wwh spotlight on flintshire spring 2013

Welfare Reformweathering thestorm

Getting online thriving online

Our latest newdevelopments in your area

Connect24 telephone and telecare services

FLINTSHIREISSUE 5 | SPRING 2013

SPOTLIGHT ON

2 | Spotlight on FLINTSHIRE | Spring 2013 | www.wwha.co.uk

First of all I am very pleased to tell you that in ourmost recent Resident Satisfaction Survey 88% ofour residents told us that they were satisfied withthe overall service provided by WWH. This is a 2%increase compared to the survey we did in 2011,and, a significant increase of 7% on the results weachieved in 2007.

Another significant development since our lastSpotlight on Flintshire is the investment we havemade in seven new innovative Tenancy SupportOfficers posts. After a successful recruitment exercise our new TSOs are, as I write, starting theirnew roles across Wales and will be taking a proactive and handson approach to helping ourresidents to weather the welfare reform storm. Across the business we are continuing to exploreand invest in new technology and our digital inclusion programme is continuing apace, in itself playing an increasingly important role in helpingour residents to deal with forthcoming welfare reform changes.

I am also very pleased to announce that, in recognition of our capacity as a developing association, we have been granted a substantialtranche of additional funds by the Welsh Government to help us build more much neededaffordable homes across Wales. When we sentyou our Business Plan last autumn we told you wewould deliver 800 new homes in the next fiveyears. Thanks to this new investment we are nowon course to deliver 1,000 new homes in the nextfour years.

However developingnew homes is just apart of what we do andso to ensure that we remain customerfocussed, and readilyaccountable, we are undergoing our regularselfassessmentprocess. I and my fellow directors have been conducting our annual staff roadshows and haveso far spoken to more than three quarters of allour staff across Wales, many of whom live in thecommunities in which they work, gaining invaluable insights and feedback from them.

Finally, it gives me great pleasure to tell you thatSunday Times Best Companies has ranked us thetop notforprofit organisation in Wales for the second year running – placing us 7th in the UKoverall. We not only moved one place up the ranking from our 2012 position in 8th place, butwe also retained our coveted gold standard ThreeStars rating. I’m sure you will agree that this is another very pleasing result and a testament tothe hard work and dedication of our fantastic staff. To conclude, I hope that this briefing will help tokeep you up to date with much of our grassrootswork in your area, as well as the bigger pictureabout WWH. Please don’t hesitate to get in touchat any time with your ideas and comments aboutany aspect of our work.

Yours Anne Hinchey, Chief Executive.

ANNE’S INTRODUCTION Welcome to the Spring 2013 edition of Spotlight on Flintshire,bringing you updates about Wales & West Housing initiatives inyour area. This edition features our usual mix of news aboutsome of our current countyspecific projects, plus relevant organisationwide updates.

3 | Spotlight on FLINTSHIRE | LOCAL NEWS | Spring 2013 | www.wwha.co.uk

Working efficiently with Flintshire HousingBenefit team we have been able to identify the113 WWH households in the county who willbe affected by the change.

Our staff have contacted all affected residentsto talk through the changes, discuss the potential impact on household budgets and towork with them to find affordable solutions.

To date, the vast majority of our residents havetold us that they intend to stay in their existinghomes although many may struggle to makeup the shortfall in their housing benefit.

In recognition that many of our residents willneed more help to sustain their tenancies, wehave also invested heavily in providing ongoing support through the creation ofseven entirely new Tenancy Support Officerposts.

Starting work with us now and based acrossWales – four (Natalie Davies, Amanda Collins,Stuart Lock and Sharon Jones) in the South,one (Donna Steven) in Mid Wales and two(William Brook and Jen Bailey) covering ourproperties in North Wales – they will workwith residents to help them deal with the impact of all forthcoming welfare reforms, including the introduction of Universal Credit,giving them the knowledge, choices, strengthand hope to weather the forthcoming storm.

Of course, one knockon effect of the bedroomtax is that we are now seeing some of ourlarger properties – especially three bedroomfamily homes – becoming available. Again weare working closely with all our local authoritypartners, and all other appropriate partners tomake sure that the right people in housingneed are able to access these affordablehomes.

WELFARE REFORMWEATHERING THE STORM Our agenda has been, and continues to be, dominated by welfare reform and in particular the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’which came into effect on April 1st.


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Overall Satisfaction We are really pleased toreport that 88% (four out of five residents)were satisfied with the overall service provided by WWH. This is a 2% increase compared to 2011’s survey and a significantincrease of 7% on the results we achieved inour 2007 survey.

Customer Service Our scores for the standardof customer service when making contactwith us are very good. In particular more thanhalf of households (52%) gave us a perfectscore of 10 for the helpfulness of staff, withthe average overall score being 8.65 out of10. There has also been a significant increasein satisfaction levels for receiving a responsein a timely manner (7.99 average, up from7.70).

The Property On the whole, respondentswere satisfied with their property, with an average rating of 7.99 out of 10, including32% of the sample who scored 10. In general,average scores for each feature of the homewere equivalent to, and in most cases higherthan, those reported in 2011.

Flintshire specific results People’s perceptions of their neighbourhood overall istypically an important factor in how satisfied

or not they are with their accommodationand landlord. So it is positive to see respondents in Flintshire scored their neighbourhood an average of 7.5 out of 10which owes much to the fact that a third(33%) scored it 10. Determining factors inwhat residents like about their neighbourhood included over a fifth of respondents stating that they have goodneighbours and access to amenities (21% foreach) and that their neighbourhood area isquiet (19%).

We also asked residents about our prioritiesfor improvement in a variety of areas of workover the coming years. The results clearlyshow that we are planning to improve areasof service provision that are relevant and valued to our residents. The top three itemsidentified by our residents in Flintshire are:

• making homes more energy efficient

• review how we deal with anti social behaviour

• build or acquire more homes for rent and for sale.

So what next? We are now exploring in moredepth the results of this survey and the specific comments that residents have made.These will be invaluable to us in moving forward and further improving our services.

RESIDENT SATISFACTIONSURVEY (RSS) - FLINTSHIREWe carry out our annual Resident Satisfaction Survey of athird of households (approximately 2,700) every year. Weundertook our second annual, and most recent, survey in autumn 2012. Here are some headline results plus insightsinto what is important to our residents in Flintshire.


DEVELOPING NEW HOMES IN FLINTSHIRE

Greenfield: Planning permission has beengranted for us to build 58 new homes inGreenfield, working in partnership withFlintshire County Council. Anwyl Constructionwill start work on the £7.2m development thissummer using designs by architect Munro Associates. The development, partfunded by a£4.6m social housing grant from the WelshGovernment, is due for completion in October2014. The homes are designed to meet Level3+ of the Code for Sustainable Homes andWWH’s development team has worked closelywith FCC’s planning department, arborologistsand ecologists on this development. AnwylConstruction is now employing local apprentices, local labour and utilising supplylocal supply chains across the region, wherepossible.

Councillor Helen Brown, Flintshire CountyCouncil's Cabinet member for Housing, told us:“I warmly welcome this new development ofaffordable homes in Greenfield which will helpprovide for the housing needs of local people. Ilook forward to seeing the completion of thescheme.”

Flint: Again working closely with FlintshireCounty Council we intend to be soon on site atthe former Old Flint House, thanks to planningpermission being granted for a development of30 new apartments. We are confident that thisdevelopment will play a big part in the broaderregeneration of Flint town centre.

Extra care / dementia care, Mold: Work onLlys Jasmine our £9m extra care / dementiacare complex in Mold is progressing well withapartments on track to become available forthe first residents to move in this summer. Situated on Jasmine Crescent, it will be the firstsuch facility in Wales to offer purposebuiltapartments for people with dementia, alongside extra care apartments.In all the scheme offers 61 apartments, including 15 for people with dementia, as wellas two, two bed extra care bungalows on site.Situated close to all the facilities offered byMold town centre, Llys Jasmine is next door toMold Community Hospital and Parkfield Community centre, and the three storey development offers terrific views across thelocal area.

continued over

L R Apprentice Corby Atherton, AM Sandy Mewies, Celia Williams, Area Delivery Manager, CITBConstructionSkills and apprentice Nathan Platt


William will be helping our residents to dealwith the many challenges of welfare reform, aswell as providing support and advice on effective budgeting and information on employment and training opportunities.

William will initially be concentrating his efforts on helping those residents who wehave already identified as being at risk of potentially facing financial hardship, or fallinginto arrears, due to changes brought about bythe ‘bedroom tax’, and other forthcoming welfare reform.

William will be working alongside Jen Bailey,our second TSO for the North Wales area, currently working as Digital Inclusion ProjectCoordinator the Take Control project.

TENANCY SUPPORTWe are delighted to be able to introduce William Brook, ournew Tenancy Support Officer for the Flintshire area.

Officers from Flintshire CC and Betsi Cadwaladr UHB visited the build in Februaryand we were also very pleased to welcomeAM Sandy Mewies to the site, in support of Apprenticeship Week. “I really enjoyed experiencing firsthand what anapprenticeship involves,” she told us. “Apprentices bring many benefits to employers. It’s never been more importantto support and encourage young peopleand employers to participate in apprenticeships.”

Finally, potential residents, their families,friends and carers have just had anotherchance to find out more about the complex,and to apply to live there, at a second marketing event which took place on Wednesday, April 24th at the Daniel OwenCentre, Mold, 10am to 6pm.

Anne Caloe, Housing Manager (North Wales),said: “There is still plenty of time to apply tolive at Llys Jasmine and we will be workinghard with our partners in Flintshire CC to makesure that these fantastic apartments go to

those in the greatest need.”

Apartments will be offered to people aged 65and over with care and support needs, withpreference given to those living in Flintshirenow and who meet the eligibility criteria.See our website www.wwha.co.uk for moredetails, or call 0800 052 2526.

We have been successful in securing additional funding from the Welsh Government which will enable us to delivermore than 1,000 units during the next fouryears across all areas in which we operate.

The supply of enough high quality, affordablehomes for Wales remains a pressing issue.However we remain confident of our abilityto meet a range of needs. We are in a strongposition financially and thanks to this we areable to build not only more new homes, butmore of the right type and specification tomeet local demand. Providing homes at different prices provides not only us, but alsomore importantly, our current and potentialresidents, with real choices.


DIGITAL INCLUSIONWe are looking to install WIFi enabled broadband, where costeffective, to enable residents to get online, learning from oursuccessful pilot in Merthyr Tydfil.

We are improving the energy efficiency of ourproperties beyond that required by the WelshGovernment, so that our residents savemoney, use less and are less likely to be infuel poverty. We have also invested £6m inthe past five years to ease fuel poverty in ourproperties and will continue to invest in improvement measures.

We’re supporting several environmental projects in this area from the very small, tothe notsosmall. One example is the installation of ground source heat pumps atPen y Ffordd.

Installing mains gas to rural properties inFlintshire worked out to be far too expensiveto install as well as very difficult to source. Sowe have opted to install ground source heatpumps in 11 properties at Rhes Bryn Teg andPlas y Cryb, Pen Y Ffordd ensuring a SAP standard of energy efficiency of at least 65%,helping to combat fuel poverty.

We’ve also replaced electric central heatingwith gas central heating in 300 propertiesacross Wales during 2012. We’ve replacedelectricity night storage heaters which wereexpensive, cumbersome and had limited control facilities with clean and efficient gascentral heating. As part of this programme weupgraded the heating system in 17 propertiesin Langford Close, Wrexham during December and 40 flats at St Mary’s Close,Chirk completing this April.

For more details about our Planned Maintenance Programme please contactCommercial Manager Mike Wellock.

And to find out more about our Environmentalworks, including our Environment Fund, pleasecontact Owen Jones, our Environment & Sustainability Officer.

We are currently WiFi enabling the communal lounge at Ystad Goffa Court, MaesAlaw, Flint where we have recruited a resident volunteer to assist other residents touse computers safely. Once this is completed,Jen Bailey from the Take Ctrl Project will alsorun some ‘how to’ sessions with residents.

We are overseeing the Take Ctrl Project onbehalf of North Wales Financial CapabilityForum, as well as acting as host employer forthe project. Elsewhere in North Wales wehave already run dozens of successful ‘howto’ sessions with residents, and to date TakeCtrl has helped more than 500 residents getonline, with the support of 48 volunteers.

LOOKING AFTER THE ENVIRONMENT IN FLINTSHIRE

It is a corporate priority for us to minimise the impact wehave on the environment, and that of our residents too.

9 | Spotlight on FLINTSHIRE | THE BIGGER PICTURE | Spring 2013 | www.wwha.co.uk

Mindful of the need for many residents todownsize as a result of the ‘bedroom tax’we have joined forces with Cadwyn and LincHousing Associations to back the creationof the House Swap Wales project on Facebook. Essentially a series of countybycounty Facebook groups – eg:House Swap Cardiff, House Swap Wrexhametc – House Swap Wales is aimed at social housing tenants who need to move due towelfare reforms including the bedroom tax,or who simply want to move for other

reasons. It provides a simple and readily accessible online platform for residents toadvertise their own properties free ofcharge, find out about potential propertiesthey could move to, and facilitate the movesthemselves. Find out more at

www.facebook.com/HouseSwapWales and follow us on Twitter @HouseSwapWales

SUPPORTING HOUSE SWAP WALES


So we’re continuing to support our residentsto get online, and make the most of being online, through a range of digital inclusion initiatives across Wales.

Our aims are: • to help people maximise their incomes and

deal with welfare reform in particular the introduction of Universal Credit

• to combat social isolation by enabling residents to be better connected within, and beyond, their communities

• to assist residents to get better value by accessing information and purchases online

• to support residents to take advantage of all the educational – and fun – benefits that being online brings.

In South Wales our affordable broadband WiFi access pilot scheme at Ty Pontrhun inMerthyr Tydfil is providing us with a great

foundation from which we can roll out this initiative, where possible, across Wales.

And in North Wales in addition to works atYstad Goffa (page 8) we have also recently WiFi enabled a communal lounge at Nant yMôr, our extra care scheme in Prestatyn, Denbighshire. Work is now ongoing to WiFienable communal lounges in a number of ourretirement schemes in both North and SouthWales.

We are also running ‘how to’ sessions with residents, as part of the ‘Take Ctrl’ project,which we host on behalf of the North Wales Financial Capability Forum. To date Take Ctrlhas helped more than 500 residents get online, with the support of 48 volunteers. JenBailey, one of our Tenancy Support Officers, isconcentrating in particular on this area of demand.

GETTING ONLINETHRIVING ONLINETechnology liberates, empowers and enables. More and moreservices, including access to benefits, are becoming availableonly via the internet and yet the majority of our residents arenot connected.


Together with other housing providers inConwy, Denbighshire and Flintshire, we arecurrently consulting with residents, applicantsand other stakeholders regarding a commonhousing register for North East Wales.

The aim is to have a consistent approachacross all housing providers, making it

simpler for people to apply for housing andproviding a better service for anyone looking for a new home. The consultation period ends on the 30th of April 2013. You canview the consultation information, the surveyand the full policy at www.conwy.gov.uk/singleaccesssurvey

SINGLE ACCESS ROUTE TO HOUSING (SARTH)

So they are now operating from our Customer Service Centre in our Head Officein Cardiff on an experimental basis. Theservice went live in February and the threestrong team are currently taking overflow calls from existing MoneylineCymru branches.

MONEYLINE CYMRUNOW OPERATING FROM OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTRE

Moneyline Cymru is currently operating out of a number ofbranches primarily in South Wales but want to offer a telephone service to people from other areas of Wales and topeople who cannot get to their offices


CONNECT24 TELEPHONEAND TELECARE SERVICES AT WWH

Why Connect? Because it’s all about connecting people with the services theyneed to enable them to live independentlyand safely in their homes.

And 24? Because we are available 24 hours aday, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Currently we provide Connect24 emergencyalarm and telecare services to more than 4,000households across Wales and have contractswith:

• Valleys to Coast Housing in Bridgend• Pennaf Housing Group in North and Mid

Wales• Newydd Housing Association in South and

Mid Wales

We also monitor alarms for individuals inrented accommodation as well as owneroccupiers. A simple alarm monitoringservice, including the equipment, costs as little as £2.50 per week. This helps to giveolder and vulnerable people the reassurancethey need to continue living independently intheir own home, and their families somepeace of mind, and all at an affordable price.

We also offer a full 24/7 outofhours serviceand currently have contracts with the following housing associations, seeing us deliver out of hours services to 27,000 households across Wales:

• Hafan Cymru across Wales• Grwp Gwalia across Wales• Bron Afon Community Housing in Torfaen

For more information about Connect24 pleasevisit our website www.connect24.co.uk orcontact Jackie Edwards, Customer ServiceCentre Manager or Cate Dooher, Head of Support Services on 0800 052 2526.

We have been delivering telephone and telecare services formore than 10 years and such is the significance of this area ofour business that we have recently given it its own brand identity, Connect24.


Adopted by staff as our main charity partnerthis January we have already raised morethan £10,000 for Stroke. Events include regular dressdown days for staff, participation in the St David’s Day Fun Run,and most recently a sponsored skydive.

WWH charity team leader Di Barnes wasjoined by admin officer Verity Kimpton andChief Executive Anne Hinchey for the jump,from 13,000 feet over Swansea Airfield, onSaturday April 6th. Huge thanks to everyone who supported them in this hairraising enterprise. More details about

CHARITY UDPATEAfter a terrific two years during which staff and residentsraised £25,000 for Help for Heroes, our new corporate charitypartner for the January 2013 to December 2015 period isStroke Association Cymru.

forthcoming charity events and fundraisingon our website and on Twitter @wwha.

Other charities to benefit from stafffundraising include Comic Relief Red NoseDay, and Trusell Trust Foodbanks in Cardiff,Merthyr Tydfil, Wrexham, Vale and Bridgend.

Di Barnes, Verity Kimpton and Anne Hinchey WWH’s crack skydive team.


TPAS Cymru Participation Awards 2013:

Les Cooper has been posthumously shortlistedfor the Inspirational Colleague Award. Les, formerly our Money Advice Officer based atour Flint office in North Wales, sadly passedaway unexpectedly last month. An activemember of the North Wales Financial Capability Forum, Les was enormously influential and respected in the sector and hada hugely positive impact on the lives of allthose with whom he came into contact.

Greenfingered gardeners, aka ‘Western CourtEcoWarriors’ from our retirement schemeWestern Court in Bridgend, have been shortlisted for the Improving the EnvironmentAward.

CIH Housing Heroes Awards:

Scheme Manager Helen Jones from Llandudno, Conwy, has been shortlisted in theintensely competitive Inspirational Colleaguecategory.

HR Excellence Awards:

Anne Hinchey, Chief Executive, has been shortlisted for the Most People Focussed CEOAward in the Charity/ NotforProfit sector. Thisis the third consecutive year that Anne hasbeen shortlisted for this award.

AWARDS ROUND-UPAt the time of going to print we have a number of staff and residents shortlisted for major awards. They are as follows:

Les Cooper Helen Jones Anne Hinchey

Western Court gardeners

15 | Spotlight on FLINTSHIRE | LOCAL STAFF | Spring 2013 | www.wwha.co.uk

All areas: LR Tony Wilson (Finance Director), Shayne Hembrow (Deputy Chief Executive/Commercial Director), Anne Hinchey (Chief Executive), Steve Porter (Operations Director)

All areas: Lynnette Glover, Head of Housing Nikki Cole, Head of DevelopmentAlex Stephenson, Head of Property Services

Flintshire

Housing Manager: Cate Porter (General Needs) [email protected] Manager: Anne Caloe (Retirement Housing)Commercial Manager: Andrew Richards (Repairs)Commercial Manager: Mike Wellock (Planned Maintenance)Development Manager: Craig Sparrow

Housing Officers: General Needs Retirement

AnnMarie Rastin Lindy BrettellCath Marland Rhian MarshSarah O’Keefe (Supported Housing)

Neighbourhood Initiatives: Bridget GarrodVy Cochran (Community Development Project Officer)Claire Hammond (Resident Participation Strategy Officer)

Asset Management Officers: Vaughan WilliamsDave HughesAnnerley Brown

Environment: Owen Jones

Tenancy Support Officers: William Brook / Jen Bailey

Telephone: 0800 052 2526Email: [email protected] Website: www.wwha.co.uk

LOCAL STAFF

Wales & West Housing3 Alexandra Gate, Ffordd Pengam, Tremorfa, Cardiff CF24 2UD

andUnit 2, Acorn Business Park, Aber Road, Flint CH6 5YN.

Telephone: 0800 052 2526 Minicom: 0800 052 5205Email: [email protected] Website: www.wwha.co.uk

@wwhawwhahomesforwales

Published April 2013

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