Tenants' Annual Report 2012-13

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Tenants’ Annual Report2012/13


11027A_NC_Tenants Annual Report_v10.indd 1 14/11/2013 11:40


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This Annual Report is written by residents, for residents.The X-tra factor team, a groupconsisting primarily of residents, have continued to consult with residents throughout theyear to ask what you would like to see included in this report.

Our conversations with residents showedthat this year we needed to include:• More information on the community activities in neighbourhoods• More pictures to show people getting involved in their neighbourhoods• Extended information on regeneration activities• Less numerical facts and figures relating to the business• New Charter Homes challenges within the year for each service area• New Charter Homes plans for improvement in each service area• A celebration of achievements• The impact of our major projects on residents

To write the report we initially decided the areas to be covered, choose the staff andresidents we wanted to interview and then wrote questions for each. All our informationhas been gathered from these interviews.

We do hope you find the information included to be informative and interesting.

The X-trafactor team

The X-tra Factor Team

If you would like to know more about the X-tra Factor team please contactSue Cox, Resident Involvement Manager on 0161 331 2416,email: [email protected]

Susan Aktas ChristineBurgess Sue Cox

Belinda Jeffery Taff Jeffery FredWarburtonAnn Daly



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Contents

Who lives in our homes?Page 4

ReletsPage 15

Resident InvolvementPage 5

Repairs & InvestmentPage 23

Community RegenerationPage 18

£Show me the Money

Page 24

Neighbourhood ManagementPage 12

Customer ExperienceTeamPage 26

Impact MapsPage 29

Great AcademiesPage 22

Great OpportunitiesPage 21

Anti-Social BehaviourPage 16

!Social EnterprisePage 14

GovernancePage 27G Our Chief Executive

Page 28

If you would like any further information on getting involved at New Charterplease contact: the Resident Involvement Team on 0161 331 2000,

email [email protected]



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This information is linked to the profiling information gathered from new residents.

Percentages from a total of 29,801 residents

53.87%

Female

22.17%

45-64

0.01%

Transgender

0.56%

13.53%

16-24

1.24% 4.02%

46.12%

Male

16.25%

65+

23.17%

Under 16’s

9.02%

Gay, lesbianor bisexual

ReligionOther thanChristian

DisabledBlack,Minority &

Ethnic

24.88%

25-44

Who lives in our homes?

If you would like any further information on our customer profile please contact:Cath Owston, Director of Customer Experience on 0161 331 2264,email: [email protected]



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The last year hasbeen challenging,busy and veryrewardingin ResidentInvolvement.The restructure ofthe Neighbourhood

Team, the impact of welfare reform and theintroduction of neighbourhood plans have allhad major affects on our working practicesand on our team.Resident Involvementcontinues to remain the cornerstoneof our business, and yet again, residentshave exceeded all our expectations withyour willingness and enthusiasm in gettinginvolved in your neighbourhoods to makethem a better place for all to live.We haveseen resident associations achieve majorprojects this year and more and more peopleare getting involved, having a say in theirneighbourhoods and undertaking training toempower themselves.

With the introduction of neighbourhoodplans this year we have seen more cohesionand partnership working between bothinternal teams and with residents.There hasbeen a joined up approach to ensure thatwe worked with you constantly throughoutthe year to implement the plans, ensuringnot only that we have consulted with you onwhat it is like to live in your neighbourhood,but also that we are continuing to putinto practice our promises and move allour neighbourhoods to a five star rating.Although a huge change in working practices,the plans are nowpulling everyonetogether and puttingresident involvementat the forefront of alljob roles.

Resident Involvement

If you would like any further information on getting involved at New Charterplease contact: the Resident Involvement Team on 0161 331 2000,

email [email protected]

The introduction of welfare reformand the changes to the allocationspolicy has also resulted in increasedpartnership working, with residentschampioning the areas and helpingus to ensure that we have got thepolicies right to deal with thesechanges as effectively as possible.

Residents Awards

Partnership working

Showcase Event

RI Team

Runway Event

ITTraining First AidTraining



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TPASIn early 2013 we retained our ‘ResidentInvolvement Quality Standard’ from theTenant ParticipationAdvisory Service(TPAS), recognising our commitment toResident Involvement.The independentinspectors praised New Charter forcontinuing to involve and engage residentsin our activities, with Michelle Reid(TPAS Chief Executive) stating she was“constantly impressed” with New Charters’performance, that we had listened tothe recommendations from the previousaccreditation,making particular referenceto the excellent work of theTenantManagementTeam (TMT) – theTenant Paneland the GREAT opportunities scheme.

New Charter offer many ways forresidents to get involved, from answeringsurveys, to participating in a residentsassociation, to being a tenant boardmember. All these are detailed in ourResident Involvement Statement, which isavailable on request, on the New Charterwebsite or in any of our Home andCommunity Hubs.

iPadiPad RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT STATEMENTRESIDENT INVOLVEMENT STATEMENT

www.newcharter.co.uk

Resident Involvement continued

If you would like to know more about Resident Involvement please contact:Sue Cox, Resident Involvement Manager on 0161 331 2416email: [email protected]

“Residents take a key role in ourbusiness to make sure we’re continuallyfocused on developing services tomeet their needs. But involvement andengagement is a two way process, andthis achievement is of particular creditto all our residents involved, whosebrilliant work has given residents astrong voice in Tameside and beyond.”

Tony Powell, Exec Director, stated

active ResidentAssociations affiliated tothe company, all workingwith New Charter toimprove life in theirneighbourhoods.

neighbourhood forumgroups meeting on anad-hoc basis to dealwith issues in theirneighbourhoods.

There are

In additionto thisthere are

29

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If you would like to know more about the Tenant Panel please contact:Sue Cox, Resident Involvement Manager on 0161 331 2416,

email: [email protected]

Tenant Panel

TheTenant Panel have been busierthan ever this year, now meetingfortnightly to monitor residentinvolvement across the organisationand that New Charter are meetingthe Homes and Communities Agencyconsumer service standards.

This year the panel have reviewedservice standards in five differentservice areas making a total of 34recommendations to New Charterto improve services.The teamhave also read through and maderecommendations on 45 impactassessments, helping to share goodpractice and learning across theorganisation.



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Throughout 2012/13 we have joinedforces with residents from other locallandlords to form a new independentcomplaints panel called IndependentTenant Solutions. Should residents notbe happy with the outcome of the NewCharter complaints process they cannow have their case heard impartially byother residents on this panel, who canmake recommendations to suggest a wayforward to resolve the complaint.

This is a new service, which is one of thefirst of its kind in the UK.

Independent Solutions Panel


If you would like to know more about the Independent Tenant Solutions Panel,please contact: Greg Suligowski, Head of Connect on 0161 331 2128email: [email protected]



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Brushes Estate Management Board (EMB)


If you would like to know more about Brushes Estate Management Board pleasecontact: Emma Quinn, Brushes Neighbourhood Office, 10 Poplars Road, Brushes,

Stalybridge, SK15 3EN on 0161 331 2462, email: [email protected]

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Brushes Estate Management Board (EMB)

Resident InvolvementResident Involvement continuedti dtt

Community fun dayBrushes Neighbourhood

2012/13 has been another verysuccessful year for Brushes EMB withmore residents involved in communityactivities than ever before.

The new conservatory at theneighbourhood hub is now in full use,with regular mums and tots sessions,youth events and resident meetings.The Baileys Back play area has beencontinuously improved with new playequipment, new fencing and CCTV andthe neighbourhood has had anothersuccessful year in InBloom, obtainingthe Green Flag award for the 5th year.There is still a great community spiritat Brushes, with residents continuing tofundraise for events through the weeklylottery.

Brushes EMB is an independent company,which means that whilst New Charterstill own the houses, the board run theneighbourhood in partnership with NewCharter.

Summer event

Working together



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The Tenant Management TeamScrutiny Panel


If you would like to know more about the Tenant Management Team, please visittheir website: www.tenantmanagementteam.org.uk or contactStephen Fanshawe on 0161 331 2579, email: [email protected]

TMTtraining

Our year aheadOur aims for next year are to continueour scrutiny work, which is vital, and tostep up monitoring activity on past reports,ensuring that agreed changes are beingimplemented and to gauge the impactthose changes have made both in terms ofcustomer satisfaction, value for money andgood practice.

This year saw the departure of three members of our team, Belinda Jeffery, FrankGittens and Carol Barrow.We would like to thank them for all their hard work and greatcontributions to the team and wish them well in the future.We were also joined by newmembers, Susan Aktas andWayne Jones and welcomed back previous member, SteveThomas.We wish them a happy and action packed adventure into scrutiny.

External speaking

The team are still much in demand tovisit other organisations.Our groundsmaintenance scrutiny is still recognised asa powerful piece of work and we weredelighted to be invited to present it asa best practice example at the May andSeptember Northern Housing Consortiumconferences. In June the team were invitedby the prestigious Chartered Institute ofHousing in Manchester to talk about howwe became co-regulatory champions. InJuly we joinedAshton Pioneer Housing toco-host a scrutiny workshop and we are stillworking withTenant ParticipationAdvisoryService (TPAS) to advance good practice.

TMT



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The Tenant Management TeamScrutiny Panel


If you would like to know more about the Tenant Management Team, please visittheir website: www.tenantmanagementteam.org.uk or contact

Stephen Fanshawe on 0161 331 2579, email: [email protected]

Scrutiny topics

This year, resident involvement wasone of the areas scrutinised, theoutcome was excellent.Twenty fiverecommendations for change were madeand all were accepted and implementedby New Charter. Another topic wasexternal communal window cleaning.The results of this scrutiny highlighteddeficiencies in the service beingprovided by the outside contractor.Following further investigation theteam recommended that the service bebrought in-house with the exceptionof those properties needing specialisedequipment to carry out the job.

Monitoring of the ‘Moving-In Experience’showed a marked improvement inthe service, reports from mysteryshoppers and resident inspectors quoted“standards have improved above and

beyond expectations.” The Let-abilityGroup will continue to monitor and spotcheck our properties prior to letting.

We have continued to meet with theNew Charter Homes Board and foundthe experience mutually beneficial. It hasbeen agreed that these meetings willcontinue on a six monthly basis so thatwe are mutually informed on currentsituations.

A fully committed team is vital to meetour needs and we will continue torecruit resident inspectors, mysteryshoppers and scrutineers, to enable usto meet our targets of at least three newscrutinies a year and six monthly reviewsof previous work.

TMT team-buildingTMT training



12If you would like to know more about the neighbourhood plans please contact:

Emma Wilson, Director of Communities on 0161 331 2396,email: [email protected]

NeighbourhoodManagement has seena year of change, whichhas been both fabulousand challenging.Thesection has undergone

a major restructure, seeing changes topolicies, procedures and staffing. Althoughthis was unsettling for a while we havenow launched our neighbourhood plansand we have a strong staff teamwho have clear objectives for the nextthree years.

The major challenges for neighbourhoodmanagement for the forthcoming year willbe to manage the impact of welfare reformon our communities.We have alreadystarted to see increased applications tomove as a result of the bedroom tax andwe need to be prepared for how thiswill affect our neighbourhoods, how wewill deal with communities becomingfragmented and the associated risks ofhaving empty homes in neighbourhoodsthat we have worked so hard to sustain.

EmmaWilson

Launching our neighbourhood plans

Launch event

Neighbourhood plans

In January 2013 we officially launchedour neighbourhood plans for all our32 neighbourhoods.The plans, which runfor three years, are extremely ambitious,rating all our neighbourhoods against astar rating system. Because performancein neighbourhood management is hardto measure, these plans have given usan ideal to work towards, aiming forall neighbourhoods to be rated 5 starby 2016.This will be a major challenge,especially considering the impact welfarereform will have on our communities. Itis therefore important that we continueto listen to residents, to work withinthe communities and alongside theregeneration and resident involvementteams to have one joined up approach.

d ld l

Neighbourhood Management



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Our new in-house grounds maintenance service, Green Charter, was launched in 2012and we had a tough start. Resident expectations were high and weather conditionswere extremely poor.Although we know the service still isn’t perfect, we have madenumerous improvements throughout the year, by; having sheltered scheme managerssign off work, starting cutting grass earlier in the year, introducing a low cost gardeningservice for residents, more staff training and buying new machinery.We are also working inpartnership withTameside Council to land swap, making better use of the equipment weboth have.We are still listening to residents’ feedback and we will undertake a full surveyof the service at the end of the year to make sure we are continually improving.

If you would like to know more about Neighbourhood Management please contact:Emma Wilson, Director of Communities on 0161 331 2396,email: [email protected]

HQN accreditation

In early 2013,we revisited theHousing QualityNetwork (HQN)accreditationin EstateManagement.Having achieved the accreditation forthe first time in 2012 the assessorswere keen to ensure that we were doingeverything we promised and that wewere continuously improving.The assessor was again blown away,stating “the engagement between staffand residents at New Charter issecond to none.”

CleanCare

The team have hada very positive year,focusing on makingthe service morecost effective andefficient.We have reduced our vehiclefleet, decreased our tipping chargesby working withTameside Council onwaste management schemes and wehave changed staffing areas to makesmarter use of the team. CleanCarewill be expanding the service this yearby carrying out the external windowcleaning in communal blocks, resultingfrom a recommendation made by theTMT scrutiny panel.

Garage sites

Our action plan to improve garagesites has now been completed,making a massive difference to ourneighbourhoods.We are delighted wehave been able to achieve this on target.

Neighbourhood Management continued



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2nd Generation Furnishings Business

2nd Generation FurnishingsAstral HouseStamford DriveStalybridgeSK15 1QU

Social Enterprise

2nd Generation Furnishings is a not-for-profit Charitable Social Enterprise who recyclefurniture, clothes and white goods to save on land fill and to assist people in financialhardship turn their houses into homes. In the last year the project has helped 833Tameside residents, recycling over 20,000 kg of reusable furniture, helping sustaintenancies and giving local people the opportunity to volunteer, assisting their employability.

Our challenge for the next year will be to extend the business to teaching residents skillssuch as sewing, (machining) upholstery and renovating old furnishings, all aiming to protectthe environment by recycling and repairing as many household goods as possible.

The volunteer team

2nd Generation shop

Opening times:Mon - Fri: 9.30am - 4.30pmSat: 10.00am - 2.00pm

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 0161 303 0083

If you would like further information on 2nd Generation Furnishings or onvolunteering opportunities please contact them on: 0161 303 0083 oremail: [email protected]



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It has been a very busy year in Relets, with the development of ournew allocations policy, the introduction of the LocalismAct andmanaging the impact of welfare reform.

Relets

The introduction of the bedroom tax has,as expected, created a change in demandfor our properties.We used to have higherdemand for our larger family homes,however, demand is now growing for oursmaller properties.We need to ensure thatwe market our homes effectively and workwith our development team to make surewe are building the right size and layout ofhomes in the right areas.

To counteract the effect of the welfarereforms we have also:

• Amended our ‘child at height’ priority.This means that we have relaxed therules relating to children living in flatsand maisonettes, now we only restricthouseholds with children from living inour high rise.• Ensured that the needs of our underoccupying residents wanting to downsizeare reflected in our transfer policy• Promoted the Homeswapper schemeto residents, for which 1,100 tenantsare now registered,with 300 logging inweekly to view properties.This schemehas been very successful, with 140properties being swapped in the lastyear, saving approximately £4000 eachtime in empty homes turnover costs.We will continue to adjust our workingpractices to meet changing demandthroughout the next year.

Welfare Reform

We launched our new allocations policyin May 2013 and immediately reduced ourwaiting list by removing those who hadn’tbid for 12 months or over and those whowere deferred due to not paying previousarrears etc.This has left less than 3000applicants on the general list and 485transfer applications.All applicants nowhave to be eligible for rehousing to be onour list, meaning we no longer hold peopleon the list who are not in housing need orwho don’t bid for properties.

We have introduced our CommunityContribution Scheme, whichencourages new applicants and residentswanting to transfer who are in work,training or volunteering. Some applicantshave expressed the view that they thinkyou have to be in receipt of benefits toapply to us, but clearly this isn’t the caseand we want to encourage people to let usknow if they are giving something back totheir communities and neighbourhoods.

Allocations Policy

If you would like more information about Relets, please visit our websitewww.newcharter.co.uk, visit one of our neighbourhood hubs or call Shonna Hildersley,Allocations Manager on 0161 331 2532, email: [email protected]



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Making your neighbourhoods a safe and pleasant place to live is our priority.This year againwe have had major achievements with Neighbourhood Resolution Panels becoming part oftheASB toolkit.ASB fell by 14% across the Borough, and our customer satisfaction on theway complaints were dealt with was 90%.

During 2012/13 our Neighbourhood andTenancy & Support Services dealt with 990 casesof anti-social behaviour.

If you would like to know more about the Tenancy and Support Services Team,please contact: Sue Hird, Director of Tenancy and Support on 0161 331 2144,


Streetwatch

Introduced inTameside in 2012, the useof NRPs to tackle the effects of crime andanti-social behaviour has been a majorsuccess, resolving 50 cases so far. NRPsprovide a platform to bring together thevictim and the perpetrator to resolve theconflict or damage caused by their actions.In housing disputes,NRPs are often usedto address issues in our neighbourhoodsand avoid enforcement action being taken.We now have 50 trained facilitatorssigned up, including volunteers and 6thformers from the New CharterAcademy.With an incredibly high success rate,NRPs have saved in excess of £130,000 incivil and criminal court fees already.

Streetwatch

This project has developedin the last year, with newschemes set up in Mossleyand Stalybridge. Volunteershave been linking in with thepolice and carrying out patrols on theirneighbourhood, keeping an eye on localissues affecting residents.

The patrols have been very well receivedin our neighbourhoods and are helpingto reduce crime and anti-social behaviour,making residents feel safer and buildingcommunity confidence.

Neighbourhood ResolutionPanels (NRP)

Sue Hird and Alan Kibble

!Anti-Social Behaviour



17If you would like to know more about the Tenancy and Support Services Teamplease contact: Sue Hird, Director of Tenancy and Support on 0161 331 2144,email: [email protected]

COPE

Our scheme, which uses residentswho have had experience of goingthrough the court system to befriendand support current witnesses whoare experiencing some form of anti-social behaviour and the possibility ofgoing to court as a witness.We have 10volunteers who have been recruited bycase workers who are willing to givetheir time and benefit of their ownexperiences to help others. This is aninvaluable service for those who oftenfeel overwhelmed and scared aboutgoing to court.

Inspire

In 2012 a new service was set upwhich we named Inspire. ContractedbyTameside Council, this integratedfamily support team will work with 343complex families over the three yearcontract period, offering, empoweringand supporting families to positivechanges for themselves and futuregenerations.

Anti-Social Behaviour continued!



18If you would like to know more about Community Regeneration please contact:

Adele Robinson, Regeneration Manager on 0161 331 2397,email: [email protected]

We have spent this year embedding the five themes of Community Regeneration intothe job roles for the team, to offer a specialist service helping to achieve theneighbourhood plans.

New Charter ensure that projects coverat least, if not all of the five themes, hereare some examples of the projects fromthe year.

• Environment

• Social Exclusion

• Jobs And Lifelong Learning

• Healthy Living

• Community Safety

Five Themes

Youth Team

The youth team have gone fromstrength to strength this year, engagingwith over 500 young people across ourneighbourhoods in both structuredsessions and project work. 2012 saw theintroduction of our first youth forum,where young people between the agesof 14 – 19 meet fortnightly to help usunderstand their priorities and interestsand to improve the website andnewsletter.They have also been part ofa project withTameside Council to forma group of 20 young inspectors who aretesting services for young people acrossTameside.

Youth work

Youth awards Youth forum Finger puppetmaking

Visit to recycling centre

Community Regeneration



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Great sportsThe team have continued to work inpartnership withTameside SportsTrust andhave engaged with over 1,500 young peoplethroughout the year in free communitysports sessions and holiday activities.Targeted football sessions have also beenrun throughout the year in neighbourhoodson a referral basis from the police,YouthOffendingTeam andTenancy and SupportServicesTeam, to engage young people andimprove behaviour.

If you would like more information about Community Regeneration please contact:Adele Robinson, Regeneration Manager, on 0161 331 2397,email: [email protected]

Reach for the sky

Dancing at New Charter Academy

Partnership working has continued toexpand this year, with the ManchesterUnited hub at the New CharterAcademy engaging over 500 youngpeople from the Academy and the localfeeder primary schools.The projectincludes not only sport, but careeradvice, self-esteem and team work.

Manchester Unitedinitiative at NC Academy

Art in the gardenRoyal Exchange Theatre

The team have also continued thepartnership with the Royal Exchange,giving young people and adults from theSmallshaw/Hurst area the opportunity tobe involved in writing, acting, stage craftand design and to experience theatreproductions. For instance, this year theyorganised ‘Our Pals’; a drama projectinvolving local community representativeswhich was presented to the localcommunity and partners at the NCAcademy and Hurst Community Centre.

Community Regeneration continued



20If you would like more information on Community Regeneration please contact:

Adele Robinson, Regeneration Manager on 0161 331 2397,email: [email protected]

Gardens InBloom

The team organised a show garden entryat RHSTatton Flower show this yearwhich successfully gained a silver award.Young people werehighly involved in theconception, designand artwork for thegarden, as well asworking at the eventto explain the gardento the public.

Residents have continued to excelwith environmental initiatives on theirneighbourhoods,with again 16 areasentering the InBloom competition.Wewon nine outstanding, three thriving, twodeveloping and two improving awardswith Mossley residents winning the overallNorthWest small garden title.

Many of our neighbourhoods now havewell established community gardens,fruit and vegetable growing beds,wild meadows and greenhouses, allcontributing towards health and wellbeing.

InBloom & CommunityGardens

Tatton Flower Show

The team have also been working withtheatre companies to create a hard hittingchild sexual exploitation production; thiswas match funded by the Local ChildrensSafeguarding Board and in partnershipwith Greater Manchester Police. Theyhave commissioned a 2nd tour of a gangviolence production to perform at localsecondary schools and a production toprimary schools on the adverse effects ofalcohol.

School interventions

This initiative,which involves an informalvolunteering swap scheme in severalneighbourhoods, has been continuingover the year and now has 228 activemembers.Over the last year theprogramme has been redesigned toincorporate issues around employmentand health. Participants of the schemehave had support to help them reducetheir alcohol consumption, smoking andencouraged to have healthy lifestyles.The programme has helped sevenpeople into sustained employment andover 100 into training.

Timebanking




21If you would like more information about Community Regeneration please contact:Adele Robinson, Regeneration Manager, on 0161 331 2397,email: [email protected]

Keeping Neighbourhoods TidyA joint project between Micklehurstand Crowswood resulting in a verysuccessful recycling project beingimplemented, which was successfulin gaining the NorthWest BestNeighbourhood award.

2013 will see a new Health andWellbeing Strategy to show how

New Charter will continue towork with residents to improve

all aspects of their lives.

A very proud moment

The Great Opportunities programmeproved very successful last year.Thecompany assisted 80 people into workduring last year, taking the total to 108since we started the programme.The programme has evolved and grown.The team work very closely with manypartners such as Job Centre Plus and localcolleges to offer opportunities for workplacements, training and employment.We started several work clubs acrossthe neighbourhoods, providing advice andguidance to the unemployed of all ages ontheir doorstep.The team are reaching young peopleof school age to raise aspirations andprovide advice and guidance.The teamcommissioned a worklessness theatreproduction which toured secondaryschools.

The team produced atraining package and abooklet for frontline staff onproviding advice and guidanceto our neighbourhoods.

Great Opportunities

Job clubs




22If you would like more information about our Great Academies please contact:

Lizabeth Bohler, Project Manager on 0161 331 2381,email: [email protected]

Great Academies

During 2012/13 New Charter addedtwo newAcademies to our sponsorship,Silver Springs and Copley. Moving intosupporting education has been a braveand successful accomplishment for NewCharter, as we aim to invest, not just inhomes, but in the wider community.Theaim of our involvement in education isthat in order to achieve our mission ofGreat Homes, Great Neighbourhoods,Great People we need Great schools.We are determined to work together toshape the communities we serve.

New Charter provides comprehensiveand efficient business support to allowthe Academy leadership teams toconcentrate on education.The supportprovided includes: Human Resources,Payroll,Asset Management, LegalServices, Governance, Finance, ITsupport, Health and Safety, ProjectManagement and Communityengagement.



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Repairs & Investment

Our aims for 2013/14

Our major challenges for theforthcoming year are to ensure that wecontinue to bring in external work andexceed our target of £4.9million.That wefully deliver our Repairs, Maintenance andInvestment programme within budgetof £19,595million and our new buildbudget of £23,606million.We also aimto increase the appointments we makewith residents for repairs above the 80%we are currently at, that we maintain ourgood relationship with customers andfor the first time in the next year ourBuilding Company will go into new build,aiming to build nine properties.

Every year the cost of missed repairsappointments, because residents havegone out when we call, is a problem forNew Charter. In the last year we haveseen a large improvement in this areato which we are very grateful. Pleaseremember if you have reported a repairand you know when we will be calling,it is important that you are home toenable us to do the work.

No access appointments

It’s been a good year but we will alwaysstrive to do better.The key is continuedpartnership working with our residents,increasing choice and ever improvedservice standards.2012/13 has been another successfulyear for New Charter Homes, withus continuing our 100% record on gasservicing, increasing our appointmentrates for repairs to over 80%, reducingour accidents at work for another yearrunning and improving our workingmethods on empty homes.We have alsoexceeded our promise to supply 173 newhomes, by adding 192 to our portfolio andwe have achieved the ROSPA gold awardfor the Health and Safety team workacross the company for the fifth year.

Improvements planned from1st April 2011 to 31st March 2014

Your Home

HEATING/BOILER SWAPS 2,400 PLANNED,1,140 COMPLETED AT END OF SECONDYEAR

BATHROOMS 1,800 PLANNED,1,213 COMPLETEDAT END OF SECONDYEAR

KITCHENS 1,250 PLANNED,972 COMPLETEDAT END OF SECONDYEAR

REWIRES 1,600 PLANNED,1,100 COMPLETEDAT END OF SECONDYEAR

ROOFING 750 PLANNED,671 COMPLETEDAT END OF SECONDYEAR

RENEWAL ENTRANCE DOORS 715 PLANNED,500 COMPLETEDAT END OF SECONDYEAR

If you would like more information about Repairs & Investment please contact:Andy Stafford, Executive Director of Homes on 0161 331 2753,


We hopefully aim, subject to legalassurances, to install PV solar to 3000properties that must have south facingroofs within the next year and, ifsuccessful, will assist residents greatly inthe struggle to control ever increasingutility bills.

PV solar



24If you would like more information about Revenues please contact:Julie Vickers, Director of Business Support on 0161 331 2020,email: [email protected]

Show me the Money –Welfare Reform

As of last year, welfare reform still remainsthe biggest challenge and risk to ourbusiness, for both New Charter and for ourresidents.Throughout the last year we havebeen preparing the business to ensure thereforms have the lowest impact possible andthat our residents have all the support andadvice to minimise any hardship.

Throughout the year, SWAT (Specialistwelfare reformAdviceTeam) has continuedto speak to those who are affected bywelfare reform, either because of thebedroom tax (under-occupation charge),benefit cap or universal credit. We havesignposted people to our Money CareTeam.

We have made available additionalresources for our RevenuesTeam toensure that we have systems in place tomake it as easy as possible for residentsto pay their rent, that we have the staffneeded in this section and that we haveadditional provision for bad debts.

Although we do not yet know the fullimpact of welfare reform on our business,we do know that a continued challenge forthe forthcoming year will be to minimise theimpact, not only of the reform, but also ofthe Government budget cuts.We need tobe realistic about how much New Chartercan try and alleviate these cuts by investingin our neighbourhoods without loweringthe standard of our services to residents.

Our advice to you:

Speak to us, don’t suffer in silence and don’tlet your financial problems escalate.Theroll out of universal credit for all is nowexpected to begin in April 2014.Remember that this is a Governmentinitiative, it is not something New Charterhas introduced and we want to help thosewho are struggling to pay their rent.

Show me the money £

The touring bus

Our SWAT team



25If you would like more information about Revenues please contact;

Julie Vickers, Director of Business Support on 0161 331 2020,email: [email protected]

Show me the money continued£Advising on the effects ofusing Loan Sharks

Last year, 1200 of you helped us tounderstand how you manage yourmoney by completing a survey.This hasbeen really useful in helping us to offerthe services you need.

One of the things you told us is thatmany of you take out loans and someof you are using very expensive optionslike doorstep and payday lenders, oreven turning to illegal loan sharks.We want to offer another choice, soNew Charter Homes is working inpartnership with ‘My Home Finance’to give residents and leaseholdersan alternative way to access loans,budgeting advice and help with bankaccounts.‘My Home Finance’ has beendeveloped by the National HousingFederation.

If you are looking for a loan for anypurpose, all you need to do is call‘My Home Finance’ on 0845 519 7237where staff will talk you through theprocess and see if this is the rightoption for you. For more informationyou can call into any of our Hubs oryou can log on atwww.myhomefinance.org.uk

My Home Finance –fair loans

New Charter will continue to publicisethe possible harmful effects of usingillegal money lenders often referredto as loan sharks.These unlicensedmoney lenders often pray on the mostvulnerable and ‘in need’ residents whofeel they have no other choice forborrowing money.

If you know of any loan shark activityin your neighbourhood, please reportit in confidence to the Illegal MoneyLendingTeam by phone 0300 555 2222or text LOAN SHARK and your detailsto 60003 or email [email protected] or contact yourNeighbourhood Co-ordinator.

Remember if you have borrowedfrom an illegal money lender, you

haven’t committed a crime.

Illegal Money Lenders



26If you would like more information about Organisational Transformation orCustomer Experience please contact: Chris Amyes, Executive Director –People on 0161 331 2173, email: [email protected]

Organisational Transformation& the Customer Experience Team

Organisational Transformation& the Customer ExperienceTeamThe year has been extremely busy for theteams both in terms of dealing with majorchanges in the organisation and in thegreat progress we have made in moving thecustomer experience forward.

The biggest change for us has been the fulllaunch of our Connect service (customerservice centre). From March 2013, we nowoperate a 24/7, 365 day per year, customercontact centre so that emergency repairscalls are always answered by our own staff.There is now one telephone number forNew Charter, 0161 331 2000, regardlessof your query.

A new Customer Relationship Managementsystem was also introduced inMarch 2013.This holds details ofall customer contacts to ensurethat we have an up to date recordof customer requests and actionswhich need to be taken.This hasadded greatly to our customerservice offering, in that we are able toensure that customer calls are followed upand actioned. Feedback from our mysteryshopping reports show that customers likethe new system.

Throughout 2013/14 our challenge will beto continue to further improve Connect,to make it sharper, to extend the serviceareas dealt with by the team and to use theprofiling information we gather about ourcustomers to improve and personalise ourservice to you.

AwardsWe are delighted that, for thefifth year running, we havefeatured in the SundayTimesBest Companies list, retaining atop 10 position. It was a toughyear, with lots of changes for

our staff who, as ever, respondedbrilliantly. Even after such a difficultyear, with internal restructure, welfarereforms and legislative changes, ourpeople still rate New Charter as agreat place to work.

Social MediaThe use of social media at New Charter isgrowing momentum.Our use of Facebookis increasing with 344 ‘likes’ as at 31stMarch 2013. Residents are even usingthe site to report repairs and anti-socialbehaviour. OurTwitter site has been usedthroughout the year to tweet from eventsand we now have 195 followers.

Look out for our ‘live chats’ onFacebook throughout 2013.



27If you would like more information about becoming a Tenant Director please contact:

Laura Douthwaite, Assistant Company Secretary on 0161 331 2118,email: [email protected]

Governance

Tom Daly (Tenant) Tomwas elected to the Board inSeptember 2010. He has abackground in constructionand a good understandingof management and healthand safety issues. Tom iscommitted to assistingNew Charters’ efforts indelivering the best possibleservices to tenants anddeveloping communities andneighbourhoods that peopleare proud to call home.

Lez Barstow (Tenant)Lez joined the Board inSeptember 2011. He trainedas a teacher and later tookpostgraduate courses inphotography, film-making andcareers counselling. He now

runs a LiteracyAgency. Sincebecoming involved withNew Charter in 2004, hehas contributed to a varietyof groups including theCustomer CommunicationsGroup.

Helen Garnett-Wren(Tenant) Helen was electedto the Board in September2012. She has a backgroundin sales and purchasing anda good understanding ofbusiness administration andIT. Helen is committed toensuring that New Chartercontinues to improveand meet the needs of itstenants.

New Charter would like tothankAlanAlcock (Tenant)and GordonTow(Co-opted) who bothstepped down from theBoard in September 2012.Independent Board membersare appointed by applicationand interview.Tenant Board members areappointed by self nomination,interview and electionLocal Authority Boardmembers are appointed bynomination.

Board members at New CharterHomes Limited

Geoff Loughlin-Chair (Independent)

Jim Middleton-Vice Chair (Local Authority)

Joan Ryan (Independent)

Tracey Jones (Local Authority)

Jacqui Fendall (Independent)

David Boyle (Local Authority)

Tony Powell (Co-optee)

Jacqui McCann (Co-optee)

GordonTow

Alan Alcock



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A message from the Chief Executive

The year 2012/13 has gone very well for New Charter. We are still a strong, sound,progressive and confident organisation who values both ourselves and our staff.We remainin a strong financial situation with a sound business plan and the best people to carry itforward. We pride ourselves on our reputation and our relationships with partner agenciesand our funders.

Our work has continued to expand throughout the year both in terms of new homesdevelopment and extending our partnership working.We are starting to pick up the changesfrom the public sector cuts, expanding into areas such as helping troubled families andsupporting education throughAcademies. It is always an anxiety that we will grow too big,but New Charter is committed to never lose site of our core business; providing decentquality, affordable homes, to our residents.The work in addition to this is very small in scaleof what we do as a whole and we will continue to listen to you to ensure that it isn’t at theexpense of our current residents.

It has been another year of major achievements.We featured, for the fifth year, in the SundayTimes Best Companies list, achieving tenth position.The introduction of our Connectservice has been positive and we envisage this will immensely improve the service we offerto our customers.

The impact of welfare reform is still unclear, although New Charter is a pathfinder foruniversal credit, the numbers of people affected has been too few to allow us to makeany useful observations. It has, however, given us greater access to MPs to ask questionsand express our views. As an organisation we believe the bedroom tax to be unfair, badlythought out and incompetent.Although there is an argument around personal responsibilitywe understand that it scares people and it is going to be difficult for people to changetheir behaviours to deal with monthly payments.To prepare,we have been training frontline staff throughout the year to ensure that they are fully informed and able to give adviceto residents on their options.We have also carried out surveys to help us have a betterunderstanding of our customers’ financial issues and have been helping to modernise theCredit Union, introduced ‘My Home Finance’ and working with a consortium of otherHousingAssociations on ‘Smarter Buys’.

Our promise to build 300 new homes over three years is still ontarget and will be exceeded by converting properties, buying backformer Right to Buys and acquiring properties for renovation.

Our challenges for 2013/14 are to continue to manage the impactof the welfare reform on our business and yourselves but I amconfident that we are in a strong position, have the right staff andplans in place to make it another successful year for us all.

Ian Munro – Group Chief Executive – New Charter HousingTrustGroup

If you would like further information about New Charter Homes please contact:[email protected], visit our website www.newcharter.co.ukor telephone 0161 331 2000

Ian Munro



29

Value, Impact, Performance (VIP)

If you would like more information about VIP please contact Lauren Webb, Policy andCompliance Officer on 0161 331 2378, email: [email protected]

VIP is our approach to measuring the socialand economic impact of our investment in yourneighbourhood.

Here are some examples:

Great Opportunities

• In 2012/13, New Charter invested £61,660 in ourGreat Opportunities programme

• We helped 80 local people to get jobs –and 135 more to take part in courses and volunteering

• In addition to the social and emotional benefits of thiswork, Great Opportunities has generated savings worthover £709,200 for our local and national partners



30


Specialist Welfare Reform AdviceTeam (SWAT)

In 2012/13, we invested £189,914 in SWAT; which has:

• Made over 2500 visits to customers affected by the‘Bedroom Tax’ and other Welfare Reforms

• Worked with over 70 customers to make referrals tospecialist advice in connection with their benefits/debts

• Used the ‘Universal Bus Tour’ to provide high qualityinformation about Welfare Reform in every neighbourhood

• The team has enabled the Group to achieve a collectionrate for the ‘Bedroom Tax’ of around 84%

If you would like more information about VIP please contact Lauren Webb, Policyand Compliance Officer on 0161 331 2378, email: [email protected]



31


Money Care Team

• In 2012/13 we invested £132,369 in our Money Care Team

In 2012/13, this team:

• Helped 332 clients achieve over £941,867 in gains inWelfare Benefits (an average of over £2,836 per customer)

• Worked with 343 clients to have their debts to the valueof over £1,260,830 written off (an average of over £3,675per customer)

If you would like more information about VIP please contact Lauren Webb:Policy and Compliance Officer on 0161 331 2378

Email: [email protected]



32

Remember, we now have just one number for you to callto access all services -

0161 331 2000This single number will be the same 24 hours a day, 365 days a year andall calls are dealt with by New Charter staff at our offices. In the evenings,at weekends and on Bank Holidays our services operate for emergencies

only - dealing with emergency housing issues and emergency repairs.

EnglishIf you need help understanding this document, please call us on 0161 331 2000 and we willarrange for somebody to help you.

PolishJeśli potrzebuje Pan/Pani pomocy w zrozumieniu tego dokumentu, prosimy o kontakt podnumerem 0161 331 2000, a my zorganizujemy kogoś do pomocy.

PortugueseSe necessitar de ajuda no que respeia à compreensão deste documento, queira por favorcontactar-nos no nº. 0161 331 2000 e iremos colocar alguém à sua disposição para oajudar

FrenchSi vous avez besoin d’aide pour comprendre ce document, s’il vous plaît appelez-nous au0161 331 2000 et nous nous chargerons de quelqu’un pour vous aider

Bengali

Urdu0161 331 2000

Contacting Us

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Resource Housing Reg. No. 2111


Documents

Tenants' Annual Report 2012-13