16-905-Annual-Report-A4-Proof-Final

TENANTS Working with our communities Community projects have benefited £66,773 in 2015/16 Projects have generated an additional We’ve been proud to deliver high quality and accessible

LEADING

AND GROWING

Annual Report 2016

Foreword 03 Tenants 04 Growth 11 Culture 13

Finance 20

So what was unusual? Well let’s take the one

percent rent cut, for four years from April 2016,

that the government imposed on our sector last

year This was unforeseen and unprecedented,

leading to an urgent need for cost reductions

across our business Inevitably this impacts on

services, given that the vast majority of our costs

are incurred in this area, but we continue to work

hard at maintaining high standards In addition,

we are managing the current threat to supported

housing funding, as a result of the proposed cap

on Local Housing Allowance, whilst juggling the

impact of further welfare reform and the huge

pressure to deliver even more new housing

As you would expect, we have risen to these

challenges, further demonstrating our strength

and resilience Our considerable investment in

people over recent years has been fully tested

and so far we have come through with flying

colours Staff members throughout North Star

have been integral to these successful outcomes

During the year we have delivered an exciting re-brand of our business, which was much overdue, and you will see our new logo appearing throughout this report

We also attracted European funding to assist tenants into work, took our seat at the devolution table, and won a National Business

in the Community Award for wellbeing

Last but not least, we are delighted to have started the process of welcoming Darlington Housing Association into the group

Board and Group Senior Management Team continue to lead from the front, and we are determined to maintain our social purpose and core values, whilst seeking to deliver against the government agenda on all fronts We firmly believe that we have the skills and determination

to continue our success through great people, a strong financial position, agility and experience

at all levels

The last 12 months has been very unusual, even when compared to previous unusual years We suspect that this will be the new ‘norm’ that we need to get used to Certainly, the housing world is not for people who value steady state!

Angela Lockwood, Chief Executive

& Jed Lester, Chair of Board

We build homes, but more importantly we create

futures, and we develop our communities from

the inside out We work together to build on

community strengths and to really help make

a difference to people’s lives

This can be seen in the vast, varied and valuable

community investment and tenant involvement

work we have coordinated over the last year

We’ve successfully delivered a

wide range of initiatives, ranging

from school breakfast clubs, reading

groups and homework clubs, to

creating community gardens and

green spaces, providing work

placement opportunities and

supporting local foodbanks

TENANTS

Working with our communities

Community projects have benefited

£66,773

in 2015/16

Projects have generated an additional

We’ve been proud to deliver high quality and accessible youth development opportunities, including:

• Youth engagement for young people in isolated rural communities in Teesdale

• Helped young people develop interview and presentation skills in Stockton

Tenants’ Voice Scrutiny Panel (TVSP)

We work closely with our tenants and recognise the important role they play in shaping,

scrutinising and enhancing our services

North Star’s Tenants’ Voice Scrutiny Panel (TVSP)

is a specialist group who carry out targeted in-depth service reviews The TVSP work towards getting under the skin of our policies and procedures, and hold the organisation to account The Panel reports directly to the North Star Board

The TVSP’s reports and recommendations have

so far led to more than 91 service improvements

This has resulted in targeted investment, reduced costs and increased customer satisfaction

In 2015/16 TVSP investigated Responsive Repairs and Re-Let times, providing a range of useful recommendations to help us improve our services

Responsive repairs results:

TVSP found that contractors were not communicating well with tenants Contractors now have handheld devices which automatically texts tenants when they’re on their way

Tenant representatives now attend contractor meetings to challenge when appropriate and

to help improve services

The TVSP identified that we need to make it as easy as possible for our tenants to get in touch, we’ve now diversified our online communication tools, with tenants having the ability to report a repair, pay their rent and apply for a home online and through a mobile app

Re-let times results:

TVSP identified that the lettable standard needed updating to reflect the tenants’

views This has reduced the cost by £100k

TVSP identified that we needed to update our re-charge policy We now have a new policy in place with clear roles and responsibilities, which helps ensure it’s implemented successfully The new procedure strengthens our ability to claim back VAT on raised invoices, which will help bring additional income into the organisation

Working with our tenants

TENANTS

Since TVSP have carried out their reports, performance has improved from 92.8% tenant satisfaction in June 2015 to 96% tenant satisfaction in June 2016.

North Star LINK represents the views and interests of our tenants, across all of our service areas

In 2015/16 LINK helped:

• Influence our Value for Money strategy, providing suggestions as to how we can save money across the business, including reducing the responsive repairs and

lettable standard, saving North Star £175k

• Produce, name and design the

tenant magazine

• Monitor all tenants’ complaints

• Influence the way our contractors

communicate with our tenants Tenants now receive automated messages prior to their appointments, which helps reduce the amount of missed appointments and improve customer satisfaction

• Design the specification on planned works

• Recruit a Director

• Improve customer insight, focusing on what excellent customer service looks like and ways that North Star can embed this across the business

• Develop the resident involvement strategy, looking at the key priorities and how it can

be improved

• Review the standards and specification

of our new build properties

• Develop how North Star use social

media to communicate with tenants and promote services

North Star LINK represents the views and interests of our tenants, across all of our service areas

The panel arranged a successful Easter event, bringing together a number of older and disabled tenants They raised nearly

£500, which was then used to take the tenants on a trip to Scarborough and to start planning a Summer Olympics event.

4U

Tenant Advisors have been involved

in a variety of activities throughout the year:

• Attending maintenance contractor

meetings to discuss customer satisfaction, improvements, complaints and achievements

• Mystery shopping to make sure we’re

providing an excellent service every time

• Visiting our empty properties and

influencing our approach to lettings

They have also been closely involved in our procurement activities, helping to set

standards, along with assessing and

interviewing potential contractors

By contributing to our procurement activities, our tenants help us provide services that are practical, effective and offer value for money

The 4U panel has continued to arrange events and activities for elderly people and for those with a disability They’ve been helping combat social isolation with a range of engaging and interactive activities.

Supporting our tenants

This year, we have reinforced our commitment

to tackle increased deprivation and to create

more sustainable futures for our communities,

through building on the strengths of our tenants,

providing Welfare Benefits and debt advice, and

facilitating employment initiatives

We know that many people are experiencing

real hardship, this can lead to anxiety, debt

and a host of health problems To help combat

this we have worked closely with our tenants

to provide financial advice, access to banking

and affordable credit, advice on energy bills and

a hardship fund for those in financial crisis

This year, we have trialled the HACT Social Value Bank Financial Inclusion Impact Measurement Tool on a small sample of the households the Welfare Benefits Officer has visited in 2015/16

30 households (approximately 6% of those visited) were surveyed using this toolkit and from this small sample, tenants have evidenced that since their support from the Welfare Benefits Officer they are now:

• Debt free

• Able to save regularly

• Able to pay for housing

• Have financial comfort

• Experiencing greater sense

of relief from being heavily burdened with debt.

Employment and skills

We were part of a consortia that has attracted £5.4m into the Tees Valley

to assist young people into further education, training and employment.This is a significant achievement and

will really help to tackle the issues that currently prevent young people from accessing available opportunities

We will be working with all of the young people who live in our supported housing services as well as identifying young people who live in our other properties who may also benefit

We have been awarded a grant of

£324k and this has funded four new jobs within North Star.

We’ve also partnered up with HomeCall

Independent Living Services to ensure all of our

tenants have the opportunity to remain independent

HomeCall provides quality independent living

services for over 5,000 satisfied customers across the

North East HomeCall is about giving people who

need extra support a better quality of life and aiding

with their independence HomeCall provides tailored

care and support packages 24/7 to help keep people

safe and independent in their own homes

By adding additional independent living

services to our offer, we’re enhancing our current

supported housing services, allowing people to

remain living independently in their own homes,

in their own communities

This partnership is an example of everything we try to

achieve at North Star, supporting our tenants to live

healthier and happier lives

Social value in procurement

All of the contractors we work with are expected to deliver social value activities,

which make a difference to our communities

work placements

£1730

8

13apprentices employed through our contractors

donated to local community groups

and charities

community labour days of work in-kind

Through our contractors’ commitment to

deliver social value we have also seen the

following results:

Since we adopted this approach, we have delivered

£44,439k worth of social value initiatives.

Case study

Examples of work in-kind include fitting a brand new kitchen in Skinningrove Village Hall and decorating an empty property for local charity Open Door

Skinningrove Village Hall is a well used community asset in a small, somewhat isolated coastal village

in East Cleveland The hall was in desperate need

of a new, workable kitchen for the various groups that use the building One of our contractors, Sunters, fitted a brand new kitchen to allow the volunteers to cater for those using the hall in a much cleaner and more professional environment The hall now looks much smarter and volunteers have already commented on the huge difference the improvements have made

In 2015/16 we delivered 53 new high quality homes, with the

support of grant funding from the Homes and Communities Agency

Examples:

Eskdale Road, Hartlepool

£1.5 million development of new affordable

rental homes for over 55s 16 bungalows, with two specially designed for full wheelchair accessibility The homes are highly energy efficient and benefit from their own private gardens The bungalows are designed to promote independence, choice and control

Stainsby,

Middlesbrough

£1.3m development

of eight two bedroomed

houses and eight three

bedroomed houses

Ampleforth,

North Yorkshire

£486k development

of four two bedroom

houses and two three

bedroom houses

Gresham, Middlesbrough (house swaps)

In 2015/16

we invested over £4.1m into

new homes.

Investing in homes

We want to ensure that our tenants have the best possible environments to live

in, and this year committed to a range

of investment and improvement works

across our properties

We’ve invested over £2m to improve 566 homes

THA

Investment works Number Invested Total

Adaptations 13 £43,000

Air source heat pumps 2 £15,000

Bathrooms 4 £7,000

Demolition of flats 24 £120,000

Electrical upgrades 9 £8,000

External wall insulation 20 £201,000

Footpaths and fencing 45 £45,000

Garages improved and demolished 86 £137,00

Heating upgrades 1 £2,712.25

Kitchens 15 £56,000

EHA

Investment works Number Invested Total

Adaptations 17 £42,000

Bathrooms 152 £309,000

Decent homes works 18 £31,000

Electrical upgrades 161 £73,000

Heating upgrades 88 £245,000

Kitchens 86 £328,000

Roofs 34 £272,402

Walls 16 £54,000

Windows 12 £14,000

Urban Pioneers,

Middlehaven, Middlesbrough 9

Startforth, Barnard Castle 8

Ampleforth, North Yorkshire 4

Castle Vale, Barnard Castle 9

St James’, Stockton 5

Abbeyhill, Stockton 12

Lingfield Point, Darlington 6

New homes currently being developed

Health and wellbeing

We were shortlisted in the Business in the Community’s Responsible Business awards and went on

to win the Bupa Wellbeing at Work Award We were commended for how investing in wellbeing can drive positive organisational change and our approach shows how a business can act as a powerful force for good

CULTURE

Investing in our people

At North Star, we place our people at the forefront of everything we do

Our vision, our values and our organisational strategy are all centred on creating and sustaining great places for people to live and work in

We strive to make a difference and our culture

is what sets us apart from the rest We hear, we listen and most importantly we act, we embrace challenge and change, continually striving to improve and enhance the lives of our staff and our tenants

We invest in the ongoing development of everyone who works

at North Star

We’re ‘Stronger Together’

Our Stronger Together Group represents staff wellbeing They work together to produce a staff e-zine, as well as organising events and fundraising activities

Over the last five years we have worked hard

to dramatically increase employee wellbeing, engagement and business surplus by introducing new ways of working and giving staff a greater say in how the company is run

We’ve had challenging conversations, encouraged an open and honest culture across the organisation, and given staff a key role in making the decisions that matter the most - now we’re stronger together through shared leadership So much so, that our approach has been recognised as one of the best in the UK

Urban Pioneers,

Middlehaven, Middlesbrough 9

Startforth, Barnard Castle 8

Ampleforth, North Yorkshire 4

Castle Vale, Barnard Castle 9

St James’, Stockton 5

Abbeyhill, Stockton 12

Lingfield Point, Darlington 6