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FEATURE: JUST A MINUTE WITH JOHN LEWTHWAITE
04 July 2008
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John Lewthwaite
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Connaught is currently providing reactive and void services to Barnet Homes residents and is due to commence working with Watford Community Housing. While Barnet residents are currently having their say at a number of regeneration and consultation forums, Connaught’s Area director John Lewthwaite, has his say too.
Tell us about yourself and your role within Connaught: I joined Connaught Partnerships just over two years ago as Operations Director within the southern region. After 18 years on the consultancy side I wanted a change in role which brought me closer to where it all happens. I guess the key aspect of my role is that is that the buck stops here with me. I’m responsible for the services we deliver with our clients for our customers. As a senior member of the organisation, my role is also to ensure that our experience from across the partnerships is shared to the local benefit of my clients.
What are the biggest changes you’ve seen within the industry during your time at Connaught? The social housing sector is constantly evolving, working ever harder to provide better services to our residents. The biggest change we have experienced is the increasing desire to use state of the art technology, not only with the telephony and scheduling software, but also the performance and business reports needed. Connaught’s in-house software ConntrolTM offers a one stop solution and one which we are constantly developing to cater to those needs.
What are the important issues to your clients? Have there been any surprises in your customer’s wish lists? A genuine customer focus remains a key objective for all our clients, similarly our ability to demonstrate value for money and manage budget expenditure. That said, our feedback indicates no real surprises, simply doing what we say we are going to do and doing it when we say we will is still a major success factor.
How are you delivering your service ensuring you meet their needs? How do you know you are getting this right? Connaught’s ability to work closely with clients and residents ensures we are keeping our feet well and truly on the ground. We have checks and feedback mechanisms but you can’t beat finding out first-hand. In February I spent the day shadowing the work of one of our emergency carpenters working with Barnet Homes. I was able to gain first-hand experience of the service we deliver and then use that experience to make a difference. Working with people and making a difference was one of the reasons I joined Connaught in the first instance.
How do you ensure tenants have their say and that this is acted upon? In our first year of working with Barnet Homes we jointly organised and attended over two dozen events within the community. We made ourselves available to our residents in existing forums and on estate visits, it’s by far the best way to find first hand, face to face about the service we deliver. It is then about using the systems and management tools we have to ensure that this feedback is captured, evaluated and then used to further enhance the whole customer experience.
How does Connaught engage with the community? The majority of our workforce live and work within the community. Working with the relevant resident panels we seek to identify projects and initiatives that we can support through activities such as volunteer days, which are enormously successful. We also proactively seek apprentices, and supply chain partners from the local area. I am particularly proud of the support we give to the community; the work with Barnet Homes is testament to that. Going forward I’m sure our new partnership with the neighbouring Watford Community Gateway will allow is even more opportunity to demonstrate this.
And finally what’s in store for the future? Based on my experience with Connaught so far I’m confident that the future will be an ever changing one, working even more closely with clients and customers to ensure that the service we deliver is focused on their needs and aspirations. For me personally, I’ve got the change I wanted, I’m definitely where it happens, and I do feel that in my role I’m contributing and making a positive impact on peoples lives.
www.connaught.plc.uk
Welcome to Housing News' Repairs and Maintenance Feature. Through out the month, we will be running stories on everything related to repairs, maintenance, decent homes work, void properties and more. If you have a story, please feel free to email it to news@housingnews.co.uk
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HOUSING NEWS: INNOVATION ROUND-UP
04 July 2008
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SUSTAINABLE HOMES INDEX FOR TOMORROW GETS INTO GEAR
04 July 2008
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Sustainable Homes Index For Tomorrow (SHIFT), the new benchmarking tool offering a comprehensive independent assessment of the environmental sustainability of local authorities, housing associations, ALMOs or LSVTs, will kick start next week.
SHIFT will begin on July 7 for current members. Prospective members can still join until July 20. It is an annual membership scheme providing a comprehensive assessment of an organisation’s environmental sustainability and an overall performance rating comparable against best practice and other similar organisations.
From July 7, members will be asked to provide information to answer a survey covering strategy and management, office practices, existing stock and new builds. The information will be collected by 22nd August and then analysed by Sustainable Homes, with the aim of producing an individual feedback report for each participant and an executive summary highlighting the major trends emerging as a result of the overall information analysis.
Participants’ overall performance will be reported in bands; from bronze indicating a minimum level of achievement in implementing the sustainability agenda to platinum grouping the highest performers.
The Index members so far include Hastoe Housing Association, Gentoo Group, Wakefield and District Housing, Peabody Trust, West Kent Housing Association, Derwent Living and Catalyst Housing, with many in the pipeline. It is sponsored by WWF-UK, the UK Green Building Council, Housing Corporation and Bank of Scotland Corporate, in addition to a high level endorsement by GLA. The sponsors are all members of the Senior Steering Group who provide feedback on the Index content and process, along with the National Housing Federation.
Andrew Eagles, Managing Director of Sustainable Homes Ltd, said: “Member organisations are leading the way with an independent and evidence based environmental assessment exercise. They are accepting the challenge to be benchmarked against a set of criteria and work towards real improvements. It is an exciting time."
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ANDREWS CONFIRMS £500M NEIGHBOURHOOD PARTNERSHIPS FUND
04 July 2008
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Baroness Andrews
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Communities Minister, Baroness Andrews has confirmed nearly £500m for neighbourhood partnerships in deprived communities across the country, to continue helping their work to cut crime levels, improve educational achievements and boost job opportunities.
Over £250m will be made available over the next two years, and is in addition to the £230m announced in April for this year. This funding means that the 39 New Deal for Communities (NDC) partnerships will have received £2bn over the 10-year programme.
A study looked at the impact of NDC on their local areas between 2001-02 and 2005-06. It found that 57% of people believe that NDC has improved their area, up from 33%.
In 2005, 37% of students from NDC areas attained at least 5 high level GCSEs, up from 26% in 2002. Areas with NDC partnerships have benefited from reduced crime and reduced fear of crime, including a 30% drop in household burglary rates between 2000-01 and 2004-05.
In total, 355,000 places have been taken up by young people on youth inclusion and diversionary projects. NDC areas substantially out-perform other similarly deprived areas on public satisfaction with the areas as a place to live, the environment, and the extent to which neighbours look out for each other.
Baroness Andrews said: "Over the past eight years, the NDC Programme has made a significant and long-lasting contribution to improving the lives of people in our most deprived communities, from Newcastle to Plymouth.
"So I am delighted to be able to announce a further £250m funding today, which will mean these 39 partnerships can continue their good work over the next two years and into the long term."
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NEW ARRANGEMENTS GIVE HOME BUYERS AND SELLERS A BETTER DEAL
04 July 2008
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The Government is introducing extra protection for people buying and selling homes.
Consumer Minister, Gareth Thomas has laid an order in Parliament requiring all residential estate agents to belong to a redress scheme by 1st October.
Mr Thomas said: "People who experience problems with an estate agent will soon have access to a free, easy to use ombudsman. The scheme will be transparent, independent and fair. It will speedily resolve complaints and will have the power to award compensation."
New measures will also come into force in October 2008 that give greater powers to the Office of Fair Trading to remove rogue estate agents from the market and increase the investigatory powers of enforcement officers.
Mr Thomas said: "Buying or selling your home is a life changing decision. It can cause people real stress and worry. Our measures should take some of this worry away and drive out the rogues that give honest businesses a bad name."
Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the National Association of Estate Agents said: "We welcome and support the fact that every agent will have to belong to a redress scheme. This will help to create a more level playing field and to raise standards to the benefit of consumers and honest businesses. We see this as an important step - after all buying a home is one of the biggest financial and emotional decisions we ever make."
Pula Houghton, Campaigns Policy Manager at Which? said: "We've been campaigning for a compulsory complaints scheme for estate agents for the last five years, so we're delighted that the scheme is nearing fruition. We're looking for this to make a genuine difference to those people who suffer at the hands of shoddy estate agents."
Estate Agents who want more information on the redress requirements should contact the OFT or visit their website
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HOUSING NEWS: JOBS ROUND-UP
04 July 2008
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Housing News is advertising the following jobs on its regional newsletters:
JOBS
Dunedin Canmore Housing is seeking a New Business Officer. For more information, contact www.scottishhousingnews.com. Closing date: June 7.
Liverpool Housing Trust is seeking a Contract Performance Co-ordinator. For more information, go to: northwest.housingnews.co.uk.
Liverpool Housing Trust is seeking a Neighbourhood Housing Officer. For more information, go to: northwest.housingnews.co.uk.
North Tyneside Council is seeking a Admin Support Older People. For more information, go to: northeast.housingnews.co.uk. Closing date: July 11.
To reach the best candidates in the social housing sector, advertise your top jobs in one of our eight regional newsletters or go national to over 40,000 readers. For more information, call Amy or Angela at Hucksters on 01892 784804.
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NEWS 
