and a prosperous new year - cadderha.co.uk

Cadder NewsThe newsletter of Cadder Housing Association Limited

Winter 2013

Highlights:The Committee and Staff of Cadder Housing Association

would like to wish our tenants, other customers and all Cadder residents a very

and a Prosperous New Year

Cadder residents a very

MerryChristmas Regeneration of Cadder p4-6

Annual General Meeting p9

Please Note: Details of our opening

hours over the festive period are listed

on Page 3 with emergency contact

details on the back page calendar.

New website p3

The opportunity to develop the community centre is happening at a challenging time for the Association, where we have undergone a major staff restructuring exercise aimed to improving the scope of our ‘in house’ services with the objective to improve the quality of the services we provide. This change has involved our finance and welfare rights services, but the most significant area of change is the development of our direct labour service.

Our direct labour service has evolved since its inception in 2005 where we currently provide estate caretaking, handyperson and painting services. We will continue our ‘direction of travel’ and bring services ‘in house’ through the appointment of the main trade positions to maintain and further improve our tenants’ homes. This will also give us the opportunity to build on our employability initiative where we continue to reach significant milestones on our achievements in providing employment opportunities to long term unemployed people. We recently appointed our 25th modern apprentice and

will shortly recruit our 300th training and work experience placement.

The challenges in our work are also affected through legislative and regulatory changes, which include welfare reform and the implementation of the Scottish Housing Charter. In terms of Welfare Reform our Housing Management team are working closely with our tenants to provide support and assistance to mitigate the impact of these reforms, which affect our tenants and their benefits and income. This work will be enhanced by the appointment of our new Welfare Rights Officer, Lisa McCaig, where she is committed to maximising the personal and housing benefits for our tenants and all Cadder residents.

The housing sector has a new regulator, The Scottish Housing Regulator and their primary objective is to safeguard the interests of tenants and other customers of social landlords. The new Regulator has developed a Regulatory framework, which outlines their expectations of registered social landlords in our governance, finance

and services. The latter is complemented by the Scottish Housing Charter which outlines key outcomes and standards the Scottish Government wants housing organisations to achieve in the provision of services to their tenants and other customers. We welcome this change and we have started to engage more with our tenants and other customers on our services and this will be further developed in the coming months.

In our Annual Report sent to you in September 2013, our Chairperson Linda Brown called for more tenants and residents to become involved in the Association’s work, whether this is to become: a member of our Management Committee; a member of a users forum for our community centre; or to get involved in our Customer Services Review Group to oversee our key services. We have seen over recent years what can be achieved where the Association and the local community work together and I’m keen that we continue to work closely to improve our area and local services.

Finally, on behalf of the Association I would like to wish all our tenants and customers a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Healthy New Year. I’m confident 2014 will be Cadder’s year and we can commence work on new proposed community centre and provide further improvements in our services to you.

2 Cadder Housing Association

Director’s ReportIt is an extremely exciting time for Cadder as we develop plans for the new proposed community centre. It will clearly be a challenge on two fronts, firstly to maximise the funding to provide the ‘Gold Standard’ community centre to meet the needs and aspirations of Cadder and our people. Secondly, to manage the new facility which will be on

a much larger scale and we will need the support of local residents to ensure we can be successful in managing the centre and have a full programme of events and activities.

Kenny

A key task in our communication strategy has been outstanding for several years, which was for the Association to develop a website. Our new website will be launched early in the New Year and will provide information on our full range of services, but it will also have an interactive facility allowing our Tenants and other customers to report a repair, pay their rent, download an

application for housing, and report a complaint.

The website address is: www.cadderha.co.ukIf you have any comments on our new website, whether you want more information in certain areas, improvements you feel we could make to the website, then please let us know as we will review and aim to further improve our website.

Winter 2013 Edition 3

Kenny

Watch out for our new Website

Rebranding of the Associati onThere has been much change and improvement in Cadder in recent years and we are very optimistic about the future, where our aims are to further regenerate Cadder and improve tenants’ homes and our services. As we embark on this new chapter it would be an appropriate time to rebrand the Association in our pursuit of these new goals and the impending launch of our website.

The Association has worked closely with a graphic designer in the Design Team, who are the company that design our newsletters, annual report and other publications in our work. The Design Team provided a range of logos for consideration by the Association’s Management Committee and these have been shortlisted to form consultation with our tenants and other residents.

The logo shortlisted are:

There is a fl yer enclosed in the newsletter for you to choose your preferred logo for the Association. These should be returned to the offi ce no later than Friday 17 January 2014, thereafter the Association’s Management Committee will consider the responses and decide on the new logo for our Association, which will feature on our website, publications and letters.

cadderCADDER

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OFFICE CLOSEDThe Association’s offi ce will close on Monday 23 December 2013 at 4.30p.m. and re-open on Monday 6 January 2014 at 9.00 a.m.

Our contractors are prepared for any emergency repair issue you have and staff members will keep in close contact with them throughout the festive period and our offi ce closure to provide assistance, where required.


Regenerati on of CadderThe Association has made great progress in developing the design of the new proposed Community Centre with our Architects, Cooper Cromar. In October we held a consultation event in the community centre to allow local residents, users of the centre, Politicians and other stakeholders to view and comment on our plans for the new proposed centre.

The Association’s Director, Kenny Mollins told the Cadder News, “There was a positive response from residents of all ages who came along to see the revised proposals for the new community centre.

Their views have reinforced the requirement to provide the best possible centre to accommodate their needs and aspirations for the centre.”

The scale of the development hinges on the funding we can secure to deliver this exciting initiative. The design options are as listed:

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Cadder Community Centre

Option 1 – Basic (Single storey)

Option 3 – Silver (Part 2 storeywith link building)

Option 4 - Gold(2 storey with link building)

Option 2 – Bronze (Single storey with link building)


The Association has presently secured or is pursuing £2.8 million of funding and this coupled with the build costs will determine the fi nal design of the new centre. The Association through partnership working with Glasgow City Council has been successful in securing £1million from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Fund towards the cost of the new centre. We are clearly ‘Going for Gold’ in the fi nal design of the community, although this is estimated to cost £3.5million.

The plans include the relocation of the Association’s offi ces, which will justify our contribution of £500,000 towards this project and we will own the site and be responsible for its management, fi nancial viability and long term sustainability.

The Association is facing challenges to maximise the grant funding or reduce the expenditure in the development to deliver the ‘Gold Standard’ option. We were recently informed by the City Council’s Property Management Company, City Property have increased the valuation and sale of the site to the Association to £118,600, which places an additional cost to the development. We have raised our concerns to the Council and City Property as it was recently reported in the Evening Times that the Council sold land in Dalmarnock for £1 for a new community centre, this as a legacy project to the Commonwealth Games. In addition, the Association has asked Glasgow City Council to identify the funding they can contribute to this project,

following the decision of the Cadder Task Group that the City Council would invest in the new centre. The former Lord Provost Bob Winter gave a commitment that the Council would invest £500,000 towards the project, which informed our initial business plan.

Kenny Mollins stated ‘We feel that the Cadder Community Centre should also have similar status to the Dalmarnock centre and be legacy project from Games. The Association must own the land to maximise funding and the acquisition of the site for £1 similar to Dalmarnock would have a positive effect in determining our development option. We continue to await a response from the City Council on the investment they can contribute to this project’.

The Association has been keeping a watching eye on developments on the site of the former St Agnes school site on Tresta Road. The Scottish Government have recently increased development grants, which make new build developments for housing associations more viable. In view of this decision the Association has submitted an offer to purchase the site to City Property and outline proposals have been submitted to Glasgow City Council to develop the site for new build housing.

Kenny Mollins stated, ’This is a fantastic opportunity to further regenerate Cadder and an area of land that has lay derelict for nearly 5 years. We aim to develop the site for new build housing, which will allow us to meet the housing needs of our tenants and applicants on our housing list’.



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The site of the formerSt Agnes Primary School


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Multi Use Games Area (M.U.G.A)The Association is pleased to confi rm the recent completion of the MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) development behind the Skirsa Street shops. Scottish Power are due to connect the lighting in the near future. Glasgow City Council will be responsible for maintaining the MUGA and this will include daily safety checks being made by their staff and control of the lighting.

The Association would like to thank its stakeholder partners - Cadder Primary School, Langa Street Nursery, Cadder Community Council, North United Communities, PEEK, Glasgow Life, Glasgow City Council, The Old Firm Alliance (Celtic and Rangers Football Clubs) and Partick Thistle FC for their input in considering the future use of the MUGA by the community.

It is hoped that Celtic, Partick Thistle and Rangers football clubs will provide coaching sessions in the future, although his will be dependent upon required funding being available.

The Association’s employability initiative provides training and work experience placements through our work and has been a major success. Since the inception of our direct labour in 2005 the Association has provided nearly 300 work placements, which have 3 main benefi ts, they fi rstly provide long term unemployed

people with training and work experience; secondly, they provide an additional resource to the Association to enhance the scale and quality of our services; and thirdly, benefi t our tenants and other residents where our services are improved ensuring they live in a well maintained area.

The Association invests its resources in providing our trainees with high quality training, qualifi cations, extending placements and the opportunity of a modern apprenticeship. We recently appointed 5 apprentices to pursue a Modern Apprenticeship in Horticulture, which is a 2 year placement and their day to day work experience in landscape and grounds maintenance is supported by an SVQ Level 2 qualifi cation.

The Association Technical Services Manager, Kevin McAllan told the Cadder News, ‘ We are delighted with our achievements in providing employment opportunities to unemployed people. It is clear that our trainees want to work and our work placements and apprenticeships give them that an opportunity and fi rst step in the career ladder, which will stand them in good stead to progress into full time employment’.

The new apprentices are James Tinney, Jamie McLachlan, Connor Mowat, Dylan Connor, Michael McNamara (left to right)

Employability Initi ati ve Achieves Further Milestones


A major review of the Association’s staff structure has taken place in the last year with greater emphasis on bringing services provided by consultants, contractors and external agencies ‘in house’. This will achieve best value where we aim to extend the scope and quality of our services. The service

areas affected by this review include:

• Finance, the appointment of a Finance & Corporate Services Manager;

• Welfare Rights, the appointment of a Welfare Rights Offi cer;

• Housing Management, they will take on responsibility for the factoring service; and

• Maintenance, we will extend our direct labour to include the main trades in the maintenance and improvement of our tenants’ homes.

Early in the New Year we will fi nalise the recruitment of new and resulting posts from the staff structure review process. The new staff members recently recruited are as listed:

The Association would like to take this opportunity to thank staff for their efforts who have left the Association, they are: Bruce Strathearn (Technical Services Offi cer); Agnes Dickinson (Finance Offi cer); John Smith (Repairs Clerical Assistant); and Ted Traynor (Senior Estate Caretaker).

We would also like to congratulate staff who have secured promotion through the staff structure review, they are:

John Campbell, Technical Services Offi cer

Lisa McCaig, Welfare Rights Offi cer

Barry Wolfe, Finance Assistant

Malcolm McDonaldForeman

John Paul Armstrong

Promoted to Chargehand Estate Caretaker from Estate Caretaker

Gerry Hendrick

Promoted to Handyperson from Estate Caretaker

STAFFING UPDATE


Fred and Robert were founder members of the Association, which evolved from the Vaila Street Action Group that was established due to the lack of investment in Vaila Street by the then landlord, Scottish Homes. There was a growth in community based housing associations in the early 1990s and the Vaila Street Action Group seized the opportunity to establish a housing association in Cadder, which could deliver improved housing conditions for tenants. This required a significant level of dedication where they gave up their time to attend meetings and training to ensure they could fulfil the requirements of a Management Committee, responsible for the full housing service.Fred and Robert held senior office bearers positions throughout their tenure on the Committee and both displayed a commitment to developing the Association and ensuring it could deliver improvements in

the housing and services to its tenants and other customers. The milestones of the Association and Management Committee during their tenure included; • 2 housing stock transfers from

Scottish Homes; • comprehensive

improvement of phase 1 transfer properties in Vaila Street;

• establishment of an employability initiative, which has now provided over 300 work placement and apprenticeships to long term unemployed people;

• significant housing improvements to all of the Association’s properties which included an insulated render system, new gas central heating, new double glazing windows, and other property and environmental improvements;

• providing high quality services for tenants and other customers; and

• ensuring the Association is viable to meet the challenges and opportunities going forward.

The Association’s Director, Kenny Mollins told the Cadder News, ‘The Association is indebted to Fred and Robert for their commitment and effort on the Management Committee and the improvements that have been made in Cadder. Their legacy is that current and future tenants will live in warm and comfortable homes in an attractive environment and benefit from the provision of high quality services, delivered by the housing association they established.

Cadder’s own family Butcher, Jim Carrigan announced his retirement in the summer. Jim had been the Butcher in Cadder for 34 years and local residents did not forget the service he provided throughout that time. There was a collection by local residents to provide a gift and organise an event in the community centre to allow people to say their goodbyes.

Those attending the event spoke

about Jim’s generosity where he supported charities through his work, but regularly offered ‘tick’ to local people, which enabled them to feed their families. Others spoke about Jim’s smile as they passed his shop on a daily basis.

Jim spoke about his close association with Cadder’s people through his work, where he has made many friends and was saddened to be leaving, but looking forward to his retirement.

Sad FarewellsThe Association would like to pay tribute to two members of its Management Committee who recently died following short illnesses; they are Fred Dawson and Robert Sutherland. They were both long standing members of the Management Committee and had service of around 20 years. They shared a common goal where they were committed to improving the quality of life and living conditions of Cadder’s people.

Retirement of our Family Butcher

Fred Dawson

Robert Sutherland


Annual General Meeti ngThe Association’s 20th Annual General Meeting was held on 9 September 2013 in the Cadder Community Centre. We would like to thank the shareholders and other residents that attended the event and heard from the Association’s Director on the previous year’s highlights, as well as the challenges and opportunities in 2013-14.The formal business of the AGM was concluded where our Finance Consultant, FMD Finance gave an overview of the accounts and our Auditor Alexander Sloan advised shareholders that the fi nancial statements were in order and gave a clean audit report. The Association then elected the Committee for 2013-14, which were:

Linda Brown, ChairpersonRuby Hunter, Vice ChairpersonElizabeth Doherty, SecretaryJohn Delaney, TreasurerMandy McDadeBailie RazaqMargaret AlexanderRobert Sutherland*Jacqueline Hunter*Richard Hunter*

Quintin Goldie OBEZafar Ahmad

At the fi rst meeting of the Management Committee after the AGM, the new offi ce bearers were appointed, they are listed above.*These members have since left the Committee

Committ ee’s Mini-Conference event sets Future Prioriti esThe Management Committee held its fi rst mini conference at Peebles Hydro to undertake training to ensure they can successfully lead, manage and direct the Association. The event also allowed the Committee to identify the main challenges, opportunities and risks in the Association’s work and how to deal with these. This will inform a review of our Internal Management Plan, which sets our strategic objectives and the key tasks and targets, which will ensure we achieve our goals.

The Association’s Chairperson, Linda Brown said, “It has been a very

worthwhile event where the training has been centred on the needs of the Committee. It has allowed the Committee to focus on what we want to achieve in the coming year, as well as learn more about our role to effectively

manage the Association. It is

also pleasing that the event

achieved best value, where

the costs were less than

similar training or conference

events provided by other

organisations”.


In January 2013 we introduced a new complaints procedure, which classed each complaint either a Stage 1 (frontline) to be attended to with 5 working days or Stage 2 (Investigation) to be attended to within 20 working days.

We record your complaints about any aspect of our service to fi rstly, monitor our performance in dealing with each complaint and how this compares against our procedure; secondly, it allows us to assess the reasons why

tenants and other customers are complaining and the outcomes i.e. are they upheld, if so what are the reasons; and thirdly, we are committed to learning from our mistakes or approach to delivering our service in order that we can continuously improve all aspects of our work.

The following charts show:

• Number of complaints by service area;

• Number of complaints by each complaint category;

• Outcomes of our assessment of complaints i.e. upheld, etc

We have listened to people’s complaints and changed our approach or amended aspects of our service to ensure continued high quality service provision.

There were 32 complaints received from 1st April 2013 to 30 September 2013, 27 of these were fully auctioned and resolved. 78% of complaints were upheld.

Examples of Complaints

a) Complaint received regarding methods used by our caretaking staff for weeding. This was investigated and a full written response was given to the complainant. Complaint was not upheld as methods used are within the health and safety remit of the Association.

b) Community Energy Saving Project (CESP) was the subject of complaints due to the delay of the project and outstanding works. All complaints were investigated and resolved with the assistance of British Gas and their contractors.

c) Tenant called to offi ce regarding non-attendance of inspector for repairs. This was dealt with straight away with new appointment made with tenant. Complaint upheld in favour of tenant.


a) Complaint received regarding methods used by our caretaking staff for weeding. This was investigated and a full written response with given to the complainant. Complaint was not upheld as methods used are within the health and safety remit of the Association.

b) Community Energy Saving Project (CESP) was the subject of

complaints due to the delay of the project and outstanding works. All complaints were investigated and resolved with the assistance of British Gas and their contractors.

c) Tenant called to office regarding non-attendance of inspector for

repairs. This was dealt with straight away with new appointment made with tenant. Complaint upheld in favour of tenant.

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Complaints Stage

Front Line Level 1 -‐ 5 Working Days

Front Line Level 2 -‐ Ext further 5 working days

Invesogaoon -‐ Stage 2 -‐ 20 Working Days

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STAGE 1 -‐ UPHELD

STAGE 1 -‐ NOT UPHELD

STAGE 2 -‐ UPHELD


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Complaints Outcome


a) Complaint received regarding methods used by our caretaking staff for weeding. This was investigated and a full written response with given to the complainant. Complaint was not upheld as methods used are within the health and safety remit of the Association.

b) Community Energy Saving Project (CESP) was the subject of

complaints due to the delay of the project and outstanding works. All complaints were investigated and resolved with the assistance of British Gas and their contractors.

c) Tenant called to office regarding non-attendance of inspector for

repairs. This was dealt with straight away with new appointment made with tenant. Complaint upheld in favour of tenant.

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Complaints Stage

Front Line Level 1 -‐ 5 Working Days

Front Line Level 2 -‐ Ext further 5 working days

Invesogaoon -‐ Stage 2 -‐ 20 Working Days

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STAGE 2 -‐ UPHELD


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Complaints Outcome

Complaints & Compliments Complaints & Compliments In January 2013 we introduced a new complaints procedure, which classed each repair either a Stage 1 (frontline) to be attended to with 5 working days or Stage 2 (Investigation) to be attended to within 20 working days. We record your complaints about any aspect of our service to firstly, monitor our performance in dealing with each complaint and how this compares against our procedure; secondly, it allows us to assess the reasons why tenants and other customers are complaining and the outcomes i.e. are they upheld, if so what are the reasons; and thirdly, we are committed to learning from our mistakes or approach to delivering our service and by amending our service we can continuously improve all aspects of our services. The following charts show:

Number of complaints by each complaint category; Number of complaints by service area; Outcomes of our assessment of complaints i.e. upheld, etc

We have also listed examples where we have listened to people’s complaints and changed our approach or amended aspects of our service to ensure continued high quality service provision. Complaints received from 1st April 2013 to 30th September 2013 – 32 complaints received and 27 were fully actioned and resolved.

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Types of complaint Received Maintenance -‐ Re-‐acove Repairs

Maintenance -‐ Planned or Major Repairs

Maintenance -‐ Factoring

Maintenance -‐ General Service


We often receive compliments about our service from tenants, owner-occupiers or other customers and we feel it is important to publish these.

Mrs McDonald of Herma Street –

A good repairs service. I called and the problem was repaired within a few hours.

The Scottish Housing Regulator has produced a factsheet for tenants which explains what do if you want to report a complaint or a signifi cant performance failure in the Association’s work. The document also outlines the difference between a complaint and a signifi cant performance failure. If you want this factsheet or our complaints leafl et please contact Debbie Martin on 0141 945 3282

or pick these up from our offi ce.

Complaints and Significant Performance Failures

What should you do?If you are a tenant and are aware of a significant performance failure you should:

» raise the issue with your landlord;» give them a reasonable time to respond; and

» give them a reasonable time to fix the failure.

If your landlord does not deal with the failure, or it agrees to do something and nothing happens, then you can report this to us.How to report a significant performance failure?The simplest way to report a significant performance failure is to complete the form on our website and email it to us. This can be found on our website scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk. You can also telephone, fax, write or email us (details are at the end of this leaflet). We will also accept a report of a significant performance failure from individuals or groups representing tenants, such as registered tenants’ organisations, or groups of tenants.

What we will doWhen we receive a report that there has been a significant performance failure, we will:» review the information provided to assess whether it is, or is not, a significant performance failure;

» respond to you within 20 working days; and» tell you or the tenants’ group what action, if any, we intend to take.

If you require further information on significant performance failures or about making a complaint please contact:

Carolyn AndersonPhone: 0141 305 4199 Fax: 0141 221 5030 Email: spf@scottishhousing regulator.gsi.gov.uk

Or write to: Scottish Housing Regulator58 Waterloo StreetGlasgow G2 7DA

Customer Services Review Group

The Association is in the process of setting up a Customer Services Review group.

This is an exciting opportunity to become involved in playing an important role in analysing and positively challenging our work. You will assess performance and policies to ensure our services offer the best value for money in keeping with tenant aspirations. The group’s aims are to:

• Improve tenant satisfaction.

• Improve performance of day to day services.

• Influence our decisions by providing tenant perspectives.

• Achieve the best possible value for money.

• Hold the Association to account for our performance.

An independent group consisting of resident volunteers will meet every 3 months or so to assess various areas of the service. It will work alongside the Association’s staff to examine our service and policies, as well as monitor performance in key areas. Members are provided with information on which to determine if the service is performing well. If not, it can ask for remedial action to be carried out. If you feel parts of our services should be improved or we don’t meet the needs of all our tenants, then this could be a really positive way for you to be involved. Training and support will be given to undertake this role.

Interested? If so, please contact our Housing Services Manager, John McShane on 945-6702 for a chat.

Mr McLellan of Vaila Place -

A great service from your estate caretakers- a fantastic job and now my garden has been cleared!

Complaints and Signifi cant Performance Failures


Scotti sh Housing Charter

The Scottish Social Housing Charter

The Scottish Government has established a Scottish Housing Charter (Charter) which outlines the standards and outcomes that all Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) should achieve when performing their housing services and activities.

The Charter contains 16 outcomes and standards, of which the Association will be measured against 14 of these by the Scottish Housing Regulator (Regulator) on an annual basis. The 14 outcomes are as listed within six sections of the Charter:

Section: Equalities1. Equalities

Section: Customer / Landlord Relationship2. Communication3. Participation

Section: Housing Quality and Maintenance4. Quality of Housing5. Repairs, maintenance and

improvement

Section: Neighbourhood and Community6. Estate management, anti-social

behaviour, neighbour nuisance and tenancy disputes

Section : Access to Housing and Support7, 8 and 9 Housing Options10. Access to social housing11. Tenancy Sustainment

Section: Getting Value from Rents and Services Charges

13. Value for money14 and 15. Rents and service charges

The two outcomes that do not apply to the Association are homelessness duties for local authorities and the management of sites for gypsies / travellers.

The Regulator has set 55 performance indicators and 12 satisfaction indicators to assess RSLs performance with the Charter outcomes and standards. The

Association has employed the services of an independent survey company to assess satisfaction levels of our tenants in meeting Charter outcomes (See section on continuous monitoring - page 14), this will be complemented by our ‘in house’ surveys for key areas of our work e.g. repairs, complaints, factoring, etc.

The Association’s fi rst report to the Regulator will be in May 2014 and will cover the fi nancial year’s performance in 2013-14. The Regulator has issued guidance to RSLs to ensure the measurement and evidence to validate compliance with their indicators is as much as possible consistent across the RSL sector. The Regulator will produce

a report comparing the performance of RSLs, which will be published on their website from August 2014. Thereafter in October / November 2014, the Association will publish our annual Performance Report giving further detail on our performance and highlighting areas where we excel and areas for improvement.

When do we need to start reporting?


How are we progressing to achieve the Charter indicators by March 2014.

We have procured the services of the Scottish Housing Best Value Network (SHBVN), who are a benchmarking organisation working within the housing sector, to undertake an audit of our progress in implementing the Charter Indicators. The SHBVN spent a week on site auditing our work and their conclusion was that, ‘the Association was very well placed to comply with the Charter indicators set by the Housing Regulator’.

The Association’s Director Kenny Mollins commented on the new Housing Charter, ‘The Charter will give us a greater focus and ensure we engage further with our tenants to listen and take account of their views to improve in key areas of our service. I’m delighted with the outcome of the recent audit where we are well placed to comply with the Regulator’s expectations of RSLs to achieve their Charter Indicators. Finally, I would like to encourage all tenants to get involved in particular, express an interest in joining our new Customer Services Review Group’.

How can you become involved?A key feature of the Charter is for landlords and tenants to work together to review and improve services. This means that you will have the opportunity to have a greater say in our work and services we provide to you. This could be in the following ways:

• Responding to our satisfaction surveys in key areas of our work.

• Taking part in surveys through our survey company (MIS):

o Quarterly Continuous Monitoring Survey, which will contact a proportion of tenants each quarter over 3 years, resulting in overall

contact with 75% of tenants;

o Full Resident Satisfaction Survey undertaken every 3 years, which will contact 50% of tenants and owner-occupiers in all aspects of our work.

• Providing us with your comments and feedback on our services, as well as on our Performance Report in the autumn 2014.

• Becoming involved in our Customer Services Review Group to comment on our performance and services throughout the year. This group is scheduled to meet between 3 or 4 times per year. (See page 11 on this Group if you are interested in becoming a member).


Performance Bulleti nWe are committed to continually improving all aspects of our service and performance. At the beginning of each fi nancial year we set targets for key areas of our work and our performance can be measured up to 30 September 2013;

Key Performance Indicator Target Actual Indicator*

Current Tenant Arrears 61,726 81,350

Former Tenant Arrears 24,689 29,667

Total – Tenant Arrears 86,415 110,017

Factoring Arrears £51,000 £52,514

Average time to re-let properties 11 days 20 days Rent Loss from Empty Properties 6,130 10,400 Repairs

■ Emergency 100% 100%

■ Urgent 98% 98%

■ Routine 98% 99%

Gas Servicing 100% 100% Anti-social Complaints

■ Category ‘A’ – Serious cases N/A 3

■ Category ‘B’ – Persistent cases N/A 8

■ Category ‘C’ – Minor nature N/A 72

Achieving target Performance is broadly similar to target Not achieving target

Cadder Housing Association

Within the Scottish Housing Charter (Charter)there are a number of indictors which require landlords to report on the satisfaction levels of their services from their tenants each year. This can either be done as part of a full survey every two to three years or on a continuous basis, which we have chosen to do.

The surveys are undertaken on a quarterly basis by an independent survey company, Management Information (Scotland) (MIS) over

a 3 year period. Each quarter 41 tenants are asked questions (7 in total) that we will report on as part of the Scottish Housing Charter to gauge the satisfaction level of our services by our tenants. The questions cover areas such as Repairs, Estate Management and communication between the Association and the tenants.

Information has been gathered from 123 tenants to date in the period 1 April – 28 November and some of the results are as follows.

By carrying out regular surveys it allows the Association to get a regular feel on how our users feel about our services and to address any issues that may come from this sooner rather than later. Presently the Association is currently looking at the Repairs service and how this can be improved to meet our tenants’ needs.

Conti nuous Monitoring

Satisfaction Category Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3

Participation in Decision Making Process 98% 89% 88%

Management of the Neighbourhood 98% 73% 95%

Repairs Service 78% 64% 58%

*


Community

Corner

A number of Cadder youngsters have come up with the novel idea of creating their own ‘Message Wall’. The youths are regular attendees at North United Communities clubs, which are held in Cadder Community Centre.

The idea came about as a result of a group of young people noticing incidences of anti-social behaviour within the neighbourhood, such as graffi ti and dog fouling. They then

decided that they wanted to do something about these issues.

The Message Wall is located within the community centre. Some of the messages added to the Message Wall are:

“keep the streets graffi ti free- if you want to do it do it on me”

“if you’re under age drinking then your not thinking”

“drugs are for mugs”

“dog mess... bag it - bin it”

The Association and North United Communities are

delighted with the initiative and community spirit shown by these young people and thank those involved for coming up with such a great idea.

‘Message Wall̒

Greater Maryhill _____________________________

foodbank

Fighti ng food poverty in our community

The Greater Maryhill Foodbank aims to respond to those with very real needs, struggling day to day in North Glasgow. It is a partnership initiative involving churches, voluntary organisations, housing associations, community councils, and other local entities such as the Job Centre. They started in June 2013 by providing households (individuals or families) in crisis situations with approximately 3 days worth of nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food. Partner agencies including Cadder Housing Association can identify households needing food and refer them to foodbank by giving them a voucher. The voucher enables that household member to enter the foodbank.

How can I donate food? Donations can be handed in at Cadder Community Centre. Here are some suggestions of non-perishables:• Tins: Tuna, Meat, Soup, Vegetables,

Fruit, Baked Beans, Meat Pie, Rice Pudding, Spaghetti

• Jars: Jam, Jelly, Pasta Sauce, Curry Sauce, Sandwich Spread, Baby Food

• Packets: Pasta, Rice, Sugar, Cereal, Oatmeal, Biscuits, Noodles

• Beverages: Tea, Coffee, Long Life Milk, Fruit Juice, Bottled Juice

They are also happy to accept such household items as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dish washing liquid, shampoo, toilet paper, nappies, etc.


We understand that everyone can have money issues from time to time. If this happens to you, tell us as there are ways we can help you to meet your required rent payments, such as checking if you are missing out on any benefi ts, getting you the best electricity and gas deals, setting up budgeting/ repayment plans and rescheduling any debts you may have.

If you have a repayment arrangement with the Association to pay off rent arrears, you must maintain this to avoid the possibility of further action being taken against you. This may include court proceedings being raised, which

could result in your eviction.

We appreciate that this may be a particularly diffi cult time of year for a number of our tenants. However, our message is clear – Your rent comes fi rst. We cannot accept festive expenditure being put before your rent being paid. You must ensure that your rent payments are made on or before the 28th of each month.

You can pay your rent in the following ways:

• at any Post Offi ce

• at any shop with the ‘PayPoint’ sign

• by internet – www.allpayments.net

• by telephone - 0844 557 8321

• by Direct Debit (you will need to contact the Association to set up a Direct Debit. There’s no hassle - It’s quick and easy)

• by app – www.allpay.net/app

• At the Association’s offi ce (Debit card only. Sorry we do not take cash payments)

Our Housing and Welfare Rights Offi cers are here to help support our tenants to maintain their repayment arrangements and prevent any recovery action.

Remember, it is important to contact us immediately if you are having any problems paying your rent or any other money issues. The sooner you contact us, the easier it will be to help you resolve matters.

We have started the process of looking at next year’s budget. A key part of this is reviewing rents, management fee and service charges through consultation with tenants and owner-occupiers, respectively prior to any proposed increase on 1 April 2014.

The Association is committed to providing value for money and quality services for all our residents. We understand the current diffi cult economic circumstances, but we must ensure that we meet our operating costs, particularly in relation to the monies that have been required to fund the substantial improvement works to a large number of properties.

We are committed to keeping our costs down and this is shown when our rents and

management fee charges are compared to other Scottish housing associations in our Peer Group (similar sized landlords).

The Association will shortly be consulting with affected residents for 2014/15 levels and we would encourage you to submit your views.

Housing Management/Maintenance Matt ers

Rent – Your First Priority

Rent, Management Fee and Service Charge Review 2014/15


Bedroom TaxHelp may be at handThe Bedroom Tax (Social Size Criteria) came into place on 1 April 2013 as part of the UK Government’s welfare reform measures.

The Association has a large number of tenants affected by this, which has resulted in reductions of 14% or 25% to their housing benefi t payments.

Discreti onary Housing Payment FundThe Scottish Government has recently awarded an additional £3.5million to Glasgow City Council’s Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) Fund. This fund is available to tenants who receive housing or council tax benefi t. Its aim is to provide fi nancial assistance to tenants who are fi nding it diffi cult to pay their monthly rent charge.

We have successfully obtained a high number of DHP awards for our tenants, which has helped to cover some or all of the reduction in tenants’ housing benefi t payments.

If you have not done so, we would encourage you to contact the Association without delay to discuss the above. Don’t worry about the

paperwork - we’ll take care of this for you.

We want to help and you have nothing to lose by making an application.

DOG POOP BAGS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE ASSOCIATIONFREE OF CHARGE FOR OUR RESIDENTSBAG IT - BIN IT! PLEASE CONTACT THE ASSOCIATION IF YOU WISH TO DISCUSS OR REPORT DOG FOULING.

Glasgow residents aged 80 and over are being urged to apply for their annual £100 Affordable Warmth Dividend.

For a third year, Glasgow City Council is offering older city residents money to help heat their homes during the winter.

Since the council introduced the dividend in November 2011, a total of 30,000 people have taken up the offer which is designed to help older Glaswegians stay warm.

Glasgow residents ages 80 plus can obtain an application form from the council’s

website (link below) or by phoning 0141 287 7961. Forms are also available at Cadder Housing Association’s offi ce.

Dividend payments are not restricted to one per household. If more than one person aged 80 or older lives in a house they can apply separately. Elderly people living in residential care or hospitals can also apply. Applications will be accepted until March 31, 2014.

Residents of any age can also receive impartial energy tips from Glasgow Home Energy Advice Team (G-HEAT) on 0800 092 9002. G-HEAT holds

monthly surgeries at the Association’s offi ce on the last Thursday of each month (2-4pm). No appointment necessary.

Further information on the Affordable Warmth Dividend is available at:

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/affordablewarmth

£100 Winter Warmer from Glasgow City Council


During this winter holiday period its easy to forget that your home could be at risk when there are long periods of sub zero temperatures. There is a greater risk of burst pipes and utilities such as gas, electricity and water can be affected.

Some Handy Hints...

• In very cold or freezing conditions you should leave heating on at least a low setting (frost) even if you are away overnight. This will help to prevent the misery of burst pipes.

• Check that you know where your water stopcock is, just in case, so that you can shut

water off immediately should a burst pipe occur.

• Keep the out of hours emergency numbers from this newsletter handy.

• Think about having House Contents Insurance.

• Be prepared for power cuts: Check batteries in torches and radios. Also cordless phones WILL NOT work during a power failure. Stock up with supplies of food for the few days that the shops will be closed.

The last bulk uplift service was on 19 December with the next uplift not until 16 January next year. Please don’t leave bulk items at the collection points during this

period as it won’t be picked up and will attract vandalism and make Cadder look unattractive when many of our residents have seasonal visitors.

BULK UPLIFT

Winter Precauti ons

The Association will soon be changing the way that it maintains your home. This will involve carrying out repairs and improvements by our in-house team. We will have our own time served joiner, plumber, electrician, and painter as well as Gerry our existing handyperson.

The team will be led by a working foreman and be complemented by the existing maintenance team. This is an exciting development for maintenance services and it will follow the established model for the in-house estate caretaking team which

was set up 8 years ago. The Technical Services Manager, Kevin McAllan said, “We will have control over most of the work carried out to our homes so we can use this resourceto serve you better. We will roll out repairs by appointment from April 2014 so that our qualifi ed tradespersons can visit at a time that suits you. We will also be carrying out capital works in our properties and this will involve kitchen and bathroom renewal, electrical upgrading and testing, renewal of extract fans and smoke detectors.

Our Repairs Service is Changing

water off immediately should a burst pipe

Planned and cyclical workThe Association completed

the CESP Programme earlier

this year at a cost of around

£5 million for a project value

of £7 million. The additional

insulation to the properties

should ensure that residents

have a warmer winter this

year. The outstanding fencing

reinstatement has now been

completed and this marks the

fi nal work to be carried out

within the programme.

Finally the programme for

servicing gas boilers was

carried out with a 100%

success rate of completion

within the annual timescale.

Thank you to out tenants for

providing access to keep up

this achievement .


CESP Resident Sati sfacti on SurveyCadder Housing Association is proud of the quality of service which it provides to our tenants and owner-occupiers. We recently commissioned a resident survey to fi nd out the overall levels of satisfaction with the Community Energy

Savings Programme. This was a face to face survey conducted by Management Information Scotland Ltd. In total there were 247 tenants and 132 owners questioned. Not all properties received the same level of improvements

carried out within the programme so that the results in each category relate to variable numbers of residents. The following information shows the main highlights from the survey.

Overall the levels of satisfaction are positive but refl ect some of the diffi culties associated with carrying out a challenging programme containing many elements all carried out within a short period of time. Nevertheless Cadder residents can now face the cold winter in their warm homes that are easier to heat and refl ect that the pain of the upgrading experience is behind them. The Association has considered the survey results and will take the lessons learned into account when planning major works in the future.

CESP Satisfaction Level of satisfaction

Assistance by Cadder Staff 83%

Window renewal 88%

Heating renewal 92%

External doors renewal 90%

External insulated render installation 89%

Conduct/assistance of the contractor 86%

Quality of the Contractor’s workmanship 77%

Was the fi nished work worthwhile 91%

CALENDAR2014

Ren

t du

eP

ub

lic Holid

ay

Clo

sed

9a

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(for sta

ff train

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& d

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men

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Emerg

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ful

Tele

ph

on

e N

um

bers

Emergency Repairs

0800 5

95 5

95

Out of H

ours Hom

eless Service0800 8

38 5

02

Bulk Uplift

0141 2

87 9

700

Crim

e Stoppers 0800 5

55 1

11

Noise Team

0141 2

87 6

688

Maryhill Police

101

Environmental H

ealth0141 2

87 9

700

Scottish Power

0845 2

72 7

999

Scottish Water

0845 6

00 8

855

Gas Leaks

0800 1

11 9

99

Housing Benefi t

0141 2

87 5

050

Maryhill C

itizens Advice

0141 9

46 6

373

Tax Credit H

elpline0845 3

00 3

900

Jobseekers Direct

0845 6

0 6

0 2

34

Glasgow

City C

ouncil0141 2

87 2

000

CA

DD

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OU

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ASSO

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LTD66 Sk

irsa Stre

et, G

lasg

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G23 5

BA

Tele

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141 9

45 3

282

Fax: 0

141 9

48 0

163

E-ma

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qu

iry@ca

dd

erh

ou

sing

.co.u

k

MAY 2014

JUNE 2014

AUGUST 2014

JULY 2014

Open

ing h

ours: M

on – Th

u (9

am – 4

.30pm

); Fri (9am

-4.0

0pm

). We a

re closed on

the

last Wed

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mon

th for staff train

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d op

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1pm

-6pm

.

M

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1

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FEBRUARY 2014

APRIL 2014

MARCH 2014

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DECEMBER 2014

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and a prosperous new year - cadderha.co.uk

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