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Agenda item

Presentation By Valleys To Coast & Programme Of Future Presentations To Council

Minutes:

The Chief Executive submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to introduce a presentation to Council from Valleys To Coast and to inform Members of the programme of future presentations to Council.  

 

The Mayor introduced to the meeting Jo Oak, Chief Executive of V2c together with colleagues to give a presentation on the work of V2c and how they integrate with partners such as BCBC and others.

 
The Chief Executive of V2c, thanked Members for the opportunity to come and speak with them today and hoped this will be the start of BCBC and V2c forging stronger relationships, not just at a senior level but across all parts of its organisations.

She advised that she had been in conversation with the Chief Executive of the Council, in order to develop an understanding of the pressures, priorities and common goals we share as organisations and she felt confident that the levels of collaboration and engagement would be increased in the future, in order to reap the benefits of a fresh approach, a fresh start.

The Chief Executive V2c stated, that just like the local authority, the Housing Association were planning for a future it did not foresee at the beginning of this year. Now more than ever collaborative working together was required, in order to recognise the areas where we can add value, the areas where we can signpost people to others who can too, and find ways to empower ourselves and others to help us with the transformation, due to the untimely pandemic. 

V2c saw now as the right time for that organisation and the Council to work closer together and be seen as a partner of choice by BCBC. She did not want V2c to be known as just a housing association, but also to be recognised for building homes and communities too.

 

The relationship between the two, was starting now from a position of strength, though she acknowledged that there is more that could be achieved to be more closely joined-up and more that could be done, to ensure that we make ourselves part of the conversations and move towards being planned and not reactive in their responses.

 

The Chief Executive of V2c stated, that as an organisation they were listening, learning and responding and there was a willingness to improve and grow. Of equal importance, there was an enthusiasm and desire to do this too. Whilst she conceded that V2c were not fully where they wanted to be yet with the organisation being no means perfect, she had been encouraged by the collective response from her colleagues to this difficult year and she felt, that V2c were coming into this second phase of the pandemic, much stronger than they had started it.

She advised that she, together with colleagues, wanted to talk through the key areas where it was felt with BCBC it could work together to both add value and also demonstrate some developing areas, where progress was being made.

 

She wished to take a look back at the last year, before starting to talk about the journey forward. V2c had prepared an annual review video that would reflect the work undertaken over the last year to 18 months. This would be forwarded to all Members in due course

 

The Chief Executive, V2c confirmed that despite the curve-ball of the pandemic, it had been a positive year and progress has been made as data and statistics reflected in some of her presentation slides.

 

The pandemic had, however, changed the situation for everyone, and given us all a different lens through which to view the future. It had also forced individuals to accept a need for accelerated transformation and like BCBC, it had changed the priorities of V2c, in ways we could not have imagined only as far back as February this year.

 

Unprecedented was a word few of us had ever used before this year but none of us have been faced with a threat like this before, she added

 

Learning as matters progressed, V2c ensured that the organisation maintained open communications with customers, adopting a traffic light system to inform them of the status of services, using its website, social media, texts and regular letters to keep tenants informed and up to date.

 

Since last July the Chief Executive of V2c confirmed that within the organisation V2c had challenges too, with a number of staff going onto the furlough scheme while its core services were shut down and they completed emergencies only. Despite the restrictions V2c were able to carry out over 3,000 emergency repairs, keeping both our customers and their homes safe.

 

There were lessons learned from this, however, and V2c had listened to feedback it had received and put in place the start of a number of changes that will ensure that the housing association in the future, makes connective links with not only BCBC, but other partners to ensure that there is a joint response to any subsequent wave.

 

She explained that on 5 October 2020, V2c’s repairs and maintenance teams returned to full service and started working through outstanding repairs that had arisen since covid-19. She felt the organisation had already made significant progress, in clearing many of these and V2c were now accepting new repair requests through its Hub.

 

In terms of its Lettings and Housing services, V2c were now letting properties as normal and working with BCBC, to let homes as and when they become available.  They were also advertising properties on HomeHunt.

 

Services such as “money matters” were being conducted remotely over the phone with home visits only happening if there was an urgent need.

                                                      

In terms of new ways of working in the ‘New Norm’, the Chief Executive of V2c advised, that internally the organisation had worked hard to comply with both the guidance from Welsh Government and Public Health Wales. V2c were covid compliant and had robust risk assessments in place to safeguard both colleagues and customers alike. V2c were now conducting ‘track and trace’ at the time of appointment and on the doorstep. It would also cancel and re-book appointments, if it was deemed not safe, to conduct them first time around.

 

This adjustment was being seen as normal custom and practice going forward, as it was not known how long operations would need to be conducted this way. This way of working, was hopefully reflecting that V2c was doing all it could do, in order to show colleagues and customers that they were keeping them safe and that the organisation also had confidence in the ‘new normal’.

The Chief Executive V2c, then shared a few statistics with Members, as follows:-

 

  • £1.26m of value had been generated for customers from V2c’s Money Matters team;
  • V2c had rented 5,888 homes in Bridgend;
  • V2c had taken 80,361 phone calls through its Hub;
  • 81.82% of V2c’s customers were satisfied with its performance;
  • V2c had committed £6.9m to planned repairs and improvements;
  • V2c had built 33 new properties

 

Now V2c had made progress in establishing new ways of working, the Chief Executive confirmed that she wanted to dedicate the housing association to finding new ways of working together with BCBC, as the local authority were the democratic representative for all communities that comprised the BCB and very much part of the ‘community voice’. Hopefully, those present had seen V2c’s new Members' enquiry process which should result in it being easier to contact a representative of the organisation. Also, Members would, if they hadn’t already, receive an invitation to walk around our communities and jointly understand the issues (with representatives from V2c).   

 

In terms of direct contact with customers, the Chief Executive of V2c said she was committed to:

 

1.    1. Staying in touch with those who needed them most, from rent calls to welfare calls. Contacting sheltered customers weekly. Pro-active work was ongoing with the money matters team, with there being over 3,000 welfare calls with referrals to food banks, money advice and sometimes, just for the purpose of having a conversation with tenants to see how they are and how they are coping during the coronavirus.

 

-       2. Understanding how issues have changed and looking to engage with local Councillors and other partners as community needs were changing. Work had been ongoing with both Heol-y-Cyw and Wildmill local Members to this end.

 

3.With the view to looking after the homeless, V2c had been involved in ‘Rapid rehousing’, ie working with BCBC to provide homes for people in temporary accommodation. This was co-produced with BCBC and other key stakeholders/partner organisations and had been a largely successful venture.


4. No evictions or any other legal action had been taken against tenants during the pandemic, added the Chief Executive of V2c. Partnerships were also being developed, with the view of connecting services to the customers who needed it most.

V2c had also entered into a supportive partnership with The Wallich. Not only would they be its company charity for the next 18 months, but V2c would also be conducting knowledge exchanges with them, with the view to improving understanding of how an assurance could be made, whereby  people don't find themselves back on the streets without a home.

 

V2c were also putting steps in place, so that the right homes in the right places could be found for tenants. This was being achieved through development and asset management strategies and understanding and meeting local need.

 

The Chief Executive of V2c added it was also about working with the right partners to achieve its aims and objectives, for example with BCBC and housing developers in order to establish the size and type of developments that were needed throughout different locations within the County Borough.

 

V2c were also looking to provide affordable and cheap to run homes, whilst thinking about de-carbonisation, asset investment or de-investment.

 

The Chief Executive of V2c further added, that the housing association had split its goals and what it wished to achieve and by when, into the short medium and long term as part of its future Planning Strategy, recognising therefore, that all it wished to aspire to, could not be achieved overnight.

 

V2c also wished to ensure that its customers were kept safe and happy, by putting them at the heart of what they done. It also wished to maintain  making homes safe and energy efficient, as well as maximising the opportunity to grow to meet the required needs.

 

V2c also wanted to keep its tenants safe and happy, by building a high performing organisation through creating talented and diverse teams and   being a partner of choice, by building thriving and connected communities.

 

The Chief Executive of V2c was fully aware that BCBC’s vision was to be an organisation that is united and working together, ie “Being one Council working together to improve lives”. As a key partner V2c wanted to replicate that approach.

 

She added that:

 

  • BCBC wants to help people and communities become more healthy and resilient -
    V2c valued those things too and want to bring back that sense of community, many people say has been missing. Allow communities to stand on their own two feet and take back some pride and initiative that may have been lost.

 

  • BCBC want to support a successful and sustainable economy
    V2c also had that high on its agenda and were looking to focus on the foundational economy, building low-energy homes and creating job opportunities locally too,

 

  • BCBC want to use its resources more wisely

V2c believed that working together the two bodies can reduce duplication and make the most of the resources we have.

 

The Chief Executive of V2c then responded to a questions from Members relating to their local areas, following which, it was

 

RESOLVED:          (1) That Members noted the presentation by the Chief Executive and Director of Development of Valleys To Coast.     

 

(2)   That Members noted the programme of future presentations to Council as outlined at paragraph 3.3 of the report.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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