YEAR END ROUND UP: 2008/09, OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR YET

Asset Management

During the year we delivered a considerable number of brand new components to our stock; this included over 300 high efficiency central heating boilers, over 250 new kitchens, over 70 new bathrooms and over 140 homes had new double glazing fitted. We also had over 180 properties receive some sort of adaptation to help the residents remain in their home or maintain their day to day independence within their home. We also gave practical advice and support to save energy and lower fuel bills, including installing insulation and draught proofing, to hundreds of customers either through home visits or at the many events we have held. This means that by the end of March, only about 1% of the association's homes failed the Government's 'Decent Homes Standard'.

Supported Housing

Leeds Fed's Supported Housing services continued to work with vulnerable people and families, empowering them towards more independent living and improving their quality of life. During the year 2008/09, our support work came to a conclusion for 308 people, and for 86% of people this was a positive support outcome. This meant that we achieved our target of 85% for the year, and it compares to an average performance of all support provider organisations in Leeds of 76% for the same period

In addition to this, all our support services were inspected by Leeds Supporting People Team, and in nearly all services we achieved a full set of Level B standards (a 'good' service). We also were re-awarded a 2 star rating from the Commission for Social Care Inspection during an unannounced inspection of our Domiciliary Care Services for people with Learning Disabilities.

Income Management

The year saw considerable progress, both in supporting people to avoid getting in to debt, and dealing effectively with rent arrears when it did occur. Our year end outturn on rent arrears as a percentage of rent roll fell by 0.5% to 4.2%, making us better than average for RSLs nationally. At the same time, we launched a free dedicated debt advice scheme for customers under financial pressure, which so far has handled over £250,000 of debts and advised 44 customers.

Customer Involvement

We now have more involved customers than ever before, including healthy membership of the different forums and 8 constituted local residents' groups. Customers are having more impact on services than ever too, whether through involvement in the Service Reviews of maintenance and adaptations; choosing contractors and components such as boilers; or through the every day influence on the way services are delivered via meetings, focus groups and surveys.

Community Development

A new strategy for worklessness was developed in 2008/09, following consultation with out-of-work customers. We have already started to deliver against the key aims, by making referrals to support through our partnership with Working Links, creating apprenticeship opportunities with our main contractors and establishing a twice-weekly English (ESOL) course to help tackle language barriers. BJs Facilities, the cleaning social enterprise we set up, also completed its first year's trading this year and its success helped it secure our full cleaning contract for Leeds in 2009/10.

Customer Services

2008/09 saw the launch of our interactive website area, MyAccount, which allows users to log repairs, complaints and ASB, or view their rent account securely online.

Repairs

In our satisfaction survey in 2008, many customers told us that we could make improvements to our repairs service, particularly around how we arrange and confirm repair appointments. We have worked with customers on the Service Quality Forum to improve our processes, and this has led to improvements such as confirmation text messages for appointments, and staff making courtesy calls to check customer satisfaction. As a result, performance has improved.

Looking Ahead to 2009/10

We are already working hard to do better this year, and continue improving services and satisfaction whilst at the same time managing costs carefully. If you would like to contribute to this work then please visit the Customer Involvement area.