Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

Inspection <strong>report</strong> 

March 2005 

Homes for 

Islington 

(ALMO) 

London Borough of Islington

p 2 London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) 

Contents 

Summary 3 

Scoring the service 4 

Recommendations 7 

Report 10 

Context 10 

The locality 10 

The council 10 

The service 11 

How good is the service? 13 

Access and customer care 13 

Diversity 16 

Value for money 18 

Stock investment and asset management 20 

Housing income management 32 

Resident involvement 34 

Allocations and lettings 41 

Leasehold management and Right to Buy 43 

Summary 46 

What are the prospects for improvement to the service? 48 

What is the evidence of service improvement? 48 

How good are the current improvement plans? 52 

Will improvements be delivered? 54 

Summary 59 

Appendices 60 

Performance indicators 60 

Documents reviewed 61 

Reality checks undertaken 61 

List of people interviewed 62 

Positive practice 65

Summary 

London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) p 3 

1 The London Borough of Islington is a London borough council. The population is 

176,000 of which, 25 per cent are from black and minority ethnic (BME) 

communities, excluding Turkish and Irish. 

2 The council is Liberal Democrat led with 36 of the 48 seats. The council has a 

cabinet structure style of government, with an executive board comprising a 

leader and eight liberal democrat councillors. 

3 The council employs 3,029 staff across all services and Homes for Islington (HFI) 

employs 633 employees. 

4 The arm’s length management organisation (ALMO) review of HFI covered all 

services delegated to the ALMO: 

stock investment and repairs ordering; 

environmental protection and improvement; 

rent collection, dealing with arrears and debt counselling; 

estate management, caretaking and support services under Supporting 

People; 

managing lettings, voids and under-occupation; 

enforcement of tenancy conditions; 

similar functions for leaseholders; 

tenant participation, information and consultation; and 

employs 633 employees. 

5 The service is estimated to cost £55,860,000 for 2004/05 and Homes for Islington 

the arm’s length management organisation is the managing agent and began in 

April 2004. 

6 The <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong> has previously carried out inspections of the service in 

January 2003. We judged the service to be a fair, one star service with promising 

prospects for improvement.


Scoring the service 

7 We have assessed Homes for Islington as providing a ‘good’, two-star service 

that has excellent prospects for improvement. Our judgements are based on the 

evidence obtained during the inspection and are outlined below. 

Scoring chart 1 : London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) 

Excellent 

Promising 

Uncertain 

Poor 

Poor 

Prospects for improvement? 

 

Fair 

 

Good 

 

Excellent 

A good 

service? 

8 In summary we consider the housing management services, including the repair 

and maintenance service provided by Homes for Islington (HFI), are good 

because HFI has made improvements to address the weaknesses from our 

previous inspection and built on positive performance. This is evident from the 

improved performance in performance indicators (PIs), improvements in 

satisfaction for all service areas and an improved perception of HFI from 

residents we met. Some of the positive aspects of the services include: 

accessible services for all residents including those with disabilities and 

English as a second language; 

high quality area housing offices; 

extended access for repair appointments; rent and service charge payments; 

and transfers through HFI Direct their call centre; 

provided and extended a comprehensive range of service standards called 

customer commitments (CC)s most with clear targets and effective 

arrangements to manage and <strong>report</strong> performance against them; 

comprehensive and easy to use website, accessible and informative 

published material including newsletters for tenants and leaseholders with 

residents involved on the editorial board; 

formal complaints and an annual independent resident survey used to 

improve services; 

‘a good service 

that has excellent 

prospects for 

improvement’ 

positive partnerships with contractors, Islington antisocial behaviour team 

and others to deliver services; 

1 The scoring chart displays performance in two dimensions. The horizontal axis shows how good the service or 

function is now, on a scale ranging from no stars for a service that is poor (at the left-hand end) to three stars for 

an excellent service (right-hand end). The vertical axis shows the improvement prospects of the service, also on a 

four-point scale.


high tenant satisfaction with major work schemes and works to meet the 

Decent Homes Standard (DHS); 

continuous improvement in the performance on voids turnaround, urgent 

repairs carried out in target time and appointments for repairs made and 

kept; 

resident involvement in repair improvements and performance review 

resulting in improved customer satisfaction with repair service; 

successes in increasing income, reducing losses and cost efficiencies 

through the detection of fraud; caretakers carrying out minor repairs and 

contractual arrangements; 

proactive approach to rent and service charge collection; 

wide range of initiatives used to deal effectively with antisocial behaviour 

(ASB) and to sustain tenancies; 

HFI managed estates are clean and free of graffiti; 

positive joint working with the council’s housing department on allocations, 

and a well publicised accessible transfer system; resident improvements 

delivered as a result of consultation at area panel consultative forum; 

greater involvement of harder to reach residents through community groups, 

specialist forums and out reach work; and 

open board and sub-board meetings and board directors accessible at 

consultative forums. 

9 However, there are a number of weaknesses that need addressing: 

there are still some inconsistencies in service delivery and approach, for 

example, graffiti and cleaning on a few estates and health and safety 

compliancy on some major work sites; 

not all informal sources of feedback are being used to inform service 

improvement and performance in dealing with stage two complaints still 

requires improvement; 

there is no overarching value for money strategy and cost efficiency is 

secondary to service improvements; 

gas servicing performance improved but still unsatisfactory at 92 per cent; 

cleaning standards for empty properties not consistently met; 

a few major works sites did not meet the safety standards; 

performance on processing right to buy applications has improved but is still 

poor as is the collection of major work costs; 

information requests from transfer applicants not consistently followed up 

delaying offers and some cases files not updated following transfer; 

until the review of resident involvement is completed the resources for this 

service area are not fully aligned to objectives, outcomes of some activities 

are unclear and there is some duplication of roles and activity; and 

still dissatisfaction among leaseholders about consultation for major works.


10 We consider that HFI have excellent prospects for improvement because: 

there has been a consistent drive to improve that has resulted in benefits 

residents recognise; 

there is a consistent upward trend on all key best value performance 

indicators (BVPIs) and local performance indicators; 

there are systems to capture internal positive practice and learning through 

secondments and shadowing, staff conferences and workshops with tenant 

management organisations (TMOs) 2 ; 

improvements are driven through service improvements identified through 

feedback, resident involvement, performance management and the BVR 

process; 

residents are dominant in key strategic reviews such as the tenant compact 

group; 

HFI are self aware and plans realistically address service weaknesses, take 

account of current and forthcoming legislation, positive practise elsewhere 

and are customer focused; 

there is a clear and timely business planning process and the board have 

clearly prioritised plans and resources; 

the council is supportive of the ALMO’s independence; 

there is strong leadership from senior staff and the board, the board works 

well, provides clear leadership and members are visible to staff and 

residents; 

there are clear and challenging ambitions, targets and service standards; 

there is a commitment to invest in staff and ensure a diverse workforce; 

the organisation has restructured to improve capacity, meet business needs 

and improve service delivery and it uses partnerships effectively; 

the board, staff and council are clear about their respective roles and 

responsibilities; 

there are robust performance management arrangements in place, both 

between the council and HFI and within HFI; and 

there is a clear and robust risk management strategy. 

11 However, we identified the following weaknesses in relation to prospects for 

improvement: 

some more recent improvements have yet to show clear and demonstrable 

outcomes; 

there are too many plans and the alignment of plans is not comprehensive; 

benchmarking is not being fully utilised to assess VFM and VFM 

assessments are not consistently carried out; 

there are opportunities for conflict of interest within the current governance 

arrangements; and 

not all resources are aligned to meet organisational and user focused 

objectives. 

2 Tenant management organisations include tenant management co-operatives and estate management boards.

Recommendations 


12 To rise to the challenge of continuous improvement, organisations need 

inspection <strong>report</strong>s that offer practical pointers for improvement. In this context, 

the inspection team makes the following recommendations. 

Improve the accessibility of service to the diverse range of residents in the 

community. 

Ensure consistent monitoring of diversity information across HFI and the 

tenant management organisations (TMOs) and respond to issues arising 

from monitoring service delivery (six months). 

Include diversity information in estate agreements and use all 

opportunities to collect diversity information where it is not held 

(three months). 

With the council and residents secure funding for community centres to 

meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (12 months). 

Improve access and customer care arrangements. 

Provide clear targets for all customer commitments (CCs) at the next 

planned review with residents. 

<strong>Audit</strong> and improve the quality of responses to complaints and ensure 

performance meets targets for replying to all complaints (three months). 

Capture informal feedback to inform improvements and introduce 

targeted surveys of victims of ASB and harassment to understand the 

effectiveness of actions taken and use this to ensure the service meets 

their needs (three months). 

Work with the council to resource improvements to reception centres and 

improve security (12 months). 

Improve the repair and maintenance service. 

Take action to ensure all properties that have not had a gas service for 

over 12 months are serviced as a matter of priority (three months). 

Involve residents in the development of capital schemes, their timing and 

design (12 months). 

Put in place a mechanism to check that repairs are carried out right first 

time and that targets for this are set and met (six months). 

Improve housing income management. 

Work with the council to develop a strategy to deal with historic current 

arrears using positive practise from good performing organisations (three 

months). 

Improve tenancy and estate management services by: 

ensuring consistency in estate care services and that window cleaning 

and refuse collection arrangements, meet the needs of residents 

(six months). 

Improve allocations and the letting service. 

Work with the council to implement the draft service level agreement 

with the council’s allocation service (three months).


Improve leasehold management and Right to Buy (RTB) services. 

Improve performance in processing RTB applications in line with 

government targets (six months). 

Improve consultation with all residents, including leaseholders, on major 

works on a scheme by scheme basis (six months). 

Work with the council to: 

implement a clear strategy to improve performance in the collection of 

major work costs (six months); and 

provide a comprehensive, well publicised package of financial advice and 

support to leaseholders, including access to independent financial advice 

and options for those in hardship to pay for major work costs (six 

months). 

Work with TMOs to analyse and scrutinise their costs and charges for 

leaseholders (12 months). 

Improve resident involvement. 

Ensure residents are provided with cost information when consulting on 

changes to service and that resources are available to implement the 

chosen option (three months). 

General. 

Develop a value for money strategy to ensure cost efficiency is given 

greater priority and a consistent approach is taken (six months). 

Ensure the quality of responses to complaints meets HFI standard and 

targets for responding to complaints are met (three months). 

Ensure that opportunities for conflict of interest within the governance 

arrangements are minimised (six months). 

Address all other areas of weakness identified in the <strong>report</strong>. 

Report the findings of this <strong>report</strong> to all parties including tenants and 

leaseholders, the board, the council and other key partners. 

13 We would like to thank the staff of Homes for Islington, particularly Paul Davey 

and Jane Davies-Read, who made us welcome and who met our requests 

efficiently and courteously. 

Wendy Reade 

Margaret Byrne 

Elaine Vickers 

Maureen Corcoran 

Inspectors 

Dates of inspection: 29 November - 10 December 2004 

Email: 

w-reade@audit-commission.gov.uk 

m-byrne@audit-commission.gov.uk 

e-vickers@audit-commission.gov.uk 

m-corcoran@audit-commission.gov.uk

© <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong> 


For more information please contact: 

<strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong> 

London Region 

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Millbank Tower 

Millbank 

London 

SW1P 4HQ 

www.audit-commission.gov.uk 

Telephone: 020 7233 6400 

Fax: 020 7233 6490 

‘The official version of this <strong>report</strong> is also available on the <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong>'s website at audit-commission.gov.uk. 

Copies of this <strong>report</strong> are also available from the address above. The <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong> cannot verify the accuracy 

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or individual.’


Report 

Context 

14 This <strong>report</strong> has been prepared by the <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong> (the <strong>Commission</strong>) 

following an inspection under Section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999 and 

issued in accordance with its duty under Section 13 of the 1999 Act. 

The locality 

15 The London Borough of Islington is in North London. The population of the area 

is 176,000, living in 86,300 dwellings. Twenty five per cent of the population are 

from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities 3 . The figure rises to 

58 per cent for children at local schools. Islington contains the second highest 

proportion of single-person households in the country, 43 per cent against 

23 per cent nationally. The average age of the population is below 35 years old, 

the eighth lowest figure in the country. 

16 Unemployment stands at 10 per cent, which is above the London average 

(6.6 per cent). The borough contains areas of affluence, and the average house 

price is £347,000, the sixth highest in London. However, the Borough is ranked 

the fourth most deprived in London, based on national indices of deprivation. 

The council 

17 The council comprises 48 councillors. The Liberal Democrats have overall 

control, with 36 Councillors; there are ten Labour and two independent 

councillors. Islington has adopted a cabinet structure, with an executive board 

comprising a leader and eight Liberal Democrat Councillors. There are three 

review committees and four area committees. 

18 The council’s overall budget for the year 2004/05 is £499 million, including a 

£2.5 million contribution to reserves. 

19 The community and neighbourhood renewal strategy has three high level 

objectives: 

promoting neighbourhood renewal across the poorest communities; 

promoting active citizenship and community empowerment; and 

promoting sustainable improvements to mainstream services. 

20 It also has a shared vision: 

a safer, more inclusive Islington; 

learning Islington; 

healthier Islington; 

affordable, quality homes; 

a place to work and do business; 

a cleaner, greener Islington; 

a place made up of inclusive communities; and 

services that meet the needs of a diverse population. 

3 In addition there are 5.7 per cent Irish and 12.9 per cent Other White (Office of National Statistics 2002).

The service 


21 Islington held an option appraisal exercise in 2002/03, which led to the decision 

to establish an arm’s length management organisation (ALMO), Homes for 

Islington (HFI), to undertake the landlord functions of its housing service to the 

30,000 tenants and 9,000 leaseholders. 

22 The initial agreement between the council and the ALMO commenced in 

April 2004 and is for ten years, with a break clause after five years and an option 

to renew for further five year periods. The functions delegated to HFI are for the 

council’s tenanted, leasehold and some temporary accommodation. These are 

set out in their Section 27 application and can be summarised as: 

stock investment and repairs ordering; 

environmental protection and improvement; 

rent collection, dealing with arrears and debt counselling; 

estate management, caretaking and support services under Supporting 

People; 

managing lettings, voids and under-occupation; 

enforcement of tenancy conditions; 

similar functions for leaseholders; and 

tenant participation, information and consultation. 

23 The functions retained by the council include: 

housing strategy and enabling; 

homelessness, housing advice and money advice; and 

administration of the Housing Register. 

24 Islington carried out a ballot among tenants and leaseholders for the ALMO in 

November 2003. This resulted in a response rate of 24 per cent, of which 

83 per cent supported the ALMO. 

25 The ALMO is a company, managed by a board made up of seven residents 

(tenants and leaseholders), five council nominees and five independents. There 

are also two sub-boards which are the Managed Property and Contracted 

Services sub-boards. The day-to-day running of the company is delegated to a 

senior management team, headed by a Chief Executive. Approximately 630 staff 

transferred from the council to the ALMO in April 2004, when the ALMO took over 

management of the stock. 

26 If the standards of Homes for Islington meet Government criteria, the council will 

receive Supported Borrowing of £24.9 million to 31 March 2006 and be allowed 

to seek up to a further £132.6 million in later years if the ALMO progresses well. 

27 Homes for Islington has responsibility for delivering the programme of 

improvements and also manages £35,840,000 revenue of the Council’s funded 

repairs budget. 

28 The budget for services for 2004/05 is £55,860,000 including delegated budgets 

but excluding managing agent fees and capital programme.


29 The management fee to HFI is £37,470,000. The stock of 28,505 homes and 

165 units of hostel accommodation are managed through seven housing offices. 

Five of these are run by the HFI. One housing office is managed externally by 

contract with Hyde Northside 4 , which terminates in June 2005, when the 

properties revert to HFI direct management. This office has 96 staff and a budget 

of £2.8 million. It manages 5,100 rented and 1,900 leasehold properties. 

30 There are 38 tenant management organisations, tenant management 

co-operatives and estate managements’ boards 5 directly managing 3,988 tenant 

and leasehold properties. 

31 There are 2,350 council-owned street properties which are managed though a 

private finance initiative (PFI) scheme, the first operational scheme in the 

country. A further 5,150 are planned to be refurbished under a second PFI 

scheme and these will be transferred out of HFI’s direct management. 

32 The Council carried out a best value review (BVR) of housing management 

services between April and October 2003. We inspected the service in 

January 2004, when we considered the service to be a fair ‘one star’ service that 

had promising prospects for improvement. 

4 Hyde Northside – part of the Hyde RSL group structure. 

5 Collectively referred to as tenant managed or TM in the <strong>report</strong>.

How good is the service? 


33 The assessment is based on the Key Lines of Enquiry in Housing Management’ 

issued by the <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong>’s Housing Inspectorate in July 2004. This 

focuses our service inspection into six main headings: 

stock investment and asset management; 

housing income management; 

tenancy and estate management; 

allocations and lettings; 

resident involvement; and 

leasehold management and right to buy. 

34 In addition to this core group of functions, we also consider the overarching 

issues of: 

access (to services) and customer care; 

diversity; and 

value for money. 

Access and customer care 

35 In our previous inspection, we found that services were accessible for users 

through a variety of formats and access points. Information was generally well 

written containing useful information and the area housing offices were of a 

reasonable standard. Service standards were established and published for most 

services. Complaints about services were well monitored. However, standards of 

information in area housing offices were not consistent, and monitoring systems 

were not in place. Although consultation had taken place about the removal of 

cash payments from area housing offices, the Council had not fully explored the 

needs of the tenants who pay this way. The out of hours’ performance had failed 

to meet targets during 2003/04 despite a reduction in calls and an increase in 

answering time. 

36 Current services are accessible and user focused, public offices have been 

improved, all key published material has been reviewed. It is written in plain 

English and has been republished with the HFI identity. Residents considered 

staff were responsive and accountable. Improvements have been made as a 

result of resident suggestions and formal complaints. Residents are involved in 

the content of the resident newsletters which are highly regarded by residents 

and satisfaction levels have increased by 11 per cent. However there is a need 

for all service standards called customer commitments (CCs) to have clear 

targets and greater resident involvement in developing these; the quality of 

responses to complaints and performance against target times for stage two 

complaints requires improvement. The standard of temporary accommodation 

and facilities in reception centres are poor, although there are clear plans to 

address this. Overall this is an area of strength.


37 There is a comprehensive range of HFI leaflets and information displayed and 

available at area offices. The customer commitment leaflets have been reviewed, 

extended to include the repair pledge and republished with the new HFI logo. We 

found these to be consistent and comprehensive, they all provide details of HFI’s 

new website and are in plain English. In addition monitoring arrangements are 

now in place. 

38 There is a comprehensive, easy to navigate website developed that provides a 

wide range of information to customers, including the CCs and tenants can <strong>report</strong> 

a repair and pay rent or service charges online. 

39 An analysis of stage two complaints is carried out every six months to identify 

trends, recommendations are made and fed into a local service improvement 

plan which is continually updated. 

40 The range of services provided through HFI Direct have been extended, they now 

deal with around 3,000 re-housing enquiries a month, taking rent and leasehold 

charge payments over the telephone and making gas servicing appointments as 

well as all repairs. All of which provide additional easy access to these services. 

It is a freephone service and is well managed. Call handling performance is 

positive and meets HFIs target with 97 per cent of calls answered within the 

target time of 20 seconds during the day and 85.6 per cent out of hours. Random 

quality checks are carried out on calls and we considered calls were handled 

well. 

41 The contact details for HFI Direct, and other key numbers like the ASB and fraud 

hotline are well publicised on key fobs and fridge magnets and are given to new 

and current tenants and advertised in newsletters and on the website to ensure 

residents are clear about who to contact in HFI. 

42 The closure of cash offices has not had an adverse effect on access to pay rent 

and service charges as additional payment methods have been introduced. HFI 

provide a wide range of payment methods and facilities have been added to pay 

by direct debit, telephone and over the internet since the last inspection and there 

are flexible options to repay leasehold debt. 

43 Offices have been upgraded to a high quality with facilities for children and are 

DDA compliant. We found all staff to be identifiable wearing HFI name badges 

and residents told us they found staff to be responsive and accountable. 

44 There is a flexible approach for appointments with the opportunity to arrange out 

of hours appointments if required and a drop-in service for general enquiries and 

for housing benefit staff based at the area offices. 

45 HFI also provides an accessible home ownership service, there is a welcome 

pack, that includes the leasehold handbook, commitment leaflets on leasehold 

management, RTB and selling on, emergency repairs, translations, complaints 

and customer care. All new home owners are offered an introductory talk with 

their homeownership officer. 

46 From resident feedback HFI have improved arrangements for responding to 

telephone and personal calls left for staff when they are out or unable to take 

calls. There is now a messaging service at area offices that tracks the response 

of staff to calls left, and is monitored to ensure an effective response is made 

within the timescale set out in the CC.


47 HFI continues to provide services in a customer focused way. There is an 

independent annual survey of residents and an annual leasehold survey, area 

focus groups have been established and act as reference groups. There are area 

housing panels (AHPs) and a repair improvement group, all of which provide 

input into service improvement. For example out of office hours and emergency 

appointments have been agreed as a result of tenants’ suggestions from these 

groups. 

48 The annual satisfaction survey indicated a satisfaction level of 52 per cent, which 

shows it is improving over time from 41 in 2001/02, although this is still bottom 

quartile. However a recent independent one-off MORI survey carried out for the 

ODPM of residents in London, placed Islington first in terms of satisfaction with 

housing services at 42 per cent. 

49 There is a quarterly newsletter that provides HFI and local news appropriate to 

each area. An editorial board oversees the content of these publications and 

other communications, the board includes two resident representatives. There is 

a leaseholder newsletter also commended by our focus groups of resident 

representatives who considered communications had improved in the last 

six months. 

50 Some of the improvements are not yet embedded, for example some of the 

scripts used by call-centre staff do not reflect the recent changes in appointment 

slots and so customers may not be offered the extended service. Call centre staff 

are not aware of what major works are taking place because they cannot access 

this information and repair warranty details are not identifiable on the IT system 

they use, so staff have to contact area offices if they have any queries. 

51 A number of the customer commitments are not specific enough and not all have 

firm target times. For example, the antisocial behaviour (ASB) CC provides 

details of the mediation service but not details of response times following an 

enquiry. It also fails to mention the ASB hotline or other remedies that are 

available. 

52 Performance on complaints is regularly <strong>report</strong>ed to a sub-board of HFI’s main 

board of directors, and it has improved in relation to stage 2 complaints but is still 

inadequate. Of the 44 cases dealt within the 6 months between April and 

September, only 15 or 32 per cent were responded to in the 10 day target, this 

was an improvement from 10 per cent identified in our previous <strong>report</strong>. 

Performance for stage 1 complaints is better with 612 of the 694 complaints or 88 

per cent dealt with in the target time. However, the quality of some responses are 

poor and do not answer the complainants enquiry. A quality audit has recently 

been carried out and HFI are taking action to improve the quality of responses. 

53 There continues to be an inconsistency in access to the repair service. HFI 

customers can access the routine repairs ordering from 5 pm to 8 pm in the 

evening and on Saturday mornings on a free phone. However, Hyde customers 

can only access the repair service between 9 am and 5 pm and have to pay a 

local charge to <strong>report</strong> repairs. Arrangements have not been aligned, as this 

required changes to the current contract with Hyde and these were not 

negotiated. Hyde is not extending its management contract and HFI will be 

directly managing properties in the Lyons Street area after June 2005 when 

services will be standardised. 

54 There is inconsistency of signage on estates, and some of the estate notice 

boards were not branded but this was rectified during the inspection.


55 Service standards have been developed for the ASB service but it is unclear if 

these have been developed with users and how they are publicised. 

56 Reality checks also found the reception centres HFI have managed since April 

2004 are of poor quality and require refurbishment. Security arrangements are 

not meeting residents’ expectations and facilities are inadequate. There is a joint 

improvement plan with the council and an option appraisal being carried out to 

deal with the investment needs of these properties and some temporary 

improvements have been made. 

Diversity 

57 In our previous inspection, we found the council promoted equality and diversity 

in a variety of ways, and housing services had taken a strategic view of the 

development of diverse services. Support for developing the equalities action 

plan was given at a senior level, and progress was regularly monitored. 

Additional resources had been secured to promote accessibility of services to 

those from diverse backgrounds. Satisfaction levels were high with the way the 

council dealt with racial harassment cases, and accessibility of services was 

improving. 

58 However, the council was unclear why translation services were under utilised. 

There were no plans in place to continue the diversity work of the community 

involvement officer. It was not clear how the Council was addressing users’ 

confusion over access to the council’s different contact centres for those who do 

not have English as their first language. 

59 There is commitment and a robust approach to equalities that is having a positive 

impact on services for residents. However progress in this area has not been as 

rapid as other areas and until the on-going update of profiling information is 

complete HFI is limited in its ability to address all the needs of its residents. 

Greater consistency in the collection and use of profiling information is needed 

and resourcing of work to ensure public access to community centres is DDA 

compliant. This is an area that still requires some development. 

60 HFI continues to deliver the council’s race equality scheme and BME housing 

strategy through its equalities action plan. There is a high level of support for 

equalities from the board. 

61 The board want to ensure there are opportunities at all levels for under 

represented groups and are developing a leadership and management scheme 

to do this, there is already a positive action scheme for specific groups of frontline 

staff to move into management positions. 

62 Access to services for those who do not have English as a first language and for 

residents with disabilities is much improved. For example HFI have mapped BME 

residents to inform which languages they use on all publicity and all published 

information is available in a range of formats. There is a customer commitment 

for the translation service and a clear translation symbol on all leaflets that is 

recognised by residents. Also an interpreting facility available for staff contractors 

and tenant and resident association meetings. Repair operatives carry key 

information in the main local languages and language identity cards so they can 

access information in the required language for tenants. Rent statements are 

sent in audio tape format on request, and the publicity for the council’s choice 

based letting scheme is accessible for those with disabilities or those who did 

that do not have English as a first language. HFI Direct the call centre have 

added the facility to <strong>report</strong> repairs by text in response to feedback from a forum 

for the deaf and deafened and HFI are putting in special smoke alarms for 

tenants with hearing impairments.


63 There are high levels of satisfaction with the way racial harassment is dealt with 

and outcomes are tracked for racial harassment and domestic violence cases to 

ensure cases are properly resolved. 

64 The gap between satisfaction levels of white and BME residents have closed and 

they are now closely aligned at 54 per cent and 51 per cent respectively from 

46 and 53 per cent in 2002/03. This indicates that there is now a lower level of 

satisfaction among BME residents, although BME leaseholders in the 2004 

leasehold satisfaction survey expressed a more positive view than their non-BME 

counterparts about the services they received from HFI. 

65 A project to improve contact with harder to reach groups by Caxton, the repair 

contractor, has ended but proved useful in identifying and contacting harder to 

reach residents such as the youths involved in training projects run by Caxton. 

However, similar outreach work is now done by the performance and 

participation officers (PPOs) in HFI’s area offices. They are successfully involving 

youth for example, a young person is now chairing a community centre board 

and there are open days at Holland Walk and diversionary schemes that are 

helping to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour among youths. There are 

strong links with local community groups and HFI regularly consult them and get 

their feedback to deliver the council’s wider objectives. HFI is organising a 

conference of these groups early in 2005 to build closer links and shape services 

around feedback received. 

66 Impact assessments have been carried out to understand how services impact 

differently on residents in terms of race, gender, sexuality, religion and belief and 

age. The assessments are being used as part of the planned service and policy 

review process. 

67 There is a training plan that is now being rolled out and includes diversity training 

for staff, partners and the board and has raised awareness of diversity issues 

and led to a joint approach to diversity issues and greater consistency. 

68 There are diversity monitoring arrangements in place and performance is 

<strong>report</strong>ed to the board and sub-boards and HFI complies with the CRE code of 

practice in rented housing. 

69 Some resources have been secured from the council to ensure public access 

points comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), but the target of 

1 October 2004 was not met. All the area offices now meet the DDA standard 

and work is ongoing in the four TMO offices that did not meet the standard. 

However, inadequate resources were secured from the council to ensure that 

community centres are DDA compliant and HFI were not provided with delegated 

budgets to resource this themselves. There is a target date for this work to be 

done by the end of 2006/07. 

70 Progress to develop the ALMO’s own equality strategy and to reach level 2 of the 

Government’s equality standard has been slow, HFI have been unable to recruit 

a manager to drive this although a temporary equalities manager has now been 

appointed to co-ordinate and map current activity and to gather information to 

inform the strategy. 

71 The information collected from tenants on diversity and vulnerability is not 

consistently flagged on the IT systems although there are clear plans to address 

this, but we found an example of a vulnerable tenant who was not getting the 

assistance required because there was no indication on the IT system of their 

vulnerability.


72 A planned reconciliation of all diversity information held about tenants is not 

complete although HFI are on target to complete this by April 2005. 

73 Monitoring of equalities and the approach to equalities is not robust for all the 

TMOs. They have a requirement under the EOP action plan to introduce a code 

of conduct, profiling and translations sheet for publication but otherwise no 

monitoring is carried out. There is a recognition by HFI that TMOs are not 

proactive in this area. 

74 There is a lack of consistency in collecting and using ethnic monitoring 

information. For example in the antisocial behaviour (ASB) files we looked at, 

ethnicity is recorded but it is not systematically used to inform, identify and 

address trends and issues which may be arising. There is a lack of diversity 

information for estate agreements and the secure tenancy agreement does not 

include the collection of any ethnicity data. HFI’s leaseholder survey includes 

information on a range of issues that provides it with a better profile of their 

leaseholders. However the survey only covers a sample of customers and the 

home ownership section (HOS) does not collect or carry out any routine equality 

or diversity monitoring of customers, missing an opportunity to gather 

comprehensive information it can use to target and improve services. 

Value for money 

75 In our previous inspection, we found that the council levered in additional external 

resources. They had increased the subsidy received through lobbying central 

government, which reduced the losses in management and maintenance 

allowances. Spending on capital programmes was to budget and the council was 

providing more funding on a planned basis to reduce response repairs. Losses 

through legal disrepair cases had been reduced and the council had invested to 

save. Income generation through current rent collection had also been improved. 

76 However, while service reviews had been strong on driving service 

improvements, cost efficiency and the council’s performance on accumulated 

debt from former tenants and leaseholders required considerable improvement. 

77 The council in consultation with HFI are building in reductions in budgets to 

respond to efficiencies required by central government following the Gershon 

<strong>report</strong>. 

78 HFI have carried out a range of VFM assessments including assessments of key 

service level agreements and cost efficiencies made in the repair and 

maintenance service contracts and supply arrangements. However VFM has 

been of secondary focus the prime focus has been improved service delivery. 

Consequently there is no clear strategy to address VFM throughout the 

organisation and, opportunities to get savings from the repair joint venture 

agreement (JVA) have not been taken forward and some improvements have yet 

to yield cost efficiencies. VFM is an area that still requires some development. 

79 Within the repair and maintenance service there have been a number of savings 

made. 

The development of framework contract arrangements with a pool of 

contractors that can deliver the decent homes programme at agreed 

schedule of rates prices that allows HFI to significantly reduce the time and 

cost of specifying, tendering and allocating work to contractors. However 

assessment of the saving has yet to been made.


An increase in the ratio of planned to response repairs, the figure is now 

65:35 and a rationalisation of a number of service contracts and a partnering 

contract for lifts has been put in place. There is also a better integration of 

repair and replacement programmes to reduce the likelihood of repairs being 

carried out unnecessarily. 

Schedule of rates items for the removal of asbestos were market-tested in 

1999 resulting in negotiations to reduce the price with the contractor. 

Caxton has reviewed and reduced the cost of removing rubbish. This has 

resulted in the payment of £1.4 million to the council’s general fund. 

Mobile working for technical staff has been piloted in one of the area office 

for pre-inspection, post-inspection and repairs ordering and further funding 

has been secured to develop this initiative and roll it out to other areas, 

expected efficiency saving of 15 per cent on staff costs. 

There are incentives built into the contract to encourage better performance 

on customer satisfaction, to reduce the number of no access calls and there 

is a 50 per cent profit share with the council above an £800,000 threshold. 

This has resulted in the payment of £2.4 million to the council’s housing 

revenue account (HRA) during the course of the contract. 

Caxton has a stable and well established supply chain, their parent company 

Kier has purchasing power to secure large discounts and they have over 

15 local supply chain providers. In addition locks on voids are recycled. 

80 VFM assessments are being carried out for HFI’s service level agreements 

(SLAs) through this process they are developing a methodology for future VFM 

assessments. 

81 A number of initiatives have resulted in efficiency savings for example, HFI 

caretakers now carry out minor repairs resulting in savings of around £8,000 over 

eight months. Savings have been made by identifying fraud, HFI have a housing 

investigation team (HIT) that have a target of identifying and evicting 

90 unauthorised occupants per annum, so far this year they have taken action on 

65 cases. They work closely with Housing Benefits on investigations, and have 

identified a number of fraudulent HB and right to buy (RTB) applications. 

82 In roads are continuing to be made in the recovery of debts with net former tenant 

arrears reduced by £500,000 and leasehold service charges reduced by 

£250,000. There are also some new developments which are increasing income 

or delivering value for money, for example HFI are earning additional income by 

carrying out human resource functions for the council’s Housing and 

Performance department and by providing the training and development 

arrangements for the council’s ‘positive action for staff placement scheme’. 

83 They have procured a new wheel clamping and vehicle removal contract that 

splits the income from payments for vehicle recovery between the contractor and 

HFI; this is expected to generate an average annual income of £35,000. In 

addition some contracts have been changed to ensure greater value for money; 

instead of a fixed rate annual payment to the DVLA for information on abandoned 

and stolen vehicles, HFI pays a set price for each enquiry and costs have been 

reduced.


84 We found improvements and new initiatives are driven by the objective of 

improving service delivery, the need to ensure such initiatives or services are 

VFM has less priority. Consequently there is no clear strategy to address VFM 

throughout the organisation and although there is evidence of a range of VFM 

assessments and benchmarking of costs this information is not comprehensive. 

85 Caxton is currently inspecting and specifying decorations for older tenants 

minimising the number of technical staff involved in the process but we also 

considered there are opportunities for further efficiency savings from the 

response repair contract. For example, taking over pre and post inspections, 

which have yet to be taken forward. The estate and cleaning SLA with the council 

covers a wide number of service provision areas and as such may not be 

providing either VFM or have clear delegated responsibility for areas included. 

Stock investment and asset management 

86 Stock investment and condition is an area of considerable strength. There is a 

clear investment strategy in place, supported by robust stock condition data. HFI 

has adopted a mixed approach to achieving Decent Homes (DH) including a 

public finance initiatives (PFI), and the use of their own resources. Apart from a 

projected deterioration in performance in 2006 it is likely that HFI will achieve the 

DH Standard by 2010. 

87 The stock condition survey was carried out in 1999 based on guidance in place at 

the time. One hundred per cent of the externals of the stock and 10 per cent of 

internals of the stock were surveyed. An investment need of £614.5 million was 

established. The survey has been regularly updated since then and was further 

validated in 2003 by Homes for Islington’s asset management partner, Faithorn, 

Farrell, and Timms (FFT). 

88 HFI will access additional funding for DH from the council, following the 

termination of a loan the council took out for investment in the 1970s, these 

payments will end in 2005 freeing up £15 million per annum of which £7.5 million 

has been allocated to HFI for DH work each year. This additional funding, known 

as the ‘Satman’ funding, has been built into the business plan. 

89 HFI and LB Islington have taken additional steps to identify blocks which will 

require high levels of investment. They have carried out additional, more detailed 

surveys on tall blocks where they are going to have to invest in structural 

improvement. This covers about 6,500 properties, about 20 per cent of the stock, 

where officers anticipate it will be expensive to correct the problems. However, 

the worst have been tackled first over the past five years and have built them into 

the programme in the Business Plan assumptions. They have also set aside 

money for ongoing surveys and a repairs programme for their tall blocks. 

90 HFI has had their interpretation of the decent homes criteria independently 

assessed by their asset management partners, and they are reviewing schemes 

on an individual basis. 

91 Effective steps have been taken by HFI to develop IT systems to support the 

delivery of Decent Homes and capital programmes. The planned maintenance 

module of OHMs,and the repairs IT system is scheduled for implementation in 

May 2005, and the Codeman stock condition system is scheduled for 

implementation in January 2005. 

92 There is an effective programme in place to develop feasibility studies for DH 

work. Templates have been developed for use by the asset management 

partners FFT, and will be completed to identify work required to 2010.


93 There are clear plans in place to fund the delivery of decent homes even if HFI is 

unable to draw on ALMO funding. A <strong>report</strong> has been prepared by the council to 

cover this eventuality. In the medium term the proposal is to use the Satman 

funding (£15 million per annum) to prudentially borrow in order to finance Decent 

Homes. In the short term this would mean that the 2005/06 programme would not 

achieve the HFI standard and would limit work on kitchens, bathrooms and 

double glazing. HFI may also be forced to review the £9 million allocated to the 

cyclical programme and may have to curtail work on environmental 

improvements. 

94 Officers are also confident that there is an adequate contingency is place 

(£1 million per annum) to fund any unforeseen expenditure such as the structural 

problems with Churnfield and Packington estates. 

95 Homes for Islington has a robust asbestos management system in place. They 

have introduced a risk banding system for asbestos onto the repairs IT systems 

for both themselves and the contractor. Properties are rated low, medium, or high 

risk and this information is also printed out on the job ticket. 

96 Read-only access to the asbestos database has also been given to HFI Direct 

staff, including co-located Caxton staff. An audit system has been developed and 

practice notes and joint training sessions have been provided to staff during a 

health and safety week. 

97 There are targets in place to achieve a 10 per cent asbestos survey 

representative of all their stock and they have also launched a project to look at 

the need to develop survey information and an asbestos management system for 

their communal areas. A survey of all communal areas has been commissioned 

which they want to complete in advance of the feasibility studies for the DH 

programme. 

98 There are also effective mechanisms in place to manage and update the 

asbestos database and in high risk areas they have established a standard list of 

elements containing asbestos and have provided floor plans indicating the 

whereabouts of the asbestos to the contractor. 

Capital improvement, planned and cyclical maintenance, major repair works 

99 In our previous inspection, the quality of the capital schemes we saw was 

generally high and information provided for tenants was easy and comprehensive 

to understand. We found that a range of new contracts had been put in place to 

improve the planned maintenance service and provide better value for money. By 

linking the installation and maintenance programmes for these, the council was 

ensuring a more responsive service, and rationalising the number of contractors 

it had streamlined contract management. 

100 However, we found that the contract maintenance arrangements for capital 

schemes were not consistent and that on one scheme we saw poor quality of 

work, and poor site and health and safety arrangements. There was a lack of 

integration of the replacement of life expired (ROLEC) programme and the 

cyclical painting programme impacting on cost efficiency. The energy efficiency 

budget was not being spent on time having a negative impact on those tenants 

suffering fuel poverty or poor insulation. 

101 Steps have been taken to address some of the areas of weakness that we had 

identified on out last inspection. HFI delivers a good quality capital programme 

and has a range of planned maintenance contracts in place. However, there is a 

limited level of resident involvement in capital works, the standard of site safety is 

variable, and the capital programme did not commence in a timely way. Overall 

this is an area of strength.


102 There is a robust framework for programme management in place, however 

delays caused by difficulties in the consultation for the frameworks contract 

means that the 2004/05 capital programme did not start early in the year. HFI has 

developed a framework contract with 17 contractors to deliver a range of major 

works on a partnering basis. 

103 However HFI is working on the development of the 2006/07 programme for 

May 2005, they will have a rolling programme for the next year and have a 

feasibility study on all properties by December 2005. Officers say they should 

have an indicative programme for 2006/07 in place by mid 2005 to allow them to 

get an earlier start on site. HFI anticipate an August 2005 start for the 2005/06 

programme and are working towards a March 2006 start for the 2006/07 

programme. 

104 There is an increased emphasis on major works consultation and lessons have 

been learned from the difficulties they experienced with leasehold consultation 

when they tendered the framework contracts. They have produced a clear and 

informative guide to major works for customers called ‘Getting it Right’ that 

clearly establishes what customers can expect during the major works process. 

105 However staff do not believe the framework contracts will deliver the expected 

benefits in the first year because the arrangements are not fully embedded and 

because residents and constructors have not been involved from the start. 

106 HFI has three framework contractors delivering their kitchen and bathroom 

programme in 2004/05. Reality checks revealed these programmes to be 

well-managed, with work of a high quality, good tenant liaison arrangements and, 

from tenants we spoke to, high levels of satisfaction. 

107 HFI is working to develop their supply chain for capital programmes. At the 

moment 320 kitchens and bathrooms are being fitted by three different 

contractors using two kitchen suppliers, and they are procuring tiles and fittings 

so the supply chain will be in place for 2005/06. 

108 The organisation has effective systems in place to allow customers choice in their 

kitchen and bathroom programme. Customers are offered a choice of units, 

colours, worktops, tiles taps, handles, and the location of the units. There is a 

joint visit with the constructors, HFI and a kitchen planner from the supplier, who 

carry out a combined survey with the resident and locations are agreed. 

Residents make their choices from sample charts and sometimes pilot 

installations are used as well. 

109 There are meetings with the planning department as planning issues are one of 

the biggest risks to the programme because of the high number of conservation 

areas and listed buildings in the borough. HFI attend regular planning user group 

meetings and have also worked with constructors to develop sympathetic 

designs that will meet with planning approval. 

110 There are a range of customer feedback mechanisms in place that are used to 

improve delivery of the capital programme. Two weeks before the contractors 

leave site customers are sent a satisfaction card, the results of which are 

analysed and actioned prior to the contractor leaving site. 

111 Kwest also carry out a postal resident satisfaction survey on all projects within 

two months of their completion and an annual satisfaction <strong>report</strong> is produced on a 

project by project basis. The Kwest results are reviewed and analysed and used 

to inform future projects.


112 One example of this was where residents were concerned about the quality of 

capital works. As a result HFI is introducing a brochure for residents explaining 

the role of the Clerk of Works and what sort of quality of work they will accept. 

This document was in draft at the time the inspection. HFI is also working on the 

development of a protocol between constructors and themselves to ensure a joint 

approach to quality control. 

113 There are effective methods in place to manage the capital contracts. 

Pre-contract meetings are held where all early arrangements are discussed. 

Thereafter there are monthly site meeting chaired and minuted by a client officer. 

A review is held a month before practical completion and there is a formal 

handover meeting when performance indicator data is collated to assess 

performance. 

114 Capital projects are routinely and effectively reviewed. Each project is reviewed 

on a regular basis. Valuations are prepared by a quantity surveyor on a monthly 

basis and supported by a job cost <strong>report</strong>. There are meetings every six weeks 

with group staff and the whole programme is called over with the investment 

team every six weeks to fit in with the project review programme. There is also a 

review after completion of the project and a final check on asbestos data to 

ensure all tasks have been completed. 

115 Officers have recently commenced work on a project to compare the costs of the 

framework contract to costs that they would have incurred under a traditional 

contract. They will use this information as a means of establishing value for 

money in the future by comparing the costs of different contractors, and 

comparing their overall costs to other authorities. Officers acknowledge that this 

is an issue they need to take forward but as yet it is too soon to judge their 

overall comparative costs and the outcomes of the project. 

116 There is effective management of HFI's responsibilities under the CDM 6 

regulations. There are procedures in place and HFI has introduced a number of 

checks and balances in the preparation of health and safety plans. 

117 Despite a robust monitoring regime, officers anticipate that there will be slippage 

on schemes this year. This is largely because of the delayed start to the 

framework contracts and the fact that they introduced a new way of delivering 

schemes and a new contract appraisal process. There have been issues with 

planning and individual leaseholders that have impacted on the delivery of the 

programme but there is no clear pattern emerging on the reasons for slippage. 

118 There is limited resident involvement in the development of capital schemes. As 

yet, residents do not play a major role in the choice of contractor, or in the timing 

and design of the schemes. Officers accept that this is something they need to 

deal with in the future and a <strong>report</strong> has been presented to the board outlining the 

options for resident involvement in the 2006/07 schemes. 

119 As a result of our last inspection HFI introduced a construction site safety audit 

system that was piloted earlier this year and formally launched in October 2004. 

This system aligns the checks carried out by the clerk of works and the health 

and safety officers. HFI developed this audit tool based on research with a 

number of their contractors, including the Health and Safety Executive. 

6 Construction (Design and Management) regulations 1994 - The CDM Regulations are aimed at improving the 

overall management and co-ordination of health, safety and welfare throughout all stages of a construction project 

to reduce the large number of serious and fatal accidents and cases of ill health which happen every year in the 

construction industry.


120 The audit system, which includes clear sanctions against contractors who fail to 

comply with the requirements, was launched during HFI’s health and safety 

week. Contractors were also invited to the launch. 

121 During our last inspection we raised concerns about the inconsistency of site 

safety. We still found levels of inconsistency during our site visits on this 

inspection. Of particular concern was the site at Goldie and Ritchie House where 

there was easy access to scaffolding poles and there was incomplete contact 

information for the contractor. This site had been audited and passed as safe 

which was not the case. 

122 Officers acknowledge that there may be subjectivity issues with staff carrying out 

inspections and they will review this in order to set a uniform standard. Officers 

believe this to be a management rather than a system issue and will consider the 

use of digital cameras in the future to make the system more robust. 

123 HFI has taken a number of positive steps to address sustainability issues. They 

have installed double glazed timber windows and now have a single supplier in 

place. They also involve the Energy Centre in the design of window and roof 

specifications to improve insulation and to assist tenants to get grants to reduce 

fuel poverty And they insulate cavity walls where they exist. 

124 The organisation considers sustainability to be an integral part of their strategy 

and are working with the Waste Resource Action Group and Peabody Trust 

(a Housing Association) to explore options for using products that have a high 

recycled element that are technically and financially viable for use in their 

projects. 

125 HFI’s performance on achieving an appropriate balance of planned to responsive 

repairs is good with 65 per cent of repairs carried out on a planned basis in 

2003/04. 

126 There is a seven year cyclical repair and redecoration programme (CREP) in 

place which is effective. This programme has clear links to achieving the decent 

homes standard as the programme not only covers external decoration and 

associated repairs but also addresses any external work that is required before 

2010 to bring the property to the DH standard. 

127 The standard of management of mechanical and electrical repairs and 

maintenance issues is good. HFI has taken clear steps to address previous 

under-investment in door entry systems and have introduced an effective 

strategy including the standardisation of systems and the introduction of planned 

maintenance. 

128 Similarly they have launched a pilot contract for lift maintenance in the south of 

the borough that combines revenue funding for servicing and repairs and ongoing 

capital funding for renewal. This contract is based on an all inclusive fixed price 

that includes the development of asset management plans for all the lifts in the 

area so that prioritisation of future funding can be clearly demonstrated. 

129 There is also a partnering contract in place for servicing and maintenance of 

communal plant. A survey was carried out on all communal systems in 2001 and 

a capital programme of investment was developed as a result. Officers believe 

that they have reduced the overall cost of the service through the introduction of 

this contract which covers servicing, call out, and some repairs.


130 The energy conservation programme is delivered on behalf of HFI and the 

council by the Islington Energy Centre. The objectives of this scheme is to 

alleviate fuel poverty in the borough and improve the energy efficiency of the 

housing stock, occupied by vulnerable tenants, by providing a package of energy 

saving measures including loft and cavity wall insulation, new controls and 

efficient gas central heating systems, free low energy lightbulbs and advice on 

saving energy in the home. 

131 In 2003/04 energy rating (SAP rating) of local authority owned dwellings was 

above average at 55 and in 2004/05 the budget of £66,000 for the energy 

conservation programme is on target to be spent. 

Response repairs 

132 In our previous inspection, we found a ten-year Joint Venture Agreement contract 

with Caxton that was providing year on year improvements. There was positive 

joint working with the contractor with initiatives such as the Home Zone gas 

servicing pilot and local employment initiatives and schemes to involve 

disaffected youths. There was a 24 hour freephone call centre for <strong>report</strong>ing 

repairs that was well run and improvements made in response to user feedback. 

Staff taking repairs had technical support, and Hyde Northside staff were shortly 

to be co-located with the repair contractor. Urgent repairs were being completed 

94 per cent of the time within target. In addition, the level of disrepair cases was 

reducing. 

133 However, a local repair pledge was complicated and tenants were not using it. 

There was a lack of integration between IT systems that made the process of 

chasing up repairs time consuming. The complexity of categorising repairs 

caused confusion among tenants, the timescales and appointment provision was 

basic and repairs were automatically cancelled if access was not gained. There 

was a lack of evidence to indicate the accuracy of performance information on 

completed repairs on target time. 

134 Strengths that we had previously identified had been sustained and developed 

further. Performance and satisfaction with responsive repairs continues to 

improve, and the partnership with Caxton continues to thrive. However, we are 

concerned about some of the qualitative aspects of the repairs service including 

getting repairs right first time, the effectiveness of the post-inspection framework 

and the quality and timeliness of responses to repair complaints. Overall this is 

an area of strength. 

135 Performance against the repairs performance indicators continues to be good; 

95 per cent of urgent repairs were completed in target time in 2003/04 and HFI 

has achieved top quartile performance of appointments made and kept at 

97 per cent. 

136 A property services division was established in October 2004 and took over 

responsibility for all matters to do with the asset management of the stock. All 

staff we spoke to welcomed the establishment of the division and thought this 

would have a positive impact on performance and quality. 

137 Effective partnership working with Caxton Islington continues. This is 

demonstrated through the range of initiatives that have been introduced such as 

co-location, joint continuous improvement groups, resident fun days, mobile 

phones for tenant’s representatives, job swops, secondment opportunities and 

joint training.


138 There are incentives built into the contract to encourage better performance on 

customer satisfaction and reducing the number of no access calls and there is a 

50 per cent profit share with Islington above an £800,000 threshold. This has 

resulted in the payment of £1.4 million to the council since the start of the 

contract four nearly years ago. 

139 We have acknowledged the innovative nature of the joint venture agreement in a 

previous <strong>report</strong> however, not all the benefits of the arrangement have been fully 

realised because of the traditional operation of the repairs contract. Although, 

some efficiencies have been gained through a stable and well established supply 

chain, Caxton’s parent company, Kier’s purchasing power secures large 

discounts and they have over 15 local supply chain providers. They also deliver 

local employment opportunities and provide the most work experience places to 

young people in the borough. 

140 There has been a significant improvement in the level of disputed accounts with 

Caxton. The level has been reduced from £1.4 million to £400,000. The 

reconciliation process has been improved and weekly <strong>report</strong>s are now in place to 

monitor the level of disputed accounts. 

141 Clear arrangements are in place to review the contract. A joint review of the 

contract will take place in January 2004 linked to the option to invoke the break 

clause that will cover a review of prices, consider a move to single price per 

property, and consider the standard of the service. None of the parties anticipate 

any break in the contract as both parties are happy with the arrangement. 

142 Caxton say there has been a lot of positive changes in the past four years. 

‘Previously it was more about the client and contractor and less about the tenants, 

but now the focus has shifted’. 

143 There are also number of groups set up that meet regularly to ensure the contract 

works effectively including service improvement groups, partnership groups, and 

continuous improvement groups - where staff at different levels meet to discuss 

performance and how to improve it. Complaints are also reviewed at these 

meetings to identify why things have gone wrong. 

144 A number of improvements have taken place since the start of the contract 

including the rationalisation of the number of priority categories the 

re-labelling of the categories so that tenants understand them more easily. 

145 There is an improvement plan in place and a number of improvements on 

appointments slots, voids, and asbestos have been delivered including the 

introduction of appointments slots for school-run, evening and Saturday morning. 

Job tickets now have information from the asbestos database printed on them, 

and they are currently working on the development of a standardised void 

specifications. 

146 Arrangements have been made to ensure the seamless delivery of the repairs 

contract. HFI Direct provide a single point of contact for residents to <strong>report</strong> 

repairs, but staff there have access to the contractors database and a member of 

Caxton's staff is co-located in the call centre to carry out follow-up work. 

Satisfaction levels are improving for the way HFI deal with repair and 

maintenance from 41 per cent who are satisfied or very satisfied to 48 per cent in 

2004.


147 The contractor meets regularly with tenant representatives and has provided 

tenant representatives with pre-programmed mobile phones. 

‘One thing we identified from meetings with Federation of Islington Tenants 

Associations was people were always contacting tenant representatives to look for 

help, so we have provided them with mobile phones. Our customer service manager 

has the autonomy to deal with any issue that comes up and there is a good level of 

communication’. 

148 There are mechanisms in place to involve tenants in performance review and 

service development. HFI receives feedback from tenants on new initiatives 

through the repairs service improvement group. 

149 Joint-customer care training with HFI Direct Staff and Caxton staff will be in place 

from January and a joint training video has been produced using staff from both 

operations to highlight key customer care. 

150 There are clear criteria in place for post-inspections; all jobs over £500 in value 

are inspected and one in ten jobs under £500. Caxton also carries out additional 

checks on one in five jobs and these jobs are previously agreed with HFI to 

ensure there is no duplication, the results are provided to HFI. 

151 There are a significant number of composite schedule of rate items in place with 

an estimated 80 per cent of work raised on these codes. This minimises the 

number of variation orders and ensures more jobs are completed on the first visit. 

152 However there are a number of qualitative issues regarding the delivery of the 

responsive repairs service. While 83 per cent of residents were satisfied with the 

repairs service in 2004 some residents we spoke to <strong>report</strong>ed multiple visits to 

complete repairs. We sampled a number of repairs complaint responses while on 

site and the standard was variable. Performance in responding to stage one 

repairs complaints on time was also not meeting the target. 

153 There is no compensation scheme in place for missed appointments in place 

although there is one in development with Caxton, set to replace HFI’s repairs 

pledge. This is linked to the priorities for 2005/06. 

154 Caxton staff are not paid if they fail to gain access to carry out a repair, but they 

receive the minimum order value of £20 if the tenant has refused access, this 

minimises the number of no-access calls and costs. Some staff thought it was 

possible for operatives ‘to shift things around if they don't want to do a certain job’ 

but Caxton routinely run <strong>report</strong>s to review jobs that are running out of time. 

155 HFI does not systematically monitor jobs completed on the first visit, although 

they do some checks but no underlying reasons could be identified to establish 

why work is not done right first time all the time. 

156 Variations orders for extensions of time are not routinely reviewed. This means 

that jobs may not be completed within the original target time, or on the first visit. 

157 There is a lack of routine sampling of Caxton's job completion information 

although a percentage of post inspections do take place and audits of contractor 

data are periodically carried out. There is regular verification of the accuracy of 

the data between the client and contractor repairs systems. 

158 Some HFI staff told us that there were still issues with multi-trade jobs and 

sometimes Caxton registered the job as complete before all the trade jobs are 

finished. However, they now have access to the contractor IT system and can 

check.


159 Similarly there is no second appointment facility on OHMs, the repairs IT system 

so HFI has no simple way of tracking how many appointments a job has had 

before completion unless they interrogate the contractor’s IT system. 

160 There is a lack of systematic analysis of repairs ordering and frequency however 

work is commencing on this in order to inform the contract review and the 

development of an alternative to the current use of schedule of rates. 

161 There are no specific targets in place to measure the percentage of 

pre-inspections carried out. However there is a target in place to ensure that all 

post-inspections are carried out within the ten day target time. Regular <strong>report</strong>s 

are run providing details of compliance with this target and are used to reconcile 

information held on their IT systems. 

162 Similarly there are no targets in place to measure performance on the level of 

post-inspections. There is also a lack of qualitative targets in place to measure 

how many jobs pass the post-inspection. There is a compliance target in place to 

measure the number of post-inspections completed in target time. 

163 Staff told us there are difficulties in carrying out post-inspections of work where a 

complaint has been received as the IT system generates a list for auditing and 

adding additional audits affects the system and changes performance for this 

indicator. 

164 Failed post inspections are reviewed with Caxton to identify the next action to be 

taken and to consider why the job failed in the first place. But, routine analysis of 

outcomes of post-inspections does not take place. 

165 Management of disrepair remains an area of strength. There are clear and robust 

arrangements in place to manage disrepair cases where cases are jointly 

allocated to lawyers and surveyors who are both part of the disrepair team. The 

team is effectively resourced and their performance has led to a £100,000 

underspend on the repairs element of the disrepair budget. The level of new 

cases has stabilised at about 220 cases annually over the past three to four 

years. Generally new cases have been of a more minor nature and works have 

cost less than before. 

166 HFI has also taken effective steps to prevent disrepair. Diagnostic surveyors work 

with area office staff on more complex repairs issues to prevent the case 

escalating to disrepair level. All stage two repairs complaints are referred to the 

disrepair team in order to resolve the case to minimise the risk of proceedings 

being issued. 

167 Officers believe HFI's problems with disrepair stem from lack of investment and 

the previous repair processes and a claims culture that has developed. They said 

the poor performance of the previous direct labour organisation contributed to 

this in the past as jobs were never completed. However they believe there had 

been an enormous improvement in quality and attitude since the changeover to 

Caxton. 

168 There are links between the disrepair and major works teams so they are aware 

of when capital works are going to take place and this is often used as a defence 

on disrepair cases. 

169 As a result of their Best Value Review in 2003 HFI re-convened the London 

disrepair forum previously started by Tower Hamlets in 1999. The group now 

meets bi-monthly with regular attendance from different authorities where cases, 

levels of disrepair, and resourcing levels are discussed and positive practises 

exchanged.


170 There is a clear framework in place to monitor the progress and expenditure of 

disrepair cases on a monthly basis with cases categorised and <strong>report</strong>ed in terms 

of risk. There are targets in place for staff that are monitored at their one-to-one 

meetings and the number of pending cases is reviewed during appraisals and set 

as development targets. 

Empty (void) property repairs 

171 In our previous inspection, we found a positive relationship between the specialist 

technical teams and the contractors, we also found good performance 

management. Re-let times were top quartile. The quality of voids works met the 

specified standard and work was carried out in line with the specification. 

However, the void standard was low and there were opportunities to reduce the 

time given for repairs to be specified. 

172 Void turnaround time remains very positive at 22 days in 2003/04 and 25 days at 

the time of inspection however the cleaning of void properties was variable. 

173 A void standard was introduced on 2002 but when we inspected we considered it 

was basic. The standard was revised during 2004 to include items like plumbing 

for washing machines (where possible) and was implemented in November 2004. 

Information from satisfaction surveys of new tenants was used to inform the 

revised standard. 

174 Caxton provides a welcome pack in all ready to let void properties providing 

essentials such as light bulbs, toilet roll, and tea and coffee to all new tenants, we 

considered this good practise. HFI is working with Caxton to simplify the void 

repair process by introducing standardised void specification and reducing 

duplication on inspection and specification. 

175 Reality checks of ready to let void properties revealed that the void standard was 

broadly complied with (with one minor exception where a window handle had not 

been fixed). However the standard of cleaning in void properties was variable 

and in some cases poor. They attributed the variable standards of cleaning to 

‘teething problems’ with the new standard and they are taking formal action to 

address this. 

Gas servicing 

176 In our previous inspection, we found effective management of communal gas 

boiler sites and a recent survey to inform a repair and replacement programme. 

The council were taking a robust response to improving a poor record of gas 

servicing through a gas improvement project team, a hard to reach officer and 

through call centre staff (now HFI Direct) combined with extended appointment 

times for servicing. There was a regular independent audit of the contractors’ 

arrangements carried out on behalf of the council. In addition there was a positive 

approach to improving tenants’ safety by installing smoke alarms. 

177 However, 55 properties had not received a gas service for over three years, and 

action taken had been relatively recent. We also found that positive practices 

from other authorities were not being used, including a lack of publicity about the 

gas servicing programme. 

178 In this inspection, we found significant improvements both in the level of gas 

servicing and in the methods used to publicise and deliver the gas servicing 

programme. However performance on gas servicing in 2003/04, although 

improved does not compare well with other authorities.


179 There has been a step change in performance on gas servicing over the past four 

years, although this has been from a low base. In 2000/01 only 40 per cent of 

gas servicing was completed and the Health and Safety Executive were 

threatening enforcement action. In 2003/04, 92 per cent of gas servicing was 

completed. Officers agree that this performance was ‘disappointing’ and a cause 

for concern as 1,535 services remained outstanding from 2003/04 and a further 

421 from 2002/03. 

180 At the time of inspection performance was 92.77 per cent on all activities 

(including Packington and Churnfield who have four services a year) and 

91.7 per cent excluding this activity compared with 78 per cent at the same point 

in the previous year. Officers were confident that they were on target to complete 

97 per cent of gas servicing by the end of the financial year. 

181 HFI has adopted a more targeted approach to servicing in 2004/05 with more 

personal contact, more involvement from the area offices and HFI Direct, and the 

introduction of a variety of initiatives to improve their performance. There are no 

properties outstanding for more than two years and the number of properties 

outstanding over one year has been reduced to 950 at the time of the inspection. 

182 The organisation used all resources at its disposal to improve their performance 

on gas servicing. HFI Direct was introduced as the single point of contact for gas 

servicing appointments in 2004 amendments were made to the IT system to add 

flags to advise call-handlers when a gas service is required. HFI Direct also 

made outbound calls to contact tenants and make appointments in targeted 

areas. 

183 HFI takes effective steps to maximise their potential to gain access to properties 

to complete a gas service. They adjusted the timescale of their programme so 

that it finished in September, allowing them seven months to gain access to the 

more difficult properties. They have established a central no-access team from 

housing management who interrogate the housing management IT system to 

gain further information about the no-access cases including language difficulties, 

vulnerability information, and tenancy details. This information is passed to a 

mobile gas team who work in the evenings and at weekends in order to gain 

access. This process is effective for servicing difficult to access properties where 

the contractor has already tried to gain access three times. 

184 No access cases from 2003/04 were prioritised in the first weeks of the 2004/05 

programme. These tenants were contacted by HFI Direct and flagged as a 

priority. Over 400 of the 1,900 (approximately) outstanding cases were 

completed in the first four weeks of the programme as a result of this action. 

185 There is a robust monitoring regime in place to monitor progress on the gas plan 

and there is clear commitment from senior management and the contractor to 

improve performance in this area with weekly meeting with senior management 

from property services, housing management and Caxton to review performance 

and discuss further steps that need to be taken. 

186 There is positive action from the gas contractor to ensure they have sufficient 

resources to deliver the gas servicing programme in 2004/05. They entered into 

partnership with a labour agency to ensure they can address the shortage of gas 

engineers. They also appointed a contractor specifically for agency staff and 

introduced a staff induction programme covering the level of expectations, 

customer care, and technical information, from this they took on an additional 30 

seasonal engineers. Caxton also involved the Federation of Islington’s Tenant’s 

Associations (FITA) in their staff induction sessions which they believe helped to 

get the message to tenants about the importance of gas servicing.


187 HFI and Caxton contacted other councils to seek help and advice on how to gain 

access to ‘hardcore’ no access cases. They met with other Boroughs including 

Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, and Bournemouth, and also visited Barnet. 

188 HFI, by its own admission, ‘pushed the boat out in publicity terms’ for the 2004/05 

gas servicing programme. They used a variety of publicity methods including 

letters, stickers on letterboxes of non-serviced properties, advertising in local 

newspapers and in resident newsletters, advertising on the side of the number 43 

bus that runs through the borough, and advertising on Caxton's vans. They also 

introduced a cartoon character called Frankie the Flame to publicise the 

programme and provided large cut-outs of the character in each area office. 

189 The use of a contract to replace boiler gaskets that contain asbestos has also 

been useful in improving the level of servicing as affected properties have a full 

gas service when the boiler gasket is renewed. 

190 HFI has taken effective steps to develop their gas database which was previously 

a stand alone system but has now been integrated with their main repairs 

database. This information is updated with data from the capital team when they 

have changed or removed boilers or systems. 

191 A significant level of capital investment has led to a reduced number of gas 

response repairs since 2002. There were 26,000 gas response repairs in 

2002/03, reducing to 20,000 in 2003/04 and officers anticipate a further reduction 

in the level of gas response repairs in the current year as there were only 12,000 

gas response repairs by November 2004. 

192 HFI has an effective programme in place for installing smoke alarms in their 

properties and the majority of these 32,370 now have battery operated smoke 

alarms that plug into a light socket and have a ten year life. 

193 There are clear contract management arrangements in place for gas servicing 

and repairs. Regular meetings take place where contract performance standards 

are reviewed. There are penalties contained in the southern gas contract for not 

meeting performance standards. However officers have chosen not to invoke 

them because it is a partnering contract and the focus is on trying to jointly 

improve the service. 

194 However there is no independent post-inspection of gas servicing or gas 

response repairs. HFI and Caxtons previously commissioned an external 

contractor to carry out this task but have since chosen to carry out this 

work in-house against an agreed set of criteria. 

Aids and adaptations 

195 In our previous inspection, we found high satisfaction levels with the service. 

Knowledgeable and dedicated teams provided a high quality service that had 

clear and well publicised service standards. 

196 However, we also recommended the council review the budget and streamline 

the arrangements between departments dealing with aids and adaptations. 

197 In this inspection we found there is a high level of satisfaction with the 

adaptations service and the council. HFI have also taken clear steps to 

implement the recommendations from our last inspection however there is a lack 

of targets to measure the time taken to complete an adaptation and the shortfall 

in the budget means that the needs of tenants requiring adaptations is not being 

fully met.


198 HFI and the council have taken clear and effective steps to address our 

recommendations. The adaptations budget was transferred to the council’s social 

services department to streamline the arrangements. The budget was increased 

from £800,000 in 2003/04 to £1.25 million in 2004/05. 

199 HFI have taken steps to ensure properties that have adaptations installed are 

highlighted on the housing management IT system so that suitable allocations 

can be made to disabled applicants from the housing register. If there are no 

suitable applicants available social services are informed and the adaptations 

removed and recycled where possible. 

200 Social services have taken positive steps to assess the level of need. There are 

currently around 450 cases but they only expect to fund the highest priority 

cases, about 200 from the existing budget. The need to establish the exact cost 

of the service and assess the level of demand was prioritised by the council and 

they are now at the stage of developing a strategy to meet the demand, such as 

means testing. 

201 There are effective processes in place to administer the adaptations system and 

there are clear lines of communication between surveyors and the occupation 

therapy teams. A series of checks on the housing database are carried out in 

order to establish eligibility including checks on rent arrears, tenancy status and 

right to buy applications. 

202 Surveyors routinely carry out satisfaction survey and there are high rates of 

satisfaction with the service even though the process is lengthy. It is around five 

months on average and there are no targets for this process. 

Housing income management 

203 In our previous inspection, we found a range of rent payments methods. There 

were regular and consistent processes to guide housing officers in improving 

performance, and the addition of housing benefit officers to the area offices had 

improved the service to tenants. Performance on current rent collection was 

improving, but from a low base and we found support for vulnerable tenants. 

However, rent could not be paid over the internet and payment methods were not 

included in the tenancy video; tenants who used the cash payment facilities at 

the area housing offices may not have had their needs fully addressed when this 

facility was withdrawn; cumulative arrears were high and collection of FTA debt 

was staff intensive and inefficient; procedures needed to be improved for the 

recovery of FTA and; IT systems did not support all areas of the service well. 

204 Performance collecting current and former rent is improving and arrears reducing 

for reception centre charges. A responsive service is provided with support for 

residents. However, a strategy is required to tackle the large historic current 

arrears and performance does not compare well with other London authorities. 

This is an area of service that still needs development. 

205 HFI have separated out service charges since our last inspection and these are 

easily understood on the rent statement. They have developed additional 

payment methods to supplement the withdrawal of the facility to make cash 

payments at the area offices and this has increased the number of payments 

made. Rent and service charge payments can now be paid at post offices; 

paypoints; by credit and debit cards; by phone to HFI Direct; and by IVR (making 

payments using the keypad on the phone), standing order; direct debit, and 

internet payments online. Although, direct debit payments are restricted to one 

specific payment date.


206 There are comprehensive procedures that staff use to manage income and debt 

collection for current and former arrears and positive intervention and prevention 

work. For example the two area based housing benefit (HB) officers in each 

neighbourhood office provide customer services and assessment of claims. The 

customer service HB officer completes the HB form with new tenants at the 

tenancy sign up stage and they provide daily drop-in sessions for tenants with HB 

queries. There is a protocol in place that provides target times to respond to 

queries. This has resulted in housing benefit problems being resolved quickly and 

efficiently, particularly where outstanding documents and proof are of 

identification is holding up the assessment of claims. It has also led to speedier 

processing of HB payments. 

207 HFI takes prompter action to recover debts, with an emphasis on early warning 

letters and a semi automated arrears process. This has improved performance 

as the average current arrear has reduced from £379.48 in 2001/02 to £292.84 in 

2003/04 and to £269.59 in the first quarter of 2004/05. The percentage of rent 

collected (BVPI 66a) has also improved from bottom quartile to third quartile, 

from 91.2 per cent in 2001/02, 93 per cent in 2002/03 and 94.6 per cent in 

2003/04, current performance for the first six months of 2004/05 is 95.35 per cent 

against a target of 95 per cent. 

208 HFI took over the management of the council’s reception centres in 

April 2004, at that time arrears for charges were £153,000 in eight months they 

have reduced the figure to around £74,000. 

209 There is now a greater emphasis on prevention with housing support officers 

(HSOs) at each area office to help sustain tenancies, before legal action is taken 

rent recovery staff assess whether support is required. HSOs are trained in 

welfare advice and they refer tenants to independent advice services and can 

access additional floating support where necessary. 

210 A positive relationship with the council’s legal services has been built. Legal 

services are providing a more responsive and proactive service to HFI than that 

previously provided to the council’s housing department. This is evidenced by 

better response times, more activity in arrears collection, legal training and 

improved liaison. 

211 However, there are still some weaknesses. For example there is a lack of an 

agreed strategy with the council on how to tackle the large historic current 

arrears. There have been no discussions yet on incentive schemes. Vulnerable 

tenants are not always flagged on the IT system and this may impact on the 

approach and support provided to them. Pre eviction interviews are offered for 

tenants facing eviction although where an eviction is not immediately agreed by a 

court, the tenant is not re-interviewed if their case is referred back to court. 

212 HFI consulted tenants through the best value review of housing management 

services, and improvement suggested by tenants were an increase in frequency 

that rent statements are sent out, but HFI have not implemented this because of 

cost. And, staff at the area offices were unaware that HFI Direct were unable to 

send out rent statement and were referring callers through to the call centre. The 

facility to send out rent statements has not yet been implemented. 

213 HFI has reviewed former tenant arrear (FTA) processes, this has resulted in a 

significantly improved turnaround time for housing benefit notifications, with daily 

notification and improved arrangements and targets set with HB for dealing with 

rejections and queries. There has also been a review of poor collection levels 

with the council’s legal services and new arrangements implemented. Now all 

cases within 18 months of being statute barred are assessed to check where the 

case is in the system and to ensure cases are chased and action taken.


214 Performance has improved, the FTA debt at the end of 2003/04 was 

£9.4 million and a further £1.7 million has been added to this debt in the 

remainder of 2004 making a total of £11.1 million arrears. The FTA team have 

collected £2.2 million between April and the end of November 2004 leaving a 

debt of £8.9 million. 

215 HFI is also improving publicity about FTAs. It has introduced a publicity campaign 

called 'disappearing debtors’ poster campaign. This identifies tenants who have 

left their tenancies without notice and asks for information about their 

whereabouts. So far the campaign has generated some telephone calls, but has 

not yet located any former tenants. However, the campaign is also aimed at 

deterring tenants from fleeing without paying their arrears or providing notice. HFI 

are addressing the delay in taking action to chase former tenants when they 

leave to recover debts owed. Where tenants notify the council/ALMO that they 

are terminating their tenancy, they are informed of their responsibility to clear 

outstanding arrears before they vacate the dwelling. 

216 HFI has used procurement in outsourcing debt collection to two debt collection 

agencies. Previously the service was provided by one provider. HFI carried out a 

check among the FTA Housemark benchmarking club members to identify the 

performance of different agencies and used this information in its tendering and 

procurement process. 

Resident involvement 

217 In our previous inspection, we found the council had a clear participation 

framework in place and a challenging forum for leaseholders. Considerable 

funding was committed to the framework including support for TMOs which are 

popular with tenants. A range of initiatives were being undertaken to encourage 

the involvement of tenants. However, poor perceptions were proving difficult to 

turn around in some areas of the participation framework. The need for a formal 

tenant participation strategy was highlighted at the end of 2002, but this was still 

in development. Management information for leasehold management and 

performance by TMOs was weak and there were insufficient resources to 

manage the programme of work to improve TMOs performance monitoring, and 

IT investment. 

218 A resident focused approach has been taken to review tenant participation and 

progress is being made. Staff are accessible and accountable and additional 

resources have been targeted to support TMOs and IT. The current formal 

arrangements provide access for residents to improve services and monitor 

performance. However, until the review of tenant involvement by the resident 

involvement project group (RIPG) is complete a number of key weaknesses 

remain and HFI are not measuring the success or impact of all current activity. 

This is an area of service that still needs development. 

219 The officer structure had changed to encourage greater participation with a 

centralised resident involvement team (RIT) leading, co-ordinating and 

supporting performance and partnership officers (PPOs) in the area offices. The 

PPOs deal with local tenant and resident associations on a daily basis and 

service area panel meetings. These officers also work with the tenant 

management organisations (TMOs), in their area and with local tenant and 

resident associations (TRAs) and community groups. There is also a small team 

servicing and co-ordinating the activity of the board and an external organisation 

the federation of Islington tenants associations (FITA) supporting and servicing 

tenant and resident association meetings and advising and helping residents who 

wish to set up associations. They receive a £100,000 grant from HFI to do this 

work.


220 The consultative framework has not changed to reflect the new board 

arrangements which have been added on to the current structure. There are still 

around 57 recognised TRAs and 12 TMOs and TMCs that feed into the 

9 consultative panels which feed into the housing consultative panel (HCP) and 

then to the council’s executive. Representatives from these panels sit on two 

sub-boards of the main board, that has increased access to the board and 

provides a vehicle for capacity building. 

221 There is a separate body made up of nominated residents and Board members, 

this is the Compact Negotiating Committee (CNC). Their role is to subject the 

Compact to periodic review and amendment as appropriate to reflect changes in 

circumstances. 

222 A project group made up of resident Board and Sub-board members and 

supported by officers is currently reviewing the resident involvement strategy and 

funding for the arrangements put in place. This group plans to <strong>report</strong> its 

recommendations to the Board in May 2005. 

223 Through the annual surveys HFI have a picture of how residents want to be 

involved and this is being used to inform the new strategy in addition to wider 

consultation and positive practise from elsewhere. The committee plans to <strong>report</strong> 

its recommendations to the board in early 2005. 

224 In the interim residents are still involved in decision making and performance 

monitoring through area panels and there are a number of separate groups for 

themed development of policy such as the repairs improvement group. There are 

also focus groups that are consulted on issues the outcomes of which feed into 

service improvements. 

225 HFI has done a number of things to improve communication with residents and to 

encourage and support wider involvement. It accepts that the current tenant 

compact is complex and so sent out a summary to all residents that was easier to 

understand. HFI has also put up more publicity in area offices about TRAs to 

encourage involvement and all new tenants are invited to join their local TRA. 

This is having an effect as all the new tenants we contacted had been told about 

or invited to join their local TRA. 

226 The PPOs are working with community groups and agencies such as the older 

peoples’ services to access particular groups. There have been positive 

outcomes from this such as a young person is now involved and chairing the 

board of a community centre that HFI have responsibility for. 

227 On a daily basis the PPOs are accessible, responsive and accountable, this was 

confirmed by TRA representatives we spoke to. The PPOs provide feedback to 

TRAs about issues they raise as soon as they have dealt with it rather than 

waiting for their next meeting, they are also there to answer queries and provide 

support. TRA representatives were also positive about their relationship with HFI 

staff at both area offices and at a senior level and they quoted a range of 

improvements they had raised at their area panels that were being delivered by 

HFI, such as appointments for emergency repairs and out of office hours 

appointments. These changes have improved tenants satisfaction with 

opportunities to participate from 27 per cent in 2000/01 to the 2003/04 survey 

that showed performance at 38 per cent. 

228 Staff found that the relationship and communication with TRAs has improved as 

has the relationship with TMOs. The PPOs now have a six weekly open day for 

their local TMOs where issues are discussed and there is information sharing, 

TMOs that completed our survey consider that this has improved communication.


229 HFI consults with service users through the leasehold forum to review and 

improve services. From this a number of key improvements have been made for 

example the re-design of service charge bills and allocation of charges to ground 

floor residents for intercoms and lifts for leaseholders. There are opportunities for 

leaseholders to have greater involvement through the board and there are now 

three leaseholders on the board, the former chair of the leasehold forum is also 

an associate director. 

230 The board are visible to residents, a board member attends all area panels and 

other key resident meetings, this is building on and improving the relationship 

between them and ensuring clear lines of communication. They are also visible to 

staff as they go to staff meetings and conferences and carry out workforce visits. 

The board are developing clear protocols for these visits to offices, to ensure they 

are used effectively. Staff felt these were valuable and that they gave them 

greater focus on the business of service delivery. 

231 HFI have also developed a service level agreement with FITA to ensure that the 

£100,000 grant to this organisation is used to provide outcomes that improve 

satisfaction. Their responsibilities include advising and helping residents set up 

associations, identifying and referring skills gaps and training needs, which are 

delivered by HFI, developing equal opportunities among associations and 

servicing meetings. This was agreed shortly before we came on site so it was not 

possible to judge how effective it is. 

232 The RIPG are reviewing all aspects of resident involvement as the current 

strategy has not yet been adapted to reflect HFI’s objectives. This has had an 

impact on a number of areas of resident involvement for example, funding and 

resource allocation is not linked to the outcomes HFI want. There are concerns 

from TRA representatives that there are no facilities available to them such as 

computers. There is also some duplication and a blurring of roles between the 

RIT, PPOs and FITA, with FITA staff and PPOs servicing meetings and both 

supporting TRAs. The lack of a clear strategy to addressing HFI’s objective to be 

more inclusive also means that there is no evidence of the integration of work 

done by FITA, PPOs and the RIT and until very recently no specific, 

measureable, achievable, realistic, timely (SMART) targets for doing this. The 

new service level agreement with FITA should provide a more strategic and 

targeted approach and will allow HFI to measure the success and impact of 

aspects of their current resident involvement strategy. 

233 Residents are confused about the role of focus groups or reference groups that 

are being used to consult groups of tenants and it is unclear how they integrate 

with the current structure. Tenants considered the consultation on the future 

capital programme was limited and leaseholders were still dissatisfied with major 

work consultation, which they wanted to start earlier and have more information 

about costs. HFI have developed plans to do this. 

Tenancy management 

234 In our previous inspection, we found the delivery of ASB services to be an area of 

strength for the council with a supportive advisory and specialist team working 

jointly with the police. The team had been in the forefront of developing ABCs 

and working with other agencies, such as the fire brigade, on action to deal with 

ASB, building and sharing intelligence on perpetrators and developing diversion 

activities for young people. The council provided a 24 hour hotline service; 

support was provided to vulnerable tenants and illegal occupation was 

successfully being tackled. However, file checks showed that record keeping in 

area offices needed improvement; there was a need for further training to support 

generic housing officers and the mediation service had proved unsuccessful.


235 In this inspection we found HFI continue to provide a customer focus and 

effective tenancy management service. There is however a need to assess 

outcomes of some activity to identify what works and to get feedback from the 

victims of ASB and harassment. This is an area of considerable strength. 

236 The secure tenancy agreement requires photographs of tenants and provides the 

legal agreement to enforce action to deal with nuisance and antisocial behaviour. 

237 There are specialist staff who deal with nuisance and support tenants and access 

to these staff has improved. Services are well publicised, there is a 24 hour 

hotline for antisocial behaviour <strong>report</strong>ing, a flexible appointments system for 

support officers, and a fraud hotline that provides anonymity. There are also key 

fact sheets on tenancy matters that are available to residents in addition to the 

comprehensive tenancy sign up pack they received at the beginning of their 

tenancy that explains services available. 

238 There is a clear strategic approach to ASB, the ASB strategy developed with the 

crime and disorder reduction partnership, of which HFI is a partner, sets out clear 

priorities and actions. The specialist staff at area offices can link in to Islington’s 

antisocial behaviour team (IASBT) that is a partnership of the council, HFI and 

Police. This team take forward high profile cases, provide neighbourhood 

mediation, parental support and support for area based staff. In addition there are 

local multi-agency geographical panels (MAGPIs) where all agencies involved 

and the police have a forum to work out ways of dealing with local low level 

criminal activity. There is an information sharing protocol with the police which is 

effective and has helped deal with a recent crack house closure order. 

239 HFI use the full range of remedies to address ASB which include antisocial 

behaviour orders (ASBOs); antisocial behaviour contracts (ABC); parental control 

agreements (PCA); mediation, possession orders, injunctions and tenancy 

demotion. They have recently applied to the court for a demoted tenancy 7 on 

antisocial behaviour grounds and are awaiting a court date. HFI also has a 

number of diversionary schemes to keep youths out of trouble. 

240 The table below indicates the range and level of activity HFI are using to 

effectively managing nuisance and antisocial behaviour. 

Action taken Activity 2003/04 Activity 2004/05 

Mediation 15 36 

Parental Support referral N/A 20 

ABC 44 14 

ASBO 3 1 

NSP/NTQ 70 50 

Possession Order 7 10 

7 Demoted’ tenancies were introduced in the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. Social landlords can apply to court for a 

demotion order ending a tenant’s existing tenancy and replacing it with a less secure demoted tenancy. This removes 

the tenant’s Right to Buy and security of tenure for at least a year (similar to an Introductory tenancy), when conduct will 

be reviewed.'


Action taken Activity 2003/04 Activity 2004/05 

Eviction 10 11 

Injunction 8 4 

Professional Witness Deployment 8 6 

241 HFI actively publicises ASB initiatives and outcomes within area offices in order 

to indicate to tenants that ASB will not be tolerated. There has been positive local 

press <strong>report</strong>s on its action to deal with antisocial behaviour and, this is linked to 

pro-active work in sustaining tenancies such as mediation A mediation service 

based in Camden provide a relatively successful service as 55 per cent of cases, 

where residents engaged with the process, <strong>report</strong>ing no further problems. 

However, outcomes of some cases were not always <strong>report</strong>ed to HFI. 

242 There are strong connections between the estate services officers and ASB 

teams - they attend monthly ASB meetings, work on joint initiatives with the ASB 

and IASB teams to ensure links are made with staff working out on the estates. 

243 HFI currently operates a neighbourhood warden scheme to supplement the work 

of ASB officers in the Holland Walk area. The wardens are resourced through 

neighbourhood renewal funding (NRF) although consideration to mainstreaming 

the service will be given when this funding runs out in March 2005. The original 

warden scheme finished when the funding stream ended, a further year's funding 

was secured by Holland Walk from the NRF but a different scheme was chosen 

that allows the wardens to be more mobile and focus on areas where there is the 

worst recorded incidents of ASB. These wardens link to both the ASB area officer 

and the IASB team and are used to target ASB hotspots within the scheme area 

and are considered relatively successful. 

244 Case files we reviewed were found to be well ordered and following the ASB 

procedures. Details of ASB issue are clearly identified and actions recorded with 

a spreadsheet tracking live cases. A four to six weekly review of live cases takes 

place with the area team leader to address any outstanding issues and develop 

follow up actions or agree closure of cases. There are also local performance 

monitoring processes which include the mapping of harassment complaints and 

identify hotspots for action. 

245 Consideration is also given to staff safety and risk assessments are carried out 

and staff are advised to ensure their movements are known. They have mobile 

phones and do not work alone if they consider they are putting themselves in a 

dangerous situation. 

246 Post tenancy visits are carried out for new tenants within four weeks of the 

commencement of tenancy. This visit is used to identify potentially failing 

tenancies which can be referred to the housing support officer. 

247 Around 400 risk based tenancy audits are carried out annually to identify illegal 

occupants. Tenancy management advisors check proof of identity and where the 

outcome is suspicious cases are passed to the housing investigation team (HIT) 

for further action. This is made easier because all new tenants have a 

photograph taken at sign up and at mutual exchange sign ups. These digital 

photographs are retained on the house file and are used to clearly identify legal 

occupants.


248 We found some areas of weakness in that while the Islington antisocial behaviour 

team is a partnership with the council and police, there is only a draft service 

level agreement. There is no systematic monitoring and assessment of the 

impact of activities such as diversionary schemes, and early intervention, to 

ensure that the most appropriate action is taken. Ethnic monitoring of ASB cases 

is not consistently being recorded and so analysis of cases by ethnicity may not 

show the full picture to help form future plans. Similarly satisfaction surveys of 

complainants of ASB are not carried out, or exit surveys of tenants that leave, 

consequently there is no learning from the experience of residents to inform 

future plans. And, current ASB cases cannot be flagged on the IT system so HFI 

Direct staff taking repairs such as broken windows cannot link these <strong>report</strong>s with 

an ongoing case. Housing support officers should provide a service for all 

residents, however they considered that they only provided support to tenants. 

Estate management 

249 In our previous inspection, we found that estate agreements were in place and 

tenants had photos of the quality they could expect. Caretakers were more 

flexible, had been trained to BICS standard, and had been provided with uniforms 

to increase visibility, mobile phones to improve responsiveness and given better 

equipment. Estate inspections were undertaken with service users, the council 

had obtained funding for a pilot scheme to tackle removal of bulk rubbish which 

was a persistent problem. The management of parking was improving. However, 

tenant satisfaction levels with the service had not improved, contact numbers and 

duties lists were not displayed in convenient places and relationships between 

the area housing offices and TMOs were variable. 

250 HFI have maintained a good service and built on this by enhancing the role of 

caretakers; providing greater support to TMOs; piloting immediate bulk refuse 

removal and further improving parking arrangements. Our reality checks showed 

that the estates managed by HFI directly met a high standard of cleanliness. 

However the standard on some estates managed by Hyde Northside did not all 

meet the same standard; there is an investment need to improve some 

communal paved areas and lighting. The refuse collection service does not meet 

local needs and there is inadequate feedback on communal repairs and 

improvements. Overall this an improving area of the service but with some 

development still required. 

251 There is an improved monitoring system for estate inspections. HFI has 

introduced quality control inspections besides the inspections carried out by 

officers and residents that cover the upkeep and cleanliness of the estates, 

communal repairs and wider issues like crime and nuisance. One of these quality 

checks is carried out each month to inspect the upkeep of estates including 

caretaking areas and to score the areas on a scale of A (excellent to D (poor). 

Any areas identified as scoring D will result in the caretaker being interviewed by 

their manager to discuss, identify and resolve issues. Performance on the 

standard for each locality is <strong>report</strong>ed to area panels of residents and all estates 

are <strong>report</strong>ed to a sub-group of the board each month along with other 

performance information. 

252 The role of caretaking staff has been developed and they are now undertaking 

minor repair works on estates and identifying and removing graffiti and dealing 

with other effects of low level antisocial behaviour. And, as mentioned earlier, 

there are clear links between caretakers, estate care officers and the ASB 

officers and IASBT to <strong>report</strong> and deal effectively with ASB.


253 HFI has introduced various mechanical tools for caretakers, in order to improve 

the level of service that can be delivered to estates. These include road 

sweepers (being trialled at present); small electric powered vehicle for equipment 

and bulk refuse moving, aqua-vacs, power tools, hand held floor scrubbers and 

leaf blowers. Staff consider they have the tools to do the job, they also have new 

uniforms and mobile phones. Greater emphasis is being placed on the training of 

estate caretakers with courses being offered which are module based and give 

staff an external accreditation. Our reality checks showed that the estates 

managed by HFI directly met a high standard of cleanliness. 

254 The estate services officer’s role has also been developed: they are now the day 

to day link between the area office and the TMOs. This has helped build 

relationships and develop an information network to provide greater consistency 

in standards and provide support. TMOs who responded to our survey indicated 

that they were regularly informed of issues and 82 per cent considered there are 

adequate opportunities to discuss key issues with HFI, although 45 per cent 

considered that concerns are not always acted upon. 

255 There are estate agreements for all major estates, that are decided with local 

residents and reviewed annually. There is £250,000 available to each resident 

area panel for estate improvements with clear criteria for the panel to decide on 

bids. This money is being spent although some TRA representatives found it 

often took too long to get work completed. 

256 HFI has established a bulk refuse collection team with Islington’s local strategic 

partnership (LSP) to remove rubbish from estates within 24 hours of notification. 

This is resolving the problem we identified in our last inspection. This pilot has 

been funded by the partnership for one year at a cost of £100,000 and some of 

the furniture picked up is recycled through the King Cross Furniture Project. 

Performance <strong>report</strong>s on tonnage collected are <strong>report</strong>ed back to the LSP. 

257 HFI is also piloting the use of ‘clean up’ teams on specific estates to improve 

response times and keep areas clean where there are known problems, and the 

estates managed by HFI were clean. 

258 With the council, HFI have increased the number of estates that have recycling 

facilities to over 120 estates. In addition HFI has set up a system for tree 

mapping and lamp column numbering and mapping to improve the identification 

and management of trees and lights. 

259 Contact numbers are displayed in block notice boards and estate agreements 

have been delivered to all households to indicate the name, address and number 

of working hours for each caretaker. There is also a contact phone number and 

e-mail address for caretaking queries and access to a caretaking manager. 

However, the estate agreement fails to give clear caretaker duty details. These 

improvements have impacted on tenant satisfaction with estate services which 

has improved from 50 per cent in 2002/03 to 62 per cent in 2003/04. 

260 However leaseholders we spoke to at a focus group considered there is a lack of 

accountability of caretakers, but TRA representatives found the caretaking 

service much improved and were happy with the service provided. There was 

some dissatisfaction with poor maintenance of paved areas and lighting although 

HFI have increased resources to deal with this in 2005/06.


261 HFI consult with residents when establishing controlled parking on estates. 

Consultation is through the TRA and by individual letter. There is a ballot of 

residents which invites comments, these are then used to further develop the 

scheme. HFI are linking the development of controlled parking on estates with 

the Islington street parking strategy, 189 out of 230 locations are now covered by 

the wheel clamping and removal contract based on the highest demand areas in 

conjunction with the introduction of street parking zones and permit area by 

Islington council. 

262 The procurement of the contract for wheel clamping and vehicle removal is a 

three year contract with a further two year extension option based on 

performance. Four members of the selection panel were residents who 

challenged contractors and visited vehicle pounds as part of the selection 

process. There is a clear after payment appeals process in respect of wheel 

clamping and vehicle removal. Around 12 per cent of clamping cases are 

appealed against each year with an average of one in ten appeals being upheld, 

the cost of those upheld are met by the contractor. 

263 There is also a transparent arrangement for the removal of abandoned vehicle 

that is keeping estates free of dumped cars. 

264 Our reality checks showed that cleaning standards were not always met on those 

managed by Hyde Northside. Leaseholders and TRA representatives considered 

there are major issues with the refuse collection service with too few and missed 

collection. This means some estates regularly have overfull bins and plastic bags 

left outside the shutes. We also found this to be a problem on a number of 

estates we visited even though HFI’s quality checks indicated missed collection 

was not a problem. They also wanted more feedback on communal repairs and 

improvements. 

265 The arrangement for caretakers to clean all internal communal windows and 

windows up to the fifth floor externally, is not working effectively as residents on 

higher floors do not get the same service. However HFI is procuring a contract to 

have all external windows cleaned. 

Allocations and lettings 

266 In our previous inspection, we found that void turnaround times had improved 

assisted by the pilot choice based lettings (CBL) schemes. The council was also 

part of an inter-borough lettings scheme. Comprehensive information was 

supplied in a variety of formats to new tenants. There was a basic voids standard 

in place and this standard was being delivered. Lettings were covered by written 

procedures. However, accessibility for prospective tenants could have been 

greater. The council needed to ensure that all lettings were in accordance with its 

allocations policy. We also found that services for vulnerable people were not 

seamless and it sometimes took a long time to co-ordinate action. 

267 HFI provide access to the council’s allocation service and have developed their 

own transfer scheme linked to this. They are achieving high performance for 

turning around of empty properties for re-letting at 22 days in 2003/04. HFI Direct 

staff now deal with allocation enquiries and performance is positive. There is a 

basic void standard which has been revised with residents and now provides 

some choice over work and there is a comprehensive sign up pack. New tenants 

are visited at four weeks to help sustain tenancies and ensure tenants are aware 

of services available and how to access them. HFI is proactively dealing with 

under occupation, there is joint working with council staff dealing with allocations 

and complaints about allocations are handled effectively.


However, HFI failed to following up one request for information that reduced the 

tenants’ priority for housing and on one case we checked the information had not 

been updated to show they had moved. Overall this is an area of considerable 

strength. 

268 HFI have a clear transfer allocation system which is well publicised and linked to 

the CBL allocation system administered by the council. The transfer system is 

transparent and accessible to users and once an application has been assessed 

the tenant is informed of the outcome. Applicants are also given information 

about alternative opportunities for re-housing, such as mutual exchanges. HFI 

has undertaken some work to publicise the transfer system and CBL in the local 

newspaper, on the website and through a letter to all registered applicants at the 

time CBL went live in July 2004 and tenants understood the arrangements. 

Information on the website is in the seven community languages; leaflets can be 

translated on request; applicants can bid by text and visually impaired applicants 

can have manual bids placed or fax in bids to the area offices. Information on the 

service has also been delivered through talks to the multi-ethnic community 

advice centre and to the Kurdish/Turkish women’s groups. 

269 HFI Direct take all calls for both the council and HFI. Call centre staff have been 

trained on the allocations, transfer and waiting list system with staff at the call 

centre having access to application details and assessment. This process has 

meant that 98 per cent of calls relating to allocation queries, of which there are 

around 3,000 a month, are now dealt with at the call centre with customers 

receiving prompt responses to their requests and qualitative monitoring of calls 

handled. 

270 Void turnaround times continue to improve over time although performance has 

deteriorated slightly in the first six months of 2004/05. For example it took 

42 days to turn around a void in 2001/02, 29 in 2002/03 and 22 in 2003/04. 

Performance in the first six months of 2004/05 is 25 days which does not meet 

the council’s 22 day target. HFI are working with their contractor on changes to 

improve performance and quality. 

271 All prospective tenants are given a copy of the voids standard at the 

accompanied viewing. Where asbestos is present in a property, the new tenant is 

advised of its whereabouts and given health and safety information on asbestos. 

At sign up, a comprehensive welcome pack is provided and a new tenant 

satisfaction survey form included in the pack. A Housing Benefit form is 

completed and an indication of the likely rent payment also provided. After four 

weeks of the tenancy starting there is a visit by the tenancy management advisor 

and an introduction to the caretaker where they are still resident on the estate. 

272 Some improvements have recently been made to the service. HFI identified 

tenants who are under occupying property and want to move and have linked 

them to the council's under-occupancy officer, who liaises directly with the tenant, 

offering help and financial incentives to encourage a mutually beneficial move. 

The tenant, as a transfer applicant, also qualifies for additional under-occupancy 

points under the CBL process. 

273 All files checked in respect of transfer applications and related complaints were 

found to be well ordered and filed in chronological order. Responses contained in 

the files were clear and contained detailed information to answer the queries 

raised.


274 HFI and the council work closely to develop strategic areas jointly, for example 

the revised allocations policy is currently being reviewed. There are monthly 

meetings between the the council’s allocation staff and HFI’s team to monitor the 

allocation process. However, there is only a draft SLA between the council and 

HFI at present in respect of this service which needs to be formalised. 

275 HFI has a process to record information on a spreadsheet for requests for 

additional supporting information and chase these requests. However, the 

transfer team did not check whether a response was made in one case where 

harassment was suspected. The tenants would have had the potential for 

100 extra points had information requested in April 2004 been chased up. This 

potentially reduced the bidding opportunities for the applicant under CBL. 

276 Checking transfer application files we found an example of a tenant who had 

been rehoused but still had a live transfer case. This situation occurs where 

applicants move to non HFI properties. There is a system for mobility staff to 

inform HFI but this case was missed and the team did not use existing 

termination details to manually update the system and to remove the transfer 

applications from the records. 

Leasehold management and Right to Buy 

277 In our previous inspection, we found that services for leaseholders had been 

brought together in the home ownership team (HOS). There was generally good 

access to services, including the out of hours repairs <strong>report</strong>ing. Surgeries for 

service charge payers were well received. Performance on RTB applications was 

improving as the number of applications fell. 

278 However, overall we found services for leaseholders were still weak despite 

improvements. Levels of satisfaction were very low. The service lacked a 

definitive list of service targets. Leaseholders resented steep increases in 

management fees and they considered major works bills were inaccurate. 

Performance in collecting historic arrears was poor and incentives were not 

offered. Historically, recording and lack of data had been poor, and collection of 

current service charges and historic arrears was not closely monitored. 

Performance on RTB section 125 notices was poor. 

279 The positive aspects of the service remain and improvements have been made 

such as the introduction of a newsletter; customer commitments; a pilot disputes 

process, improved collection rates and satisfaction levels. However performance 

on RTB applications has improved but is still poor and performance in the 

collection of major work charges is low. Debt and welfare advice is under utilised 

and there is no agreement with the council to offer further assistance to 

leaseholders. Leaseholders remain unhappy with major work consultation and 

performance in responding to leasehold complaints does not meet the target. 

This is an area of service that requires further development. 

280 There is easy access to leasehold services, all issues relating to leaseholders are 

dealt with by a home ownership service team (HOS) and surgeries are held in 

local offices when service charge estimates and bills are sent out. This is 

advertised in information sent out and is well used. 

281 HFI provides clear and informative publicity for leaseholders. For example the 

explanatory leaflet that accompanies the service charge invoice bills is easy to 

understand and was written to address issues raised in earlier feedback from 

leaseholders. It includes an annotated bill with contact details plus a table giving 

an explanation of charges and information on how these have been calculated. 

Leaseholders found this useful and they found the format of service charge bills 

had improved.


282 HFI has also produced a new RTB customer commitment (CC) which was 

launched in June 2004 and a leasehold management CC launched in September 

2004, both include clear service standards. It has also developed two new 

service charge performance indicators (PIs) and one for major works is in 

development. There are clear and challenging targets for the collection of service 

charges and invoicing. 

283 HFI’s newsletter for service charge payers, the ‘Islington Home Owner’ has been 

well received since it was launched last spring, around two-thirds found it useful 

and a similar percentage also found the leaseholders’ handbook useful. 

284 HFI actively consults with service users through the leasehold forum to review 

and improve services. Through this group they have drafted a leaseholders 

handbook, re-designed service charge bills and waived costs for lift charges to 

ground floor properties in response to leaseholders views. 

285 RTB and homeownership policies are set by the council as this is a landlord 

function retained by the council. However, HFI does carry out an annual 

leasehold survey and knows that 60 per cent of owner occupiers are original RTB 

applicants and the other 40 per cent have bought on the open market. This is 

used by the council to inform their policy plans. 

286 Although customer satisfaction among leaseholders with information sent out has 

improved since the last survey in 2003, it is still relatively low. The 2004 

leasehold survey shows leaseholders are more satisfied with information they 

receive from 53 per cent to 61 per cent satisfied between 2003 and 2004, while 

54 per cent found their bills easy to understand compared to 44 per cent in 2003. 

287 HOS performance on responses to complaints within ten days is worse than 

performance in other HFI services areas at 76 per cent. 

288 HFI does not collect diversity information on HOS customers other than in the 

leasehold satisfaction survey. This means it does not fully understand its 

customer profile and this limits its ability to respond appropriately to users and 

ensure access to the service is fair and equal. Customer satisfaction is low, 

although it has risen since the 2003 leasehold satisfaction survey from 

24 per cent to 33 per cent, although a significant proportion 39 per cent of 

leaseholders still remain dissatisfied. 

Right to Buy 

289 HFI does not comply with statutory timescales on RTB. In 2003/04, HFI issued 

1,949 RTB2s but only 10 per cent met the statutory timescale and the average 

processing time was 12.7 weeks. Performance has improved but is still poor. HFI 

received 418 RTB applications between April and the end of November 2004 and 

issued 416 RTB2s with 29 per cent meeting the statutory timescale of four 

weeks, on average it took 9.7 weeks to process these applications. 

290 The council is outsourcing its valuation service following a best value review. This 

service has provided a poor service in the past in terms of providing timely 

valuations for RTB applications so outsourcing presents an opportunity to secure 

a more efficient and appropriate service for HFI. The HOS manager is involved in 

a project group the procurement of a new service and has been involved in 

drafting the specification and evaluating bids. HFI has used this opportunity to 

emphasise quality aspects such as gathering information on probity when pre 

and post applications are done as well as setting timescales for valuations. This 

should lead to an improved and more efficient service. 

291 There is a joint policy with the council of selling on freeholds to leaseholders, the 

process is simpler than the statutory enfranchisement one and therefore helps 

leaseholders. Over 200 street property leaseholders have taken up this option.

Service charges 


292 HFI has a target of 100 per cent for sending leasehold service charge bills and 

estimates out on time: it is now achieving this target. And, they have taken 

systematic steps to improve the arrears recovery of service charges. Prior to our 

last inspection the Council did not take any legal action to recover service 

charges. HFI has set a target of recovering 115 per cent of service charges and 

has achieved 131 per cent in 2003/04. This compares well to other London 

boroughs compared to other authorities in the Association of London 

Government (ALG) benchmarking group where Islington were the third best 

performers in 2003/04 out of 18 boroughs. 

293 HFI offers leaseholders the option to pay service charges in instalments, rather 

than as a lump sum, including payment of annual charges in ten monthly 

instalments, and two years interest free for major works charges. They have also 

drafted debt recovery procedures, improved the working arrangements with the 

council legal services through the service level agreement and as a result 500 

cases have had legal action to recover around £250,000. Current arrears, 

however, are still £2,340,000 for service charges. 

294 The HOS has assisted one TMO to scrutinize and analyse their charges, using 

the expertise they have built up in apportioning charges. This resulted in a 

50 per cent reduction in charges for leaseholders. 

295 More could be done to promote welfare benefit and debt advice to leaseholders 

who experience financial difficulties. It has established arrangements for referring 

those having difficulty paying bills to CHAS (catholic housing aid centre). But it is 

in very early days for this arrangement and HFI have only referred one person for 

debt counselling to date. And, there is no written guidance on the forms of help 

available such as extended payment periods, loans, charges on properties or buy 

back schemes. 

Major works 

296 The major works team within HOS updates the RTB team with details of current 

or forthcoming major works projects to ensure up to date and accurate estimates 

are included in S125 offer notices. For properties in the PFI scheme, HFI request 

an indication of the PFI contractor’s plans and they provide this with the survey 

details for the property. Annual estimates are informed by a single document 

which details all the cyclical repairs and maintenance that are planned. 

297 To respond to a weakness identified in our last <strong>report</strong> HFI are piloting a major 

works disputes procedure but it is too early to assess how effective this will be. 

They have consulted with the Islington leaseholder forum (ILF) on options for 

reviewing the methodology for apportioning major works charges. The forum’s 

preferred option differed from the council’s, they have now agreed to endorse 

ILF’s choice. 

298 HFI has benchmarked performance for the collection of works capital charges 

and comparative performance is poor at 13.7 per cent with a debt at 

30 November 2004 of £11.04 million. HFI does not have an age profile of this 

debt so it is unclear how effective it is in managing these arrears. Less attention 

has been paid to recovering major works charges and HFI has not established 

proactive and sustained recovery action for these debts. This needs to be 

addressed to prepare for the increase in bills with future works associated with 

achieving DHS.


299 HFI have restructured the HOS to separate all service and major works charge 

calculation from collection. In effect getting staff to specialise in collection, and 

they are increasing staff resources with three additional home ownership officers 

to do this to improve performance. 

300 Leaseholders at our focus group and from the leasehold survey feedback are 

dissatisfied with the consultation on major works. They find the statutory notices 

sent are confusing and most felt HFI takes little account of their views. 

Additionally leaseholders were very concerned about the extent and costs of 

future work. HFI and the council have yet to agree policies on the provision of 

loans and buy back facilities. Failure to do this could result in hardship for a 

significant number of leaseholders. This is likely to become more of an issue, 

particularly as many leaseholders are likely to recive large bills for major works 

when the ALMO starts its programme of improving properties and a significant 

number are on low and fixed incomes (22 per cent receive a pension and 

6 per cent receive income support). 

301 Leaseholders have raised issues on charges for major works in the NDC area 

and this is impacting on the relationship leaseholders have in this area with HFI 

who collect the charges. While this is an issue for the council as it has taken the 

Government’s recommended decision to re-charge leaseholders, it is likely to 

impact adversely on satisfaction levels. 

Summary 

302 The housing management service, including the repair and maintenance 

provided by HFI, have improved and weaknesses from our previous inspection 

have been addressed and positive performance built on. This is evident from the 

improved performance in PIs, satisfaction levels and an improved perception of 

HFI from residents we met. Strengths outweigh weaknesses. 

303 Some of the positive aspects of the services include: 

accessible services for all residents including those with disabilities and those 

with English as a second language; 

extended access for repair appointments; rent and service charge payments; 

and transfers through HFI Direct; 

extended and comprehensive range of CCs most with clear targets and 

effective arrangements to manage and <strong>report</strong> performance against them; 

comprehensive and easy to use website, accessible and informative 

published material including newsletters for tenants and leaseholders with 

residents involved on the editorial board; 

formal complaints and surveys being used to improve services; 

the relationships with contractors and a range of partners for joint working are 

positive; 

high tenant satisfaction with major work schemes; 

continuous improvement in the performance on voids turnaround, urgent 

repairs carried out in target time and appointments for repairs made and 

kept; 

resident involvement in repair improvements and performance review and 

improving customer satisfaction with repair service; 

successes in increasing income, reducing losses and efficiencies through the 

detection of fraud; caretakers carrying out minor repairs and; contractual 

arrangements;


proactive approach to rent and service charge collection and preventative 

work; 

wide range of initiatives used to deal with ASB effectively and sustain 

tenancies; 

most estates clean and free of graffiti; 

positive joint working with the council on allocations, and performance to 

repair and let empty properties and a well publicised accessible transfer 

system; 

formal tenant participation arrangements considered to be an effective 

mechanism to improvement services; 

greater involvement of harder to reach residents through community groups, 

specialist forums and out reach work; and 

visible and inclusive ALMO board. 

304 However, there are a number of weaknesses that need addressing: 

there are still some inconsistencies in service delivery and approach for 

example cleaning on a few estates, and health and safety compliancy on 

some major work sites; 

not all sources of feedback are being used to inform service improvement 

and performance dealing with stage 2 complaints still requires improvement; 

poor quality reception centres and facilities and security arrangements are 

not meeting residents expectations; 

there is no overarching VFM strategy, clear targets and cost efficiency is 

secondary to service improvements; 

gas servicing performance improved but still unsatisfactory at 

92 per cent; 

cleaning standards for empty properties are not consistently being met; 

lack of qualitative targets for response repair service and arrangements for 

post inspection work are not effective; 

no monitoring of repairs carried out right first time; 

performance on RTB applications has improved but is still poor and 

performance collecting major work costs; 

until the review of resident involvement completed the resources for this 

service area are not aligned to objectives; outcomes of some activities is 

unclear and the tenant compact is out of date; and 

still dissatisfaction among leaseholders with consultation for major works.


What are the prospects for improvement to the service? 

What is the evidence of service improvement? 

305 There is demonstrable evidence of service improvements that positively impact 

on residents and that there has been a concerted improvement in services 

across the board. Additionally, all the key weaknesses identified in our previous 

<strong>report</strong>, as well as those identified internally, have been addressed. There are 

systems in place to capture learning and many examples of positive practice from 

other organisations used to improve services. However, some improvements 

have not had the desired impact and it is too early to judge the benefits of more 

recent changes. 

306 Below is progress against the key weaknesses identified in our previous <strong>report</strong>. 

Report recommendations <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong> 

Assessment 

Improve the quality of access and customer care to the service 

by: 

ensuring that direct service users are consulted on changes 

to ensure that their needs are met; 

provide reference to translated materials on all information 

leaflets; 

check information leaflets and customer commitment leaflets 

to make sure the information provided is consistent and put 

in place monitoring arrangements; 

ensure that a consistent standard for information is displayed 

and is available from area offices; 

include repairs pledge in repairs and maintenance customer 

commitment leaflets; and 

improve performance in dealing with stage 2 complaints to 

meet prescribed timescales. 

Take measures to resolve any tensions between area housing 

offices and tenant management organisation (TMO)/tenant 

management cooperative (TMC) estate managers. 

Review the process for all cases that are going to court for 

eviction to ensure any disadvantaged tenant is given all 

opportunity and support to retain their tenancy. 

Investigate and implement all possible initiatives to achieve the 

target of 100 per cent gas servicing including training for housing 

management staff on rights of access, and publicising the gas 

servicing programme. 

Put in place processes to ensure that there is no-one on the 

housing register or the transfer list waiting for an adapted dwelling 

before the adaptations are removed. 

Put in place detailed improvement plans, linked to the over 

arching improvement plan, across all service areas no later than 

May 2004, with monitoring arrangements for delivery of service 

improvements. 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes


Report recommendations <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong> 

Assessment 

Review the budget for aids and adaptations to ensure it is based 

on a needs analysis as well as other budgetary priorities. 

Streamline the process and management of aids and adaptations 

to ensure that there is seamless working between departments. 

Provide easier access for contractors and partners to the 

asbestos database and provide new tenants with details of the 

presence of asbestos in their homes. 

Reviewing all performance targets to ensure they are challenging, 

and will drive continuous improvement in the services to meet the 

top 25 per cent by 2005/06. 

Put in place formal methods of sharing good practice and 

innovation across housing services including partners and 

external contractors. 

Put in place processes to ensure cost efficiencies are fully 

examined when services are reviewed. 

Ensure that health and safety measures are properly enforced on 

all works carried out to council owned properties. 

Ensure that IT system upgrades and improvements are fully 

resourced and prioritised to impact on front line services. 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Partly 

Partly 

307 The above table indicates progress made on the key weaknesses we identified. 

There has also been significant progress on the other 85 issues identified in the 

body of our previous <strong>report</strong>. Two improvements we considered were only partly 

complete, there is a system in place to review cost efficiencies of services 

reviewed but piloted new initiatives were not always reviewed before they were 

mainstreamed. There were examples of poor health and safety standards on 

major works sites. 

308 HFI accepted and integrated the improvements we identified into their BVR 

improvement plan. The 85 minor issues raised in the body of the <strong>report</strong>, are 

included in each director’s divisional plan for 2004/05. Each action in the plan has 

a time-scale and a lead officer responsible for delivery. The IP has been 

managed effectively and this has enabled HFI to deliver the improvements to the 

challenging targets set. 

309 HFI have clear targets to deliver all key plans and strategies and these are being 

met. There has been some revision to a key target in the HR strategy - to review 

the work life balance for staff but this was because the board decided to establish 

a leadership framework for HFI to help achieve this aim and re-prioritised the 

target. 

310 There have been improvements that do not have an immediate benefit to 

residents, but which do increase the income available to fund further 

improvements. For example, HFI has implemented recommendations in relation 

to FTAs; revised procedures, improved response times from HB and introduced 

IT enhancements, such as better <strong>report</strong>ing and the automation of arrears letters, 

that have improved income collection. 

Yes


311 There have been tangible improvements in the relationship and support provided 

to TMOs. There is now a greater and more positive dialogue with these 

organisations that has improved the perceptions of HFI among TMOs and 

provided a greater focus on service delivery. They have introduced a range of 

improvements that include: standard format for the <strong>report</strong>ing of PIs; early 

information on annual management allowances; additional funding for improved 

IT to give TMOs access to HFIs intranet and email system; a new customer 

commitment so TMOs understand the services HFI provide; focused training; a 

new negotiated management agreement and allocation policy. 

312 There is a positive trend in all best value performance indicators (BVPI)s and 

local PIs. For example, making and keeping repair appointments, improved rent 

collection and performance repairing and re-letting empty property. The 

organisation has also achieved IIP accreditation. 

313 However, a number of very recent improvements, such as the specialist court 

officers have not yet had time to have an impact and work on improving health 

and safety on major works sites has not had the desired results as there were still 

health and safety issues on a number of the major work sites we visited. A range 

of improvements have been made from issues arising from the BVR and from 

resident feedback, all of which have benefited service users. These include: 

provision of a dedicated children’s play areas in area housing office reception 

areas; 

new freephone credit and debit payments of rent and service charges to the 

HFI Direct; 

re-housing advice available through HFI Direct, with around 3,000 calls dealt 

with each month; 

clear and extended service standards (customer commitments) across the 

range of housing activity; 

new HFI web-site launched in September 2004 with rent and service charge 

payments now available online and interfinder repair ordering; 

reduced turnaround times for empty properties; 

asbestos information provided to all tenants whose home is regarded as high 

risk; 

an increase of £450,000 in the adaptations budget, now held by the council 

social services; 

introduction of specialist TMO officers to provide a more focused liaison and 

support to TMOs; 

dedicated antisocial behaviour officers based in the area housing offices; 

the introduction of individual care plans for vulnerable tenants who are 

provided with assistance by housing support officers; 

immediate clearance of bulk refuse from two of the six housing areas; 

an improved housing benefit advice service and dedicated HB officers in all 

area housing offices; 

payment method details and debt advice included with biannual rent 

statements; and 

the introduction of a leasehold newsletter.


314 The resident focus groups provided examples of changes made that they 

considered were improvements to the service and overall they thought services 

were getting better and that significant strides had been made since the ALMO 

had been set up. This is consistent with the improved satisfaction levels: 

overall landlord services from 41 per cent in 2001 to 52 per cent in 2004; 

repair and maintenance service from 38 per cent in 2001 to 48 per cent in 

2004 and; 

opportunities to get involved from 27 per cent in 2000/01 to 38 per cent in 

2004. 

315 HFI has learnt from successful practices used in Hyde managed properties in the 

Lyon Street area - Hyde have performed better in terms of rent arrears collection 

and time taken to repair and relet empty homes than HFI. Consequently, HFI has 

introduced specialised rent arrears officers, court officers and caretakers are now 

carrying out minor repairs. Hyde managers meet regularly with HFI managers 

and comparisons of the performance of area offices has helped to drive 

improvements. 

316 There are monthly meetings of performance and partnership officers, successes 

in one area have been shared and rolled out to all area offices, examples include 

publicity material such as the new welcome pack and the call messaging system 

which tenants have welcomed. 

317 Mystery shopping by residents has been introduced following training provided by 

HFI. The first round of this mystery shopping was completed in October 2003 and 

outcomes from this were used to inform service planning of customer care 

provision in relation to telephone, face to face and access standards. Local 

service delivery plans (LSIPs) were developed to address the identified 

weaknesses. The second round of mystery shopping was completed in August 

2004 and the findings have been amalgamated into a single customer care LSIP. 

318 The building blocks to learn from formal complaints have now been put in place, 

HFI is analysing stage two complaints and each complaint is responded to locally 

by a senior manager who is also required to submit a <strong>report</strong> with appropriate 

recommendations to address underlying issues. For example, a complaint about 

the way relatives of deceased tenants was received and there is now an 

information sheet for relatives on termination of tenancy, explaining clearing 

possessions and recharges. In addition all stage one and two complaints are now 

the subject of six monthly <strong>report</strong>s to HFI’s management team with 

recommendations for corrective action to address weaknesses that the process 

exposes. 

319 There are opportunities for HFI staff and its partners to share learning through 

shadowing and secondment arrangements between staff at HFI Direct and 

Caxton and Caxton staff work alongside call centre providing technical support 

for staff taking repair calls. There are back to the floor visits by senior staff that 

aid learning and an understanding of issues at the front line. Office visits by 

board directors are now carried out and are to be programmed as a regular 

occurrence to ensure board members understand the service and performance 

issues. 

320 As part of the BVR, HFI carried out a number of visits to find out about positive 

practice elsewhere and this informed improvements in the IP. There have also 

been more recent visits to other ALMOs to assess how effective governance 

arrangements are and these visits have influenced the governance arrangements 

for the board. Benchmarking has also been used to gain positive practice and as 

part of service reviews and to look at costs.


321 HFI carries out an annual survey of tenants and leaseholders that informs the 

SDP and DSPs and the results of the satisfaction surveys are <strong>report</strong>ed to board 

directors to set the strategic priorities for the following year’s business plan. 

There are also surveys following each major work scheme and this informs which 

contractors are used for future schemes. A small sample percentage of tenants 

are also telephoned by both Caxtons and HFI to collect additional feedback. The 

results of this survey are analysed and <strong>report</strong>ed to the repairs policy group and 

repairs service improvement group on a six monthly basis. 

322 However there is no systematic monitoring and assessment of the impact of 

some activities to deal with antisocial behaviour, such as diversionary schemes, 

and early intervention, to ensure that the most appropriate action is taken. In 

addition, satisfaction surveys of complainants of ASB are not carried out, nor exit 

surveys of tenants that leave, consequently there is no learning from the 

experience of residents to inform future plans. 

How good are the current improvement plans? 

323 HFI have robust short and long term plans. Plans are formulated from the 

outcomes of BVRs, resident and staff feedback, from core objectives and 

business needs. However there are too many short term plans and they are not 

all aligned effectively. This is recognised and being addressed by HFI in the 

2005/06 planning process. 

324 The approach taken by HFI allows residents to be involved in a continuous 

process of improvement. The IP sets out short term improvements and how 

services will be delivered in the longer term. There are four service delivery 

plans, one for each division plus a customer care LSIP that includes 

improvements that come out of feedback and customer complaints. These form 

the link between HFI’s business plan (BP) objectives, team plans and individual 

appraisal targets. There are individual action plans to deal with weak areas of 

service delivery highlighted in our previous <strong>report</strong> that underpin the HFI IP. For 

example these include: 

a TMO improvement plan that includes improvements to the management 

agreement, capital works and development of new TMOs; 

a service charge arrears strategy to improve annual service charge collection 

and as a result arrears have reduced significantly in 2004/05; 

a gas servicing IP to implement a range of initiatives to improve gas servicing 

levels, that is now showing positive results in performance; 

a governance IP produced following an audit of HFI’s governance 

arrangements by an external consultant in the summer of 2004; and 

a community centres’ IP to address issues such as health and safety, DDA 

compliance across over 50 community centres and flats. 

325 There is a 30 year business plan in place that the Government office for London 

assessed as fit for purpose and from this the board, through the business 

planning process, sets the objectives and priorities for the following year. There 

are medium and longer term objectives and plans are resourced. 

326 There is a robust and timely business planning process that links in with the 

council’s process to ensure that the council objectives are cascaded into HFI’s 

business and service delivery plans. The board are integrating service and 

resource planning into a revised business planning (BP) model for 2004/05.


This BP responds to changes in the stock relating to the PFI 2 initiative that will 

see the loss from direct management by HFI of 3,600 dwellings, stock transfers 

out of local authority ownership and the transferring back of the management 

functions currently carried out by Hyde Northside. There is a lead out strategy 

developed by Hyde to ensure the smooth transfer of staff and service continuity 

when this contract ends. The plan covers performance maintenance; finance and 

budgets; human resource (HR); media management; resident participation; 

accommodation, records and file maintenance. Hyde and HFI have named 

people responsible and meet regularly to keep this on track. 

327 There are plans to meet the business needs of the organisation, for example 

there is a HR and a communication plan to respond to the strategic functions of 

an employer and a business. That has seen the restructuring of HR to respond to 

the communications portfolio to ensure there is the strategic capacity to provide a 

corporate communications function. There is also future planning to deal with the 

need for a new IT system for payroll and to review the SLA with the council for 

payroll services and a clear understanding of priorities for HR. The board 

understand that there is a need to ensure that EOP issues are addressed 

throughout the staffing structure to ensure that organisation reflects local 

community and builds capacity among staff under represented at different levels 

of the organisation. They have agreed to build on positive work done by the 

council for front line staff and roll it out to all levels through the IIP management 

and leadership process. 

328 HFI has risk assessed plans and built in contingencies for those plans where 

either the risks are high or the impact great. For example, a high impact risk such 

as not accessing additional ALMO funding has a robust contingency plan that 

has been developed by the council with HFI. In addition Hyde has developed the 

lead out plan with HFI for the smooth handover of this contract. 

329 HFI’s service plan sets out a clear mission, vision, values and objectives and 

these have been clearly communicated to staff and tenants. There are six 

objectives which HFI is seeking to achieve: 

deliver an excellent housing service and achieve at least two stars; 

maximise customer involvement and empowerment; 

value diversity throughout the organisation; 

deliver investment to meet the Decent Homes Standard target by 2010 and 

the Homes for Islington standard by 2015; 

ensure staff development, financial management and other systems are in 

place to deliver high quality services; and 

increase and develop partnership working with the council and its other 

partners to achieve corporate objectives on regeneration and sustainability. 

330 The plans all have actions that are resourced, have a clear time scale and lead 

officer responsible for delivery. As detailed later there are robust performance 

management arrangements in place to ensure the delivery of these plans. The 

organisation’s self assessment shows that HFI are self aware and have a clear 

understanding of their strengths and weaknesses that will assist them in focusing 

future plans. 

331 However, because there are so many plans the links between the SDP, IP and 

other plans are unclear and may result in key tasks being omitted. For example 

there the transfer of gas no-access to tenancy services was not included in the 

technical service divisional plan but was tasked to the division in IP. Plus a 

number of timescales have slipped from the IP into the service plans which 

indicates that plans have not been aligned effectively.


332 We also found the links between HFI’s targets in the SDP and DSPs and their 

objective to deliver the council’s corporate objectives was unclear with a lack of 

definable targets for objectives like the ‘green agenda’. 

333 There is an acknowledgement by HFI that the linkages could have been tighter in 

year one but that the emphasis was in getting the improvements implemented. 

The 2005/06 business planning process will address these issues for the second 

round of delivery plans. 

334 There are still some inconsistencies in service delivery and feedback is not 

comprehensive, this could have a negative impact on future plans. 

Will improvements be delivered? 

335 In our previous inspection we considered that there were ‘promising’ prospects 

for improvement as the service had a number of barriers to overcome. 

336 HFI has overcome the barriers to drive improvement and built on existing 

strengths. We found there is clear leadership from the board and senior staff and 

challenge to performance. We also found that there is clear prioritisation and risk 

management. HFI is building capacity to meet business needs in terms of HR 

and financial capacity, it is also using partnerships to help deliver key services to 

improve capacity. 

337 Staff and residents have all acknowledged the improvements made and the clear 

leadership of the board and senior staff. The IIP assessment <strong>report</strong> is very 

positive about HFI and the leadership and focus of the organisation and HFI has 

attained IIP status in its own right. 

‘Top managers are clearly and effectively committed to directing and developing a 

leadership and management culture ready for the challenge of the post funding 

situation’ (ALMO funding). 

338 There have been clear and step change improvements since the inception of the 

ALMO in April 2004 driven by the ambitions of its leadership to deliver customer 

focused improvement. 

339 The board have set out the aims of the organisation which are underpinned by 

corporate strategies which have been developed and approved by the board. 

These have been developed early so the organisation has had clear direction 

from the start. They have developed their own key strategies such as HR and 

communications which have been important in ensuring the identification and 

ambitions of the organisation are understood and well publicised and that staff 

have felt part of the new organisation. 

340 HFI sees itself as a key partner in delivering the council’s corporate objectives 

and the council acknowledge this and support the ALMO in its objectives to work 

with residents to deliver services it wants in the future. 

341 Because there is a large number of residents involved in the consultative panels, 

reference groups and the board are engaged with residents at local meetings, 

and there is a good understanding of key objectives among residents. 

342 There are examples of priorities being set. For example, in the short term the 

board have decided to resource the re-badging of staff uniforms, logos on letters, 

communications and office signage, to ensure recognition of the new 

organisation by residents. However, the cost of re-signing all the estates is being 

resourced over a longer period as funds were not immediately available and it 

was not seen as such a high priority. These priorities have been encompassed in 

the communication strategy for HFI.


343 HFI has prioritised the review of high risk support services, a review group 

chaired by the CE includes membership from board directors, the management 

and performance teams. The group have ensured that support services contracts 

include specifications, they have reviewed costs and service level agreements 

have been signed with all council providers. 

344 The creation of the ALMO has given the organisation greater control over HR 

issues and this has resulted in a more strategic approach to dealing with issues 

such as the use of temporary staff, recruitment and retention and the 

restructuring of the organisation to meet business needs. There are a number of 

board members with a HR background or with knowledge and skills that have 

provided focus and support for the implementation of the HR strategy, 

consequently transfer arrangements and the restructuring have happened 

smoothly. 

345 The board are investing in staff and are working towards achieving the IIP 

leadership and management award, including a recruitment and retention 

strategy which is improving staff morale. There is a staff reference group that 

provides a sounding board for HR issues and there are regular staff meetings 

with the CE that have assisted in embedding the changes. An employee 

assistance programme provides independent support for staff that can help them 

deal with the organisational and cultural changes taking place. 

346 The unions consider that communications with HFI are better than they were with 

the council and both consider that there is a positive relationship between them. 

The unions have direct access to the board as employers which they feel is 

useful, they also consider meetings with both the board and CE are effective in 

that issues get resolved and they are kept informed of any delays in decisions 

making. In addition HFI and Unison have developed a joint lifelong learning 

programme for staff that is a positive partnership. 

347 There have been a number of successful training events with TMOs and there 

are a range of regular training opportunities provided to TMO boards with three 

conferences held last year. These have provided updates on changes to 

<strong>report</strong>ing arrangements and workshops on issues that affect TMOs as employers 

that have been positively received. 

348 There is a strong board with wide ranging skill, this capacity has been enhanced 

with a comprehensive learning plan, board members have been trained on 

housing issues, had inter-personal development which has strengthened the 

board and the relationship between board members. The Chair of the board is 

now identifying competencies and personal development needs for individual 

members and is developing a process of appraisals to ensure this is maintained. 

There is a great deal of commitment from board members with around 

80 per cent attendance at meetings. Arrangements and meeting schedules have 

been altered to address the changing needs of the organisation and to maintain a 

reasonable balance of work to sustain involvement of board members. 

349 There are positive partnerships to deal with ASB, tenancy support, repairs and 

with TMO and HFI is building on these for example, they hosted a conference 

entitled ‘making partnerships work’ for managers of both Caxtons and framework 

contractors. 

350 All permanent and temporary staff employed continuously since September 2004 

have been promised a one off payment of £250 if the outcome of this inspection 

is two stars. Board directors wanted to reward staff for good performance.


351 The use of consultants to bring in additional capacity has been appropriate, they 

have been used to carry out value for money assessments of SLAs and some 

external challenge which were considered high priorities and HFI lacked the 

immediate capacity to resource the work internally. 

352 HFI with the council have increased resources through the PFI schemes to deal 

with disrepair and deliver a higher standard than DHS and HFI will receive 

increased income in 2005/06 of around £4.5 million from the end of loan 

payments from an investment made in the 1970s by the council. 

353 The relationship with the council works effectively, there are clear and regular 

formal and informal contact between HFI and the council, with six monthly 

meetings of the chair of the board and HFI’s CE with the council’s CE, deputy CE 

and Executive Member. There are also monthly monitoring meetings between the 

Council as client and HFI officers. HFI is invited to corporate initiatives such as 

‘One Islington’ and they invite the council to their conferences. Relations are 

seen as positive and not intrusive and the performance management 

arrangements are working effectively with key targets in the service development 

plan (SDP) being met. HFI sees itself as a major partner delivering the council’s 

corporate objectives which are also its own objectives. There are board members 

on the LSP and the boards of regeneration schemes as well as less formal 

networks, these are positive links that ensure a two way traffic of information. 

354 The council has not placed onerous conditions on HFI to maintain council support 

services as HFI can give notice at any time and use an alternative supplier. This 

gives HFI the flexibility to get the best VFM and they are in the process of doing 

this. 

355 Seven of the 17 board directors are residents, thereby ensuring that residents 

have more say in strategic decisions affecting the way their homes are managed. 

356 As well as board directors, the managed property and contracted services 

sub-boards are made up of associate directors drawn from the nine elected 

consultative forums all of whom are residents. Sub-boards such as this are an 

effective means of involving residents in decisions and managing performance to 

allow the board to have a more strategic overview. 

357 Through away days and training the shadow board slowly established a 

consensus about their role as a board. They understand what they need to 

achieve and the business planning and strategic direction to achieve this. There 

is clarity about the roles and responsibilities of the both the main Board and two 

sub-committees. There is a good skills mix with clear criteria used to recruit 

independent board members. As a consequence the independent members have 

skills and knowledge that include human resources, accountancy, equalities, 

procurement, the construction industry and sustainable development. The board 

are clear about changes essential for business needs however and are setting up 

an equalities committee to address this key area of provision. A selection 

sub-group has been set up, that has a majority of tenants, this group is 

developing future selection arrangements and succession planning. The board 

are also setting up a protocol with the council to ensure their nominees build on 

the skills of the board. 

358 The board have not yet firmed up some posts within the structure of HFI and 

want the flexibility to assess how current arrangements are working for example 

the director of resources is also the company secretary and the board want to 

see whether this is the most effective way of servicing this role.


359 Residents raised concerns to us about the possibility of a conflict of interest by 

having the council lead member for housing, who is an executive member of the 

council,a board director and on the housing consultative panel (HCP). The 

ODPM also raised concerns of a possible conflict of interest by having a lead 

member for the council housing services as a board director. The council have 

guidelines to minimise the risk. The council’s position is that with partnering, staff 

and councillors may have a number of different roles and often may chair or be 

members of boards connected to the council. While we consider that no conflicts 

of interest have occurred, there is the potential for conflicts of interest. We also 

considered that some board members have too many roles and therefore too 

much influence for example chairs of area panels can also be board directors. 

360 HFI has continued to ensure its robust performance management system is 

effectively used to improve performance and deliver HFI’s objectives. An annual 

cycle of appraisal and development objectives is in place, linked to divisional 

objectives. HFI has carried out an audit of appraisals and found there were high 

levels of compliance, our reality checks confirmed this. 

361 In HFI Direct for example, there is a strong performance culture. PIs are 

monitored weekly and publicised among staff. Steps are taken to effectively 

manage performance if it deteriorates. When HFI Direct took over making 

appointments for the gas servicing contract, performance initially dipped. 

However, rotas and shifts were re-arranged to improve performance and it has 

improved. 

362 There is also a strong emphasis on staff development, incentives, learning and 

people development. Examples of this include the monthly staff awards, job 

shadowing and development programmes for staff. 

363 The management team focus on business relating to the key objectives of the 

organisation, their <strong>report</strong>s are of good quality for decision making. A monthly 

<strong>report</strong> is presented to the management team, which includes data on a wide 

range of indicators and compares performance in area housing offices. This 

closely monitors the standards delivered under contract by TMOs, Hyde 

Northside and Partners (PFI1) in respect of all elements of the respective 

partnering contracts for housing management and regeneration services. 

364 There is close monitoring and management of the SLAs with the council, there 

are quarterly monitoring meetings held with each council provider and an HFI 

service director leading on each contract. The monitoring of TMOs has been 

rationalised and formalised and performance information now more clearly 

reflects the same monitoring process for HFI area offices. HFI is also bringing in 

a more transparent assessment of the governance of TMOs, finances and 

caretaking so TMOs better understand what they need to deliver and how they 

need to manage. 

365 The IP is monitored by the senior management team on a monthly basis and by 

the board of directors bi-monthly. Weaknesses identified in the body of our 

previous <strong>report</strong> have been assigned to individual service directors and these are 

discussed in depth at monthly 1:1 sessions between service directors and the 

CE. Progress has been recorded on a special monitoring spreadsheet. 

366 Strategic performance management is undertaken by the HFI board with 

bi-monthly <strong>report</strong>s that recommend options for action to tackle under 

performance. Sub-boards are charged with performance monitoring of 

operational activity in their respective zones of responsibility. They receive PI 

<strong>report</strong>s at each meeting, as well as <strong>report</strong>s on performance in individual service 

delivery areas.


Because all associate directors are residents it is an important way in which 

residents influence the services they receive and as these meetings are public it 

allows any resident to see performance on a comparative basis, hold staff to 

account for this and make suggestions for improvement. These meetings are well 

publicised in the local press, website and area offices, attendance at the sub 

board for contracted services attracted around 20 people. Reports on the 

agendas of meetings are available on line three days before. 

367 When we attended the sub-boards we considered that there was challenge to 

services and poor performance. For example there was an IP to deal with poor 

performance by the PFI contractor delivering refurbishments, this was being 

closely monitored. 

368 The council has effective arrangements in place to monitor HFI's performance at 

officer and member level. The partnership officer receives regular performance 

monitoring information and has a range of meetings with HFI to monitor 

performance. Monthly joint meeting focus on the quality of service provision, 

financial issues and other relevant issues, such as performance against the 

council’s key objectives as set out in the performance management requirements 

in the contract. HFI also <strong>report</strong>s progress on equalities to the council 

departmental equalities action group. 

369 However, VFM was a key weakness identified in our last <strong>report</strong> and has not been 

given the priority we would have expected. HFI have concentrated on improving 

quality and service delivery with VFM as secondary and not consistently being 

carried out for all new initiatives. There are plans for future assessments of 

services based on risk that follow the same principles as SLA reviews in terms of 

VFM. 

370 There is a need to ensure resources are prioritised to meet HFI’s objectives and 

this has not yet been done for tenant participation. We considered the progress 

of attaining level 2 of the government’s equality standard has been slow, HFI are 

beginning to formulate their own equalities strategy and an interim equalities 

manager has been appointed to co-ordinate and map current activity and to 

gather information to inform the strategy. There are some high risk areas for 

example the governance arrangements for a number of TMOs are weak and 

some may be unsustainable, these organisations need intensive support to 

ensure they can function effectively and deliver service improvements. There are 

also some issues around the capacity of some TMOs to manage HR issues and 

negotiate with unions. 

371 HFI are unable to build up surpluses and as a consequence they are unable to 

build up resources to deliver their own priorities unless they can agree growth 

funding through the council, therefore there is a need to ensure long term plans 

are agreed with the council for future funding needs. 

372 We also considered improvements could be made to plans by both HFI and the 

council. From the SDP it was not clear how some of the council’s corporate 

objectives translated into targets and therefore what the outcomes the council 

expect from HFI and although the SDP provided details of achievements in 

2002/03, it did not identify original targets nor any explanation of why some 

targets were missed, for example the gas servicing target. We also found that the 

council’s housing end of year performance <strong>report</strong> fails to <strong>report</strong> on all BVPIs, 

specifically non decent homes. Consequently it is difficult for residents to 

measure performance from these documents. There are still some 

inconsistencies in service delivery, VFM is not at the forefront of improvements 

and feedback from informal sources is not always being used to inform 

improvements. In addition we still had some concerns about the contract 

management of one or two major works sites.

Summary 


373 We consider that HFI have excellent prospects for improvement because: 

there has been a consistent drive to improve that has made significant 

improvements that residents recognise; 

there is a consistent upward trend on all key BVPIs and the turn around time 

for repair and re-letting properties is very good and appointments made and 

kept is top quartile; 

there are systems to capture internal positive practice and learning through 

secondments and shadowing, staff conferences and workshops with TMOs; 

service improvements are identified through feedback from residents, 

performance management and the BVR process; 

residents are dominant in key strategic reviews such as the tenant compact 

group; 

HFI is self aware and plans realistically address service weaknesses, they 

take account of current and forthcoming legislation, positive practise 

elsewhere and are customer focused; 

there is a clear and timely business planning process and the board have 

clearly prioritised plans and resources; 

the council is supportive of the ALMO’s independence; 

the board works well, provides clear leadership and members are visible to 

staff and residents; 

there are clear and challenging ambitions and targets and service standards 

support these; 

the board are committed to investing in staff and ensuring a diverse 

workforce; 

the organisation has restructured to improve capacity, meet business needs 

and improve service delivery and uses partnerships effectively; 

the board, staff and council are clear about their respective roles and 

responsibilities; 

there are robust performance management arrangements in place, both 

between the council and HFI and within HFI; and 

there is a clear and robust risk management strategy. 

374 However, we identified the following weaknesses in relation to prospects for 

improvement. 

Some more recent improvements have yet to show clear and demonstrable 

outcomes. 

Not all sources of feedback are being used to drive improvement. 

There are too many plans and the alignment of plans is not comprehensive. 

Benchmarking is not being fully utilised to assess VFM and VFM 

assessments are not consistently carried out. 

There are opportunities for conflict of interest within the current governance 

arrangements. 

Not all resources are aligned to meet organisational and user focused 

objectives.


Appendices 

The purpose of an inspection is to make two judgements. The first is how good is 

the service being inspected? The second is what are the prospects for 

improvement? We carried out a range of activities to enable us to reach our 

judgements. 

Performance indicators 

Performance indicator LBs’ top quartile 

2003/04 


2001/02 


2002/03 

BVPI 63 Average SAP rating 63 54 55 55 

BVPI 66a Percentage rent 

collected 

BVPI 68 Average re-let time 

(days) 

BVPI 69 Percentage rent lost 

through homes becoming 

empty 

BVPI 72 Percentage urgent 

repairs completed specified 

time 

BVPI 73 Average days to 

complete other repairs 

BVPI 74 Percentage tenants 

satisfied with overall service 

BVPI 75 Percentage tenants 

satisfied with TP 

BV184a LA homes which were 

non-decent at start of year 

BV184b Change in proportion 

of non-decent homes 

BV185 Percentage repairs 

appointments made and kept 

red – top quartile 

blue – bottom quartile 

n/a – not applicable 


2003/04* 

96.35 91.2 93 94.6 

n/a 42 n/a n/a 

n/a 2.3 n/a n/a 



41 50 - 

n/a 26 n/a - 

35.5 n/a 61.8 64 

22.3 n/a 6.5 11.8 

95.6 n/a 98 97.5

Documents reviewed 


Before going on site and during our visit, we reviewed various documents that 

HFI provided for us. These included: 

self assessment; 

section 27 submission; 

management agreement; 

previous inspection <strong>report</strong>; 

service delivery plan; 

customer commitments; 

governance handbook; and 

various minutes of meetings. 

Reality checks undertaken 

When we went on site we carried out a number of different checks, building on 

the work described above, in order to get a full picture of how good the service is. 

These on-site reality checks were designed to gather evidence about what it is 

like to use the service and to see how well it works. We also followed up on 

issues relating to the management of the review and the improvements flowing 

from it. Our reality checks included: 

inspection of ready-to-let properties; 

file and complaint checks; 

shadowing call centre staff; 

visits to offices and temporary accommodation; 

visits to major work sites; and 

web site review.


List of people interviewed 

We met a range of people involved with the service. 

Alison Blackburn Manager of Antisocial Behaviour Team 

Andrew March Team Leader - rent 

Andy Murphy Assistant Director Resources 

Angela 

Bladen-Hovell 

Team Leader 

Ann Lucas Chair of Board 

Anthony Jonas Head of Performance and Procurement 

Bernie O’Connor Head of Response Repairs 

Brian Davies Housing Officer 

Brian Potter Chair of the Federation of Islington Tenant Associations 

Chris Brunning Court Officer 

Christine Short Legal Disrepair Manager 

Chris Liffen Caxtons 

Chris Worby Assistant Director of Strategy the council 

Cora Nichols Allocation Manager 

Cynthia Dornelly Support Officer 

Damian Dempsey Principal Responsive Repairs Officer 

David Hutchinson Parking Manager 

David Lewis Assistant Director of Finance the council 

David Selo Director of Resources 

David Winslet Housing Benefit Manager 

Debbie Simpson Rent Arrear Manager 

Deborah Levy Head of Occupation Therapy 

Denise Facey Unison 

Derek Hayes Project Manager 

Doug Goldring Interim Director of Operations 

Eamon McGoldrick Chief Executive

Gary Doolan GMB 


Garry Bates Senior Area Housing Manager 

Gareth Evans Estate Services Officer 

Gina Clarke Assistant Director Law the council 

Graham Baugh <strong>Commission</strong> Manager TMO 

Greg Gale Ex Chair Leasehold Forum 

Helen Cagnoni Chair Housing Panel 

Helen Maltby Support Officer 

Jaci Barnes Caxton Continuous Improvement Officer 

Jane Doolan Unison 

Jane Nelson Managing Director Caxtons 

Janet Moran Manager Health and Safety 

James Geoghegan Service Contracts Manager 

Jo Knight Manager HFI Direct 

John Eustace ASB Manager 

John D’Souza Caxtons - Gas Servicing 

John Phillips Director Property Services 

Julia Johnson Director Hyde Northside 

Jyoti Vaja Executive Member and Board Director 

Ken Middleton Business Manager the council 

Mike Lindenburn Manager Health and Safety Manager 

Mike Sims HFI Governance Team Manager 

Nigel Freeman Home Ownership Manager 

Pat Hutchins Caretaking Manager 

Pat Masters Consultant Support Service Reviews 

Paul Collins Investment Manager 

Paul Davey Manager of Best Value 

Roger Askill Mechanical and Engineering Manager


Sally Daw Temporary Equalities Manager 

Sandra Graydon Manager Former Tenant Arrears 

Sean Mclaughlin Assistant Director Needs 

Simon Kwong Interim Director of Operations (central services) 

Sophia Lall Resident Liaison Officer 

Stephen White Resident involvement Manager 

Steve Sorrill Service Development Manager 

Stuart Phillips Service Charge Officer 

Trish Fletcher Housing Service Manager 

Val Dickenson Manager Housing Investigation Team

Positive practice 


‘The <strong>Commission</strong> will identify and promote good practice. Every inspection will look for 

examples of good practice and innovation, and for creative ways to overcome barriers 

and resistance to change or make better use of resources’. (Seeing is Believing) 

Voids 

A void standard was introduced in 2002 but when we inspected we considered it 

was basic. The standard was revised during 2004 to include items like plumbing 

for washing machines (where possible) and was implemented in November 2004. 

Information from satisfaction surveys of new tenants was used to inform the 

revised standard. Caxton also provides a welcome pack in all ready to let void 

properties providing essentials such as light bulbs, toilet roll, and tea and coffee 

for all new tenants. 

Major works 

HFI regularly meets with the local planning department and planning user group 

meetings as planning issues are one of the biggest risks to the major works and 

Decent Homes programme, because of the high number of conservation areas 

and listed buildings in the borough. They also worked with constructors to 

develop sympathetic designs that will meet with planning approval. 

Kwest carry out a postal resident satisfaction survey on all major work projects 

within two months of their completion and an annual satisfaction <strong>report</strong> is 

produced on a project by project basis. The Kwest results are reviewed and 

analysed and used to inform future projects. 

Response repairs 

The repair contractor Caxton, meets regularly with tenant representatives and 

has provided tenant representatives with pre-programmed mobile phones to 

enable them to contact the repair contractors customer service manager who has 

the autonomy to deal with any issue that comes up. 

HFI has an effective programme in place for installing smoke alarms in their 

properties that plug into a light socket and have a ten year life without the need 

for maintenance. 

Income management 

HFI has introduced a poster publicity campaign called 'disappearing debtors’. 

This identifies tenants who have left their tenancies without notice and asks for 

information about their whereabouts. The campaign is also aimed at deterring 

tenants from fleeing without paying their arrears or providing notice. 

Allocations 

HFI identified tenants who are under occupying property and want to move and 

have linked them to the council's under-occupancy officer, who liaises directly 

with the tenant, offering help and financial incentives to encourage a mutually 

beneficial move. The tenant, as a transfer applicant, also qualifies for additional 

under-occupancy points under the CBL process.


Tenancy management 

There is a clear strategic approach to ASB, the ASB strategy, developed with the 

crime and disorder reduction partnership, of which HFI is a partner, sets out clear 

priorities and actions. The specialist staff at area offices can link in to Islington’s 

antisocial behaviour team (IASBT) that is a partnership of the council, HFI and 

Police. This team take forward high profile cases, provide neighbourhood 

mediation, parental support and technical support for area based staff. In addition 

there are local multi-agency geographical panels (MAGPIs) where all agencies 

involved including the police have a forum to work out ways of dealing with local 

low-level criminal activity. There is an information sharing protocol with the police 

which is effective and has helped deal with a recent crack house closure order. 

Around 400 risk based tenancy audits are carried out annually to identify illegal 

occupants. Tenancy management advisors check proof of identity and where the 

outcome is suspicious cases are passed to the housing investigation team (HIT) 

for further action. This is made easier because all new tenants have a 

photograph taken at sign up and at mutual exchange sign ups. These digital 

photographs are retained on the house file and are used to clearly identify legal 

occupants. 

Estate services 

The procurement of the contract for wheel clamping and vehicle removal is a 

three year contract with a further two year extension option based on 

performance. Four members of the selection panel were residents who 

challenged contractors and visited vehicle pounds as part of the selection 

process. There is a clear after-payment appeals process in respect of wheel 

clamping and vehicle removal. Around 12 per cent of clamping cases are 

appealed against each year with an average of one in ten appeals being upheld, 

the cost of those upheld are met by the contractor. 

Leasehold management 

There is a joint policy with the council of selling on freeholds to leaseholders, the 

process is simpler than the statutory enfranchisement, over 200 leaseholders 

have taken up this option mainly in street properties.

Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

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