Board Meeting Agenda
Tuesday 02 February 2021 - 18:30-21:00 Zoom video conference
Lewisham Homes Board Members: Ainsley Forbes (AF) (Chair), Ophelia Bobori (OB) (Vice-Chair), Simon Anderson (SA), Nigel Bowness (NB), Owen Fox (OF), Steve Gough (SG), Neil Isaac (NI), Kevin Stearns (KS), Evelyn Thomas (ET), Cllr Caroline Kalu (CK), Cllr Mark Ingleby] (MI), Cllr Susan Wise (SW), John Crawford (JC)
Lewisham Homes Staff: Margaret Dodwell (MD) CEO, Rowann Limond (RL) Director of Finance and Technology, Jon Kanareck (JK), Director of Resident Services, James Shaw (JS), Director of Property Services, Lis Rodrigues (LR), Director of Development, Zeiniz Virani (ZV) Director of Change and Transformation, Helen Harvey (HH) Head of Governance and Assurance (Minutes)
London Borough of Lewisham: Fen Beckman (FB) Director of Housing Services
Guests: Mark Newstead (MN) Director of Property and Safety (from 1 March 2021), Brian Burton (BB), Head of Stock Investment and Asset Management, Tricia Hemens (TH), Head of Repairs
Standard Items 1. Welcome and Introductions Verbal CEO 2. Apologies for Absence Verbal CEO 3. Declarations of Interest Verbal All 4. Minutes of Previous Meeting – 24 November 2020 Paper Chair 18:30 18:40 4a. Matters Arising/Action log Paper Chair 5. Restricted Item Paper 5a. Restricted Item Paper 6. CEO Report Paper CEO 18:40 18:55 7. Restricted Item Paper Strategic/Decision Items 8. Restricted Item Paper 18:55 19:00 9. Annual Business Plan 2021/22 Paper CEO 19:00 19:15 10. . Budget Setting 2021/22 Paper DoFT 19:15 19:25 11. Restricted Item Paper DoFT 19:25 19:35 12. Restricted Item Paper DoFT 19:35 19:40 13. Restricted Item Paper 19:40 19:45 14. Restricted Item Paper 19:45 19:50 Discussion / Monitoring Items 15. Restricted Item Paper 19:50 20:00 16. Restricted Item Paper 20:00 20:15 17. Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs – Month 9 Paper DoRS 20:15 20:25 Consent Agenda - Information Items to Note 18. Health & Safety Wellbeing – Annual Report Paper CEO - - 19. Governance Report Paper HoG&A - -
20. Restricted Item Paper - -
Forward Plan 21. March 2021 to March 2022 Paper Chair 20:25 20:30 Closing Items 22. . Any Other Business Verbal All 20:30 20:35 23. Review of Meeting Verbal All 20:35 20:40
The next Board meeting will be held on Tuesday 30 March 2021 - 18:30 to 20:30 Board Minutes – PART A MinutesTuesday 24 November 2020- 18:30 -20:30 Via Zoom video conference
Lewisham Homes Board Members: Ainsley Forbes (Chair) (AF), Ophelia Bobori (Vice-Chair) (OB), Simon Anderson (SA), Nigel Bowness (NB), Owen Fox (OF), Steve Gough (SG), Neil Isaac (NI), Kevin Stearns (KS), Evelyn Thomas (ET) Cllr Caroline Kalu (CK), Cllr Mark Ingleby (MI), Cllr Susan Wise (SW), John Crawford (JC)
Lewisham Homes Staff: Margaret Dodwell (MD), CEO, Rowann Limond (RL), Director of Finance and Technology, Jon Kanareck (JK), Director of Resident Services, James Shaw (JS), Director of Property Services, Lis Rodrigues (LR),
Director of Development, Zeiniz Virani (ZV), Director of Change and Transformation, Helen Harvey (HH), Head of Governance and Assurance (Minutes)
London Borough of Lewisham: Fen Beckman (FB), Director of Housing Services
1 Welcome and Introductions 1.1 MD opened the meeting at 18:30 and welcomed everyone to the meeting
1.2 MD welcomed ZV to his first full board meeting and confirmed to all board members that FB is the permanent Director of Housing Services for LBL. 2 Apologies for Absence 2.1 None 3 Declarations of Interest 3.1 None 4 Appointment of Chair and Vice Chair of Board 4.1 HH presented the paper setting out the process for the election of the Board Chair and Vice Chair and advised board, there was one nomination for both these positions, and they are from different constituent groups.
Decision - The Board agreed the recommendation to elect and appoint Ainsley Forbes as Chair of the Board. Ophelia Bobori as Vice-Chair of the Board.
4.2 Following the recommendation, AF as chair proceeded with the board meeting. 5 Minutes of the last meeting – 29 September 2020 5.1 The Board received the Minutes of the last meeting
5.2 No additional questions were raised
5.3 Decision: The minutes were approved as a true and accurate record. 6 Matters Arising/Action log 6.1 The written updates on the action log were noted 7 CEO Report 7.1 The Board received the CEO report which focussed on Operating Environment and Sector updates and Corporate and Operational updates including continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, independent review of compliance with consumer standards, Ombudsman’s self- assessment, Ombudsman decision of maladministration, Court decision over water charges, fly-tipping and Inside Housing’s resident safety comms campaign.
7.2 MD provided highlights from her CEO report and advised board, the white paper has been issued and confirmed there are areas LH have been working towards, although it needs to be recognised we have more work to do. Cultural change will be a key part of the transformation programme and respect to our residents must be embedded.
Page 1 of 80 Board Minutes – PART A MinutesTuesday 24 November 2020- 18:30 -20:30 Via Zoom video conference
7.3 MD advised the Thames Water refund programme is underway and we are working very closely with LBL to design the criteria and the processes and this is a priority. KS enquired, how far back does this go. RL advised, it dates back to the introduction of the water sellers act in 2001. There is a formula that has been agreed with the lawyers in regards to the refund amounts.
7.4 OF enquired if the ombudsman decision within the CEO report, had it been through our independent adjudication. JK advised there are lessons to be learned for LH.
7.5 MI thanked MD for the update on fly tipping and conveyed his thanks to those involved.
7.6 Evelyn enquired what messages are we telling our residents in regards to the compliance of the consumer standards. MD advised, we reference our position generally through the annual report to our residents. The Fire Doors programme is scheduled for June 2021 and we are working through the damp and mould issues and what this means, as part of the dialogue we are having with LBL about responding to the stock condition survey. 8 Governance Report 8.1 The board received the Governance report
8.2 Decision - Board noted the updates in the Governance report and approved the following; the Committee Chairs and members for the following Committees: Audit, Risk and Assurance Governance and People Investment Service and Performance the Terms of Reference for the Service and Performance Committee, subject to the amendment of the consumer standards and the role of the committee, in HH regards to officers completing the self-assessment and the committee being responsible for the overview of the outcome including action monitoring. 9 Social Value and Social Impact Strategy 9.1 The board received the Social Value and Social Impact Strategy.
9.2 LR introduced the strategy and set out the requirements in how we will ensure via procurement that everyone understands the social value aspects. Board were advised, a report on social value has been added to the forward plan for each September alongside the Lewisham Deal. Board were asked to note, the social value strategy is not retrospective and monitoring will commence from December 2020.
9.3 JC enquired how the strategy will keep pace with changes in regards to procurement practices/legislation. LR advised, this would fall outside the social value strategy and any changes would be reflected within procurement processes.
9.4 SA enquired if we were able to introduce an executive summary at the beginning. AF advised he agreed with SA and requested a plain english executive summary be developed. LR MD confirmed a high level introduction will be produced when this is published to sit above the document.
9.5 There was a discussion between the link of the social value strategy and the EDI strategy. It was confirmed when we monitor the social value impact, this will be analysed by the strands.
Page 2 of 80 Board Minutes – PART A MinutesTuesday 24 November 2020- 18:30 -20:30 Via Zoom video conference
9.6 Decision – Board approved the Social Value and Social Impact Strategy for 2020–2025. 10 Fire Risk Management Policy revision 10.1 The board received the Fire Risk Management Policy revision.
10.2 JS advised, there are no material changes to the policy, we have had to update the policy in regards to job titles due to the requirements of the BS9997:2019 and if LH are successful in achieving, we will be the first London Borough to achieve this and only the fourth national housing organisation to achieve this
10.3 KS advised, although the policy is a minor update he wanted it recognised this is a really good policy. KS advised he will send the RIBA guidance to HH, who will share this with board when the minutes are circulated.
10.4 NI enquired, where the board sits with responsibility. JS advised, the accountable person under building safety legislation is the landlord. It was noted, LBL could delegate responsibility via the management agreement.
10.5 Decision – Board approved the updates to the Fire Risk Management Policy. 11 Financial Monitoring Month 7 11.1 The board received the Financial Monitoring Month 7 report.
11.2 RL advised, the report format has been changed to reflect the inclusion of the transformation costs. A more forensic dive into the figures has taken place and sets out the worst case scenario and we will have to call on reserves; although ELT are seeking to mitigate this as much as possible The trading account is looking better, however we do have an issue with the acquisitions and Place Ladywell. Discussions with LBL regarding Place Ladywell are taking place, affected whilst the council make a decision on the site.
11.3 OF enquired if the acquisitions have a notional interest change. RL advised, yes, there is a notional levy interest charge and we do not make the assumption the money is free, we assume it is a low interest account.
11.4 Board noted the period 7 finance report. 12 Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs – Month 7 12.1 JK took board through the report and provided updates in regards to KPI’s, of which Income Collection on General Needs are doing really well. Board were advised, we are only 0.5% down on this time last year.
12.2 JK advised, voids are an issue and the change in the council policy from direct lets to choice based lettings (CBL) especially in regards to sheltered housing, has had an impact and is a challenge for LH.
12.3 A general discussion regarding Freedom of Interest (FOI) requests was discussed and board were assured that Directors have oversight. It was also noted that the process will be reviewed in the new year, as part of the Data Protection Officers (DPO) role.
ET advised she felt the actions are very generic and asked how we know they are achieving 12.4 value. JK advised, some align to the consumer standards whilst others we would need to consider further how they provide us with the outcome we require. MD advised,
Page 3 of 80 Board Minutes – PART A MinutesTuesday 24 November 2020- 18:30 -20:30 Via Zoom video conference
we recognise that when we get our programme office, we will look at setting ourselves smarter actions with aligned outcomes.
12.5 Board noted the performance against our annual business plan and KPIs – Month 7. 13 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 13.1 NB advised he welcomed the report and enquired how residents are updating their strands via the portal. JK advised we have struggled collecting data and depositing it. As part of the Target Operating Model (TOM) development, we will be discussing how data is used and how we will use data to target and segment residents for customer service delivery.
13.2 Board noted the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report. 14.0 Safeguarding Annual Report 14.1 Board noted the safeguarding annual report 15.0 Briefing notes from Committees 15.1 Board noted the committee briefing notes, listed below. 6th October – Performance Committee 13th October - Repairs Business Development Committee 16.0 Forward Plans 16.1 No further revisions were agreed at board 17.0 AOB 17.1 There were no formal items raised under AOB
There being no other business, the meeting proceeded to Part B.
The next Board meeting will be held on 02 February 2021 Location / Zoom or Skype Meeting
Page 4 of 80 Lewisham Homes Board - Matters Arising Log - Open Actions (Part A)
Red To be discussed at meeting Amber Update not due at this meeting Green To be closed at the meeting unless there are further updates are requested
Ref. No Report Matters Arising Officer Update RAG
24 November 2020 8.2 Governance Report Board noted the updates in the Governance report and approved the following: Helen Harvey These amendments were made and shared with Chair of SaPC and are being • the Terms of Reference for the Service and Performance Committee, subject to taken to the first SaPC Committee for information. the amendment of the consumer standards and the role of the committee, in regards to officers completing the self-assessment and the committee being responsible for the overview of the outcome including action monitoring.
9.4 Social Value and Social Impact SA enquired if we were able to introduce an executive summary at the beginning. Lis Rodrigues As agreed, the launch of the SV strategy will include a plain English executive Strategy AF advised he agreed with SA and requested a plain english executive summary summary. The team are working on the implementation plan for the Strategy be developed. MD confirmed a high level introduction will be produced when this prior to launch. is published to sit above the document.
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Page 6 of 80 Agenda Item 5a.
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Report to: Board
Date of Meeting: 2 February 2021 Agenda No: 6 Title of Report: CEO Update Report Class: Information Report Author: Margaret Dodwell, CEO [email protected] Action Required: Board to note
1.0 Purpose of the Report
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the external operating environment and to update Board Members on items which are not covered elsewhere on this agenda. There is also a confidential CEO Update at Item 7.
2.0 General, sector and local overview
2020 was a year of uncertainty and Covid-19 has again dominated the early weeks of 2021; the mutated virus has brought significantly higher infection rates and human tragedy. The third national lockdown is yet to make a significant impact on infection and mortality rates and at the time of writing the UK was in the midst of what Matt Hancock described as, ‘the most difficult weeks of the virus’.
Taking a positive stance, mass vaccination has commenced and people are discussing an eventual end to restrictions in the coming months and there was an eleventh hour trade deal with the EU.
The deal agreed with the EU was welcomed by most, but there are still significant changes to come that will unfold and impact the daily lives of staff, residents and the housing sector.
The economic impact of the pandemic continues to unfold. U.K. GDP dropped by 25% in April 2020 and by October 2020 had returned to 8% below pre pandemic. November however, saw an end to the six months of growth the economy shrank by 2.6% and this further lockdown will inevitably mean further falls fall in GDP. Eventually, the economic shock will dissipate and the lasting damage and structural shifts to the economy will become clearer.
There is speculation that the 3 March 2021 Budget could include announcements about welfare policies, furlough and other economic interventions to ease the impact of the pandemic. The last Budget announced the £1bn Building Safety Fund; with the prevalence of high-rise stock in this borough, it would be helpful to see more financial support announced.
One structural economic shift that is expected is the increased popularity of working at home on either a full-time or part-time basis; this will impact residents and the impact of the home becoming a part-time work place may impact on landlords.
The official unemployment figures published in mid-December 2020 do not show dramatic changes nationally and this may impart be due to the fact that the Job Retention Scheme has been extended and those who are furloughed are shown as employed. The figures showed
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that London has been hardest hit with a rate of unemployment of 8.1% in November 2020 and levels of employment amongst 16 to 24-year-olds have been most adversely affected. Lewisham is a young borough with 1 in 4 people 19 or under and 41% of 19 year olds not having Level 3 qualifications, below the average for London.
On 17 November 2020, the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government [MHCLG] published the long-awaited housing White Paper, The Charter for Social Housing Residents. It is positioned as a paper seeking to improve the experience of the four million households living in social housing in the UK.
The paper closely resembles the principles of the 2018 Green Paper and stigma remains a theme; it introduces tactical measures to ensure residents are safe, listened to and empowered with greater access to information and redress to hold landlords to account. Information has been provided to the Board, outside of the normal meeting cycle.
It delegates responsibility to the Regulator of Social Housing [RSH] for both developing and actioning the way forward for consumer regulation. This change is seen as being more significant for local authority landlords who have traditionally dealt with RSH less than housing Associations – who are subject to proactive economic regulation by RSH. The change in consumer regulation regime has an emphasis on slick and effective complaints resolution and requirements for performance reporting and to demonstrate that both involve residents in a meaningful way. Co regulation is inherent.
The review by HQN on compliance with the consumer standards will be presented to the Board at the February away day along with a plan to address the findings. This will also inform the Board’s work, in that session, on the Target Operating Model.
3.0 Corporate and Operational Updates
3.1 Covid-19
The Board has been informed, on an ongoing basis, about changes to services arising from risk assessments. The repairs service continues to deliver essential repairs only inside dwellings. Major works inside homes have been paused to minimise contact; health and safety and works of a statutory nature continue – these have been rescheduled to focus predominantly on communal areas. The focus on maintaining asset compliance remains in sharp focus but access is inevitably more challenging.
Vulnerability calls to residents in both general needs and independent living have resumed or the frequency increased.
The People and Governance Committee received a report on the impact of the pandemic on staff and the well-being arrangements in place, at their meeting on 12 January 2021. They have requested a further update at their next meeting.
Coronavirus has led to an increase in unemployment in the borough and to proactively support tenancy sustainment, our employment and training offer has been reviewed, to ensure it continues to effectively support residents. The Community Relations team launched a consultation in January (Reset, Reskill, Rebuild) to understand how residents have been impacted and their current employment and training needs.
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3.2 Fly tipping progress and Keep Britain Tidy partnership work
The Board have requested a further update on fly tipping. Overall tipping is up by c13% from 2.4m kg in 2019 to 2.7kg in 2020. Between the May to December period, the increase was 19%, which includes an 81% increase in miscellaneous items like fridges, mattresses, tyres and gas bottles. Tipping costs have risen by 19% compared with 2019.
The Environment Team are working with Keep Britain Tidy charity to implement some innovative new policies to counteract fly tipping and to work with residents on collecting bulk waste. This will be carried out as a pilot in three different areas with a different approach in each area:
• CSI tape – the caretaker tapes round fly tip with extensive CSI tape as soon as it is found. Bulk collection team remove fly tip after 3-4 days, not sooner to further highlight the act. The perpetrator may see it and realise the effects of fly tipping and resident’s attention will be drawn to it. More time to remove these fly tips means priority can be given dangerous fly tips. • Chalk stencil – same as above but chalk stencil instead of CSI tape. • Friendly and polite notices on more accidental misuse of bulk collection area. Leaving notices on items, which are not suitable for bulk collection point or left on the wrong day.
Success of the pilots will be jointly evaluated with residents. In addition, the team continue to seek funding for more extensive waste containerisation.
3.3 Thames Water Legal Decision – Water Reselling
Lewisham Homes (LH) continue to work with LBL to identify both the scale of the potential refunds and the number of tenancies affected. As with other authorities in this position, it has been agreed that the priority will be current tenants, with former tenants being subject to a claim process, which is yet to be decided.
3.4 New Leasehold Forum
The first Leaseholder Forum, as part of the revised resident engagement framework, was held on the 14 January and the Director of Resident Services chaired the initial meeting. The meeting was to discuss terms of reference, how the meetings will be chaired and future agenda items. Turnout was high with 65 Zoom participants with close to 100 attendees.
It is clear this forum will fill a current void, with feedback suggesting this was a real opportunity to build the relationship with leaseholders who welcomed the forum as a positive step forward. The forum agreed to appoint an independent chair and the proposed Chair, a leasehold expert, was agreed. This chair Alan Wake, CEO of the National Leasehold Group, will undertake this on a pro-bono to demonstrate independence.
Whilst these meetings are intended to be quarterly, a follow up meeting will be held in February to start more detailed discussions on areas of interest to Leaseholders. The meetings will then run quarterly.
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3.5 Development Programme update
There continues to be good progress with 263 homes on site, expected increase to 295 by March 2021. The additional 32 homes starting this financial year will be at Somerville and Endwell.
On 13 January 2021, The Mayor & Cabinet approved the revised brief for the Ladywell site which comprises the phased redevelopment of the site, including the retention of PLACE and redevelopment of the site at the rear (including the nursery site) to provide 69 new homes.
The final stage of the architect’s selection process for Achilles will take place with residents in January. The financial analysis of the scheme is underway and consideration of strategic decisions regarding land assembly and viability are being discussed with Lewisham Council.
Meaningful, inclusive engagement is challenging at this time. Residents are reporting that large zoom meetings during Covid and tier 4 lockdowns are not working for them and therefore the team is looking at more appropriate methods such as individual phone calls and smaller workshops. This will add delay to the programme but engagement and support from local residents and stakeholders is important to the success of the scheme and the planning process.
3.6 Move to Laurence House
The move of the Lewisham Homes office to Laurence House will take place on 22 February; the date was pushed back due to the pandemic.
The project team are working with LBL and their nominated contractors to establish the scope and costing for the improvement works at the Wearside depot, which also forms part of the project.
3.7 Fire Safety Campaign Award
LH were recognised as one of the winners of Inside Housing’s Safety Resident Safety Campaign for our work on fire safety throughout 2020. Highlights included animated videos for residents, a multi-channel communications approach utilising social media, our website and our resident magazine and our work replacing the cladding at Hatfield Close and Gerrard House. LH also worked closely with partners including Lewisham council, United Living and London Fire Brigade to maximise campaign reach.
3.8 Staffing
Mark Newstead has been appointed as the Director of Property and Safety and will join on 1 March 2021. Mark will be observing this Board meeting.
James Shaw, the long term Interim Director of Property Services will leave on 12 March 2021. I would like to take this opportunity to thank James for his considerable efforts and contribution to Lewisham Homes since joining in June 2018.
Dan Oehlman has been appointed Head of Business Improvement and will join on 1 March 2021.
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3.9 Community Engagement Update
The regular half-yearly update on activities is appended.
Appended: Community Engagement update
Page 12 of 80 Item 6a. Appendix 1 Community Engagement update – July 2020 – January 2021
Community Engagement Framework
• Workshops have been held on bulk refuse, modernising caretaking, equality and diversity and the community engagement framework • The first TRA Chairs meeting took place in December 2020, with the next meeting planned for February 2021 • The first Leasehold Forum took place on 14 January 2021 • An initial Street Properties TRA meeting took place on 21 January 2021 • The Resident Scrutiny Committee continue to meet online. They are currently scrutinising resident ‘on-boarding’
Community Investment Fund projects
• Projects funded in round one projects have progressed/completed, including the transformation of Jerningham Court’s outdoor area from concrete to a communal garden • We received 28 applications to round two of the community investment fund. The Community Investment Fund panel is currently assessing applications
Lewisham Homes Academy
• Our CIH accredited online ‘Introducing Housing Services’ course was delivered virtually to 15 residents in November 2020, in partnership with London Metropolitan University • Changemakers completed the business support training to 15 local social enterprises. We are planning to set up an online pitch night before March 2021 • There has been lots of interest in the childminding course, which once successfully completed will enable residents to become childminders. The course will start in February 2021
Community Relations Team projects
• Lewisham Homes supported the Lewisham Mayoresses to raise over £35,000 to support schools in Lewisham to offer free school meals to over 1,000 children. Over 1,000 hampers were given to schools to distribute over Christmas to families • The Telegraph Hill Orchard project has been adapted to meet covid-19 guidelines • Christmas activities included an advent window competition and letters to Father Christmas • We delivered an online careers fair in July 2020. The National Careers Service offers fortnightly career support to residents • A recipe exchange project has been launched which will be included in a cookbook for the Evelyn community store Christmas Hampers The Albany Partnership
The Albany has continued to deliver a range of different support and engagement opportunities for young people, adapting activities to work within covid guidelines. Love 2 Dance has moved online and new projects have been developed to work with smaller groups of young people. The focus has been on empowering young people, building confidence and developing routes to employment.
Page 13 of 80 Item 6a. Appendix 1 Community Engagement update – July 2020 – January 2021
The Creative Coding project supported 30 young people in person. It continues to develop the coding skills of young people online, with a 6 week paid work experience placement for 10 young people.
The social impact of these projects totals £168,947, using the HACT social value calculator. We invested £33,000 during this period, so this is £136,000 worth of increased value. The HACT calculator is recognised in the housing sector as way to measure the social impact of community investment activities.
Development
We continue to engage via commonplace on all our development sites.
• Young residents worked with Stik Animation to make a short film about the estate regeneration • We trained Community Champions • Meetings were held virtually with architects to feed into design • Door knocking was completed when restrictions allowed
Animation Young Mayor presenting certificates Social Value Projects to young residents who participated in the animation project.
Lewisham Homes’ suppliers and contractors have supported residents through social value:
• AD group have supported Feed the Hill, to deliver food to residents on Achilles Street and the immediate area • Engie have redecorated the homes of 3 care leavers, cleared a garden on Honor Oak, developed a debt support website and made a donation to Pepys Social Supermarket • Engie contributed alongside Foster Property Maintenance and Mulalley to the Legendary Club, who offered meals and Christmas hampers to young people on the Pepys estate in partnership with Youth First • FFT have sponsored a resilience training programme for 8 ten/eleven year olds at Gringling Gibbons School. They have also sponsored regular counselling for six residents, a community garden on the Evelyn estate. They provided 250 Christmas hampers for hostel residents • United Living held a Christmas Card competition for young residents
Upcoming activities
• A new resident employment consultation ‘Reset, Reskill, Rebuild’ has been launched to understand the employment and training support residents require • English as a second language (ESOL) classes with Lewisham College will start after lockdown • A community nursery is being developed in partnership with a range of organisations in Lewisham • We are developing a community laundry proposal, which will potentially be on the Honor Oak estate • A third social supermarket is being set up in Achilles Street
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Page 15 of 80 Agenda Item 8.
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Report to: Board
Date of Meeting: 2 February 2021 Agenda No: 9 Title of Report: Annual Business Plan 2021/22 Report Class: Decision Report Author: Samuel Whitwell, Head of Performance and Programmes [email protected] Action Required: Board to agree the recommendations of the report
1.0 Purpose
1.1 This paper sets out the proposed Annual Business Plan for 2021/22.
2.0 Recommendation(s)
2.1 Board approves the Annual Business Plan for 2021/22.
2.2 Board to note the Annual Business Plan will then go to LBL Housing Select Committee and Mayor and Cabinet for final approval.
3.0 Implications
3.1 Strategic Objective
3.1.1 The Annual Business Plan 2021/22 supports the delivery of the Lewisham Homes Corporate Plan, 2019-2023 – “Building Our Future”, which was developed in collaboration with Lewisham Homes Board, Lewisham Council, staff, and residents. This business plan represents the third year of the four-year Corporate Plan.
3.1.2 The Annual Business Plan also supports the aims and objectives of Lewisham Council and aligns with key priorities in Lewisham’s Corporate Strategy, notably on:
Tackling the housing crisis Building an inclusive local economy Making Lewisham greener Building safer communities. 3.1.3 The plan continues Lewisham Homes’ commitment to the Mayor’s primary political priority of building new homes for social rent.
3.1.4 The plan introduces ‘Raising our Game’; the transformation and change agenda that will drive the strategic objectives of Lewisham Homes, including our target operating model.
3.2 Financial Risks
3.2.1 During the setting of this year’s proposed Business Plan, we have made sure that any costs associated with the actions are contained either within the management fee or within the transformation budget. There are no further costs anticipated which are outside this envelope.
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3.3 Legal Risks
3.3.1 None relevant to this report.
4.0 Background
4.1 This report includes the full draft of the business plan (Appendix 1), and consists of the following sections:
Context Objectives KPIs Property Safety Scorecard (New – see 6.1) Finance
4.2 The objectives have been developed over the last few months in line with our four-year Corporate Plan objectives, and are grouped by our five ambitions; Landlord, Placemaker, Employer, Partner and Enterprise.
4.3 Each task supports the delivery of one of the strands of our Corporate Plan, and each task has been allocated a Directorate lead, a target date for delivery, and a ‘definition of done’. The definitions of done give an indication to Board of what constitutes an objective being completed. These are attached to this report at Appendix 2.
4.4 Board should note that only the context section is in the final designed format. Once Board has approved the content, or any amendments are made, the whole plan will be moved, along with the objectives, into the format. The Board will see the final version before going forward to Housing Select Committee and Mayor and Cabinet.
5.0 KPIs
5.1 There are 20 KPIs included in the 2021/22 business plan. These are the same KPIs as for 2020/21, with the exception of compliance KPIs, which have been moved into a separate scorecard (see 6.0, below). A wider and more granular range of performance indicators are measured and tracked across the business, and these are captured and reported at Directorate plan level.
5.2 The Executive Leadership Team would like to discuss with Board the possibility of moving to the Net Promoter Score as the outward-facing satisfaction KPI, whilst continuing to track satisfaction in detail through the Service and Performance Committee. All satisfaction KPIs are included in this report for discussion and the Director of Resident Services will lead the discussion.
5.3 There is a detailed exposition of satisfaction in the P9 performance paper at Item 17, which expands on some of the issues.
6.0 Property Safety Scorecard
6.1 New to this year’s business plan is the ‘Property Safety Scorecard’. This presents all the building safety and compliance indicators tracked and reported across the key areas of: fire, electrics, gas, legionella, asbestos and lifts.
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6.2 The scorecard is designed to give a condensed one-page overview of all the key information, including numbers of any overdue actions or services, current compliance, and a summary of any performance actions required.
7.0 Outstanding Corporate Plan Objectives
7.1 A significant number of objectives have already been delivered across the first two years of the Corporate Plan, and this year’s plan builds on that further. There remain a small number of outstanding objectives that are planned for delivery in the final year of the Corporate Plan. These include:
Further work to reduce energy usage and reduce fuel poverty. Further work to enhance our partnerships with social services, health, and the voluntary sector. Develop our organisation-wide dementia awareness and friendliness.
Appendices: Appendix 1: Annual Business Plan 2021/22 Appendix 2: ‘Definitions of Done for Business Plan Objectives
Page 19 of 80 Item 9a. Appendix 1
RAISING OUR GAME
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022ANNUAL BUSINESSPage 201 PLANof 80 2021 – 2022 CONTENTS
CONTEXT 4
OBJECTIVES 13
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 14
PROPERTY SAFETY SCORECARD 15
FINANCES 16
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 212 of 80 THE CONTEXT
This is the third annual business plan As a LANDLORD, we have faced the past year’s challenges head-on, maintaining focused on delivering the Lewisham essential services even in full lockdown, while making major adjustments to our Homes Corporate Plan 2019–23 – Building Our Future. In 2020 we ways of working. demonstrated that Lewisham Homes is a business that is capable of stepping As a PLACEMAKER, we continued with major fire safety and renovation up and responding to changing programmes at the same time as improving our current stock and developing circumstances, while continuing to new social homes in the borough. deliver for our residents. As an EMPLOYER, we have supported and developed our staff through turbulent times, making sure we addressed their needs, from ongoing health and wellbeing support, flexibility around childcare, to appropriate PPE provision.
As a PARTNER, we work closely with the London Borough of Lewisham, our contractors and other partners to deliver our common goals in a collaborative spirit.
As an ENTERPRISE, we have maintained our commitment to improving our ways of working and laid the foundation for our transformation journey and delivering value for money.
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 223 of 80 A year of change
2021/22 will be a year of change as we work to Our transformation work through 2021/22 and beyond will enable us to raise our game deliver a new transformation agenda for Lewisham and deliver for our residents, our colleagues and our communities. We must continue to Homes. This is essential to ensure we are well modernise and streamline our ways of working to make it easier for all of us to deliver a equipped to respond to such external factors as consistent, quality and reliable service to our residents. the long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, uncertainty around our departure from the EU and the new legislative requirements around building safety. We need to be equipped to deliver the Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer standards and the requirements that will emerge from the new social housing White Paper. Positioned as a ‘charter for social housing residents’, the White Paper makes clear the government’s intention to give more weight to tenants’ voices, and back it up with a strong consumer regulator. Other themes include the importance of safe, good quality homes and neighbourhoods, and more transparency and accountability for landlords. Our business strategy is only as good as our ability to adapt and respond to these factors, and a continually changing external environment. We strive to meet customer expectations, from the services we provide, to the way they are accessed and the pace at which we deliver. Moreover, we must be able to deliver a more personalised service based on needs, with demonstrable effectiveness, value for money and social impact.
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 234 of 80 Our response to the Covid-19 pandemic has proven that as an organisation we have great strength in our people working as a collective. We value everyone’s skills, knowledge and ideas, and we will be focused on ensuring colleagues are involved and have a say in shaping our transformation. We will work to design and begin to implement our resident focused Target Operating Model. Our efforts will be supported by the right investments, particularly in modernising ICT with enhanced strategic alignment with the council. Major ICT change is a priority and is expected to arrive in phases over two to three years, but alongside this we will be focused on making the smaller everyday changes to ensure we are continuously improving in our ways of working. This is how we will make a positive impact on our residents and our communities, while making the working lives of our colleagues more fulfilling and rewarding.
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 245 of 80 Ultimately, this will help us to deliver our core purpose:
to create thriving communities and places that people are proud to call home.
Page 25 of 80 OUR PROMISE
At Lewisham Homes we strive to deliver a consistently high quality of service, making a positive impact on our residents, our communities and our colleagues.
We have a desire to change, to constantly improve and push ourselves to be better. We do this every day by listening to our residents and challenging what we do.
When we face challenges, we step up and we adapt.
We do it because we are passionate about making our vision a reality – to create thriving communities and places that people are proud to call home.
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 267 of 80 Equality, diversity and inclusion
2020 brought themes around equality into sharper focus. We are committed to celebrating and championing equality, diversity and inclusion. We will build on solid foundations laid in 2020 through the delivery of our new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy that was developed in partnership with colleagues across the business. We are proud that our staff represent the communities we serve. This is one of our strengths. Our agenda includes making a stronger and more visible commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, internally and externally. We will use insight to develop the organisation, design services and tailor interventions to be responsive to needs. We will work to provide high quality services that are accessible, deliver outcomes, and that are continuously improving. We will also encourage and facilitate the involvement of customers in shaping the design and delivery of those services, and we will work to recruit, develop and retain a diverse, talented and motivated workforce that reflects the communities we serve.
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 278 of 80 People
We recognise that our people are our biggest asset and they will help drive the required changes in culture, leadership, talent management, performance, reward and recognition that is needed to deliver our transformation journey. Our current people strategy will be reviewed to take account of the pandemic which dominated 2020 and heightened inequalities, further highlighted by the global Black Lives Matter movement. It will be updated to reflect the pandemic’s continued impact on the health and wellbeing of our staff, along with new challenges to ensure staff are engaged and agile. It will also support the culture change required to meet the ambitious transformation journey of New homes Raising our Game. As social homes remain in short supply across Our development programme has a number of London, we are proud to be working with projects under construction, and continues to Lewisham Council to build genuinely affordable, identify where opportunities may exist to build high-quality council housing, while helping to on vacant land, garage sites, or on top of existing create and support sustainable and diverse buildings (rooftop homes). We have robust processes communities throughout Lewisham. in place to continue this work, making sure the voice or residents and local communities is integral to our decision making.
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 289 of 80 Resident engagement Communities
We are committed to improving the scope of We are proud of our strong social purpose. We our engagement with residents, both tenants are not just a landlord; we are working to build and leaseholders, and communities, across our sustainable and thriving communities and to various activities. Our Community Engagement improve quality of life. Community cohesion was Strategy 2019–23 sets how we plan to listen to a heightened during the recent pandemic, with wider group of residents, representative of our staff from across the borough joining forces to overall resident demographic, and provide effective ensure vital services were provided, and the most ways for residents to influence service quality and vulnerable residents were looked after. strategic direction. Our community relations team will continue to play Resident and community engagement is also a a crucial role organising and supporting initiatives focus for our development team, and we have to support our residents and local communities. It worked to develop digital engagement processes will also make sure our communities have an active through the pandemic. Making sure residents are role in helping to improve and shape the services involved in shaping projects from the start enables we offer. us to make better decisions which reflect local needs and enhance neighbourhoods.
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 1029 of 80 Partnerships
We are passionate about working collaboratively with a range of partners across the borough to deliver our agenda, and this will be central to our work in 2021/22. At the heart of this is our strong working relationship with Lewisham Council and the Mayor, and this role will be key to strengthening existing relationships, as well as forging new ones with a range of external stakeholders and partners to enable us to strengthen the services we provide for our residents and communities.
Property services
The safety of our residents is our top priority, and both our repairs and major works programmes are integral to meeting our landlord responsibilities. In July 2019, Lewisham Homes’ Board gave the go- ahead for a programme to modernise our repairs service to make it simpler and easier for both staff A new way of operating and customers. It is linked to our landlord ambition to consistently deliver an excellent and reliable During 2021/22 we will design and begin our resident experience. transition into a new operating model. Combined We have laid foundations to build on, but there with effective measurement processes, our new is more work to do to meet our regulatory operating model is being designed around the requirements. The pandemic has brought many need to be adaptive and continuously improve. challenges for the repairs service, and our focus Integral to it will be new building safety demands, in the year ahead is on keeping our modernisation the White Paper/consumer standards, equality, programme on track and working to deliver an diversity and includion, sustainability, and more improved service for our residents. vulnerability response.
LEWISHAM HOMES / RAISING OUR GAME / BUSINESS PLAN 2021–2022 Page 3011 of 80 Its ultimate focus is the delivery of our mission:
To provide safe, quality homes, deliver efficient services and enhance life chances.
Page 31 of 80 Part Two: Objectives
LANDLORD Item No. Ambition Task Target Date Continuation of the Service Charge Modernisation project, carrying out a service-by- BP1 Landlord service review of costs, improve transparency of charges, and demonstrate value for All year money. Undertake options appraisal, and work with LBL to procure an appropriate housing BP2 Landlord March 2022 management system, with a view to implementation commencing in 2022/23. Continue rollout and integration of True Compliance software, including water hygiene, BP3 Landlord September 2021 playgrounds, lifts and mobility equipment. Implement the Building Safety Programme and organisation-wide training, in line with BP4 Landlord TBC legislation. Following guidance from government white paper, develop a joint approach with LBL BP6 Landlord TBC for asset management and sustainability. Develop a campaign to raise awareness of tenancy support services offered, and help BP7 Landlord December 2021 residents to maximise their incomes and prioritise their rent. To consult and implement new operating structure for Resident Services, to increase BP8 Landlord March 2022 efficiency in delivery of services, and improve the resident experience.
PLACEMAKER Item No. Ambition Task Target Date Meet client newbuild and start on site targets which contribute to the Mayor's direct BP9 Placemaker All year delivery ambitions. Complete the leasing and mobilisation of a new vehicle fleet with enhanced BP10 Placemaker September 2021 sustainability. Undertake internal review of out of hours cover arrangements, linked to review of BP11 Placemaker TBC operating model. Aligned with task BP8.
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EMPLOYER Item No. Ambition Task Target Date Following refurbishment of office space in 2020/21 business plan, move Lewisham BP12 Employer April 2021 Homes staff into Laurence House, subject to COVID-19 safety measures. Launch rollout of 'People First' customer service programme for all staff and complete BP13 Employer September 2021 first round of training. Develop and deliver a new communications and engagement framework to inform and BP14 Employer support colleagues through change. Roll out a staff survey focused on providing insight All year on culture and engagement from across the business.
BP15 Employer Launch new people strategy June 2021
Continue to review our wellbeing offer and response to five star health and safety BP16 Employer audit, with a view to achieving accreditation to ‘ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health All year and Safety Management Systems’ in Q1 2022/23.
PARTNER Item No. Ambition Task Target Date Complete the transfer of five Community Centres and promote their usage to BP17 Partner June 2021 maximise benefit to the communities
BP18 Partner Move core ICT services to shared LBL platform December 2021
Establish current limitations and develop a plan to target wider access to digital BP19 Partner All year services for residents.
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ENTERPRISE Item No. Ambition Task Target Date Implementing "Modern workplace", including upgrade to Office 365 suite, and BP20 Enterprise December 2021 matching devices and tools, including lightweight devices, to appropriate job roles.
BP21 Enterprise Scope and implement finance system migration to Oracle from Integra. December 2021
Undertake a review of legal expenditure and contracts in order to deliver a BP22 Enterprise September 2021 procurement strategy Design the target operating model for the enablement and application of the BP23 Enterprise June 2021 corporate strategy and vision of Lewisham Homes.
BP24 Enterpirse Following the review of EDI strategy in 2020/21, launch the EDI action plan All year
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Part Three: KPIs
Housemark Actual Median Target Target Target No. Indicator Directorate Responsible (Dec 2020) 2019/20 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Satisfaction with overall service 1 Tenant satisfaction with the overall service Resident Services 61% 74% 74% 76% 78% 2 Leasehold satisfaction with the overall service Resident Services 41% 55% 55% 57% 59% 3 Tenant ‘Net promoter’ score Resident Services -1 3.8 0 +1 +2 4 Leasehold ‘Net promoter’ score Resident Services -44 -54 -50 -45 -40 Repairs service 5 Tenant satisfaction with the last repair Property Services 85% n/a 90% 91% 92% 6 Repairs completed at first visit (First Time Fix) Property Services (new) 88.7% 80% 80% 80% 7 Appointments made and kept Property Services (new) 95.3% 98% 98% 98% Voids performance (General Needs) 8 Average days to turnaround all voids Resident Services & Property Services 38 29.5 30 28 26 9 Average days to turnaround major voids Resident Services & Property Services 45 n/a 40 38 36 10 Average days to turnaround minor voids Resident Services & Property Services 32 n/a 19 18 17 11 Void rent loss (as a % of annual rent roll) Resident Services & Property Services 0.42% 0.68% 0.40% 0.38% 0.37% Collection Rate 12 LBL General Needs Rent collected Resident Services 97.68% 99.7% 99% 99% 99% 13 Leasehold & TMO service charge collected Resident Services 93.0%* 101.2% 102% 102% 102% 14 LH acquisitions rent collected Resident Services 95.39% n/a 98% 98.5% 99% Customer relations 15 Complaints responded to on time Finance & Technology 94% 83.6% 97% 98% 99% 16 Percentage of FOI responded to on time Finance & Technology 88% n/a 100% 100% 100% Staff sickness and turnove5 17 Average days lost to sickness Chief Executive Office 6.4 8.0 8.5 8.0 7.5 18 Staff turnover Chief Executive Office 13.2% 11.9 12% 12% 12% Development 19 Starts on site Development 181 n/a 152 20 Handovers Development 6 n/a 69
Page 35 of 80 Part Four: Property Safety Scorecard
+/- Number From Target Overdue Last Actual Actions Required No. Indicator 2021/22 in Month Month 2021/22 Fire Risk Assessments and Actions 1 Fire Risk Assessments 100% 2 Overdue P1X Actions 0 3 Overdue P1X Actions (not in programme) 0 4 Overdue P1 Actions 0 5 Overdue P1 Actions (not in programme) 0 6 Overdue P2 Actions (landlord responsibility) 0 Gas Safety 7 Gas safety checks (domestic assets) 100% 8 Gas safety checks (communal assets) 100% 9 Gas safety checks (PSL properties) 100% 10 Ducts inspected 100% Fire Equipment Servicing 11 Fire Alarms 100% 12 Automatic Opening Vents 100% 13 Emergency Lighting 100% 14 Dry Risers 100% 15 Wet Risers 100% 16 Sprinklers 100% Water Hygiene 17 Water Tank Risk Assessments 100% 18 Water Tank Overdue Risk Actions 100% Asbestos 19 Asbestos Surveys Completed 100% 20 Asbestos Actions Completed 100% Lifts 21 Passenger Lift Safety Inspections Completed 100% 22 Passenger Lift Services Completed 100% Lightning Conductors 23 Services Completed 100% Playground Inspections 23 Number of RoSPA Completed 100% Page 36 of 80 Part Five: Finances
Term Financial Original Budget Budget Movement Proposed Budget Medium Term Strategy 2020/21 2021/22 Financial Strategy £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Lewisham Homes Accounts Core Company (1,125) (747) (78) (825) 300 Repairs Trading Account (694) (684) (184) (868) (174) Acquisitions Account 0 81 143 224 224 School Leases 0 (17) 0 (17) (17) Place Ladywell (31) (31) (19) (50) (19)
Sub-Total (1,850) (1,398) (138) (1,536) 314
Transformation 0 0 2,568 2,568 2,568
Total Lewisham Homes Budget (1,850) (1,398) 2,430 1,032 2,882
Page 37 of 80 CONTACTS:
0800 028 2028
lewishamhomes.org.uk
facebook.com/lewishamhomes
@lewishamhomes
lhomes.org.uk/lhlin
instagram.com/lewishamhomes
RAISING OUR GAME ANNUAL BUSINESS PLAN 2021 – 2022
Page 38 of 80 Item 9b. Appendix 2 Lewisham Homes Annual Business Plan 2021/22 - 'Definitions of Done'
ANNUAL BUSINESS PLAN 2021/22 LANDLORD Item No. Ambition Task Definition of Done Continuation of the Service Charge Modernisation project, carrying out a service-by-service review of costs, BP1 Landlord Project milestones are tracked and reported, and progress against project timeline is illustrated. improve transparency of charges, and demonstrate value for money. Undertake options appraisal, and work with LBL to procure an appropriate housing management system, BP2 Landlord Procurement completed and project delivery underway. with a view to implementation commencing in 2022/23. Continue rollout and integration of True Compliance software, including water hygiene, playgrounds, lifts BP3 Landlord System working and being used for the compliance areas mentioned. and mobility equipment.
BP4 Landlord Implement the Building Safety Programme and organisation-wide training, in line with legislation. Team in place and relevant training delivered across the organisation.
Following guidance from government white paper, develop a joint approach with LBL for asset management BP6 Landlord The formal acceptance by LH Board of both strategies. and sustainability. Develop a campaign to raise awareness of tenancy support services offered, and help residents to maximise BP7 Landlord Campaign is developed and launched. their incomes and prioritise their rent. To consult and implement new operating structure for Resident Services, to increase efficiency in delivery of BP8 Landlord New operating structure in place for 01 April 2022 services, and improve the resident experience.
PLACEMAKER Item No. Ambition Task Definition of Done The building contractor takes possession of the site or property; and both parties ie LH and building BP9 Placemaker Meet client newbuild and start on site targets which contribute to the Mayor's direct delivery ambitions . contractor have both signed and dated the building contract; In the case of Acquisition's with external developers the SOS definition is exchange of contracts.
BP10 Placemaker Complete the leasing and mobilisation of a new vehicle fleet with enhanced sustainability. New vehicles are commissioned and mobilised.
Undertake internal review of out of hours cover arrangements, linked to review of operating model. Aligned Cost effective and robust arrangements to respond effectively to urgent resident issues outside working BP11 Placemaker with task BP8. hours.
EMPLOYER Item No. Ambition Task Definition of Done Following refurbishment of office space in 2020/21 business plan, move Lewisham Homes staff into Laurence BP12 Employer Old Town Hall vacated and Laurence House occupied. House, subject to COVID-19 safety measures. All staff have been trained. Cultural embedding programme established, enabling upward trend in resident BP13 Employer Launch rollout of 'People First' customer service programme for all staff and complete first round of training. satisfaction. Develop and deliver a new communications and engagement framework to inform and support colleagues Framework and supporting plan in place by June 2021. Pulse surveys and action planning cycle being BP14 Employer through change. Roll out a staff survey focused on providing insight on culture and engagement from across undertaken quarterly to measure progress and improve our employee net promoter score the business. Board appoval to People Stratgey and Supporting Action Plan, leading to an upward trend in staff BP15 Employer Launch new people strategy engagement. Continue to review our wellbeing offer and response to five star health and safety audit, with a view to BP16 Employer achieving accreditation to ‘ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems’ in Q1 Be in place at year-end to achieve accreditation in Q1 22/23. 2022/23.
Page 39 of 80 PARTNER Item No. Ambition Task Definition of Done Complete the transfer of five Community Centres and promote their usage to maximise benefit to the BP17 Partner Transfer agreement is signed, and the five community centres are transferred into Lewisham Homes. communities Lewisham Homes core ICT infrastructure services are fully transitioned into the shared environment, with the BP18 Partner Move core ICT services to shared LBL platform supporting ICT infrastructure operational model in effect. Digitially excluded residents are identified, and actions taken to raise awareness of digital channels are BP19 Partner Establish current limitations and develop a plan to target wider access to digital services for residents. recorded and evidenced.
ENTERPRISE Item No. Ambition Task Definition of Done Implementing "Modern workplace", including upgrade to Office 365 suite, and matching devices and tools, Microsoft 365 software and necessary ICT kit is providing stable service and enabling agile new-ways-of- BP20 Enterprise including lightweight devices, to appropriate job roles. working.
BP21 Enterprise Scope and implement finance system migration to Oracle from Integra. Project mobilised and delivery underway.
BP22 Enterprise Undertake a review of legal expenditure and contracts in order to deliver a procurement strategy Procurement strategy for legal services is completed
Design the target operating model for the enablement and application of the corporate strategy and vision BP23 Enterprise Target Operating Model approved. High-level transition plan developed. of Lewisham Homes.
BP24 Employer Following the review of EDI strategy in 2020/21, launch the EDI action plan Evidenced delivery of plan and inclusivity is embedded.
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Report to: Board
Date of Meeting: 2 February 2021 Agenda No: 10 Title of Report: Budget Setting 2021/22 Report Class: Decision Report Author: Rowann Limond, Director of Finance and Technology [email protected] Action Required: Board to agree the recommendations of the report
1.0 Purpose
1.1 This report seeks approval from Board for the 2021/22 budget proposals for Lewisham Homes (LH). It also sets out the position in respect of the rent increase on LH owned properties.
1.2 The report also contains, for information, the proposed budgets in respect of both new build and the capital programme. These budgets are set by London Borough of Lewisham (LBL) with spend managed by LH, not impacting on the company accounts.
2. Recommendations
2.1 That Board approves the budget proposals for 2021/22, which give a contribution to reserves of £1,536k before the costs of transformation are taken into account.
2.2 That Board approve the proposal to drawdown the remaining loan facility of up to £3m rather than refinance the loan due to the offer which was made by LBL.
3. Medium Term Financial Strategy
3.1 When the MTFS was agreed by the Board in March 2019, a set of over-arching principles for financial planning were agreed. These were reaffirmed in the 2020/21 budget setting and are:
1) Value for money – LH is committed to providing value for money for all of its services. An integral part of business plans and a key measure of the success of a service is whether it can demonstrate that it is delivering value for money against measures of efficiency, performance and perception.
2) Investment in key priorities – LH’s corporate priorities will provide the rationale for the allocation of investment resources. The key areas of investment have been identified as acquisitions and service modernisation including digitisation.
3) Efficiency – building on previous savings, all future savings should be earmarked to deliver investment in the key priorities.
4) External funding and partnerships – maximising external funding and partnership working to deliver increased and improved services with the minimum impact on revenue resources.
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5) Improved Budgeting and Financial Management – all known calls on resources will be financed directly from the statement of income and retained earnings and not through the balance sheet with efficiency targets of 3% per year.
6) Balance sheet – LH will aim to achieve a strong balance sheet including reductions in debt, sufficient provisions for bad debts, improved cash flow and a prudent level of reserves. A strong balance sheet will be considered one which has a prudent level of working capital, a positive cash flow and which generates income from its assets.
7) Reserves – a prudent level of balances and reserves will be maintained in order to ensure effective financial management. Taking this approach will mitigate against risk. It is proposed that the reserves should be based on a minimum of 1 years’ worth of debt repayments based on the agreed repayment schedules (£1.2m).
8) Trading Accounts – At present LH only trades with the Council, so all surpluses generated from trading accounts are a cost to the Council, be that HRA or General Fund. It is proposed that a minimum rate of return of 5% is applied to the DLO in future plans.
3.2 It should also be noted that the MTFS assumes that efficiencies of 3% are built in each year, which, in respect of the management fee services for 2021/22, was equivalent to £859k.
3.3 The overall budget for the company shows a surplus of £825k and is attached as Appendix 1.
4 Budget Principles
4.1 At its meeting on 29 September the Board agreed Budget Principles in respect of both repairs and the company in general. Those principles have been adopted as part of the budget setting process.
4.2 As the budget setting progressed announcements were made by the government in respect of public sector pay increases, therefore no provision has been made in either the proposed budgets or the management fee in relation to increases in pay other than for staff who earn under £25,000 and the contractual incremental drift.
4.3 We also implemented zero-based budgeting for the first time as part of the budget setting process in order to ensure the most efficient use of resources.
5 Core Company Budgets
5.1 The Core Company is forecast to make a surplus of £825k in 2021/22, against a Medium Term Financial Strategy target of £1,125k.
5.2 The shortfall in the surplus against the Medium Term Financial Strategy is, in part, due to the agreement to increase resources within People Services, the inclusion of a budget to fund our response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
5.3 There has been a thorough review of our operating costs to ensure value for money and there have been savings delivered across the organisation. In particular, there have been significant savings relating to the office move to Laurence House, although in 2021/22 these savings will help fund the move, but will deliver a saving in future years. These savings will also be used to fund the new Building Safety Manager role, as was previously advised to the Board.
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6. Repairs Service
6.1 The Repairs Trading Account is forecast to make a larger surplus in 2021/22. This takes into account both the savings made from the restructure of the office staff and the move of operatives from the Fair Pay Scheme to salaries.
6.2 It should be noted that impact of the negotiated settlements with the operatives would fall out during the financial year, meaning that when the 2022/23 budget is set we will need to look at the impact this will have on the rate of return.
6.3 The forecast rate of return in this account is higher than the minimum level of 5%; however, this has been set on a prudent basis, as we are yet to understand the impact of Covid-19 into the next financial year.
6.4 There are some increase in costs in this as we expect more use of sub-contractors through the new contracts, which have been procured this year as we catch up on the backlog of works after Covid-19. We are also forecasting higher Internal Recharges, as we will be procuring new vehicles (probably through leases) during the year in order to ensure that the vehicles meet the requirements of the low emission zone. Details are in Appendix 3.
7. Acquisitions and Leased Properties
7.1 The 2021/22 Acquisitions budget shows a deficit of £0.2m after tax, which is based upon the ongoing management of the existing acquisitions portfolio of 153 units.
7.2 LH currently leases 23 units of “modular accommodation” from Lewisham Council. Two of these units cannot be let as one is a show flat and another one is a long-term repair. The 2020/21 budget shows a surplus £0.017m after tax.
7.3 Lewisham Homes currently leases eight School Leases from Lewisham Council where the lease payment is payable at 50% of net letting income (NLI). The leases are for 5 years, and the leases commenced between September 2017 and December 2017. There are also four other leases in respect of refugee housing where the lease payment is payable at 90% of NLI; these leases are for 5 years and commenced between September 2019 and February 2020.
7.4 As part of the Spending Review in November 2020, it was announced that Local Housing Allowances were to be frozen for 2021/22, therefore no rent increases have been assumed in the proposed budgets.
8 Transformation
8.1 At its meeting on 2 June 2020, the Board agreed to the strategy of working with LBL to fund the ICT applications (such as Housing Management and CRM) from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) with LBL retaining ownership of the new infrastructure, and the principle of creating a team to drive forward the transformation.
8.2 At that meeting, a provisional estimate of costs was made of £5.827m over the three years from 2020/21. The revised budget, which is shown in Appendix 4, shows a slight increase of £66k over the same three-year period, but has significantly different phasing due to revised timetables for recruitment and increased cost of external support. This budget will be reported on a regular basis to the Transformation Board.
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8.3 The June 2020 Board also considered as part of the paper on restating the budget refinancing the existing loans in order to fund the transformation programme. This option has been explored with LBL, but the offer, which has been made, does not deliver any long-term value for money and would not support any longer term strategy for the acquisitions programme.
8.4 It is therefore proposed that rather than refinancing, the remaining loan facility is drawn down. The charges for this would be picked up in the acquisitions account and would mitigate the current levels of corporation tax liable in this area and not increase the overall costs. We will time any drawdown based on the cash flow position of the company.
9. HRA Managed Budgets
9.1 LH is also responsible for managing a number of HRA budgets on behalf of LBL, although it should be noted that these budgets are set by LBL with input from LH in the same way as which the capital budgets are set. The budgets for 2021/22 are still being discussed with LBL and we will update the Board at the meeting.
10. New Build
10.1 The 2021/22 proposed budget for the new build programme is £107m and forecast spend over the whole new build programme is £282m. The detailed Programme will be reported to Investment Committee.
10.2 The staffing costs for the Development Team have been reviewed and £1.4m has been proposed in the 2021/22 budgets, to support the delivery of the new pipeline of schemes and the existing programme. This team cost is fully recoverable from the development fee, which is paid separately from the management fee.
11. Capital Programme
11.1 The 2021/22 proposed capital programme budget is £64m, which is a 100% increase on the original budget agreed last year. This is a provisional amount, as it needs to be agreed by LBL as set out in the confidential CEO report at Item 7 on the agenda. The detailed programme will be reported to Investment Committee.
11.2 The potential slippage in the 2020/21 programme of works is being assessed and will be reported to the Board in March.
12. Risks
12.1 The budget process was designed to begin the process of changing the culture in relation to financial responsibility and accountability across the business this year. There are potential financial risks in embedding a new culture and new structures that will need to be managed closely by ELT throughout the monitoring process. The development of zero based budgeting and the centralisation of more budgets in respect of training and subscriptions can increase the financial risk to the organisation.
12.2 To facilitate this, the contingency budget has been set at 2.25% of the management fee. Notwithstanding, in the current economic climate access to resources could prove more expensive next year and this risk will need to be managed robustly by managers.
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12.3 In this year a variable vacancy factor has been introduced ranging from 1.25% to 2.5% (after the building in of incremental increases) dependant on the size and relative maturity of the teams. Performance against the vacancy factor will be monitored on a monthly basis as part of the monitoring regime.
12.4 The risk in relation to pensions is considered to have reduced this year. Employers costs are held centrally rather than at team level and pension costs have been provided for based on the uptake to the pension fund. Given that the end of the last financial year was the tri-annual auto-enrolment date, there were concerns that the pension uptake rate could increase, however this did not happen reducing the risk slightly.
12.5 Covid-19 has had a major impact in 2020/21, and the ongoing risks will continue throughout 2021/22. The proposed company budget includes some provisions for Covid-19, but the major risk will come through the Repairs Trading Account. Although we are due to make considerable reductions in costs when the impact of the settlement agreements with operatives is removed in September 2021, the potential inability of operatives to work if there are further lockdowns will reduce the ability of the trading account to generate income.
12.6 As can be seen from the MTFS in Appendix 4, the drawdown of the outstanding loan facility will not fully finance the Transformation Programme; the full funding of the programme has always been dependant on savings being generated through the programme funding future work. This will need to be carefully monitored throughout the year and in future budget settings to ensure that these savings are realised.
12.7 There is also a risk related to Transformation in relation to redundancy costs. The implementation of a new operating model and any resultant change in the staffing structure is also likely to produce costs in relation to redundancy as well as savings, all of which will need to be carefully phased so as not to impact on the company’s cash flow.
12.8 The Transformation programme also is dependent on a number of significant ICT changes, although the progression to date has been as expected in terms of costings and timings, (allowing for the Covid-19 delays which have been built in to the Business Plan and budgets) there is always the risk that the cost of ICT projects will increase as we move through the project, again this will be monitored through the Transformation Board.
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Item 10a. Appendices 1 - 4
Appendix 1 – Overall MTFS and Company Budgets
Term Original Proposed Medium Term Financial Budget Budget Budget Financial Strategy 2020/21 Movement 2021/22 Strategy £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Lewisham Homes Accounts Core Company (1,125) (747) (78) (825) 300 Repairs Trading Account (694) (684) (184) (868) (174) Acquisitions Account - 81 143 224 224 School Leases - (17) - (17) (17) Place Ladywell (31) (31) (19) (50) (19)
Sub-Total (1,850) (1,398) (138) (1,536) 314
Transformation - - 2,568 2,568 2,568
Total Lewisham Homes Budget (1,850) (1,398) 2,430 1,032 2,882
Core Company Budget (by Directorate)
2020/21 2021/22 MANAGEMENT FEE SERVICES Budget Budget Variance £'000 £'000 £'000
Property Services 4,525 4,160 (365) Resident Services 13,879 13,489 (389) Development (440) (316) 124 Chief Executive 3,188 3,257 69 Finance &Technology 5,899 6,166 267 Corporate Centre & Provision (27,986) (28,081) (95) Corporate Contingency 189 500 311
Management Fee Service Surplus (747) (825) (78)
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Item 10a. Appendices 1 - 4
Appendix 2 – Repairs Trading Account – 2021/22 Budget
Budget Budget REPAIR SERVICES 2020/21 2021/22 Variance TRADING ACCOUNT £'000 £'000 £'000
Total Income (14,473) (13,926) 547
Operative Remuneration 4,370 3,428 (942) Subcontractors 2,109 2,981 872 Materials 2,165 1,951 (214) Fleet 524 451 (73) Waste Disposal 70 86 16 Total Variable Costs 9,238 8,897 (341)
Operational 235 252 17 Internal Recharges 1,551 1,396 (155) Office Salaries 2,764 2,513 (251) Total Fixed Costs 4,550 4,161 (389)
Total Expenditure 13,789 13,058 (731)
Repair Services Surplus (684) (868) (184)
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Item 10a. Appendices 1 - 4
Appendix 3 – Change and Transformation
LH LH LH LH Description 20/21 21/22 22/23 Total £000 £000's £000's £000's Legacy Technical Issues 201 92 - 293 New Intranet 72 - - 72 Support Required due to the delay in Transferring to LBL re cybersecurity and data capacity 45 65 - 110 Home and Mobile working 100 50 - 150 ICT Transfer Technical Support - 87 - 87 Support to design / implement /procure new applications 598 911 668 2,177 Process Development Partners 75 150 75 300 Transformation Team 279 1,212 1,212 2,704
Total Funding Requirement 1,370 2,568 1,955 5,893
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Item 10a. Appendices 1 - 4
Appendix 4 - Medium Term Financial Strategy & Reserves Allocation
Original Revised Planned DRAFT Variance 2020/21 2020/21 2021/22 2021/22 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Business Plan £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Management Fee and Other Income (28,904) (28,904) (28,904) (29,233) (329) (28,904) (28,904) Core Company Costs 28,638 28,638 28,638 29,152 514 28,638 28,638 Efficiency Savings (481) (481) (859) (745) 114 (859) (859) Surplus on Management Fee (before Transformation) (747) (747) (1,125) (825) 300 (1,125) (1,125) Transformation - - - 2,568 2,568 1,966 930 Surplus on Management Fee (747) (747) (1,125) 1,743 2,868 841 (195) Repairs Service (684) (495) (694) (868) (174) (716) (722) Acquisitions 81 243 - 224 224 - - Place Ladywell (17) (50) - (17) (17) - - School Leases (ends March 2022) (31) 1 (31) (50) (19) - - Total Lewisham Homes Budget (1,398) (1,048) (1,850) 1,032 2,882 125 (917) Opening Balance Usable Reserves (1,800) (1,800) (2,698) (1,693) 1,005 661 786 Drawdown for Projects 500 ------Drawdown for Transformation - 1,370 - 2,568 2,568 1,966 930 Contribution from MTFS Period 9 - (1,263) - - - - - Contribution from MTFS (1,398) - (1,850) (1,536) 314 (1,841) (1,847) Conversion of Internal Borrowing to usable reserves ------Closing Balance (2,698) (1,693) (4,548) (661) 3,887 786 (131)
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Report to: Board
Date of Meeting: 2 February 2021 Agenda No: 17 Title of Report: Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs – P9 Report Class: Monitoring Report Author: Samuel Whitwell, Head of Performance and Programmes [email protected],uk Action Required: Board to note
1.0 Purpose
1.1 To provide Board with an overview of Lewisham Homes’ progress against the Annual Business Plan and performance against KPIs up to and including December 2020.
2.0 Background
2.1 This report contains the following appendices:
• Annual Business Plan 2020/21 (as at 20 January 2021) • KPI Scorecard (December outturn) 3.0 Business Plan overview
3.1 There were 49 main objectives in this year’s business plan, and the summary is attached as Appendix 1. Through the year, five of these objectives were either superseded, or agreed by Board to be moved into next year’s business plan. Objective PL1, the five-year plan for maintenance is now part of an agreement between Lewisham Homes and LBL for a joint Asset Management strategy, and this is covered in CEO Update, Confidential, at Item 7. These are highlighted in Appendix 1.
3.2 Of the 43 remaining objectives, twenty are already completed, and a further ten remain on course to complete by their original target date.
3.3 Six of the objectives have passed the target date originally set at the outset of the financial year, but these remain on course to be completed before 31 March 2021. These are rated amber in the appendix, and commentary has been provided on the latest progress.
3.4 The remaining seven objectives are rated red. Whilst progress has been made in all cases, we believe they are unlikely to complete in this financial year. These objectives are summarised below, and commentary has been provided in the appendix. Covid has affected four of these objectives:
• EM6, implement a new approach to organisational development and training • EM7, develop skills matrix, and implement programme of training to upskill field-based staff • EM12, audit Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems • PL4, complete preparation and submission of Package A planning applications
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The following three objectives are also unlikely to be completed by the end of the financial year
• LA4, launch the service charge modernisation project. • PA2, meet client build and starts on site target • PA4, complete the transfer of five community centres
3.5 Objectives for LA4, EM12, PA2 and PA4 have been built into the business plan for 2021/22 to ensure they are carried through to completion. EM6 has been incorporated into the People Strategy objective for 2021/22. EM7 has completed the creation of the staff training matrix, and will roll out the necessary face-to-face training once Covid restrictions allow. PL4 has also been subject to Covid restrictions, but will now progress.
4.0 Q3 2020/21 Satisfaction Results
4.1 In December, we received the Acuity results from Q3 of the STAR survey, and there are some encouraging signs of continued improvement. The overall satisfaction scores have not moved significantly from the last quarter (+1% for tenants, +0% for leaseholders), but the underlying data, and the improvement in service areas scores, gives a clear indication of the direction of travel.
4.2 As explained in previous reports, the Housemark methodology of a ‘hard threshold’, where only scores of 7 or higher count as satisfied, can make it hard to see underlying progress. A score of 6 out of 10 is no better than a score of 1 out of 10, for example. However, the continued improvement of the average scores quarter-on-quarter illustrates the progress being made.
4.3 In June 2020, following the Q1 results, we devised a Tactical Improvement Plan to address satisfaction. The plan took a ‘customer-led’ approach, taking all of the resident comments from surveys, and formulating actions to directly address the issues low-scoring residents had raised.
4.4 Looking at the average scores, we can see the positive impact this is having with a notable improvement across the board. The overall average score for satisfaction in Q3 was 6.30, improving from 6.16 in the previous quarter. Leaseholder satisfaction improved from 5.19 to 5.54, and tenant satisfaction improved from 6.70 to 6.73.
4.5 Although these improvements haven’t quite ‘moved the needle’ on the overall satisfaction metric, the closer the average score gets to 7.00, the more likely residents will tip over the threshold into actively satisfied. For example, there are now 21% of leaseholders scoring ‘6’ in Q3.
4.6 It is also of note dissatisfaction is reducing significantly for leaseholders. In Q2 37.04% of leaseholders scored 4 or below (actively dissatisfied). In Q3, it had reduced to 27.94%. Tenant scores of 4 or lower have stayed roughly the same across all three quarters, averaging 18%, with 82% of tenants scoring us 5 or higher.
4.7 Overall satisfaction with the home also improved in Q3, reaching 70% for the first time in four quarters. Again, the average scores show the direction of travel, improving from quarter to quarter: Q1, 6.57, Q2 6.71, Q3 6.75. This ‘continuous improvement’ across the year is an encouraging sign, and is present in a number of the key metrics.
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4.8 Repairs satisfaction has often been a key driver for overall satisfaction, and the Q3 results shows further encouraging trends. Overall satisfaction improved from 60% in Q2 to 65% in Q3. There has been a clear trend in leaseholder satisfaction with repairs this year, going from 39% in Q1, to 40% in Q2, to 49% in Q3. The indication is that actions taken earlier in the year are now beginning to bear fruit. The average score is now at 6.44, the highest it has been this year.
4.9 Staff being “friendly and approachable” was one of the key improvements that was targeted over the last year following modest results in previous surveys. This has continued to improve quarter on quarter and is now at much higher levels of satisfaction for both leaseholders (83%) and tenants (84%). This evidence was reinforced by the ‘mystery shopping’ undertaken by HQN during their regulatory standards audit, and is a very positive reflection of a cultural change in Lewisham Homes. This will be built upon further still by the launch of our People First training campaign.
5.0 Focus on Voids
5.1 In the period 01 April 2020 to 31 December 2020 there were a total of 257 voids completed, 160 of which were ‘minor’, 86 ‘major’ and one management void which was let in November.
5.2 Voids has been a challenge this year, with lettings almost entirely stopped in the first quarter of the year at the outset of the pandemic. There has been considerable collaboration between Property Services Resident Services to make progress in this area, and we are now seeing encouraging signs. Q3 has been the most consistent quarter this year, and the general trend is becoming more positive.
5.3 Overall December performance saw a significant improvement from recent months, averaging 24 days on all voids – well within the 30-day target. Improvement was largely driven by excellent turnaround times on major voids, averaging 23 days, which is the best performance this year. November was also a good month, but was impacted by one of the long-term voids (715 days) being let, somewhat skewing the figures.
5.4 Minor voids performance is also gradually improving, averaging 25 days in December, but is still yet to hit the 18-day target.
5.5 Repairs turnaround times saw a significant improvement on both minor and major voids. There were some specific issues with certain lets which affected the letting time, but these are isolated issues rather than systemic.
5.6 There has also been very good progress made on some of the long-term voids in the last few months. This will see a number of properties returned to let, which is a real positive. Conversely, we will see a significant impact on the overall void turnaround times in Jan-Mar as a result.
6.0 KPI Highlights and Exceptions
6.1 Rent collection on acquisitions continues to perform well with four consecutive months of above-target collection. It also remains above target year-to-date.
6.2 Our compliance team have managed to maintain significant high standards against a challenging backdrop, including 100% completions on fire risk actions; P1X fire actions; domestic gas safety checks; and communal gas safety checks, as at end of December.
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6.3 After four consecutive months of improvement, general needs rent collection fell slightly in- month to 97.68% against a 99% target.
6.4 Leasehold service charge collection had a significant in-month improvement from 59.7% to 70.8%, but remains behind the pro-rata target of 76.5%. At the same point last year, we had collected 79.9%.
6.5 Complaints responded on time improved from November, but was behind target at 92%. The year-to-date performance is 94%.
6.6 There was one late FOI in asset management in December. It was returned a day late.
Appendices:
Appendix 1: Annual Business Plan 2020/21 (as at 20 January 2021) Appendix 2: KPI Scorecard (December outturn)
Page 59 of 80 Item 17a. Appendix 1
Lewisham Homes Annual Business Plan 2020/21 - All Directorates, January 2021
OVERALL PROGRESS The task is on target to be completed within the timescale The delivery of the task will be delayed, but will still be delivered in this financial year There is a high risk that the task will not be completed within this financial year The task has been successfully completed
ANNUAL BUSINESS PLAN 2020/21 Status Item No. Ambition Directorate Task Target Date (RAG) Comments
LA1 Landlord Resident Services Implement an agreed suite of Service Standards in line with our Customer Experience Strategy 30/09/2020 c Following revision to ASB service in Year 1, track ASB satisfaction and undertake post- Agreed at September Board to be moved into LA2 Landlord Resident Services 31/10/2020 implementation review 2021/22 plan. LA3 Landlord Property Services Continue the implementation and delivery of Repairs Modernisation Programme 31/03/2021 g Main project streams have been identified and Launch the Service Charge Modernisation project to carry out a service-by-service review of drawn up. This will now form part of the Target LA4 Landlord Resident Services costs, and to create a Rents and Service Charge Team within Finance to modernise service 30/06/2020 r Operating Model work, and will commence in charge administration Q4 2020/21. Three solutions have been identified, developed, and are in the process of being implemented. True Compliance software; a Identify, pilot and review up to 3 new technological solutions for the management of our assets centralized Asbestos Register in Promaster; and LA5 Landlord Property Services 31/10/2020 a in line with our ICT Roadmap and Strategy the upgrade to handheld devices. The 'review' element will need to continue post- implementation.
Complete first year of three-year plan to expand the use of customer data to facilitate LA6 Landlord Resident Services 31/03/2021 G preventative measures and target support The BS9997 audit assessor attending in Feb (delayed due to Covid-19 lockdown), after LA7 Landlord Property Services Achieve accreditation to the Fire Quality Standard, (BS9997) 30/09/2020 a which the objective will be complete.
Implement regulatory and legislative requirements established through the findings of Grenfell LA8 Landlord Property Services All year g Enquiry Part One Report, and Hackitt Report The various panels and stakeholder groups are Embed a tenant and leaseholder involvement culture, including resident panels for LA9 Landlord Resident Services 31/10/2020 c in place, and will continue to embed as BAU. procurement and complaints, and a resident stakeholder group Continue our new approach to staff engagement, based on staff feedback, pulse survey results EM1 Employer CEO All year g and best practice This has been superseded by a plan to move EM2 Employer Property Services Support the modernisation and refurbishment of the Old Town Hall office by LBL 31/03/2021 into Laurence House. This is expected to complete by March 2021. Finance & EM3 Employer Implement the 'Agile Working' policy, in line with the ICT Roadmap 31/03/2021 g Technology EM4 Employer CEO Implement the outcomes of the renewed reward and recognition approach 30/09/2020 c New approach successfully piloted between Commence new approach to customer service training, ensuring it is both customer-centred EM5 Employer Resident Services 30/06/2020 c October and January and now rolling our across and solution-focussed the business. Courses are procured, and the new OD team is in place, but the implementation will not EM6 Employer CEO Implement a new approach to organisational development and training 30/09/2020 r commence until Q1 2021/22, owing to Covid.
Skills matrix is complete, and the programme of training defined, but cannot be fully EM7 Employer Property Services Implement skills matrix and programme of training to upskill field-based staff 30/09/2020 r implemented with necessary face-to-face training during Covid restrictions.
Lewisham Homes is supporting the mayor's apprentice program but is not in a position to EM8 Employer CEO Review and develop our apprenticeship and graduate programme and work with local schools 31/01/2021 c implement a graduate programme. We continue to work with local schools
EM9 Employer Resident Services Implement Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for both staff and residents 31/01/2021 c This will now be superseded by the new People Strategy, and has been incoporated in to the EM10 Employer CEO Implement the wellbeing plan to promote work-life balance and improve levels of attendance 31/03/2021 g business plan objective for 2020/21.
EM11 Employer CEO Introduce Mental Health First Aid for Lewisham Homes 31/10/2020 c The audit has now moved to May 2021 to allow Audit the Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems against 45001 standard and EM12 Employer CEO 31/10/2020 r H&S to focus on emergent health & safety prepare for external validation issues relating to Covid. EM13 Employer CEO Procure and develop a new intranet and launch first phase 31/07/2020 c EM14 Employer CEO Implement the new internal communications framework and plan All year g This has been developed by the risk and Finance & EN1 Enterprise Develop an assurance framework, focussing on "three lines of defence" on data quality 30/09/2020 c assurance group, and will go to Audit & Risk Technology committee in April 2021 for approval. EN2 Enterprise CEO Deliver actions arising from Five Star Health and Safety audit 30/06/2020 c The review of tenant leases has been Undertake a review of tenancies and leases in conjunction with LBL, ensuring that they meet completed, the review of leaseholder leases is EN3 Enterprise Resident Services 31/08/2020 a legislative requirements and best practice. ongoing and is aimed to complete before year- end. Finance & EN4 Enterprise Develop ICT Roadmap with LBL for primary systems 30/09/2020 c Technology EN5 Enterprise Resident Services Implement delivery of projects in line with ICT Strategy 30/03/2021 g Finance & EN6 Enterprise Complete implementation of financial services transformation to deliver efficiencies 30/09/2020 c Technology The satisfaction benchmarking and services benchmarking elements have been completed. Establish Housemark benchmarking as a 'business as usual' task, and use data to drive EN7 Enterprise Resident Services 30/09/2020 a Finance benchmarking is ongoing and will improvements in cost and service complete in Q4 2020/21.
Finance & EN8 Enterprise Embed operational risk registers in line with the framework developed in Year 1 30/06/2020 c Technology EN9 Enterprise Resident Services Embed the Programme Management Office, and programme governance principles 30/06/2020 c This will now take place through Q4 2020/21 to be fully mobilised alongside the new contracts EN10 Enterprise Property Services Mobilise the long-term major works and maintenance contracts 31/10/2020 a for heating, repairs and stock investment.
Finance & Review our current ICT processes and systems and identify methods for improving EN11 Enterprise 30/09/2020 c Technology organisational reporting and performance monitoring
Page 60 of 80 EN12 Enterprise Resident Services Develop a Service Improvement Framework 30/04/2020 c PA1 Partner Corporate Continue to develop and deepen our relationship with LBL All year g The delay in obtaining the revised Client brief for Ladywell has effected the ability to achieve PA2 Partner Development Meet client build and 'start on site' targets set by Mayor 31/03/2021 r the 427 starts anticipated at the start of the year. Arrangements are already in place, and this will Set up strategic core groups for property services workstreams, including Responsive Repairs, now complete in March 2021 so that groups are PA3 Partner Property Services 30/11/2020 a Stock Investment, Heating, Health and Safety, and Sustainability set up in alignment with the onboarding of new contractors. Awaiting revised service transfer agreement Complete the transfer of five Community Centres and promote their usage to maximise benefit PA4 Partner Resident Services 30/06/2020 r from LBL. This has now been moved into to the communities business plan for 2021/22. PA5 Partner Development Develop a Social Value strategy 31/05/2020 c Further work to be undertaken on the staff PA6 Partner Resident Services Develop a framework for Corporate Social Responsibility 31/03/2021 g element in Q4 2020/21, linked to the People Strategy. LBL and LH have agreed to develop a new joint Asset Management strategy following the stock condition survey results. Until the strategy is Develop a Five Year Plan for maintenance across Lewisham Homes stock investment, including PL1 Placemaker Property Services 31/12/2020 developed it is not possible to develop the five leasehold year plan. Further information is in the CEO report, Part B.
Agreed by September Board to be removed Re-procure our parking contract to improve provision of digital parking, making payment easier PL2 Placemaker Resident Services 30/09/2020 from this year's business plan as the task now and more streamlined sits with LBL. Agreed by September Board to be moved into PL3 Placemaker Resident Services Conduct review of operating model for delivery of Housing Management 10/10/2020 2021/22 plan. Progress is being made in the design and preparation of planning applications, however Complete the preparation and submission of planning applications for all viable schemes within PL4 Placemaker Development 31/12/2020 r technical surveys and stakeholder engagement Package A have been delayed, owing to Covid restrictions.
Develop and publish a Sustainability Strategy tied to LBL's 2030 Zero Carbon target PL5 Placemaker Property Services 30/09/2020 c simultaneous with publishing of Asset Management Strategy Develop a methodology for undertaking 20% stock condition surveys to keep asset knowledge PL6 Placemaker Property Services 30/09/2020 c up-to-date Identify smart technology for existing properties and run pilots aligned with Asset Management Agreed by September Board to be moved into PL7 Placemaker Property Services 31/03/2021 strategy 2021/22 plan. Prepare and complete design guide and specification for new build sites, incorporating design PL8 Placemaker Development 30/09/2020 c guidance for specialist housing and SMART technology.
Page 61 of 80 Item 17b. Appendix 2
Lewisham Homes - Monthly Performance Scorecard Lewisham Homes Board
Directorate 2019/20 2020/21 MoM Indicator Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Target Responsibility Prev Yr YTD Change Satisfaction with overall service Tenant satisfaction with the overall Corporate 82% 76% 80% 57% 63% 64% 83% 61% service - Leasehold satisfaction with the Corporate 64% 61% 59% 48% 38% 38% 61% 41% overall service - Corporate Net promoter score tenants -1 -3 -2 0 4 -8 -1 -1 - Corporate Net promoter score leaseholders -54 -52 -54 -38 -45 -50 -53 -44 - Repairs service
Property Services Tenant satisfaction with last repair 87% 89% 89% 96% 89% N/A N/A 85% 86% 83% 86% 81% 88% 78% 91% 84% ▼
Void performance (General Needs) Average days to turnaround all voids Resident Services 25 28 19 25 32 40 44 53 25 22 33 42 51 24 30 38 ▲ (calendar days) Average days to turnaround major Resident Services 43 32 34 37 40 66 48 53 35 24 37 54 40 23 TBC 45 ▲ voids (calendar days) Average days to turnaround minor Resident Services 16 26 15 25 21 31 41 53 30 22 30 29 31 25 18 32 ▲ voids (calendar days) Void rent loss as a percentage of Resident Services 0.42% 0.41% 0.40% 0.40% 0.40% 0.45% 0.40% 0.39% 0.37% 0.37% 0.39% 0.40% 0.41% 0.42% 0.4% 0.42% ▼ annual rent roll Collection rate
Resident Services Lewisham Homes rent collected 99.09% 99.25% 99.32% 99.15% 99.15% 94.41% 95.65% 98.11% 96.08% 97.91% 98.07% 98.56% 98.81% 97.68% 99% 97.68% ▼ Lewisham Homes & TMOs service Resident Services 79.9% 86.9% 94.0% 104.9% 104.9% 4.7% 13.6% 25.7% 32.9% 39.6% 46.5% 53.1% 59.7% 70.8% 76.5% 70.8% ▲ charge collected Resident Services LH acquisitions rent collected 95.56% 95.46% 95.87% 94.79% 94.79% 90.63% 92.18% 95.07% 90.17% 93.83% 95.74% 97.22% 99.50% 95.39% 95% 95.39% ▼
Customer relations
Resident Services Complaints responded to on time 91% 98% 98% 100% 91% 92% 100% 95% 93% 96% 95% 100% 88% 92% 95% 94% ▲ Percentage of FOI responded to on Resident Services 80% 100% 100% 100% 89% 50% 100% 100% 89% 100% 100% 71% 100% 80% 100% 88% ▼ time Compliance Gas safety checks completed on Property Services 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 99.7% 99.7% 99.9% 100.0% 99.9% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100% 100.0% ▲ time (LH domestic units) Property Services FRAs completed on time 99.9% 97.1% 95.3% 97.2% 97.2% 98.3% 99.9% 99.9% 100.0% 100.0% 99.9% 100.0% 99.9% 100.0% 100% 100.0% ▲
Staff sickness and turnover Staff sickness (days annual CEO Office 3.4 3.5 3.4 N/A 3.4 7.1 4.8 5.8 6.7 6.5 6.5 5.9 6.6 6.4 8.5 6.4 ▲ equivalent) - office based Staff sickness (days annual CEO Office 8.3 8.7 8.7 N/A 8.7 7.3 6.8 7.8 7.2 8.2 9.6 10.7 10.4 11.5 8.5 11.5 ▼ equivalent) - manual workers Staff sickness (days annual CEO Office 5.0 5.2 5.1 N/A 5.1 7.2 5.6 6.6 6.9 7.2 7.7 7.8 8.1 8.3 8.5 8.3 ▼ equivalent) - all staff CEO Office Staff turnover (rolling 12 months) 18.4% 18.4% 18.6% 18.1% 18.1% 16.8% 15.3% 14.9% 13.4% 12.9% 14.0% 14.4% 13.4% 13.2% 18% 13.2% ▲
Page 62 of 80 Development
Development Number of site starts for new build N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 4 11 6 0 65 56 39 0 0 427 181 ⟺
Development New build homes completed 0 0 0 0 27 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 37 6 ▲
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Report to: Board
Date of Meeting: 2 February 2021 Agenda No: 18 Title of Report: Health, Safety and Wellbeing Annual Report Report Class: Monitoring Report Author: Eric Richardson, Strategic Head of Health and Safety [email protected] Action Required: Board to note
1.0 Purpose
1.1 To present to Board the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Annual Report for 2020.
1.2 Both the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and Board receive an annual assurance report on Health, Safety and Wellbeing. This gives Board oversight of Lewisham Homes’ focus, approach and performance.
2.0 Background
2.1 Last year a 3-year Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy was approved by Board and published to the business in January 2020. The Strategic Health and Safety team have driven the first year of the Strategy, working closely with Heads of Service and Managers to embed Safety First – our core competence, and develop the culture of CARE-SHARE- AWARE.
2.2 The year 2020 was dominated by the Covid-19 global pandemic marking 2020 as an unprecedented year in demanding that health, safety and wellbeing activity be at the forefront of business operations. From our very first case of self-isolation in February 2020, Lewisham Homes has made the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff and residents our top priority in everything we do.
2.3 Health, safety and wellbeing management in Lewisham Homes is directed by strategy, management system and policy.
3.0 Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy
3.1 The Strategy applies the PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT model for ensuring continuous improvements in managing health, safety and wellbeing.
3.2 Lewisham Homes operates a health, safety and wellbeing management system based on the international standard for Occupational H&S Management Systems – ISO 45001:2018 – reflecting good practice from around the world.
3.3 The Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy sets out our commitment and strategic objectives and is reviewed annually, with the current version approved by Board in July 2020.
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3.4 An action plan to deliver the Strategy’s aims of attaining ISO 45001 and Five Stars in the Occupational Safety and Health Audit contains 76 actions. To date the programme is progressing as planned with 57% completed and the remainder on target.
Appendices:
Appendix 1: Health, Safety and Wellbeing Annual Report, January 2021
Page 65 of 80 Item 18a. Appendix 1
HEALTH, SAFETY & WELLBEING ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY 2021
Eric Richardson
Strategic Head of Health & Safety Email: [email protected]
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction ______3 2. Context ______3 3. Strategic Aims ______3 4. Board-Approved Policy______4 5. Staff Health and Wellbeing ______4 6. Stakeholder Engagement ______5 7. Risk Assessment ______5 8. COVID-19 Specific Risk Management ______6 9. Field Staff Risks ______6 10. Contractor and Construction Risks ______7 11. Incidents ______7 12. Information and Awareness-Raising ______7 13. Office Move ______7 14. Checking and Monitoring ______8 15. Conclusion ______8 Appendix 1 – Incident Data ______9 Appendix 2 – Proactive and Reactive Indicators ______11
Page 222 of 121212
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1. Introduction
1.1 This report is written about a year that was dominated by the COVID-19 global pandemic; health, safety and wellbeing has been at the forefront of activity in Lewisham Homes as the Health and Safety of our Staff and Residents has been our top priority
1.2 Lewisham Homes has a 3-year health, safety and wellbeing strategy, ‘CARE-SHARE-AWARE’, approved by Board and published in January 2020. However, 2020 has been an unprecedented year distorted by COVID-19 legislation and national restrictions.
2. Context
2.1 Lewisham Homes operates as a Landlord managing circa 19,000 homes, and as an employer with over 550 employees. In health, safety and wellbeing terms, this places a wide range of legislative duties on the Board, CEO and Leadership Group. A Legal Register that is maintained by the Strategic Health and Safety Team catalogues over 50 health, safety, welfare or wellbeing Acts or Regulations pertinent to Lewisham Homes’ operations.
2.2 Emerging legislative includes the draft Building Safety Bill published by the government in July 2020. The Bill takes forward reforms of the building safety system and delivers the principles and recommendations for reform set out by Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of building regulations and fire safety (2018). 3. Strategic Aims
3.1 Lewisham Homes is committed to continually improving the health, safety, wellbeing and welfare of our staff, residents, contractors and others affected by our work. ‘Safety First’ is one of our core business competencies, focusing on preventing injuries and ill-health.
3.2 We are developing our health, safety and wellbeing management system to satisfy the requirements of ISO 45001:20181 - the first and only International Standard for occupational health and safety management, representing good practice from around the world and which applies the iterative process PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT. Also, the Fire Safety Team has worked to ready the business to achieve BS9997:2019 Fire Risk Management System, therewith enhancing the strength of management of residential fire risk.
3.3 We aim to raise our performance and be regarded as ‘excellent’ through the British Safety Council Occupational Health and Safety Five Star Audit, and to be deemed to be delivering best practice in leadership, organisation and continual improvement.
3.4 This report aims to provide assurance to Board that the arrangements in place at Lewisham Homes support compliance, raise performance, develop a positive safety culture and facilitate continuous improvement in health, safety and wellbeing management.
3.5 Board receives ad-hoc update reports on health, safety and wellbeing matters, and received the last annual health and safety report in January 2020.
1 ISO 45001:2018, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. ISO’s international standard for occupational health and safety. https://www.iso.org/iso-45001-occupational-health-and-safety.html Page 333 of 121212
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4. Board-Approved Policy
4.1 In July 2020 Board approved an annual review of the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy; a legal requirement. Prior to that, in March 2020, Board approved landlord compliance policies in Fire Safety, Legionella Management, Asbestos Management, Gas Safety, Electricity Safety and Lifts Management; each being a risk highlighted in the Regulator of Social Housing’s Sector Risk Profile 20202. 5. Staff Health and Wellbeing
5.1 The year was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and our in-house occupational health and wellbeing service, introduced late 2019, proved invaluable in supporting staff with their health and wellbeing concerns. Each team reviewed and updated its Business Impact Assessment and implemented renewed resilience measures. From its first case of staff self-isolating in February 2020, the business focused on measures to safeguard staff, residents and contractors.
5.2 In line with Government guidance staff were directed to work from home supported by a tailored risk assessment and provision of ICT equipment/ergonomic furniture as required. Frontline and some support staff were designated as key workers and their workplace risk assessed and made COVID-Secure. Hygiene products and safety equipment including personal protective equipment (PPE) and respiratory protective equipment (RPE) have been provided throughout the pandemic to protect staff. Face coverings were issued to all staff and are now mandatory in the office, shared vehicles and residents’ homes.
5.3 Recognising the benefit of good health in warding-off the effects of COVID-19, winter flu vouchers were purchased in September and made available free-of-charge to all staff. Informing and equipping staff in how to remain safe from the virus was a key strategy in the fight against the virus with messaging, videos, webinars, tool-box-talks, risk assessments, welfare calls, online workshops, online meetings, supplies of safety equipment and referrals for expert assistance in health and wellbeing matters, all part of the arsenal.
5.4 An individual staff risk assessment was introduced which recorded the vulnerabilities of our staff and those they live with in terms of underlying health conditions. A risk matrix provided by Public Health rated the individual’s vulnerability as either Clinically Extremely Vulnerable or Clinically Vulnerable. Other considerations such as wellbeing, home-life pressures etc, are captured and working arrangements adjusted to protect those at risk in accordance with government guidance.
5.5 Working online at home on a (long-term) temporary basis is recognised to provide its own challenges as the employer does not control the working space and individuals may not be able to set up a fully ergonomic workstation. A risk assessment was developed utilising HSE guidance and all working-at-home staff required to complete it. The Strategic H&S team reviewed each one and provided practical advice and further guidance on how staff can mitigate risk whilst using home furniture. Where ergonomic equipment was considered essential it was provided, and the loan of ICT equipment and office furniture was made available to all.
5.6 In July 2020 we launched Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) to our staff utilising existing qualified staff backed up by the first in a series of training programmes, which commenced January 2021. MHFAs are trained to identify, understand and help someone who may be experiencing a mental health issue. Training provides the tools needed to have direct conversations and direct people to the right professional support. The service is underpinned and supported by our
2 Sector Risk Profile, Regulator of Social Housing, November 2020. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938983/Sect or_Risk_Profile_2020_FINAL.pdf Page 444 of 121212
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occupational health and wellbeing manager, Claudette Ebanks, who will be delivering future MHFA training to staff in-house.
5.7 During September 2020, our auditors (TIAA) undertook an ‘Assurance Review’ of health, safety and wellbeing to office staff, contractors and visitors. The auditor gave ‘substantial assurance’ recording that we had demonstrated best practice.
5.8 As the year closed, LBL was putting in place asymptomatic testing for key workers. This began in the first week of January 2021 and is open to Lewisham Homes’ staff and contractors. 6. Stakeholder Engagement
6.1 The business consults with staff on health, safety and wellbeing matters through various fora: the Health and Safety Committee, the Health and Safety Group, the Staff Sounding Board and local team health and safety meetings.
6.2 The Health and Safety Committee meets quarterly and provides a consultation forum between staff, Unions and the business and is chaired by the CEO. One notable outcome, which was subject to wide consultation, was the creation and publication of an organisation-wide ‘Driving at Work’ policy with associated procedures. This policy and procedure updates, consolidates and replaces previous information on parking, use of the pool car, and use of a private vehicle while at work, as well as the fleet vehicle arrangements for operational staff. It promotes safe and courteous driving, and reminds drivers that whilst driving at work they are visibly representing Lewisham Homes within the community.
6.3 The Health and Safety Group meets quarterly and is chaired by the CEO. The Health and Safety Group comprises senior managers and its core purpose is to consult upon and promote health and safety compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements pertaining to the safety of employees, residents and other interested parties. It is also tasked with ensuring that there is a positive and proactive health and safety culture in the organisation with an increased focus on employee wellbeing.
6.4 The Health and Safety Group monitors and reviews policies and processes in managing risks and tracks mitigating actions through an action log, action plan, and risk register. During December 2020, the Audit and Risk Manager and the Strategic Head of Health and Safety met with each risk owner covering the 35 risks recorded on the Health and Safety risk register. The review worked through each risk testing accuracy, currency and appropriateness of each control measure. Risk ratings, both Gross and Net, were tested and adjusted, similarly, the assurance rating was tested and corrected where necessary. Appendix 1 provides a summary of the key elements and actions against each risk.
6.5 The Staff Sounding Board meets every 8 weeks with a rotating chair overseen by the Head of People and is attended by the CEO; this group has been a useful sounding board and a route for staff to raise wellbeing issues.
6.6 There has been active collaboration between Trade Unions and staff with both being pragmatic and supportive of COVID control measures and wellbeing support measures that have been implemented. It is acknowledged that the vast majority of our staff have demonstrated exceptional commitment and professionalism during this pandemic, notably our field staff who face residents on a daily basis. 7. Risk Assessment
7.1 The year featured a strong focus on risk assessments and risk control measures, predominantly, but not exclusively, COVID-related. The following risk activity has taken place.
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8. COVID-19 Specific Risk Management
8.1 The Strategic Health and Safety team has driven risk assessment and mitigation measures to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of staff in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic and in the week leading up to it. Working with the Facilities team, the Old Town Hall was made COVID- Secure and organised to restrict numbers attending and maintain social distancing with every other desk decommissioned. Communal dining areas were taken out of use and shared facilities such as toilets restricted to one at a time. Increased cleaning was put in place and staff-use sanitising products provided at key stations.
8.2 The Strategic Health and Safety team supported the Independent Living team to assess transmission risks in schemes leading to controls such as locking communal lounges and establishing a rota for use of communal laundries.
8.3 Field workers sharing vehicles received additional PPE and sanitising products issued to each vehicle. The Environment team and Strategic Health and Safety team have constantly monitored the risks of vehicle sharing and evolving government guidance applied as it develops.
8.4 Provision and issue of PPE was overseen by the Strategic Health and Safety team with the Facilities team providing the interface with operational teams.
8.5 The Strategic Health and Safety team also interpreted national restrictions; provided regular advice, guidance and information updates to staff; set office occupancy limits authorising and monitoring attendance and latterly working with ICT on a mobile office-booking app.
9. Field Staff Risks
9.1 The Health and Safety Manager supported the Repairs Modernisation project leading on the health and safety actions within the Modernisation Risk Register, subsequently handing over to the Repairs Health and Safety Advisor recruited in September.
9.2 Repairs staff have benefitted from 18 job-specific risk assessments and 127 updates published, toolbox talks delivered, training and 38 respirator face-fit tests completed, revised induction, CoSHH and tool registers established, and training programme developed. Current activity includes risk assessing vehicle sharing to minimise coronavirus transmission.
9.3 Management reporting is delivered through a monthly performance report issued to raise awareness, track compliance and target improvements.
9.4 The Health and Safety Manager has worked with staff and management across the wider organisation to deliver risk assessments in Housing, Independent Living, Home Ownership, Development, Income and Support, etc.
9.5 Tool box talks delivered by the Health and Safety Manager include:
• Working safely • Working at height • CoSHH • Manual handling • Risk assessment half day for managers and supervisors • Risk assessment (practical) • Emergency Call-out Level 2 officer induction 9.6 We procured and mobilised a new personal safety device contract arranging training for nearly 400 staff and issued 360 devices. We hold monthly contract meetings and produce management usage reports to Heads. Page 666 of 121212
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10. Contractor and Construction Risks
10.1 The Strategic Health and Safety team vet telecoms contractors’ Risk Assessments and Method Statements (RAMs) before they are allowed to access their equipment on the top of our blocks. We vet approximately 20 per week, many of which require further work by the contractor before we approve their work.
10.2 The team has participated in contractor procurement and bid evaluation to ensure health and safety is addressed during the tender process.
10.3 Risk-critical information such as potentially violent persons assessment is shared with contractors through portal access, ensuring personal data is protected in line with GDPR requirements. Construction and major-works contractors are managed by Development and SIAM in collaboration and in compliance with the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM). The Health and Safety Group has approved the procurement of a CDM consultant to audit and advise on the robustness of our CDM compliance. The Strategic Head of Health and Safety and Head of Development are leading on this procurement.
11. Incidents
11.1 A focus on improving incident reporting is demonstrating increased performance in this key area of health, safety and wellbeing management. Incident data supports investigation and corrective action where nonconformities are involved, aids hazard identification and thereby risk assessment/mitigation, informs policy and procedure change where required, and reduces downtime, absences and negligence claims.
11.2 During 2020 incident reporting was dominated by instances of staff self-isolating or shielding due to coronavirus. In addition, with more staff restricted to working from home we experienced fewer operational incidents. Appendix 1 provides analysis of the 2020 incident profile. 12. Information and Awareness-Raising
12.1 During 2020 an array of information-giving and awareness-raising activities were delivered. A quarterly Health and Wellbeing Day has presented workshops on mental health, movement in the office (home during COVID), back-care, musculo-skeletal disorders, mental health first aid, stress and sources of expert support free to staff. Pre-pandemic complimentary therapies were offered to staff free of charge such as head and shoulders massage and physiotherapy at the desk.
12.2 We held our first ever Lewisham Homes Health, Safety and Wellbeing week during March 2020 adopting the European Week of Safety and Health during which we launched a team of 16 Health, Safety and Wellbeing Champions including Board member Kevin Stearns as our Board Champion.
12.3 We utilised National Road Safety Week 2020 during November to launch our Driving at Work policy and procedures.
12.4 The Strategic Health and Safety team has presented to staff two webinars and two training videos to raise awareness and understanding of COVID-19 issues. 13. Office Move
13.1 As 2020 closed, plans were underway to move the business from Old Town Hall to the 5th floor of Laurence House. Members of the Strategic Health and Safety team sit on the steering committee and workgroup to ensure health, safety and wellbeing matters are addressed. We
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have begun co-operation and collaboration with LBL’s Health and Safety team as required by Regulation 11 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. A Wellbeing Room is being created equipped with medical devices and monitoring equipment, which will enable our Occupational Health and Wellbeing Manager to undertake health surveillance with our staff group. 14. Checking and Monitoring
14.1 A fresh programme of critical friend reviews was approved by the Health and Safety Group. This includes a critical friend review on organisational readiness for ISO 45001:2018 which commenced towards the end of 2020 and concluding January 2021. This will identify gaps in our readiness for accreditation. A 45001-ready document pack has been purchased and will be utilised to establish our health, safety and wellbeing management system in compliance with ISO 45001.
14.2 The Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy sets an aim of attaining 5 stars in the Occupational Health and Safety Five Star Audit (3 stars awarded 2019). The Health and Safety Group and Risk and Assurance Group have approved a target of attaining 4 stars during 2021, and the British Safety Council has been commissioned to undertake a second full audit during the spring of 2021.
14.3 The Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy established an action plan to deliver its aims. The plan was created to deliver all elements of the Five Star Audit as well as the criteria for achieving ISO 45001:2018. The plan features 76 actions over the 3 years 2020-23 and is 57% completed in line with the programme with the remaining 43% on target.
14.4 The Health, Safety and Wellbeing strategy has established proactive and reactive indicators with which performance and compliance can be measured and reported to the Health and Safety Group (Appendix 3).
15. Conclusion
15.1 Lewisham Homes continues to improve its management of health, safety and wellbeing for its staff, residents, contractors and others who may be affected by our operations. We plan and deliver health, safety and wellbeing services through a 3-year strategy launched in 2020. Our arrangements are designed and developing to meet the stringent requirements of the international standard ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems.
15.2 We have focused on protecting our staff during the pandemic to an exceptionally high standard as recorded by internal auditors. We have delivered a comprehensive programme of risk assessments and kept them under review. Key policies and procedures have been published and a variety of training models used to deliver knowledge and competence.
15.3 Staff personal safety has been enhanced with the largest ever number of safety devices issued with training, consistent provision of PPE/RPE, and individual staff risk assessments recording vulnerability to COVID-19.
15.4 We enter 2021 with further auditing and gap analysis providing up to date information to enable us to continuously improve our management arrangements and with plans to raise our ‘star rating’.
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Appendix 1 – Incident Data
Increasing incident reporting trend
The following graph shows a continued increase in incident reporting. The figures for 2020 are heavily populated with COVID-related incident reporting; staff testing positive or showing symptoms classed as an incident; staff traced as a contact but not positive or symptomatic counted as a near miss.
500 432 450 400 350 300 232 250 213 200 150 150 100 50 21 25 0 3 8 4 2018 2019 2020
Total RIDDOR Near Miss Linear (Total)
A comparison with 2018, 2019 and 2020 demonstrates increased reporting reflecting predominantly COVD reporting for 2020:
Year Total RIDDOR Near Miss 2018 150 3 21 2019 232 8 25 2020 432 4 213
A brief summary of the four RIDDOR incidents in 2020 follows:
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RIDDOR incidents 2020 (IP = Injured Person)
Slip, trip or fall on same level (1 x employee)
IP (Resident) slipped and fell in her home. Attended by paramedics and transferred to A&E, making it RIDDOR. Resident had complained of kitchen sink upsurge and leakages.
Learning Points: there is need for better communication, coordination and management of jobs by the repairs team.
Actions: Leak was fixed over two visits.
IP (Employee) slipped and fell on a stairwell. He pushed his thumb back on a handrail. Injury resulted in the IP being unable to carry out duties and absent from work for over 7 days making it RIDDOR.
Learning Points: None – personal accident
Injured whilst moving and handling (2 x employees)
IP (employee) was unloading the rear of his van and twisted his ankle. He was absent from work for over 7 days making it RIDDOR.
Learning Points: None – personal accident
IP (employee) pulled a muscle on his lower back.
Learning Points: Need to review risk assessment and training
Actions: Review of moving and handling risk assessments and training
The HSE have not to date commenced any investigations into the RIDDOR incidents reported in 2020, nor those reported in the previous 2 years.
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Appendix 2 – Proactive and Reactive Indicators
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Report to: Board
Date of Meeting: 2 February 2021 Agenda No: 19 Title of Report: Governance Update Report Class: Information Report Author: Helen Harvey, Head of Governance and Assurance [email protected] Action Required: Board to note
1.0 Purpose
1.1 This report provides updates in regards to use of the Company Seal.
2.0 Recommendation
2.1 That Board notes use of the Company Seal since last reported to Board on 24 November 2020.
3.0 Use of the Company Seal
3.1 Use of the Company Seal since last reported to Board on 24 November 2020:
Date Company/Organisation Contract Signed & Sealed by 17 November 2020 Higgins Partnerships Mayow Park Warehouse Lis Rodrigues 1961 PLC Design, construction and Rowann Limond defect rectification of 32 homes and associated external works 17 November 2020 The AD Construction External works programme – Jon Kanareck Group Limited Package A Rowann Limond 04 December 2020 John Farquharson Creekside Lis Rodrigues Partnership LLP and Consultant Warranty Jon Kanareck CField Construction Limited 07 January 2021 Bugler Developments Kenton Court Lis Rodrigues Ltd and Spanwright UK Sub-Contractor Warranty Rowann Limond Limited 07 January 2021 Bugler Developments Kenton Court Lis Rodrigues Ltd and Ashvale Civil Sub-Contractor Warranty Rowann Limond Engineering Limited 07 January 2021 Bugler Developments Kenton Court Lis Rodrigues Ltd and Schindler Sub-Contractor Warranty Rowann Limond Limited
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This page is intentionally left blank Document is restricted
Page 79 of 80 30 MARCH 2021 25 MAY 2021 27 JULY 2021 CEO Report CEO Report CEO Report Standard Items
Target Operating Model People Strategy update Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 External Governance Effectiveness Review outcome Annual Report of External Auditor 2020/21 Annual Report on Value for Money Management Representation Letter Annual Report to Residents Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy 2021 Decision Items Governance Report o Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement o Compliance Reviews – Consumer/Code of Gov/Regulatory Framework o Board Succession Plan
Financial Monitoring - Month 11 Financial Monitoring 2020/21 Annual Review of Internal Controls Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs – Month 11 Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs – 2020/21 Annual Review Value for Money Strategy Discussion Items Consumer Standards Financial Monitoring - Month 3 Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs – Month 3
Governance Report Governance Report Briefing Notes from Committees o New Code of Governance Assessment (inc adoption) Briefing Notes from Committees o Governance and People – 11 May 2021 Briefing Notes from Committees o Service and Performance – 29 April 2021 Consent Agenda / o Governance and People – 12 January 2021 Information Items o Service and Performance – 28 January 2021 Briefing Note from Board Away day
28 SEPTEMBER 2021 30 NOVEMBER 2021 25 JANUARY 2022 CEO Report CEO Report CEO Report Standard Items
Budget and Business Plan setting 2022/23 Appointment of Board Chair (Until March 22) and Appointment of Vice Chair Annual Business Plan Governance Report Budget setting 2022/23 o Board/Committee Timetable 2022/23 Governance Report Decision Items Asset Management Strategy (subject to resolution to the financing with LBL) o Committee Chair Appointments Sustainability Strategy (subject to resolution to the financing with LBL) o Committee Membership
Financial Monitoring - Month 5 Financial Monitoring - Month 7 Financial Monitoring - Month 9 Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs – Month 5 Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs - Month 7 Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs – Month 9 Discussion Items Annual Report on Social Value and Social Impact Annual Review on Safeguarding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report
Annual Report on TMOs Governance Report Briefing Notes from Committees Briefing Notes from Committees Briefing Notes from Committees Health & Safety Wellbeing – Annual Report Consent Agenda / o Governance and People – 15 July 2021 o Service and Performance – 28 October 2021 Information Items o Service and Performance – 29 July 2021 o 29 MARCH 2022 CEO Report Standard Items
Decision Items
Financial Monitoring - Month 11 Discussion Items Performance against Annual Business Plan and KPIs - Month 11
Governance Report Briefing Notes from Committees Consent Agenda / o Governance and People – 18 January 2022 Information Items o Service and Performance – 27 January 2022
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