Social Housing Peer Challenge: South Holland District Council

Passion for housing is a characteristic of South Holland District Council (SHDC). There is a shared commitment to - and pride in - the social housing service from senior political and officer leadership, through to frontline staff and elected Members. The fact that SHDC are the first council in the country to undertake a peer challenge of its social landlord function is symptomatic of this. It also reflects an organisational culture that it is open to challenge and keen to evolve to meet the requirements of the Charter for Social Housing Residents (the Charter).

SHDC is proud of its record of improvement from a previous low base over the years, and its success in innovation around housing delivery (foe example, Welland Homes, Small Drove Weston development.) However, continuous advancement requires a relentless focus, which can be a challenge to maintain. SHDC still has some way to go to meet its aspiration to provide better than 'decent homes standard' and the commitments of the Charter's new Consumer Regulation Regime. To do so, a renewed emphasis around several areas will be required:

• Tenant centred culture and voice: Fostering a strong tenant voice through varied and inclusive tenant engagement mechanisms to embed a 'tenant first' culture across all aspects of its service. Repairs and voids standards are key examples of where harnessing tenant insight could improve tenant experiences.
• Data and performance management: A holistic and systematic approach to collecting and analysing data to monitor performance more effectively, and to use this insight to drive service improvement. Reporting and publishing tenant satisfaction measures will be an important part of this.
• Governance and strategy: A greater emphasis on robust governance, oversight, and challenge across all aspects of the service to establish solid foundations for good governance. From this SHDC can build a long-term strategic vision to drive evidence based, operational and strategic decision making, and address organisational silos.
• Wider environmental priorities: Greater emphasis on supporting net zero and energy efficiency within the housing service and homes. Both strategic and financial investment, underpinned by political support, will be vital so that SHDC can deliver against its climate change commitment as well as helping mitigate fuel poverty for current and future tenants.

SHDC is in a strong position to make the step change required by the Charter, with good foundations to build on. These include a committed and invested political and officer leadership, supported by a passionate, skilled, and dedicated workforce. All are united by a desire to deliver the best outcomes for the tenants they serve. These organisational assets are underpinned by healthy financial resources through the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). This provides a fantastic opportunity which SHDC should capitalise on to invest - not just in new and existing homes - but in addressing capacity gaps and driving service improvements to get 'Charter ready'. This Peer Challenge provides the platform for SHDC to 'get ahead' in terms of its preparations for the new Consumer Regulation regime, and to realise its aspirations for its tenants

The following are the Peer Team's key recommendations to the Council. In addition to this, there are a number of observations and suggestions within the main section of the report and Annex A includes a number of 'quick wins' SHDC may wish to consider.

1. Set out a strategic Vision for the social landlord service which sets out SHDC's ambition, with tenants at its heart to drive delivery. Consider:
   1. Developing a Housing Strategy for the service and Delivery Plan.
   2. Articulating a clear Housing Revenue Account Business Plan with supporting narrative.
   3. Establishing a shared organisational understanding of the acceptable minimum reserve level for the Housing Revenue Account to unlock resources to deliver against the agreed strategic Vision.
   4. Ensuring the Asset Management Strategy is a collective endeavour across the Council, informed by data and insight about current and future tenants' needs.
   5. How the housing service can help deliver the objectives of wider strategies to which the Council has committed.
       
2. Establish a service-wide understanding of how to develop a tenant-centred culture for South Holland to put tenants at the heart of future decisions. Consider:
   1. Co-designing this alongside tenants to reflect an approach that is 'right' for the Council and its tenants.
   2. Variety of mechanics to ensure that the tenant voice is captured, helps inform service design, and ensures an effective feedback loop to tenants.
   3. Further embracing digital technology and a range of communication channels reflecting expectations that tenants have a choice of how and when they access services.
   4. Strengthening the Council's focus on equality, diversity and inclusion.
   5. Reviewing services from the customer's perspective to release capacity for continuous improvement on what matters to tenants.
   6. How tenants' voices regarding repairs service are heard and acted upon where appropriate.
       
3. Strengthen governance to support effective decision-making, performance oversight, challenge, and risk mitigation. Consider:
   1. Undertaking a Governance review.
   2. Fostering a corporate culture that places data and intelligence at the heart of decisions.
   3. Investing in data collection and analysis of service performance and tenants' satisfaction to meet the new regulation requirements.
       
4. Promote key drivers and aims of Charter for Social Housing Residents with tenants, elected Members, staff and partners to increase awareness and participation.
    
5. Address organisational silos where they exist to promote effective co-operation and collaboration to best serve tenants and the Council.
    
6. Prioritise addressing capacity and resilience issues within the Neighbourhood Housing Team to support staff wellbeing and optimise outcomes for the tenants they support.
    
7. Review current voids letting standards and approach to improve tenants' experiences, unlock productivity savings and future-proof the current homes.
    
8. Invigorate efforts to support net zero and energy efficiency within the housing stock to meet national carbon reduction targets, future proof homes and mitigate fuel poverty.
    
9. Develop an Under Occupancy Policy to optimise best use of stock for current and future tenants.

3.1 The Peer Team

Peer challenges are delivered by experienced elected Member and officer peers. The make-up of the Peer Team reflected the focus of the peer challenge and peers were selected on the basis of their relevant expertise. The peers were:

• Tracey Lilley, Director of Housing and Community Safety, Brentwood Borough Council
• Cllr Colin Kemp, Executive Member for Leisure, Culture and Infrastructure, and formerly Executive Member for Housing, Woking Borough Council
• Jackie Smith, Corporate Director, South Staffordshire Council
• Steven Shanahan, Housing Services Manager, Erewash Borough Council
• Cassidy Curls, Altair Consultant
• Jaqueline Smale, LGA Peer Challenge Manager
• Frances Marshall, LGA Peer Challenge Manager.

3.2 Scope and focus

Based on principles of the Charter for Social Housing Residents, the challenge provided a structure for the Peer Team to support SHDC to:

• Reflect on, receive feedback on and learn how to improve the service provided to social housing residents.
• Assess readiness and plan for a new emerging consumer regulation regime which includes embedding accountability to residents.
• Identify and share best practice.

The Peer Team considered the below 7 themes which form the core components of the Social Housing Management Peer Challenge and critical to councils' performance and improvement. For each theme, they considered how well the service showed respect for tenants, how it was performing and if it had strong governance and strategic oversight.

• Strategic Overview: Leadership, Capacity, Governance and Strategy
• Safety in the Home
• Response to Complaints, Tenant Satisfaction and Performance
• Resident Voice and Engagement
• Housing Quality
• Neighbourhood Quality
• Supporting Home Ownership.

Within these, SHDC was specifically keen to understand how they could strengthen tenant engagement as well as customer satisfaction and performance.

Passion for housing runs through the veins of SHDC, with housing described as "a characteristic of the Council" and "the cornerstone of SHDC". This is evident from senior political and officer leadership, through to frontline staff and elected Members. This commitment to social housing, and its importance as a determinant of life chances, was shared across the political spectrum. This political support will be important in moving forward, as resources will be required to deliver against the Council's ambitions.

Good Member and officer relationships were reported across the Directorate, modelled by the Portfolio Holder and Assistant Director. There is a desire from staff to enhance Members' understanding and awareness further through service specific briefings on topics such as the Charter and role of Neighbourhood Housing Officers. This would help frontline staff and elected Members align their efforts to collectively support tenants.

The passion, commitment and caring nature of the workforce was something that came through strongly from frontline staff through to the Portfolio Holder and Assistant Director. Staff are generally held in high regard, with the workforce described as a "credit to South Holland". There is a 'can do attitude' and generally supportive culture towards tenants and colleagues where "we don't let anyone fall.

Supporting tenants and colleagues throughout the Covid 19 pandemic has understandably taken its toll on organisational and personal resilience. The capacity of Neighbourhood Housing Officers appears stretched, being described as "quasi social workers" at times. Addressing capacity and resilience within the Neighbourhood Housing Team should be a priority as inaction risks impacting on staff wellbeing, partnerships, and outcomes for the tenants they support.

There are opportunities to release resources in certain areas of the service to increase productivity, capacity and improve outcomes for tenants. Greater joined-up working across teams - such as Neighbourhood Housing, Anti-Social Behaviour and Facilities - is one example. Other areas to explore include redesigning processes from the customer's perspective to deliver improvements both for the tenant and those supporting them. Another potential area to explore is what investments could be made to support overall management and continuous improvement of the service, for example in performance management and data analysis.

With £6.9m headroom in 2021/22 financial year, the HRA provides a fantastic opportunity to invest in new and existing homes, as well as in other parts of the service to get 'Charter Ready'. To realise this potential, SHDC should articulate a clear HRA Business and Investment Plan with supporting narrative and agree a minimum reserve level. It will be important that this is aligned with the development of a collectively owned Asset Management Strategy for the HRA, informed by data and insight about current and future tenants' needs. Together these strategies could foster greater collective ownership, understanding, and unlock resources to deliver against an agreed strategic vision. A stronger focus on HRA quality and standards could further capitalise on this by bringing additional focus to reduce underspends and maximise outcomes from investments.

SHDC is proud of its record of innovation around social housing delivery. The creation of Welland Homes (a council owned housing delivery company) and a building excellence award for the Small Drove Weston development scheme are examples of this. There is also a clear aspiration from the political leadership toprovide better than 'decent homes standard'. SHDC's collective commitment, passion and effort does not however systematically translate into high quality services for tenants. For example, tenants that the Peer Team spoke with reported some dissatisfaction with service standards, and there is no holistic understanding of service performance or tenant satisfaction. (See paragraph 4.5 and 4.6).

A more robust approach to oversight, governance and challenge will be required to achieve SHDC's aspirations and meet principles set out in the Charter. Undertaking a review of Governance - and developing a strategic Vision for the social landlord service - will be important first steps towards achieving this. This Vision will need to be aligned to the HRA narrative, and underpinned with a robust performance framework and investment plan. This will enable decisions to be data and insight driven, with operational delivery informed by wider strategic priorities. It will be important to develop this Vision collaboratively - alongside elected Members, staff, and tenants - to enshrine accountability at the heart of long-term strategic decision making.

These steps could also strengthen the role of housing in delivering wider strategic priorities of SHDC and the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (SELCP), such as in contributing to 2050 net zero commitment and promoting health and wellbeing. The social housing service has a key role to play in supporting net zero and energy efficiency, however progressing the green agenda through SHDC's housing stock is at an early stage. &trategic and financial investment, underpinned by political support, is needed to build momentum and translate commitment into deliverables. This will be important not just to meet national and local carbon reduction targets, but also to reduce fuel poverty, improve tenant health and wellbeing, and future-proof homes.

Putting the safety of tenants first is a key element of the Charter and should be a priority for any responsible landlord who cares about their tenants. It was clear from conversations with elected Members, senior leaders, and officers that safety in tenants' homes is important to them, is a priority for the Council and is taken seriously. This was echoed by tenants to whom the Peer Team spoke with, who in the main reported feeling safe in their homes and that the Council took their safety seriously. Some concerns were however raised by tenants around the health and safety implications of repairs and voids standards. (See paragraph 4.8). It is important that these tenant voices are heard and acted upon as appropriate.

Officers reported that compliance audits and inspections are in place for Fire, Legionella, Asbestos, Gas and Electricity (FLAGE). There is also oversight of health and safety training and safeguarding compliance by contractors. Given the Council's corporate responsibility for tenant safety, it is important that there is full transparency and visibility of these activities corporately. Further work should be prioritised urgently to strengthen the audit trail demonstrating that the checks, audits, and inspections are routinely planned and carried to fully evidence compliance.

Dealing with complaints promptly and fairly is a key feature of the Charter. SHDC's housing complaints process is managed through the Council's wider corporate complaints process. This is clear to understand and access. Positive steps have been taken to improve the complaints process and learn from the data and insights this provide. Whilst at an early stage, some changes have already delivered benefits through separating informal 'service user requests'.

From the complaints correspondence the Peer Team reviewed, 'respect for tenants' was apparent in most cases, however not universally so. In most examples responses were professional and empathic, however this was mixed with some instances where the tone was critical of 'tenant lifestyle'. Ensuring responses to complaints consistently show respect for tenants should be a priority for SHDC going forward. Developing an ethos that values tenant input and feedback will be central to ensuring tenants are consistently treated with respect in every aspect of the service. To truly foster this cultural change, a strategic and corporately owned approach will be required. (See paragraph 4.7).

Under the Charter, social landlords will be required to collect, publish and submit data on their performance and quality of their services against Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). This is an aspect which will require further attention to ensure SHDC is compliant. There is a widespread belief among elected Members and officers that the Council understands its residents and provides a good housing service. However, views expressed to the Peer team by tenants showed variations around satisfaction and quality of the service. Some tenants, and staff from services close to tenants, expressed the view that in some areas 'corners were cut' and that tenants could be served better. This was particularly around the void standard, limited choice of how and when tenants access services, and on some occasions being treated with a lack of respect. The absence of a systematic approach to tenant satisfaction and performance monitoring makes it difficult to establish a holistic evidenced based view on tenant satisfaction.

There is a strong focus on delivery and 'making things happen' across the Housing Directorate. SHDC's response to the Covid 19 pandemic is evidence of how the service galvanised at pace to support tenants in a crisis. These efforts are not however underpinned by systematic approach to collecting and analysing data to monitor performance, nor using this insight to drive service improvement. There are examples of insightful use of data across the Council - such as through the Communities and Growth Directorate - which offer a good platform to build on. Establishing a comprehensive system for recording, analysing, and sharing performance measures, underpinned by requisite analytics skills and a culture that places data and intelligence at the heart of decisions should be prioritised. A key plank of this should be to co-design with tenants a suite of performance measures so they reflect what the local communities' think is important. This will provide a holistic view across the service to give SHDC assurance on how it is performing. It will also help SHDC better understand tenants' future needs to inform strategic planning on the best use of its housing stock. An Under Occupancy Policy could further optimise best use of its homes for current and future tenants.

SHDC has invested in the Northgate Housing system to support back and front-end management of its tenant facing service. This functionality is generally viewed positively, with benefits including online access for tenants to rent statements and payment portal. There are significant untapped capabilities which Phase 2 of Northgate rollout programme will look to release, such as an online tenant dashboard. To ensure the potential productivity and functionality benefits are fully realised it will be important that services are reviewed from the customers perspective with end-to-end user testing involving tenants. This can help release capacity for continual improvement on what matters to tenants.

There is a strong awareness at a senior level within SHDC that the Charter brings a new era for tenant engagement, exemplified by the decision to undertake the peer challenge as preparation. There is however mixed awareness of the Charter at other levels of the organisation, with specific implications of the White Paper not widely understood. The Charter enshrines the requirement that tenants are treated with respect, have their voices heard, and are empowered through improved consumer standards. SHDC actively promoting the key drivers and aims of the Charter with residents, elected Members, staff and partners will be important to increase awareness and buy-in.

Strengthening meaningful tenant engagement is an area which SHDC is keen to develop and there is a shared commitment to do so in imaginative ways. There is recognition that there is a lack of consistency in SHDC's current approach, with tenant engagement feeling predominantly paternal and not reflective of a modern tenant's expectation. Examples of this include residents not being involved in identifying priorities for the service and service design, limited channels and digital options to access services, and inflexible 'full day' appointment slots for repairs. Furthermore, from conversations the Peer Team had, a strong focus on equality, diversity and inclusion as part of its social landlord responsibilities was not apparent. This will be important to address. There are however positive examples of where consultation has occurred, such as the revised Tenancy Agreement, Tenancy Management Policy and the Allocations Policy. It will be important to ensure engagement goes beyond consultation so that tenants' voices are captured, inform service design, and there is an effective feedback loop in response to residents' inputs (for example, about what SHDC did and did not do, and why). The planned review of the sheltered housing offer is a positive example of this, with strong project governance and extensive engagement to capture the needs and aspirations of current as well as future tenants. This approach could provide a framework to build on for future service redesigns.

It will be important to establish a service-wide approach to tenant engagement which is 'right' for SHDC as there is 'no one size fits all' model. The different elements necessary to enhance tenant engagement and insight are evident across the Council, including interest from tenants to have a say and to get involved. SHDC can have confidence in bringing them together to establish a holistic approach. Establishing a systematic approach to gathering of resident feedback and satisfaction data need to be a central part of this. This will provide an accurate reflection of residents' views across the demographic profile and will enable residents to be part of the solution. (See paragraphs 4.5 and 4.6).

Ensuring good quality, decent homes is a key commitment within the Charter. SHDC has a strong focus on sheltered accommodation, with the needs of these tenants, and accounting for their vulnerabilities, a clear priority. Awareness of the general needs of the population whilst understanding of the demographics and needs of these tenants, was not reflected as strongly. Deepening the Council's understanding of the needs of all its current and future tenants will be important. Replicating the approach taken through the sheltered housing review across other areas could help achieve this, as well as improve the quality of homes across SHDC's stock.

Improving the voids standard and process offers a major opportunity to improve tenants' experiences, reduce costs, and accomplish longer-term objectives around upgrading and future-proofing homes. A strong focus on turnaround times was evident. Whilst Members have been assured this would not impact on standards, there appears to be a disconnect with the voids standard described by tenants the Peer Team spoke with as being unsatisfactory, and not taking into consideration the individual circumstances and capabilities of different tenants. It will be important for the Council to consider how to address this balance and achieve a higher standard while meeting other objectives (for example, housing new tenants quickly and reducing rent loss). Outcomes could be improved through pre-void readiness assessments which would give more time to plan the works needed. There should also be greater consideration given to incoming tenants' capacity and ability; pre-works inspections while tenants are in occupation; undertaking some works after the property is let and implementing retrofitting upgrades during void periods. This could improve tenant satisfaction, reduce costs, and maintain turnaround times by earlier identification of adaptations requirements, improving energy efficiency and stock upgrades, and minimising subsequent repairs revisits to the property.

Internally, there is a positive view of the efficacy of the repairs services and a strong team working relationship. However tenant focus, and a culture of feedback, was not evident. Tenants the Peer Team heard from reported dissatisfaction with responsiveness of service, quality of work and sometimes disrespectful treatment by contactors and/or Council staff. The service was often perceived as inflexible to tenants' needs and out of kilter with modern customer service expectations. Notable examples include the broad 28 days' routine repair target, use of 'full day' appointment for tenants, an out-of-hours repairs service reserved for extreme emergencies only and the absence of repairs satisfaction surveys. Whilst positive steps to improve the service have been made, such as through use of technology, further progress is required. Plans to further enhance digital access for customers will be important, such as by providing out-of-hours online updates on repairs for example. Investing in data collection and analysis of repairs satisfaction and performance measures will also be vital so SHDC can report on and learn from tenant satisfaction measures regarding repairs. (See paragraph 4.5). Strengthening oversight and accountability of the repairs service from initial reporting of the fault through to completion will also aid these service advancements by driving a joined-up approach across housing and property services. This could help provide greater certainty over repairs timescales, increase number of 'right first-time repairs' and decrease number of carded jobs.

There is a planned maintenance programme in place, which is supported by stock condition surveys. Compliance with the decent homes' standard is high. This has been the result of a clear focus and effort by the property services teams. The planned maintenance programme could be strengthened by tenant involvement in its planning and execution - such as in the procurement of contractors, and in budget setting. This could support a more targeted and tenant centred service which could address high number of refusals for planned maintenance.

There are instances where the HRA, described as the "jewel in the crown", has been used to good effect to deliver new development, such as Small Drove Weston development. There is nevertheless capacity to do more to invest in new and existing homes and to ensure tenants are at the heart of long-term housing resource allocation. Enshrining accountability to tenants at the heart of long-term strategic decisions not only reflects a key principle of the Charter but can also help manage potential future financial tensions between investing in existing and new homes and mitigating underspends. (See paragraph 4.1 and 4.2).

Responsible neighbourhood management is a core element of the Charter, reflecting the expectation that tenants have a good quality neighbourhood to live in. A universal commitment to neighbourhood quality was evident across the political and officer spectrum through conversations with Members, senior officers, and leaders. There was a shared passion to improve the offer for current and future tenants, and good collaboration between teams responsible for different elements of estate maintenance. This could be seen in practice with the estates visited by the Peer Team appearing well maintained, clean and tidy. Tenants however do not appear to be at the forefront of estate management service delivery, with tenants reporting they did not feel they were engaged with services provided. There appears to have been a marked drop in engagement since targeted tenant engagement ceased in 2014. Going forward, true engagement will be a necessity as the Charter puts tenants at the forefront of service delivery. (See paragraphs 4.7).

SHDC have invested in a Communities Team, including two ASB officers, that are well managed and work alongside the Neighbourhood Housing Team. The distinction in respective responsibilities for managing ASB between the teams is not always clear, with Neighbourhood Housing Officers undertaking the ASB role right though to enforcement in some cases. This can result in frustrations and have a significant impact on workloads. SHDC could benefit from a strategy for the Council's management of ASB which would promote effective co-operation and collaboration to best serve the tenants and Council. Tenants the Peer Team spoke with expressed a desire for more information and opportunity to have a say in respect of ASB. This is an area SHDC can build on as it prepares to put tenants at the forefront of service delivery in line with the Charter's expectations.

Supporting tenants to take the opportunity of home ownership - should they wish to, and their circumstances allow - is a key principle of the Charter. SHDC is effective in promoting home ownership to its tenants and the wider community. This was evident with home ownership well signposted on the website and Guidance updated to reflect the most recent legislation (April 2021). The information publicised covered the Right to Acquire as well as shared ownership, whilst including pertinent details such as the costs involved, and deposit required.

A high level of awareness of the Right to Buy scheme was also reflected in the conversations the Peer Team had with residents and elected Members.    This was similarly mirrored in SHDC's workforce with officers aware of the Right to Buy scheme and how to signpost residents to it to access.

Supporting home ownership could be strengthened further by ensuring that there is an evidence base on how many social homes have been purchased by residents to enable elected Members to effectively scrutinise the system.

It is recognised that senior political and managerial leadership will want to consider, discuss and reflect on these findings.

Both the Peer Team and LGA are keen to build on the relationships formed through the peer challenge.

Your Principal Adviser, Mark Edgell, is the main contact between your authority and the Local Government Association. Mark is available to discuss any further support the council requires: [email protected]

Below are suggested quick wins which SHDC may wish to consider alongside the strategic recommendations:

Strategy, workforce and capacity

• Regular briefings for all elected Members on the Social Landlord Service to foster greater connectivity and understanding of the service. (for example, on topics such as Social Housing Charter, role of Neighbourhood Housing Officers etc.).
• An overarching strategy for ASB Management could support greater collaboration, clarity and targeted use of resources between Neighbourhood Housing and ASB Teams to best serve the tenants and Council.

Performance, data and complaints

• Adopt one or more review methodologies that put the tenant voice at the centre of redesigned services, free up resources and facilitate continuous improvement.
• Undertaking end-to-end user testing as part of Northgate Phase 2 implementation will ensure new functionality is optimised for tenants and SHDC user perspective.
• A focus on quality and standards within the HRA would enable a strong focus on spend and delivery to manage underspends and strengthen alignment between operational priorities and strategy (for example, for service and wider Council).
• Progress 113 agreement to enable wider performance improvement and business support services to work as a team across the Partnership.
• Celebrate examples of data driven decision making to stimulate a culture that places data at the heart of key decisions.
• Assess outputs and outcomes from service improvements to understand the impact of change and pinpoint any resources released by improvements for redeploying to identified resource gaps (for example, reclassification of some complaints to service requests.)
• Conduct an annual survey of a cross section of social tenants (potentially based on guidance from the Regulator of Social Housing's proposed TSMs) to enable regular feedback on what's working well and spot areas for improvements to ensure that tenants are at the centre of future service planning.

Below are some examples of notable practice, as well references to positive practices within SHDC interwoven throughout the report.

• The shared passion for housing which runs in SHDC's veins.
• The strong response to the pandemic, galvanising at pace to support tenants in a crisis.
• The achievement of a Gold Standard Secure by Design accreditation for the Park Side Crescent development in Spalding.
• The East Midlands Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Building Excellence Award for housing development of over 30 council-owned properties in Small Drove Weston, winning Best Large Social Housing development.
• The strong involvement of local primary school in Weston Village development, with the school involved from conception. Examples included school children being involved learning about construction and undertaking a site visit which included a graffiti artist.
• The introduction of a £50 Garden Award during national COVID-19 lockdown to support the physical and mental wellbeing of tenants as well as neighbourhood quality.
• A project-based approach sponsored by SHDC leaders to reviewing and upgrading SHDC's sheltered housing.
• Its work with University of Lincoln to quantify and demonstrate the quality of interactions to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASS).