“Joining Together in Excellence”
The Challenge Group
Wednesday 25th March 2015
1. Welcome and Apologies / ACTIONPresent
Jenny St Leger (JSL) (Chair), Dave Jones (DJ) (Vice Chair), Margaret Reed (MR), Peter Bibby (PBibby), Paul Brooks (PB), Harry Moss,(HM) (Resident Involvement Apprentice),Linda Chippendale (Resident Involvement co-ordinator) (LC), James Crawley (Enterprise Manager) (JC), Chris Twomey (Assistant Director of Housing Services) (CT), Gary Beard (Maintenance Contract Manager) (GB), Gary Naylor (Repairs Manager) (GN), Lorraine Hare (Estate Quality Manager) (LH), Michelle Moseley,(MM), (Customer Experience Manager).Apologies
Maggie Falconer Drew-Taylor
JSL welcomed everybody to the meeting and also said how much Louise Booth, who sadly passed away, will be missed by the group. Louise was a very valuable asset to the group and the trust.
2. Minutes & Actions from previous meeting
No issues or actions required from March’s minutes.3.Enterprise Team update
JC ran through the role of the new Enterprise Team. The Enterprise Team now works with local tenants and residents to help them set up their own businesses. No matter what the business idea is the team are there to provide practical support, help with business planning, funding applications and analysis.
Q. Where’s the budget come from?
A. It is a pot of 3 budgets that Pete Pealing used to manage combined into one.
Q. Would you be able to attend one of our meetings in a few months to update us on how things are going?
A. Yes that’s absolutely fine, I look forward to it.
Q. How is this being advertised to the greater community?
A. We’ll advertise it through all our communication channels soas many people as possible know about it.
Q. If it’s not just for tenants would it be worth contacting the local newspapers?
A. Yes that’s a very good idea. / Action: HM to add JC in July’s meeting.
Action: JC to speak to Rachel Allcock about advertising in the local paper.
4. EMT Performance Dashboard
CT ran through the EMT performance dashboard and no areas of concern were identified and performance remains strong
Q. If staffare moving higher up the job ladder but in another organisation, do you think there is a danger that the Trust is becoming a training organisation. Aren’t there enough opportunities to move up within theTrust.
A. well yes potentially however it is to be expected in an organisation of this size as we don’t have as many managerial roles for everyone to move to and that is the way it should be. Staff turnover is less than 10% and is not an area of concern. However jobs are advertiseinternally as well as externally so when the opportunities arise staff do have the chance to apply.
Q. Would we be able to see a yearly performance dashboard so that we can look at trends in performance?
A. Yes once it’s ready I will make sure you see it.
Q. How do you make sure a tenant is fit for certain properties they move into?
A. Well we have one of the most thorough and robust allocations systemsin the north west but there is no exact science for allocation. On average 440 properties are allocated in the year but there will be the odd one or two that slip through the net. / Action: HM to add to agenda when dashboard in ready.
5. Cyclical Maintenance Update
GB provided an update around the cyclical maintenance team.
6. Repairs Action Plan update
GN ran through the entire repairs action plan and where he’s up to so far.
Q. Would the new repairs system be able to automatically order parts etc.?
A. Yes, that’s what we’re working on.
Q. When do you think recommendation 3a– (relating to customers paying for extra services) will be completed by?
A. Hopefully by the end of April 2015.
Q. Did you look at the sensors for security lights like we spoke about in the last meeting?
A. Not yet as I’ve concentrated on the new repairs system but I will be doing so soon.
7. Agenda Planning Session
HM asked what the group would like to see on their next agenda.
Challenge would like to see:
- The new DVD for tenants
- The co-reg review update
- An update on what Challenge can and can’t do
- The quarterly complaints report and update on the Complaints Action Plan – if available
8. Resident Involvement Action Plan
HM talked the group through their 2nd inspection action plan around Resident Involvement.
Q. With the Diary of events no longer being on the website could we put it in Plains Speaking?
A. I will look into that. It obviously depends on the amount of info in each Diary of Events.
Challenge were very pleased that recommendation 5 – (recruiting an RI assistant) had saved the trust 50% of their initial costs, as identified by CT.
9. Estate Management Q&A Session
Challenge asked LH questions around the Estate Management team to obtain an idea on how things are going in the team.
Q. Will people from the contractors be coming over to the trust when grounds maintenance comes in house, such as the ContractsManager?
A. Yes they will be, but theContractsManager may not as he works on many larger contracts in other areas.
Q. Will you provide training to the new employees coming over from the contractors?
A. Where appropriate, yes. Obviously they will be doing very similar jobs but we will need to brief them around the Trust’s policies and procedures.
10.Any other Business
MM attended the meeting to discuss a protocol for any potential observers of ChallengeGroup meetings.
Challenge will work with LC to produce a protocol to be appended to the Terms of Reference
LC talked the group through the new piece of software the Resident Involvement Team might be adopting to help monitor customer involvement.
LC also asked the group to come up with any ideas for names or logo’s they may have for all RI activity - JSL suggested the name “Peak Community” and the group agreed that Peak Community should be the new name. The group will think about a logo idea.
LC updated the group around the Get Involved poster and it will now be a double sided fact sheet. Once the review has been completed Challenge and the RI Team can conduct a comprehensive marketing campaign about getting involved. / Action: LC to work with Challenge to create protocols for observing.
Action: Challenge Members to come up with ideas for a logo for ‘Peak Community’
The next meeting will be held onWednesday 29th April 2015 at 11am.
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