate that for every £1 spent on our major works<br />
programme £1.99 is reinvested in our local communities out of a<br />
maximum £2 achievable.<br />
Financial inclusion and universal credit<br />
Our financial inclusion team provides<br />
advice and support to tenants<br />
experiencing financial difficulties.<br />
Working jointly with our income team<br />
they provide support on benefit<br />
changes, budgeting and digital<br />
support. Tenants are also supported<br />
to claim and manage their universal<br />
credit claims.<br />
We try to make access to advice<br />
and support as easy as possible for<br />
tenants including over the telephone,<br />
at home visits and through our benefits<br />
advice surgeries.<br />
£3.9m<br />
609<br />
79%<br />
1,666<br />
1,751<br />
Additional benefits and<br />
Direct Housing Payments<br />
for our tenants<br />
Benefits advice surgery<br />
appointments<br />
Home visits<br />
Telephone advice<br />
Benefits appeal success rate<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |21
Repairs<br />
We want our tenants to feel proud of their homes. Our dedicated staff and<br />
contractors are committed to delivering ahigh quality repairs service.<br />
7,420 3,261 19,556<br />
Emergency Repairs Urgent Repairs Non-Urgent Repairs<br />
90 %<br />
99.99 %<br />
Gas Safe<br />
Homes<br />
98%<br />
Tenant satisfaction<br />
with the latest repair<br />
completed at<br />
their home<br />
Overall Tenant<br />
satisfaction with<br />
our repairs and<br />
maintenance service<br />
22 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Tenant satisfaction<br />
We have seen an increase in satisfaction<br />
levels over the last year.<br />
97%<br />
91%<br />
TRUST US<br />
would<br />
recommend us<br />
to family and<br />
friends<br />
93%<br />
say our rent<br />
provides value<br />
for money<br />
84%<br />
satisfaction<br />
with the way<br />
we deal with<br />
anti-social<br />
behaviour*<br />
83%<br />
say we listen<br />
and acton<br />
tenant views<br />
92%<br />
neighbourhood<br />
satisfaction<br />
Quality of<br />
94 %<br />
their home<br />
90%<br />
say we provide<br />
the service<br />
customers<br />
expect<br />
*550 surveys from July <strong>2017</strong> to March 20<strong>18</strong> (*<strong>18</strong>1 surveys)<br />
94%<br />
overall service satisfaction<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |23
What our customers have said<br />
This year we received 243 compliments from our customers,<br />
here are some of the things they said:<br />
“Thank you for the wonderful<br />
service Ihave received today.<br />
Iwanted to say thank you for<br />
how fast someone attended to<br />
the property and how pleasant<br />
all staff Idealt with today were.”<br />
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. The<br />
boys did amarvellous job on my garden.<br />
They cut down the trees, cleaned up after<br />
themselves and they weremarvellous,<br />
you’reall marvellous to me anyway.I’ve<br />
never seen anyone work as well as the<br />
boys do in TaiTarian. I’ve got alovely<br />
garden Ican sit in now.SoIjust want to<br />
thank you very much.”<br />
“I wanted to say how fantastic<br />
Ifound the inspectors who<br />
attended the property as they<br />
were sothorough and really<br />
listened to me regarding an issue<br />
with the shower. Iwanted to say<br />
thank you to them and really<br />
wanted to praise the service<br />
they provide.”<br />
24 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
“They are the only people who<br />
helped me directly when Ihad the<br />
most difficult time in my life. Now<br />
Iknow that there are people who<br />
can help when you’ve lost hope.<br />
Big big thank you.”<br />
“Fantastic, lovely job.<br />
Absolutely brilliant, Ithink<br />
they deserved acall tosay a<br />
big thanks. They were really<br />
lovely. Clean, tidy and neat!<br />
There wasn’t aspeck of dust<br />
or paint anywhere –they<br />
really did alovely job!”<br />
“I wanted to thank the gentleman<br />
Ispoke to on the phone and the<br />
plumber who attended to resolve<br />
ablockage on the shower trap.<br />
The gentleman Ispoke to on the<br />
phone was polite and very helpful<br />
and arranged for the work to be<br />
completed quickly,the plumber<br />
who attended arrived quickly and<br />
was brilliant. He was polite and<br />
resolved the issues thereand<br />
then. Ican’tpraise both boys<br />
enough. The out of hour’sservice<br />
is brilliant.”<br />
“Tai Tarian totally changed<br />
my life and Icannot thank<br />
everyone who does this<br />
excellent work in helping<br />
people who are introuble<br />
financially or otherwise<br />
enough, keep up the<br />
good work and thanks<br />
for everything.”<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |25
Our people<br />
86%<br />
of our staff<br />
stayed with<br />
us throughout<br />
the year<br />
We are passionate<br />
about developing<br />
our employees<br />
and invested<br />
£300,000<br />
in the last year<br />
Staff<br />
turnover<br />
is low<br />
We sponsored 21 EMPLOYEES<br />
to embark onaqualification in their<br />
specialist areas<br />
For 14 of these we secured<br />
funding from the Welsh<br />
Government<br />
TRAINING DAYS:<br />
ONLINE<br />
475.5<br />
DAYS<br />
FACE-TO-FACE<br />
2,074<br />
DAYS<br />
Our staff are<br />
more engaged<br />
than staff in 83%<br />
of comparable<br />
organisations<br />
of employees<br />
76 % live locally<br />
26 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Delivering our Offer Document Promises<br />
The Transfer Offer Document outlined 1<strong>18</strong> promises which we committed<br />
to deliver to our tenants and we’re very pleased to confirm that delivery of<br />
the final promises were signed off by our Board inMay 20<strong>18</strong>.<br />
The final promises delivered were:<br />
1<strong>18</strong><br />
Environmental<br />
improvements<br />
100%<br />
complete<br />
Grounds maintenance about improvements to fencing<br />
and boundaries.<br />
Security<br />
improvements<br />
100%<br />
complete<br />
Security doors, lighting and communal fire improvements.<br />
Improvements<br />
to Haven<br />
Housing<br />
Schemes<br />
100%<br />
complete<br />
Shower/wet rooms installed for all tenants.<br />
Automatic doors installed for communal areas and entrances<br />
where applicable.<br />
All decoration works to internal areas have been delivered.<br />
All internal re-modelling works have been undertaken.<br />
Atenant handbook is in place at all schemes.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |27
Complaints<br />
We want to hear from our customers when things<br />
go wrong and aim to resolve problems as quickly<br />
as possible.<br />
Complaints provide valuable feedback and help us<br />
to continue to improve our services.<br />
Complaints<br />
171 dealt with<br />
90 %<br />
were resolved<br />
within 30 days<br />
Involving our tenants<br />
Our Academy, agroup of our<br />
members, helped us in assessing<br />
how we’ve performed. By working<br />
jointly with our staff and reviewing<br />
performance information, they helped<br />
us to develop aset of improvement<br />
actions, all of which are set out in our<br />
Making aDifference storyboards. Our<br />
Academy also reported their findings<br />
to the Board for approval before<br />
the storyboards were published on<br />
our website.<br />
They play an important role in our<br />
self-evaluation and we’re delighted<br />
with their work, which helps us to<br />
continually improve services to<br />
our tenants.<br />
Ienjoy being part of the Academy<br />
and having the opportunity to<br />
review the work TaiTarian delivers<br />
to its tenants.<br />
Eddie Rawles, Academy Member<br />
28 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Focus on our future<br />
During the year we launched our new<br />
Corporate Plan for <strong>2017</strong>-20, ‘Focus<br />
on Our Future’. Since then work has<br />
commenced on all of the initiatives<br />
within the plan.<br />
Continue to invest in our<br />
homes and communities<br />
We want to make our communities<br />
more attractive so tenants can<br />
feel proud of where they live. Our<br />
external boundaries programme will<br />
see us improving gardens, fencing<br />
and communal land. We are also<br />
developing community services, our<br />
plans include;<br />
• Upgrading our neighbourhoods<br />
• Providing the best possible homes<br />
for our tenants<br />
• Ensuring our processes are fit<br />
for purpose<br />
• Developing<br />
community<br />
services by<br />
creating job<br />
opportunities,<br />
developing<br />
affordable credit<br />
options and working with<br />
partners on financial literacy<br />
initiatives for tenants and<br />
their children<br />
We are now beginning to see the<br />
outcome of our work with areas<br />
being transformed.<br />
Through our Copper Foundation<br />
initiative five of the seven individuals<br />
recruited in <strong>2017</strong> have moved on to<br />
permanent employment.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |29
During March there<br />
were positive<br />
messages in the<br />
media regarding<br />
our initiative to<br />
develop affordable<br />
credit options for our<br />
tenants, with Michael<br />
Sheen launching the End<br />
High Cost Credit Alliance.<br />
We are proud to be akey member of<br />
the Alliance and are looking forward<br />
to continuing to develop alternatives<br />
to high cost credit and stopping the<br />
targeting at those who can least affordit.<br />
• Improving our succession and<br />
workforce planning<br />
Our staff development programme<br />
is progressing well and many of the<br />
initiatives to work more effectively<br />
have commenced. We’ve held aseries<br />
of events to let our staff know how<br />
well we’re doing in progressing our<br />
strategic objectives. These events<br />
were agreat success and alot of<br />
positive feedback was received on the<br />
good work we’re doing.<br />
Develop our workforce to improve<br />
effectiveness of service delivery<br />
Our ambition is to make our people<br />
feel inspired and supported to work<br />
effectively to ensure wedeliver the<br />
best experience to our tenants.<br />
We will achieve this by;<br />
• Adapting roles and structures<br />
to reflect changing tenant and<br />
organisational priorities<br />
• Enhancing the skills, engagement<br />
and performance of our people<br />
Maximise our use of technology to<br />
deliver what matters to customers<br />
As an organisation committed to<br />
continuous improvement we want to<br />
ensure we’re delivering what matters<br />
to our tenants. We will achieve this by;<br />
30 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
• <strong>Review</strong>ing and streamlining<br />
processes to ensure they are fit<br />
for purpose<br />
• Making it easy for tenants to<br />
interact via technology<br />
• Ensuring staff have accurate<br />
information available at their<br />
fingertips at all times<br />
• Providing arange of options<br />
for tenants to interact, based<br />
on their diverse requirements<br />
or preferences<br />
We want to provide accessible ways<br />
for tenants to interact with us, in away<br />
they want and at atime<br />
that suits them.<br />
We’re currently<br />
working on a<br />
new portal,<br />
which will<br />
enable<br />
tenants to<br />
apply for<br />
housing,<br />
make a<br />
payment<br />
and report a<br />
repair online.<br />
Pursue opportunities for growth<br />
Through our growth initiative we aim<br />
to provide an additional 300 homes by<br />
2020. We are progressing this through<br />
building new homes and buying back<br />
homes in areas where weknow people<br />
want to live. We will achieve this by;<br />
• Increasing our stock of homes both<br />
inside and outside the Borough<br />
• Expanding opportunities for<br />
intermediate and social market rent<br />
• Considering options to help people<br />
own their own home through<br />
building for sale<br />
• Exploring opportunities<br />
for collaboration with<br />
other organisations<br />
During the year we started building<br />
23 new homes on three different sites<br />
and the new homes will be ready for<br />
residents during 20<strong>18</strong>.<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |31
Who are the Board and Executive Management Team?<br />
We are governed by avoluntary Board made up of tenants, Council nominees and<br />
independent members.<br />
The Board has overall responsibility for:<br />
• Ensuring the organisation is accountable to tenants and other stakeholders<br />
• Approving and monitoring policies to support the Corporate Plan<br />
• Monitoring our performance and ensuring the organisation is meeting the<br />
outcomes set in the Corporate Plan<br />
Board members<br />
Jonathon Davies<br />
Chair and Independent<br />
Member<br />
Shelley Bosson<br />
Vice-Chair Co-optee Member<br />
Samantha Jones<br />
Tenant Member<br />
Steve Mundy<br />
Independent Member<br />
Denise Davies<br />
Tenant Member<br />
Harry Lloyd<br />
Independent Member<br />
32 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
Sonia Reynolds<br />
Council Nominee<br />
Peter Maggs<br />
Co-optee Member<br />
Rosalyn Davies<br />
Council Nominee<br />
Mike Jones<br />
Co-optee Member<br />
Alan Lockyer<br />
Council Nominee<br />
Steffan ap Dafydd<br />
Council Nominee<br />
Resigned board members<br />
Helen James (Independent)<br />
Daniel Smith (Tenant Member)<br />
Annette Wingrave (Council Nominee)<br />
Our ExecutiveManagement Team<br />
Linda Whittaker<br />
Chief Executive<br />
Claire Maimone<br />
Director of Housing<br />
John Andrew<br />
Director of Finance,<br />
Corporate Services,<br />
Company Secretary<br />
(Resigned May 20<strong>18</strong>)<br />
Steve Tucker<br />
Interim Director of Assets<br />
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |33
Our figures<br />
On 1st April <strong>2017</strong> we had total cash of …<br />
£22.5m<br />
We had money coming in from …<br />
Rents<br />
£37.7m<br />
Service charges<br />
£1.9m<br />
Grants from Welsh Government and Local Authority £6.5m<br />
Property sales -Right to Buy and other £2m<br />
Other income<br />
£0.5m<br />
Total<br />
£48.6m<br />
We spent it on…<br />
Improving and repairing your homes and communities<br />
Buying and building more homes for rent<br />
Service costs<br />
Tenancy management and support services<br />
Interest payments and other finance costs<br />
Total<br />
£40.8m<br />
£2.3m<br />
£2.6m<br />
£6.4m<br />
£7.8m<br />
£59.9m<br />
To do this we had to borrow… £0<br />
This left us with total cash at 31st March 20<strong>18</strong> of… £11.2m<br />
34 |MAKING ADIFFERENCE
OUR ANNUAL REVIEW APRIL <strong>2017</strong> -MARCH 20<strong>18</strong> |35
For our Highlights video of our annual<br />
review visit www.taitarian.co.uk