Ferguslie Park Housing Association 30 Years of community ownership in Ferguslie Park 1988 - 2018

BUSINESS PLAN 2017-2020 (Updated February 2018)

Version: 22nd Feb 2018

Contents

Section 1: Introduction Page Section 5: Key priorities Page INTRODUCTION 3 FOCUS ON AFFORDABILITY 22 PURPOSE OF OUR BUSINESS PLAN 3 EARLY ACTION PROGRAMMES 22 OUR BUSINESS PLANNING PROCESS 3 STRATEGIC ASSET MANAGEMENT 23 ENGAGING WITH STAKEHOLDERS 4 PROCUREMENT & CONTRACT MANAGEMENT 24 WIDER ROLE 24 CONNECTIVITY 24 GOVERNANCE & BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT 25 Section 2: About us Page Section 6: Resources Page OUR STRUCTURE 5 OUR FINANCES 26 THE FERGUSLIE GROUP 5 OUR PEOPLE 27 OUR HISTORY 5 OUR SYSTEMS 27 OUR TRACK RECORD 7 OPTIONS APPRAISAL 8 OUR STRENGTHS 9 OUR WEAKNESSES 10

Section 3: Operating environment Page Section 7: Risks Page THE NATIONAL CONTEXT 11 OUR APPROACH 29 THE LOCAL CONTEXT 13 OUR RISK FRAMEWORK 29 THE OPPORTUNITIES 16 OUR AUDIT & RISK COMMITTEE 29 THE THREATS 17 OUR RISK REGISTER 30 OUR RISK CONTROLS 30

Section 4: Our business strategy Page Section 8: Review Page THE GROUPS’ STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 18 MONITORING & REVIEW 31 OUR VISION STATEMENT 18 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 31 OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION 19 OUTCOME BASED APPROACH 31 OUR SOCIAL IMPACT 19 OUR EVIDENCE-BASE 32 OUR CORE VALUES 20 KPIs 32 OUR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES 20 OUR UNDERLYING APPROACH 20 Appendices: Key Performance Indicators SWOT matrix Statements of Comprehensive Income and Financial Position Organisation Structure

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Section 1: Introduction

INTRODUCTION This business plan is our central strategic document and sets out our strategic direction up to March 2020. It is primarily for internal use and we review and update it annually. It is approved by the Board prior to the start of each financial year. In developing this plan, we have taken account of business planning guidance published by the Scottish Housing Regulator (Dec 2015).

PURPOSE OF OUR BUSINESS PLAN The purpose of the business plan is to:  help us to understand the opportunities and threats inherent in our operating environment as well as our own internal strengths and weaknesses;  clarify and communicate our strategic objectives and priorities and set out the key actions we will take to achieve these objectives;  demonstrate that we have the resources necessary to carry out these actions and help us to identify and mitigate any risks we face in delivering these actions;  provide a strategic overview for our other strategies and plans; and  provide a framework with which we can monitor our progress and measure our success.

OUR BUSINESS PLANNING PROCESS We reviewed and strengthened our business planning process in 2016 and introduced a new protocol which sets out the key steps we take to prepare our business plan. They are:  business planning timetable is agreed  data is collected and strategic analysis undertaken  vision, strategic direction and objectives are reviewed  action plan for the years ahead is developed  financial and resource plans are prepared  risks are assessed  business plan and budget are approved  objectives and targets are communicated to staff  monitoring and review are embedded. This process is led by our Board, supported by senior staff, and is highly participative ensuring a whole organisation approach.

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ENGAGING WITH STAKEHOLDERS In preparing (and updating) this business plan, we spoke to several of our key stakeholders and received invaluable feedback from:  a focus group of our tenants  a focus group of our staff  telephone interviews with individual stakeholders (CEOs of neighbouring RSLs and community organisations, local & national politicians, senior government officers and consultants)  a comprehensive, independent, tenant satisfaction survey as well as quarterly pulse surveys  a joint meeting of the governing bodies of the association and our subsidiary The New Tannahill Centre Ltd  initial discussions with the newly formed Ferguslie Community Council  informal feedback from residents, not only tenants, at the summer Gala Day.

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Section 2: About Us

OUR STRUCTURE Ferguslie Park Housing Association (FPHA) is an independent community-controlled housing association governed by a volunteer Board, several of whom are our customers. We are a registered social landlord and a society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. We are also a registered Scottish Charity and do not distribute our surpluses, but rather, we reinvest these for the benefit of our current and future customers. We currently employ around 15 permanent staff members and a copy of our staff structure can be found in the appendices to this plan. We have one wholly-owned subsidiary, the New Tannahill Centre Ltd. It is also a registered Scottish Charity and is run by a Board of volunteers. Together we form The Ferguslie Group.

THE FERGUSLIE GROUP FPHA acts as the parent organisation in The Ferguslie Group of companies. We have a formal intra-group agreement which sets out our relationship with our subsidiary and reinforces our responsibility for overall strategic direction and control for the Group. We each employ our own staff and we also have a service-sharing agreement which allows the subsidiary to draw on our staff in accordance with agreed work plans. Along with our subsidiary, we seek to make a positive contribution to the Group’s core purpose, namely:-

 To work together to regenerate Ferguslie Park; and  To work with partners to channel ideas, action and investment.

OUR HISTORY Ferguslie Park was built as a council housing estate, from shortly before the Second World War and expanding until the 1950s. Ferguslie Park became a working class neighbourhood in the west end of Paisley, with residents working mainly in the huge Chrysler car plant in neighbouring Linwood, the nearby Stobo carpet factory and making textiles in the Ferguslie Mills. The demise of the car factory has been commemorated in The Proclaimers' reference to "Linwood no more" in their hit song "Letter from America". Ferguslie had its own artists too. John Byrne lived in Ferguslie Park and his "Slab Boys Trilogy" of plays features rebellious carpet factory workers from the 1950s to the 1970s. The closure of traditional textile and manufacturing industries in the '70s and '80s led to widespread unemployment, poverty and stigma. Even so, Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan had success in the '70s with their band Stealers Wheel and their album covers, including "Ferguslie Park", were designed by John Byrne. Rafferty went on to great commercial success, including with "Baker Street". But Ferguslie Park continued to slide. Renfrewshire Council made many attempts to stem the growing unpopularity of the estate which was almost cut off from the rest of Paisley, intensifying its reputation as a no-go-area.

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Ferguslie Park Housing Association was established on 1 July 1988 as Dalskeith Housing Cooperative. The Co-op was set up to acquire and improve Renfrewshire Council homes in the Dalskeith area of Ferguslie Park. Westburn Woodvale Housing Association was established later, to build new homes in another part of the estate. In a strategic move to strengthen community ownership, the Co- op changed its structure and its name to FPHA. Westburn Woodvale HA became part of the organisation in November 1993 to form Ferguslie Park Housing Association. This created a single housing association for the whole of Ferguslie Park as part of the widest- ranging strategy to date to regenerate the area. This was the New Life for Urban Scotland programme, in which Ferguslie Park was one of four areas facing deprivation which were identified for a new multi-agency and innovative area-based approach. As FPHA, we were a partner in the Ferguslie Park Partnership; with the community, the council, Scottish Executive, health board and police. Significant progress was made in replacing unpopular council housing with 750 new association homes, improving the 500 remaining popular council homes, introducing over 600 homes for owner occupation and shared ownership, building a new link road and improving the environment. The Tannahill Centre was completed in 1995 and John Byrne opened the new Community Library.

It was not an altogether smooth transition. Late in 1994 Paisley suffered extensive and serious flooding. Ferguslie Park, being flat and low lying, experienced the most property damage. 250 homes were flooded; 100 of these so seriously that residents had to move out for around a year while they were repaired. Just before Christmas, this made international news. Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip visited Ferguslie Park the following summer to meet people who had been affected and to see the on-going repairs. The flood risk restricted sites for further house building. The association built a pumping station in the lowest part of the area which has protected the homes there from further flooding.

From 1996 Ferguslie became part of the Paisley Social Inclusion Partnership. We became a founder member of FLAIR, the federation of local associations in Renfrewshire, set up to foster collaboration in the social inclusion partnership area, benchmarking and wider regeneration activity. FLAIR brought Youthbuild to Scotland – a ground-breaking partnership with Barnardo's supporting unemployed young people into construction apprenticeships in our house building projects. In 2006 we formed a Group with the New Tannahill Centre Ltd as our subsidiary. This was so we could combine our regeneration activities. For 30 years, we have played a key role in the improvement of Ferguslie Park, responding to the needs of the local community and the opportunities available for significant investment into the area. This has involved us in a range of high-profile programmes, many of which were trailblazing but some were ultimately short-lived. Housing has been transformed, there are low levels of crime and there is a strong community spirit. However, it has been much harder to improve health, educational attainment and to tackle poverty. The local primary schools remain well regarded and highly valued in the community but Ferguslie pupils still mostly underachieve at secondary schools. It is poor health, underachievement in education, low income and stubborn unemployment that distinguishes a few "datazones" in Ferguslie Park as repeatedly suffering the most deprivation in Scotland.

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However, we are preparing Ferguslie Park Housing Association for what we believe will be a new and successful chapter in its history. This business plan recognises our key role in improving Ferguslie Park, our determination to increase our impact and our plans for delivering it.

OUR TRACK RECORD As part of the partnership initiatives, the Association and Renfrewshire Council undertook a significant demolition and new build programme and as a consequence of this, less than 8% of all our homes today comprise of the pre-existing tenements and flats. Although we have not built any new homes for a few years now, we have been able to increase the number of homes we own and manage by working with Renfrewshire Council to transfer vacant properties in the area to us. Most recently we took ownership of and refurbished 15 properties in Blackstoun Oval which brought our total number of homes to 803.

We have always been keen to be more than just a landlord and have delivered a diverse range of wider role and community engagement projects over the years. This work was significantly strengthened when we took over the management of the Tannahill Centre in 2006, re-launching it as the New Tannahill Centre Ltd, a subsidiary of the housing association. Our own offices are in the Centre and together with our local partners we have operated the centre as a local hub for the delivery of a wide range of commercial and community services.

We have continued to respond to the needs of the local community and have developed new projects and services as needed. One of the most significant of these was when we decided in 2013 to establish our own welfare rights team. This team continues to manage a busy caseload helping to sustain tenancies and support our tenants deal with the consequences of Welfare Reform.

Over the years we also sought to develop the capacity and competence of the organisation investing in our people, technology and systems. Much of this work was recognised when we were awarded Silver accreditation from Investors in People in 2014 and retained it in 2017. More recently we embarked on a major review of our governance and financial management arrangements. An independent review carried out by the association identified weaknesses and the Scottish Housing Regulator subsequently appointed a Manager and three members to the Board. With this assistance, our Board went on to commission further investigations. The Board approved and adopted a comprehensive Governance Improvement Plan in June 2016, designed to strengthen a number of critical business areas across the group structure. Since then, we have significantly improved our policies and processes and have enhanced our management reporting systems. We have strengthened our audit arrangements and have introduced a more robust framework for identifying and managing risk. We have also reviewed our asset management plans, our procurement arrangements and the associated budgets.

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We recognised that our operational approaches needed to be significantly improved – to meet current standards and best practice, and to respond more specifically to the needs of our tenants. The Board approved a Corporate Action Plan which resulted in changes in senior staff, additional skilled resources at operational level and re-established our partnership commitment to our key stakeholders such as Renfrewshire Council, the Tannahill Centre and FLAIR. The ending of the Statutory Manager's appointment in January 2018 reveals just how much ground we have covered in a short time.

OPTIONS APPRAISAL As part of this review, we undertook an option appraisal exercise in 2016 to consider how we should operate in the future and whether the interests of our current and future tenants were best served by us remaining independent, entering into a constitutional partnership with another housing association, merging or transferring all our assets.

After full consideration of the options, associated risks, benefits and financial implications the Board reached the conclusion that the best way forward for our tenants was for Ferguslie Park Housing Association to remain independent but also to seek opportunities to collaborate with others in an effort to achieve our vision, maximise our impact, achieve value for money and access (and share) expertise.

The Board recognises that we must resource this option with a strong and effective governing body and management team. We have recruited talented new board members from within and outside Ferguslie Park, to join our longer serving members who have embraced and embedded change. We are on track to fully restore compliance with regulatory standards in governance and financial management, and to increase investment in homes, improve operational standards and customer service. We are well placed to achieve this, being close to completing our governance improvement plan which was 96% complete in January 2018. This business plan includes arrangements to continue to strengthen the Board with on-going training and more networking with peers and good performers.

Our Interim Management Team is concluding its task by handing over to a permanent Group Chief Executive in 2018.

The Association's financial position is strong, with low debt for an organisation of our size. However, Welfare Reform poses a threat to our income and to the living standards of our tenants. Our plans for remaining independent have been tested with long, medium and short term financial projections, and with associated sensitivity analyses. The Board is satisfied that independence plus collaboration is the most affordable and value for money option.

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OUR STRENGTHS We review our operational performance on a quarterly basis and report annually on how we meet the Scottish Social Housing Charter standards. Our performance is published in our annual report to tenants. In this business plan update, we have reviewed our current organisational strengths; which we plan to build on over the period of this plan. They include:-

Strategic clarity - we have worked hard to clarify our strategic direction, re-align our priorities with those of our key stakeholders and develop a more forward-looking approach. We have embedded a new corporate planning process which ensures that our service delivery plans are closely aligned with our new vision and strategic objectives. Being part of a Group structure enhances our ability to make a significant impact and communicate our strategy more effectively.

Our people – our Board and staff continue to demonstrate their commitment to the organisation, our tenants and the local community. They have also demonstrated their resilience to challenge and change. We have considerably strengthened the working relationship between our Board and staff by developing a culture of openness, empowerment, good practice and learning.

Asset management – we now have a clear asset management strategy, ensuring that our planned maintenance and capital investment programmes are properly prioritised, costed, affordable and underpinned by an updated stock condition survey, to which we are fully committed to regularly adding new information about the attributes of our assets. We are actively managing and enforcing our contracts, ensuring that we deliver these programmes on time, on budget and to the satisfaction of our tenants.

Customer insight – we have a good understanding of our customers. We are committed to delivering a personal service, taking time to get to know our tenants and local community. A comprehensive customer satisfaction survey undertaken in August 2016 gave us excellent information, including pointers for expanding our social impact activities. We continue to update this information through quarterly pulse surveys, regular focus groups and wider community engagement.

Service performance - we continue to perform well in some critical operational areas e.g. we experience low voids and modest void rent loss, we are good at keeping our tenants informed, our homes meet the SHQS and gas safety standards, our emergency repairs are dealt with very quickly. Over the last 3 years our rent increases have been below or equal to CPI (inflation) which has brought them close to the Scottish average, amongst the lowest in Renfrewshire and our rents continue to be seen as offering value for money. We have also worked hard to improve some key processes which have resulted in, for example, a large reduction in our repairs costs and our void turnaround times.

Financial health - we are in good financial health and have significantly improved our financial and risk analysis and reporting processes. Our 30-year life cycle cost model is up to date. We know we have the full confidence of our lenders.

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OUR WEAKNESSES We are also aware of our current weaknesses and where we need to strengthen our organisation, namely:

Performance management – we are very aware that in some areas our performance is not as good as we would like, e.g. our levels of rent arrears. We have invested in our performance reporting systems, joined Scotland’s Housing Network and re-joined FLAIR which allows us to benchmark, co-operate and share good practice. Our tenants tell us that they just want us to do what we promise. We are making progress in regaining the trust and confidence of both the Scottish Housing Regulator and our tenants.

Affordable homes – whilst we have managed to keep our recent rent increases low, we know from focus groups and our involvement in a Renfrewshire rent affordability study, there are many other factors which affect the affordability of our homes, e.g. the cost of heat, Welfare Reform, and changes in households’ personal circumstances. We know many of our tenants worry about the future affordability of their homes. We already offer a highly effective and valued welfare rights service which is well placed to support our tenants through these challenges, but we are keen to do more, especially in partnership with The Tannahill Centre.

Customer engagement – Whilst our tenants tell us we do well in keeping them informed, we're keen to establish regular dialogue with the community and engage tenants more in reviewing and shaping their services. Over the last two years, we've issued our regular newsletter, begun focus groups and text messaging, and over 25% of our tenants responded to our 2018 rent proposals. Nonetheless, we recognise there's still room for improvement e.g. how we connect with our customers during home improvement programmes.

Stakeholder confidence - we are acutely aware of the damage that the weaknesses leading to regulatory intervention have had on our reputation. This continues to be an anxious time for our tenants, staff, and partners. We are working hard to regain the trust and respect of our tenants, our members, our staff, our partners and the wider community and know that this will take time. We made a start with our new Communications and Media Strategy and will be highlighting how much FPHA has been a positive part of Ferguslie as we celebrate 30 years of community ownership in 2018.

Facilities & Infrastructure –we recognise the need to fully develop our ICT systems and our business processes. We are committed to ensuring our offices remain fit for purpose. We are keen to offer modern working practices and an environment which is both accessible and comfortable for staff and visitors alike. We know we need to move on to making these significant improvements.

Capacity – we have addressed capacity in terms of Board member numbers and all our staff will be on permanent contracts in 2018. However, succession planning is still a key issue for us to get right. Having all the skills we need, available when we need them, is an on-going challenge, particularly given our ambitions.

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Section 3: Operating Environment

THE NATIONAL CONTEXT

The Economy At the time of updating this plan, the Scottish economy continues to grow, but the pace of growth is very slow indeed. In terms of volume, retail sales show only a marginal increase on the previous year and although employment is up by 1.7% over the year, unemployment rose slightly in the last quarter. Average hourly earnings remain relatively static, although Scottish Government has recently committed to lifting the public sector pay cap. Consumer confidence remains low. On top of this, despite the Government’s ambitious house-building targets, the construction industry has contracted significantly over the past year or so. We have witnessed the highest rate of inflation in 3 years with the CPI standing at 3.0% in January 2018(down from 3.1% in the previous month). In this past year, the Bank of England’s base rate was increased by 0.25%, the first increase in 10 years. Clearly, Scotland continues to be affected by the uncertain global economic situation, and as a result economic forecasts predict only marginal growth for 2018.

Poverty & Deprivation Our country’s performance in eradicating deprivation, and more acutely poverty, is generally poor. Foodbanks report a 20% rise in their use over the past year and the most recent Scottish figures show that in 2015/16, 17% of the population lived in relative poverty, an increase from 15% in 2014/5 and 14% in 2013/14. Poverty is assessed against the minimum income standard and means not being able to heat your home, pay your rent, or buy the essentials for your children. Poverty wastes people’s potential. We know that the reasons for poverty are complex. A recent study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has identified that long-term poor health is one of the key contributing factors and we know that previous approaches of area-based regeneration had more success with improvements to the physical and built environment and achieved less in terms of health and wellbeing.

Ferguslie Park is often quoted as the most deprived neighbourhood in Scotland. It was ranked the worst in 2006, the 2nd most deprived in 2009, the worst in 2012 and then again in 2016. It is important that we put this into context. The few datazones in Ferguslie Park which are the "most deprived" contain less than 10 streets in total. Multiple deprivation indices are assessed on employment, education, health, income, crime, access to services and housing. It's the health, income, education and employment aspects that are proving most difficult to change and which are keeping a small part of Ferguslie Park at the bottom of the list. The stigma this places on all residents has the effect of lowering self-esteem and encouraging external pre-conceptions and discrimination.

Recently, local groups have been inspired to challenge these perceptions. Their and our participation in the bid to make Paisley the UK City of Culture in 2021 has raised spirits and increased confidence in the power of culture to enrich lives. This is why The Tannahill 11

Centre plays such an important role in The Ferguslie Group by providing an environment in which culture can help address health, education, employment and, as a result, income issues.

New legislation During the last few years, we have witnessed a raft of legislation aimed at improving the integration of health and social care, reforming public sector procurement, enhancing community empowerment, and improving the effectiveness of the private rented sector. Right to buy has been abolished, new restrictions on tenancy succession now apply, and the Office of National Statistics reclassified housing associations as public bodies. Now we are seeing changes to our planning system, the criminality of domestic abuse, a strengthening of data protection and a potential shift in the regulation of housing associations. We have taken account of these in preparing and updating this business plan.

Social Security and Welfare Reform One of the most important recent legislative changes was the Scotland Act 2016 and in particular the intention to establish a social security agency in Scotland. The Scottish Government is currently setting up the new agency and finalising the new Social Security (Scotland) Bill but has already started to implement changes which effectively abolish the bedroom tax in Scotland (one of the most unpopular elements of Welfare Reform), allow the housing element of Universal Credit to be paid directly to landlords and offer flexibility in the frequency of payments to claimants.

Meanwhile, the Department of Work and Pensions continues to roll-out Universal Credit, despite the publicly-reported concerns of Scottish Government, Citizens Advice and others. So, as we prepare for the roll-out in Renfrewshire in late 2018, Scotland's children's commissioner threatens legal action if Universal Credit further disadvantages Scotland’s young people.

Access to finance Access to finance to support the delivery of our plans remains a challenge. Although the financial markets have more than recovered since the Brexit vote, repayment terms remain short and refinancing is required more frequently. In the context of the Scottish Government’s ambitious plans for 50,000 new affordable houses, the Scottish Housing Regulator continues to warn that whilst investors’ appetite remains strong, housing associations should not take access to finance for granted. We do, however, have low long-term debt for an association of our size and this puts us in a good position should we wish to raise new finance to fund our ambitions.

THE LOCAL CONTEXT

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Community profile According to the 2011 Scottish Census, Ferguslie Park has a resident population of 4,227. We expect this to remain stable for at least the next 10 years in line with Renfrewshire’s population as a whole. Almost 70% of Ferguslie Park’s population are of working age with a disproportionately low level of pensionable age.

Ferguslie Park residents live in 1,964 households with around 41% of these single person households. Again this reflects the wider area where household growth in Renfrewshire is primarily driven by the increasing number of single person and older single person households. Just under 30% of Ferguslie Park households live in owner-occupied properties, 5% live in the private rented sector with the majority (around 64%) living in social rented homes, most of whom are our tenants. This contrasts sharply with Renfrewshire as a whole where the private rented sector has grown rapidly and now accounts for around 11% of the total stock.

The census also tells us that Ferguslie Park has a significantly lower percentage of people in full-time employment (29%), and part-time employment (14%) compared with the whole of Renfrewshire. Ferguslie Park has a significantly higher proportion of people unemployed (11%), and long-term sick or disabled (15%) compared to all of Renfrewshire. Ferguslie Park also has a smaller proportion of individuals who are self-employed (3%) or full-time students (3%). Overall, Ferguslie Park has a lower level of economically active population (60%) than Renfrewshire (69%) and Scotland as a whole (70%).

Our connection with Professor Carol Tannahill from the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, and the Scottish Government, has helped us to understand how public policy from decades ago has bequeathed to us the health challenges faced by Ferguslie Park residents today. The number of people considered to be in ‘very good health’ is lower in Ferguslie Park (46%) than the whole of Renfrewshire (51%) with over 2% of local people considered to be in ‘very bad health’ and almost 8% considered to be in ‘bad health’. Both these figures are higher than Renfrewshire and Scotland as a whole. On average, men in Ferguslie Park live two years fewer than men in Scotland overall. It is shocking that life expectancy for women in Ferguslie Park is almost 2 years shorter than for men in our area, and that local women lose 8 years of life compared to women in Scotland as a whole.

Educational attainment statistics indicate that qualification levels are significantly poorer in Ferguslie Park where around 42% of people aged 16 and over have no qualification.

Our community profile contributes to considerations in house letting, medical adaptations, welfare rights and particularly in the priorities for the Tannahill Centre.

Local Housing Strategy

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Renfrewshire Council updated its local housing strategy in 2016 underpinned by a housing needs and demand survey for the whole of Glasgow and the Clyde Valley (2015). In the strategy, it set out its 7 strategic outcomes:

 The supply of homes is increased.  Renfrewshire will have sustainable, attractive and well-designed mixed communities with well-functioning town centres.  People live in high quality, well managed homes.  Homes are energy efficient and fuel poverty is minimised.  Homelessness is prevented whenever possible and advice and support is provided to vulnerable households.  People are supported to live independently for as long as possible in their own homes and communities.  People can access affordable housing that meets their needs at the right time.

The Council recognises that the housing market in Renfrewshire is deeply fragmented, with distinct markets operating in different areas. It continues to focus on providing a mix of physical, economic, social and environmental improvements within existing places. For the past 12 years or so, Renfrewshire Council has had a demolition and regeneration programme to replace unpopular/poor quality social rented stock with new good quality affordable housing, provided by RSLs and more recently by the Council itself. This strategy will continue in order to address on-going issues of stock quality and to rebalance the Council’s stock profile, which is currently 79% flats and only 21% houses.

The Council's current strategic housing investment plan (SHIP) sets out its priority programme to deliver 1,000 new affordable homes by 2023 with a current resource planning assumption of £46.224m over the next three years. Following local government elections in 2017 which saw a change of leadership at the Council we are especially interested in the Council’s reconsideration of its regeneration strategy for Ferguslie Park. We would like to work in partnership with the Council to build new homes in current gap sites in our area, and hope that we can either become the landlord or managing agent for these homes.

We are concerned that the failure of tenement flats provided in the 1990s for owner occupation in the Glencoats Drive area of Ferguslie Park has led to the worst form of private renting. It seems to have resulted in opportunistic "buy to lets" which initially led to a concentration of vulnerable households and now to a small area of unoccupied and abandoned buildings. More popular house types alongside these properties have also become "buy to lets" and we are convinced that intervention by ourselves and the Council is required immediately to prevent further, possibly unstoppable, deterioration.

Community Planning

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The new local community plan, Our Renfrewshire, with its focus on inclusive growth and the associated single outcome agreement, identifies the key challenges for the wider area: poverty and disadvantage; misuse of alcohol and drugs; low attainment and worklessness; offending and violent behaviour; and preventable ill-health and injury. All of these equally apply to Ferguslie Park and are reflected in some of it being recognised as the most deprived neighbourhood in Scotland.

However, it is important to remember that the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation identifies deprived places, not people. Not everyone living in a deprived area is deprived, and not all deprived people live in deprived places. Renfrewshire Council, its partners and the local community are keen to transform the image of the area and more specifically Ferguslie Park and there are some major programmes in place to help to do this.

For example, Renfrewshire Council is partner to the £1.13bn Glasgow City Region City Deal and the area is due to benefit from three of the biggest infrastructure investments; the Airport Access Project, the Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside project and the Glasgow Airport Investment Area. Together these projects will transform local and regional connectivity and will offer significant job opportunities through business growth and inward investment. Clearly there are potential opportunities for the people who live in Ferguslie Park.

Despite the recent news that the bid for Paisley to be awarded UK City of Culture status in 2021 was unsuccessful, Renfrewshire Council and its partners have committed to carry on making it easier for every child and family in Renfrewshire to access cultural activity, have fun and play, and ultimately to transform Paisley’s image and build a new sense of pride in the town. Programmes and investment to date have already seen visitor numbers rise by 25% in 2016 and 23% in 2017, outperforming the rest of the Glasgow City Region. Having signed up as a supporter of the original bid, we will continue to play a role in this wider Paisley initiative, keen to see Ferguslie Park become a venue for cultural events and to encourage a wider recognition of Ferguslie Park as a safe and interesting place. Our journey continues.

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THE OPPORTUNITIES When we look at this operating environment, a number of external factors reveal some potential opportunities for us. These include:

Wider role & social impact Together with our subsidiary, the New Tannahill Centre, we are well-placed to increase our social impact. In the last year the Tannahill Centre has taken opportunities to obtain £200k in grants for an enhanced wider role programme and to align with the activities of our partners. We are keen to encourage community-led solutions and to channel ideas, action and investment into the area. We want to ensure our value can be clearly demonstrated; not least as a key employer in the local area.

Collaboration & partnership We are keen to continue reconnecting with our partners and to identify new opportunities to collaborate. We are already working with the Scottish Government and the Council to re-establish a multi-agency partnership approach. Working in the context of the City Deal, we will focus more on the non-physical aspects of tackling deprivation, although we will also strongly encourage good environmental, drainage and roads maintenance.

We have recent and very positive experience of working closely with Linstone and Eildon Housing Associations which has supported us to improve some of our key services. This has shown us the true value of collaboration and we are keen to build on this experience by working with others to share expertise and resources. We are open to different forms of collaboration and keen to explore all opportunities.

Meeting demand We are keen to continue to develop the housing opportunities we offer. We have identified opportunities to increase the number of homes we own and manage e.g. continuing to work with Renfrewshire Council to transfer some of their empty properties in the area to us in order for us to upgrade them and exploring the opportunity to work with the Council to provide new homes in the area currently identified in the SHIP. As well as meeting the needs of current residents for the first home of their own, or for transfers, we are keen to respond positively to the increasing demand from Polish and African households, households with particular needs, refugees and those who wish greater security than that currently offered by the private rented sector.

Place-making We know that there is currently an appetite and funding support for asset-based community development and more design-led approaches to regeneration. There are opportunities to improve the local environment and to encourage people to appreciate and value the local natural environment we have on our doorstep. Linked to the renewed focus on local culture and heritage, we are keen to work with partners to re-present Ferguslie Park as an attractive environment which makes a positive visual impact.

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THE THREATS There are also a number of clear challenges, or threats:

Welfare Reform The imminent roll-out of Universal Credit (UC) will have a detrimental impact on many of our customers, although some of this will be softened by the new social security powers in Scotland. Without early action, the roll-out could also affect our own cashflow and operational performance. Early evidence is that all our tenants on UC have either increased their rent arrears or accrued arrears for the first time. We expect it will take some time for the full impact to be experienced both by our tenants as well as our business.

Affordability The current economic climate, coupled with Welfare Reform, means that many householders are continuing to struggle to make ends meet. Increases in fuel prices have resulted in increased heating and transport costs. Pressure from tenants, especially those not receiving benefits, to keep our rents affordable is considerable. At the same time increased operating costs due to increasing regulation (e.g. data protection) pension deficits, cyber security and the cost of materials place pressure on our financial position.

Community health & wellbeing With around 10% of our local community reporting they are in bad or very bad health; health and wellbeing is a significant problem in Ferguslie Park. Research tells us that long term poor health is the major cause of poverty in our area. We know that previous regeneration programmes failed to adequately address this issue. The integration of health and social care is on-going and the new practice is not yet embedded. Poor health and inadequate local healthcare provision affects many of our customers’ ability to work. All of this suggests that the solutions will not be easy.

Reputation Both the housing association and the local area have experienced more than their fair share of bad press. Ferguslie Park received unwanted attention with the release of the latest Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, and inevitably we received attention when the Scottish Housing Regulator intervened to protect the interests of our tenants. It is important for the future sustainability of the community and the housing association that we both quickly regain the trust of local people and develop a more positive image.

Competition The competition for investment, customers and partners has increased. We are not yet as well-connected as we would like and need to address this. We recognise the growth of the private rented sector locally as well as the ambitions of other housing associations and are keen that we do not lose out. Our commitment to collaborate with peer associations will be important in securing our position.

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Section 4: Business Strategy

THE GROUP’S STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK Our business strategy must be set in the context of the Group as this sets the framework for both the housing association and our subsidiary the New Tannahill Centre. The governing bodies of both organisations worked together to review and develop the vision, purpose and approach for the whole Group.

The Ferguslie Group

Our Vision: Where the potential of Ferguslie Park is fully realised Our Purpose: To work together to regenerate Ferguslie Park and to work with partners to channel ideas, action and investment Our Approach: To drive forward a better future and a better now, for all.

Both governing bodies agree that this new vision, purpose and approach signals an appetite and energy for renewed action; action which leads to lasting and positive change and harnesses the talent and resources already in the community. The Association's Board is keen to ensure that this appetite and energy for action is cascaded down to inform the business strategy for Ferguslie Park Housing Association.

OUR VISION STATEMENT Ferguslie Park Housing Association’s vision is for a vibrant community which leads its own future and values the work we do in support of this. We wanted to encapsulate all of this into a short simple vision statement which serves to remind us of our role and our ultimate goal, namely:

Serving the community – Valued by the community

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OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION Throughout our history, we have gone through a number of different phases which could perhaps be described as emerging, growing, stabilising and then more recently as a phase of internal review and strengthening. We are emerging from this last stage confident about our future and motivated to continue to build the trust and respect of our tenants, partners and the wider community.

We recognise that for this next phase we need to ensure we apply the lessons we have learned and seek to continue to improve our governance, services and organisational performance. From our analysis of our operating environment, we know that there are some significant challenges ahead. We also know that we need to draw a line and signal a positive change in our attitude, energy and professionalism. To this end, we intend that this next phase will be a period of rejuvenation for us.

We will continue to embed the improvements we have made, strengthen our collaboration and partnership working, re-energise our tenant and community engagement activities and deliver tangible and positive social benefits. We hope that by drawing on our new attitude, energy and professionalism new opportunities will emerge allowing us to better serve our community and be valued by our community.

OUR SOCIAL IMPACT We are keen to develop a more outcome-based approach to service planning and to align this to Scottish Government’s national outcomes. We recognise the following five national outcomes to be particularly relevant to our activities:

 We live our lives safe from crime, disorder and danger.  We live in well-designed, sustainable places where we are able to access the amenities and services we need.  We have strong, resilient and supportive communities where people take responsibility for their own actions and how they affect others.  We value and enjoy our built and natural environment and protect it and enhance it for future generations.  We have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish society.

This approach will help us to maintain our focus on our Group vision and the social impact we wish to make. It will also provide us with a framework to assess how well we deliver value to our current and future tenants, as well as the community as a whole. In our delivery plans, we have therefore set out how our actions will help us to achieve our strategic objectives and deliver social outcomes.

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OUR CORE VALUES We have developed a set of organisational values which we use to guide our behaviour. These values also inform our strategic objectives and the approach we will adopt.

Our Core Values

Compassion Inclusion Integrity Professionalism

OUR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES To ensure we stay focused on improving our services and rejuvenating our organisation, we have developed a set of 5 strategic objectives for the period of this business plan. All our activities will be linked to these objectives. We will also measure our success by setting targets against these objectives, ensuring that we deliver them efficiently and effectively. The five objectives are:

1. To provide excellent homes, services and a local environment to be proud of 2. To support and enable local people to realise their full potential in a vibrant community 3. To inspire confidence and trust from our tenants, staff and partners 4. To develop a strong team of talented and committed people 5. To safeguard our assets, sound financial position, long-term affordability and sustainability

OUR UNDERLYING APPROACH Underpinning these objectives and values is a series of principles which serve to reflect and reinforce the organisational culture of our Group. We will continuously seek opportunities to ensure they are embedded in all our activities:

Promoting customer and community engagement - we seek to embed customer engagement in our organisational culture, ensuring that we involve our tenants in all aspects of our organisation in a meaningful way (e.g. strategic leadership, needs assessment, service design and performance measurement). As a community-controlled housing association accountable to its tenants and members, it is vital that we continue to have tenants on our Board helping to shape our future and guiding us to make the right decisions.

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Promoting collaboration and partnership working – as a relatively small housing association wishing to make a significant impact in our community, we are keen to work with others and keen to embed a collaborative culture. We know from past experience that pooling our efforts, as well as our resources, more often than not leads to more effective and sustainable solutions. We are very much encouraged by the recent interest and support from the Scottish Government to revive a wider and more formal partnership approach to a sustainable future for Ferguslie Park.

Having re-joined FLAIR we are benefiting from more collaboration. We also bought in invaluable support and expertise from Linstone and Eildon Housing Associations to help us improve our procurement and asset management processes. We are keen to identify opportunities for us to share our own skills and expertise to support others.

Promoting opportunity and creativity - we do not underestimate the challenges we face in working to achieve our vision, not least the public’s perception of the area and the limiting affect this can have on the local community. Together with our subsidiary, we wish to channel ideas, action and investment in the area and we believe that one of the best ways we can do this is by promoting Ferguslie Park as a place of opportunity and creativity. We will reflect this across our work.

Fostering social inclusion – in our efforts to help support and sustain our local community, we take care to facilitate social inclusion through our actions. We will continue to work to encourage and support the engagement of all sections of our local community helping people to feel included and valued. Tackling inequalities matters to us, as does ensuring we harness the full diversity of our community.

Delivering value for money - it has probably never been more important than in the current climate, that we deliver value for money for our funders, our partners, our community and above all, for our current and future customers. We will work to ensure that the relationship between our costs and service levels is transparent. We will also work to ensure that we not just maximise value, but that we also demonstrate it clearly.

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Section 5: Key Priorities

Our analysis of the external and internal environment has helped us to identify a number of important cross-cutting themes. From these we have identified our key corporate priorities for the remainder of this plan. These can cut across our strategic objectives and service areas and so rather than repeat them across our delivery plans, we set these out here.

(i) Focus on affordability As a contributor to Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership we support the recommendations of Renfrewshire’s Tackling Poverty Commission and understand the need to not just increase the supply of good quality affordable housing in the area, but also to address the current financial pressures on households. Whilst there is no single, universally-accepted definition of affordability and no access to data on tenants’ incomes, we do know that almost half of our tenants can struggle to pay their rent. Our experience tells us that those in part time employment and especially households headed up by women working part time or irregular hours are among the worst affected. We also know that 25% of children in Renfrewshire are living in poverty, and that child poverty is rising. Even more worrying, two thirds of children living in poverty are living in a household where at least one person is working.

We have recently adopted the SFHA’s new affordability tool to check how our rents affect different household types. Although this indicates that our rents are either affordable or just affordable according to house type, we intend to review our rent policy and service charges during 2018. We are committed to maintaining rents at an affordable level and helping our tenants to reduce or meet their other housing-related costs (heating, decoration and floor coverings, furniture, moving costs, etc.) We know that fuel poverty is a particular issue for many of our tenants with 74% using pre-payment meters and with several choosing to have their fuel supplies cut off. Ensuring that all our properties meet the new EESSH standards (revised in Dec 2017) will be critical, as will our current boiler- replacement programme and planned window and door replacements.

Our Welfare Rights service will continue to play a key role in supporting our tenants to deal with Welfare Reform. We intend to work more closely with Connect4Renfrewshire, a Big Lottery funded partnership project offering energy advice, budgeting and recycled furniture. We will also work with our subsidiary, the New Tannahill Centre, to deliver a range of wider role projects aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of the community and reducing fuel poverty. Our subsidiary will also seek to ensure that key services continue to be delivered locally reducing the need for our tenants to travel to other parts of Renfrewshire.

(ii) Early action programmes Although our level of rent arrears has been low in the past, many factors (none more so than Welfare Reform) are putting considerable pressure on our ability to maintain any performance improvements. We know that many social landlords are experiencing significant increases in arrears and abandoned tenancies and although this has not been a significant issue for us, we know we cannot afford to 22 be complacent. No doubt as a consequence of our recent re-negotiations with Renfrewshire Council over homeless (Section 5) referrals and seasonal pressures on households’ ability to afford their living circumstances, we have recently seen an increase in arrears, highlighting the precarious nature of household circumstances. We are keen to adopt an early action approach ensuring our response is quick and effective, to avoid the situation escalating any further. We have improved our arrears management processes and have clarified these with our tenants. Our Housing and Welfare Rights Officers are well placed to support our tenants to maintain their tenancies and we have set new targets for this. We have also set targets for settling-in visits for new tenants to help us identify where we can offer early additional support. We now have a strong focus on Human Rights and Equalities and plan to evaluate and enhance our customer care practices through a service review using independent advisors.

(iii) Strategic asset management We suspended our investment programmes in 2016 as we recognised that we needed to be more strategic in how we manage and protect our assets – our tenants' homes – and ensure we follow recommended practice. However, our tenants have told us that they do not like it when we make changes to our capital and cyclical maintenance programmes. We have, therefore, taken action to bring our knowledge of our stock up to date so we can publish investment programmes which reliably reflect the age and needs of each house type, and which can be relied upon by tenants.

We have recently updated our life cycle cost model and arranged to undertake further stock condition surveys to reduce our reliance on cloned data and improve the accuracy of our information. We have also re-prioritised our schedule of component replacement to take account of; our legal duties and responsibilities, our need to smooth the programme to ensure we have sufficient capacity, and not least the priorities of our tenants. In our recent full tenant satisfaction survey (August 2016), tenants told us they were most dissatisfied with windows, external doors and door entry systems, bathrooms and the landscaping in common areas. These areas have therefore been prioritised in the investment programme which re-started in 2017.

We are also aware that we have had some challenges in trying to adapt our existing homes to suit the changing needs of our tenants, and as a result some of our tenants have requested transfers. We are keen to resolve these issues and ensure that our homes remain fit for purpose. We are also preparing to meet the new EESSH standards in line with guidance published in late December 2017.

We will continue to work with Renfrewshire Council to explore opportunities for suitable void properties in Ferguslie Park to be transferred to the association. We are in discussion about a prominent corner-site property at Candren Road. We will also widen our attention to the local environment and in particular, gap sites and opportunities to improve the attractiveness and usefulness of these areas. We are also keen to contribute to Renfrewshire Council’s regeneration and affordable housing plans as set out in their recently updated Strategic Housing Investment Plan. We know the Council is consulting on the future of some properties in the Tannahill Terrace area which are no longer fit for purpose and we are keen to play a role in the anticipated re-provisioning of replacement homes.

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(iv) Procurement & Contract Management Procurement legislation and practice has been overhauled over the past 2-3 years with some of the changes only coming into force in the past year. We recognised that our own practice was no longer fit for purpose and so we commissioned external support to help us identify where and how we can improve. We have introduced new procurement routes, procedures and contract management systems from early 2017 and have re-procured several planned maintenance and service contracts since then. We re-procured our repairs and maintenance contract for commencement in 2018. We have reduced our repairs costs considerably and will continue to actively manage and enforce this and other new contracts. We are committed to using procurement as a strategic tool to improve our performance, increase tenant satisfaction, offer community benefit and ultimately deliver value for money for our tenants. As part of the procurement exercise, we were keen to provide opportunities for tenants to inform the new service specification and so in late 2016 we set up a tenant focus group which influenced the service specification on which we subsequently went to tender. We are keen to build on this, ensuring we fully engage with our tenants throughout our capital programmes.

(v) Wider Role In our vision and strategic objectives we have set out our desire to help create and support a vibrant local community where the potential of Ferguslie Park is fully realised. We recognise that this requires us to be more than a landlord and to use our skills and resources to deliver enhanced social impact. We have a history of delivering successful wider role projects – we introduced Youthbuild to Scotland - and are keen to build on this over the remainder of this plan. We will continue to work with others, for example, our partners in FLAIR, the local community, Engage Renfrewshire, the private sector and in particular local employers as well as our own subsidiary, the New Tannahill Centre.

Most of our direct delivery will be channelled through our subsidiary. The Tannahill Centre is developing a programme of wider role activities which includes: promoting and supporting community-led action to overcome the isolation and disadvantages experienced by local people; support for families and young people; skills development and employability programmes; tackling social isolation and loneliness; improving health and wellbeing and increasing participation in sport and physical activities.

FPHA’s role in each of these will vary depending on where we feel we can best add value. We will actively seek new funding for projects, use social benefit clauses in procurement processes, and offer training and support. We have already achieved one-off benefits but our new repairs contract will maximise longer term apprenticeships.

(vi) Connectivity In our efforts to be more collaborative, we need to first be better connected. We have made great strides in this over the past year having re-established old links and formed new ones. We will continue to prioritise and learn from our membership of FLAIR, Scotland’s

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Housing Network, the SHFA, and the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations. We will also continue to promote our achievements and demonstrate our improved performance. We are also keen to see the community of Ferguslie Park better connected with the rest of Renfrewshire and indeed Scotland, and will work with our strategic partners to ensure that we can all benefit from the opportunities for inclusive growth set out in the City Deal programme.

(vii) Governance & business improvement We will continue to implement our business improvement programme which builds on the considerable progress we have achieved over the past two years, particularly in terms of strengthening our governance and financial arrangements. We will continue to work through our other Action Plans; to improve our operational performance, embed good practice, ensure our policies and procedures are always up to date, develop a strong leadership and management team, establish an effective tenants’ scrutiny panel, and build the trust and respect of our tenants, members and partners. Over the next year, we will introduce new customer care standards, carry out a comprehensive risk review, re-organise our office accommodation and recruit and settle-in permanent staff to replace our interim appointments. We will also continue to make the most of technological advances to communicate and engage with our customers, in particular our younger customers. Many of the other priorities listed above will form part of our efforts to improve business performance.

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Section 6: Resources

OUR FINANCES We expect to start this financial year (2018/19) with overall net assets of just over £11m. This includes expected cash balances of around £2m and is after taking account of our loan debt with The Royal Bank of Scotland of around £2.3m. A surplus of around £831k is expected for 2017/18.

Our long term projections continue to demonstrate viability over the short, medium and long term. Based on reasonable assumptions, our financial projections show annual surpluses and confirm more than adequate liquidity in order to allow implementation of the financial plans. No issues arise in the base case model in respect of loan covenant compliance.

Cash resources, due to changes in assumptions, are at lower levels compared to last year’s business plan. This is primarily due to provision for higher staff and overhead costs in the next 3 years. For that period of continuing rejuvenation, management costs are estimated to exceed local housing association peers by around 10% and this adversely impacts on other financial ratios. However, from year 4, staffing costs as a % of turnover are projected to come back in line with local associations.

In years 1 to 5, surpluses of £4.9m are achieved and cash balances in the first 5 years average £1.2m. Full SHQS compliance is comfortably achieved and total major repair spend by year 5 is around £6m. This is after additional rental losses have been provided for the potential adverse impact of Welfare Reform and a reduction in loan debt of around £476k.

The next five year period projects surpluses of £5.4m, a reduction of 32% in debt levels and major repair spend of £6.1m. Cash balances average £2.9m over this 5 year period.

Thereafter, the annual surplus position continues to improve with cash resources (as debt levels continue to drop) increasing at a significant rate. The "year 30" cash balance is projected at £21m and this is achieved on inflation-only rent rises, real increases in maintenance costs at 0.5% throughout the plan period and real increases on management costs of 0.5% until year 10.

By year 6, cash balances are expected to exceed debt levels and, in the event of no changes in assumptions, there is an ability to repay debt earlier than the 2036 repayment date.

Our sensitivity analyses show that each of the adverse scenarios could, assuming they arise as single events, be managed by the association. Some factors remain within our control such as rental policy, staffing levels, the timing of maintenance contracts and any 26 combination of adverse scenarios would need to be managed on an ongoing basis. The most extreme sensitivity (which combines six adverse single event scenarios) reduces cash resources by £13m over the long term but, with remedial action, would be capable of being managed.

We have the ability to draw down additional debt for appropriate purposes should the need or any suitable opportunity arise. We will continue to produce our long term projections on an annual basis. The short term annual budget exercise considers the first 12 months of the plan period in detail and the quarterly management accounts will be used to monitor achievement of the short term budget. As long as the short term position remains broadly in line with the annual budget then our overall financial plans will remain on target.

OUR PEOPLE Our people are our voluntary Board members and our paid staff, who together have shown resilience and dedication throughout our recent changes. Over the past two years or so we have had an interim management team and have initially focused our support and development activity on the Board in order to strengthen our governance. The progress through the Governance Improvement Plan has been remarkable and has given individuals the knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver this business plan.

We now have effective arrangements for the induction and appraisal of committee members and have recently attracted new members following a skills analysis. We have updated our code of conduct, our register of interests and our entitlements, payments and benefits policy. Our Board members have completed an extensive training programme and have included staff in much of this in an effort to improve joint working and shared understanding.

Over the next two years we will consolidate the improvements we have made to date and continue to develop a strong team of talented and committed people. This will include a review and update of our Board members' handbook, introducing team building activities for Board and staff, developing our staff and Board training & development plans and enhancing the work of the staffing sub-committee. We will re-introduce a staff appraisal system in 2018. We will continue with our regular monthly staff training sessions and to use these to introduce and support new procedures in service delivery.

OUR SYSTEMS We are committed to investing in our systems to improve our productivity, efficiency, response rates, and communication. Our current systems include key housing management, maintenance and finance processes.

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Our focus in this business plan is on upgrades or improvements, e.g. the new interface with our maintenance contactor, using mobile apps and SMS and fully exploiting the capabilities of our housing management software. We also wish to share our systems across the Group, where appropriate, to improve productivity.

We have two main computer systems. These are the Microsoft office systems, and our telephones and hardware, which are maintained by our IT Consultants. The software for our housing, rent and asset systems are provided and maintained by SDM and we are considering how to comprehensively improve how these are used. In the period of this plan, we will continue to maximise the efficiency opportunities and be able to build an accurate database of comparable performance information. This will be crucial to continuing to improve our services and performance.

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Section 7: Risks

OUR APPROACH Effective risk management is a core ingredient in any successful business. It is particularly important in increasing the likelihood of the successful delivery of the business plan. Managing the risks to our organisation reduces the chance of us having to deal with the unexpected and ensures proactive management rather than reactive crisis management. At a time when we continue to resolve old weaknesses it is especially important to reduce the number of unwanted surprises.

We have therefore adopted a comprehensive approach to risk management to ensure that we:  are more flexible and responsive to new internal and external demands;  are able to make informed decisions;  can provide assurance to the Board, the Audit & Risk Committee and the management team;  reduce incidents and control failures; and  are able to achieve our key targets and priorities.

OUR RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK We are providing much-needed strengthening to our risk management framework, setting out the process through which risks will be identified, assessed, controlled, monitored and reviewed. This framework is designed to:  integrate risk management into the culture of the organisation;  raise awareness of the need for risk management;  encourage a positive approach to risk management;  support improved decision making, innovation and performance through a good understanding of risks and their likely impact; and  manage risk in accordance with good practice.

OUR AUDIT & RISK COMMITTEE The Board is responsible for overseeing risk management in the organisation. It is assisted by the Audit & Risk Committee, charged with monitoring the management of high level risks, reviewing the risk appetite, ensuring proper controls are in place and annually reviewing the organisation’s approach to risk management.

The role of the former Internal Audit Committee was broadened and strengthened considerably in 2016. Previously focused only on internal audit, it has now become a group-wide sub-committee, addressing control effectiveness in both FPHA and the New Tannahill 29

Centre, and, as the Audit & Risk Committee, extending its remit to include both external and internal audit, and a key role in risk management.

OUR RISK REGISTER We maintain a detailed and up-to-date register of all risks (including strategic, operational, reputational, financial, etc.) where we set out their causes and potential impact, assign a named person to be responsible for their management, the controls we have in place together with a scoring system to help us to understand their seriousness. We use this proactively to identify, assess, control, monitor and review the risks to our organisation.

OUR RISK CONTROLS Over the past year or so we have significantly bolstered the controls we have in place as part of our drive towards good governance, effective business planning and safeguarding stakeholder assets. In doing this, we have taken account of the Scottish Housing Regulator’s Regulatory Standards of Governance and Financial Management (2012).

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Section 8: Review

MONITORING & REVIEW We will review and update this business plan every year as part of our annual business planning cycle. Although this is primarily an internal process, we are keen to widen the scope to include our new Tenants Scrutiny Panel and other key stakeholders.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT We have developed a performance management policy which sets out formally how individuals within FPHA can contribute towards achieving organisational goals, and how they will be held accountable for their performance. The preparation and updating of the business plan is at the heart of this process, and the respective roles and engagement of Board members, management team and frontline staff are clearly set out within the agreed Business Planning Process document.

There will be an annual review of which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should be reported to the Board as part of the monitoring and review process, to ensure that a limited number of appropriate indicators are identified which will demonstrate whether or not strategic objectives are being successfully progressed and met.

Staff will continue to be fully engaged with management in drawing up annual delivery plans to move forward the strategic objectives and key priorities identified within the business plan. Following Board approval of the business plan for the year ahead, the staff appraisal process will be used to cascade delivery plans and targets down to individual staff objectives and targets through the annual appraisals to be held in April and May each year, and also to measure performance relating to the previous year. On-going one-to-one meetings, including quarterly reviews of individual tasks and targets, will maintain the focus throughout the year. The staff appraisal process is being revised and improved to reflect this approach.

Board will receive a quarterly review of progress with the business plan which will include:  Delivery plan tasks programmed for completion  KPI targets – position at each quarter end  Quarterly management accounts, including financial KPIs and loan covenant compliance  Review of key risks affecting successful delivery of the business plan

OUTCOME-BASED APPROACH This business plan signals a move towards a more outcome-based approach to business planning. We want to be able to measure our social impact as well as our operational performance. Measuring impact is very difficult as many who have struggled with this will 31 attest, and often despite bringing significantly more skills and resources to the task than we can. Nonetheless, we are motivated to achieve our vision and make a difference in Ferguslie Park and are keen to be able to demonstrate this unequivocally. Over the next three years we will develop and implement a new evaluation framework.

OUR EVIDENCE BASE We have made significant progress over the past year or so to develop our evidence base and improve our assurance levels and are working on an improved performance reporting framework. We intend to carry our further stock condition surveys to improve the accuracy of our property database, to continue to benchmark our performance with the other members of FLAIR and Scotland’s Housing Network, and to undertake a customer profiling exercise to allow us a better understanding of our tenants’ needs and expectations. All of this evidence will be used to underpin future business plans.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS The following appendices begin with the key indicators to be reported quarterly to the Board. These are linked to our objectives and priorities.

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KPIs for Strategic Objective 1: To provide excellent homes, services and a local environment to be proud of.

Outcomes Actions Key Performance Targets Timescales Lead Responsibility 17/18 18/19 19/20 1 High overall tenant satisfaction with FPHA as a landlord – Regular independent Pulse Satisfaction Grow very satisfied proportion of 41.3% 45% 50% Management Team valued by the community Surveys to track and respond to changing Overall satisfaction from 15.8%, to views, priorities 50%. (2013 performance was 41.3%) (2017/18 performance was xx%) 2 More tenants happy with the standard of their home Implement and communicate progress & Grow very satisfied proportion of 30.5% 35% 40% Head of Operations satisfaction with investment programme Overall satisfaction with quality from of home improvements 9.7% to 40% Re-procure Repairs and Gas Maintenance (2013 performance was 30.5%) contracts for quality and speed (2017/18 performance was xx%) 3 More tenants satisfied with services Implement and manage Housing & Grow satisfaction with the repairs 92% 93% 95% Head of Operations Property Services Delivery Plans and maintenance service provided by FPHA from 86% to 98% Influence Council to improve roads, (2013 performance was 92%) drains and flood prevention (Agree an (2017/18 performance was xx%) Area Environmental Management Plan) Grow very satisfied proportion of 17% 35% 45% Head of Operations satisfaction with overall management of the neighbourhood from 6.1% to 45% (2013 performance was 38%) (2017/18 performance was xx%) 4 Gas Safety Compliance Manage achievement of gas safety checks Maintain 100% gas safety checks 100% 100% 100% Head of Operations within regulations within 12 months (2017/18 performance was xx%)

KPIs for Strategic Objective 2: To support and enable local people to realise their full potential in a vibrant community.

Outcomes Actions Key Performance Targets Performance Timescales Lead Responsibility 2017/18 17/18 18/19 19/20 5 New Investment in Ferguslie Park people so Support the Tannahill Centre as a Traineeships/apprentices 1 1 1 Head of Operations residents recognise increased opportunities (for vehicle of social impact work, training, leisure, culture) Environmental Improvements 1 1 1 Include Community Benefit requirements in Procurement Support for Community Events 1 1 1

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KPIs for Strategic Objective 3: To inspire confidence and trust from our tenants, staff and partners.

Outcomes Actions Key Performance Targets Timescales Lead Responsibility 17/18 18/19 19/20 6 Excellent perceptions of FPHA as a landlord Regular independent Pulse Satisfaction Grow agreement with Landlord has a 85% 90% 95% Management Team Surveys to track and respond to changing Good Reputation in the Area from views 81% to 95% (2013 performance was 93%) (2017/18 performance was xx%) 7 Co-operative and productive relationship with Agree & deliver Joint Action Plan Agree future for unpopular council In 18/19 Management Team Renfrewshire Council delivering excellent environmental Local newspaper articles homes. and shared services Support local council housing service Establish common allocations policy In 18/19 delivery in Tannahill Centre Partners deliver service standards & responsibilities for environment In 18/19 8 Co-operative and productive relationships with other Secure and maintain political support for Quarterly meetings with all local and - 4 4 Management Team stakeholders, eg Scottish Government, FLAIR. Ferguslie Group national politicians Campaign on effects of Welfare Reform and SIMD, including via 9 Streets Project Six-monthly meetings to identify - 2 2 Contribute to FLAIR annual partnership relevant support and programmes delivery plan actions with Scottish Government Deliver annual FLAIR commitments - 100% 100%

KPIs for Strategic Objective 4: To develop a strong team of talented and committed people.

Outcomes Actions Key Performance Targets Performance Timescales Lead Responsibility 2017/18 9 Highly skilled and experienced Board and staff Recruit new Board members with Achieve a Board of 12 ( excl appropriate skills, knowledge & statutory appointees) Annually Management Team values. 75% of Board members serve Annually Management Team Support all committee members for 5 years with induction, training, appraisals 75% Board attendance at Annually Chair etc. Refresh Board induction for meetings and sub committees long-serving members No more than 2 staff departures Annually Chief Executive Networking with peers and best per year performers Participation in FLAIR meetings and Max of 3.92% of working days Annually Chief Executive training for different Board & staff lost through sickness groups

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Use membership of SHARE, SFHA, EVH, GWSF

KPIs for Strategic Objective 5: To safeguard our assets, sound financial position, long-term affordability and sustainability.

Outcomes Actions Key Performance Targets Timescales Lead Responsibility 10 Rent collection is high and arrears are under control Review best practice, Policy, Procedures Reduce Arrears to top quartile by 17/18 18/19 19/20 Head of Operations and training 2021 6.5% 6.4% 5.9% (2017/18 performance was xx%) 11 Responsive maintenance costs compare well with peers New repairs contract with manageable Reduce repairs per house from £750 Head of Operations costs to national median of £487 a year by £630 £550 £487 2020 (2017/18 performance was £xxx) 12 Properties are in good condition and high demand Implement Investment Programme on Reduce days to let to top quartile by Head of Operations time and budget 2020 17 days 16 days 15 days (2016 performance 25 days) (2017/18 performance was xx days) 13 Homes are affordable to rent and live in Pursue value for money to reduce costs Rent increases at maximum of CPI CPI CPI CPI Head of Operations Investment programme to include energy for 3 years efficiency measures Consider district heating systems All homes to meet energy efficiency 100% 100% 100% Join consortia providing affordable targets ( EESSH) energy, eg Citrus, Our Power

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SWOT MATRIX STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES  People – our staff and Board Members are committed, loyal, approachable, and  Our capacity - we have increasing capacity in both staff and Board and we are resilient. We are establishing a more open and collaborative culture. removing interim staff posts. However, the availability of certain skills may change  Strategic clarity – we now have a good understanding of local issues and a clear and there may be a loss of momentum as senior staff change. strategic focus. We are more forward-looking and have improved strategic  Service performance – we know where we still need to improve e.g. rent arrears, void alignment across our Group and with our partners. letting standards, windows and door replacement programmes, etc.  Customer insight - we know our tenants well. We carry out regular surveys and  Housing needs - we know that we have some difficulty in adapting our properties seek to deliver a personal service. which means that our tenants with particular needs often seek transfers.  Service performance – we have areas of good performance e.g. low voids & rent  Stakeholder confidence – the confidence others place in us remains fragile and we loss from empty houses, SHQS compliance, emergency repairs, keeping tenants know that any failure to deliver on our promises puts this at risk. informed, rents seen as VFM, etc.  Facilities & infrastructure - the access, layout, condition and comfort of our offices  Asset management – we are committed to maintaining the high quality of our are no longer fit for purpose. Our broadband service is very poor. homes and have a major programme of improvements underway.  Business improvement - we have not yet completed our business improvement  Financial position – we are in good financial health and have the confidence of programme which turned out to be bigger than expected and will need current our lenders. resources for the next 3 years.  Governance – we have gone through a comprehensive governance improvement programme and are well placed to sustain good practice.  Customer engagement – we are engaging better with our tenants and the local community, e.g. the huge response to our rent consultation.  Fair rents – tenants say their rent is value for money and our rents are reducing in real terms. OPPORTUNITIES THREATS  Partnership working – either directly or indirectly to improve health, education  Economic – range of factors including BREXIT, inflation, fuel costs, affordability, etc., and employability in our communities, e.g. the 9 Streets Project. but most significantly at this time, Welfare Reform.  Relationships in Government – we have the support of very senior influencers  Affordability - fuel poverty, macroeconomic and more local factors place which we have to take advantage of. considerable pressure on the affordability of living in our homes to many households.  Place-making – we have the advantage of a clear geographic focus and a  Health & wellbeing – many of our residents experience serious and persistent current policy agenda focused on place-making. disadvantage e.g. long term illness, mental health, employability, addiction.  Meeting demand - we want to respond to the increasing demand for our  Competition – increasing competition for funding and/or support, with Renfrewshire properties and expand the opportunities we offer. We are keen to build new Council now wishing to build in Ferguslie Park and tenants potentially choosing to go homes and better meet the needs of households with serious health issues. elsewhere e.g. growth of private rented sector.  Wider Role – working with NTC to adopt an outcome focus, increase our social  Relationships – we are keen to collaborate with partners, but building and impact and play to our strengths as a social enterprise and anchor organisation. maintaining strong and effective relationship is not completely within our gift.  Differentiation – the significant size of the private rented sector means we can  Reputation – previous bad press has been detrimental to the trust and loyalty of our showcase what we can offer in terms of quality, price and security. tenants and any failure to deliver on our promises could damage the progress we  New Technologies - making better use of ICT e.g. social media. have made, as could a poorly received Intervention Report when published by SHR.

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Statements of Comprehensive Income and Financial Position

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