How do we currently stand on our approach to strategic asset management? - HRA Asset Management Plan
Through a process of external review and self-assessment, we have evaluated how well our organisation is currently performing against ten key aspects of strategic asset management. Our leadership team, senior and operational managers all contributed to this wide-ranging and robust assessment.
Governance - leadership, vision and strategy
In response to new landlord obligations arising from the Social Housing Regulator, there are opportunities to:
- strengthen governance arrangements across services
- develop a more joined up vision and aspirations we have for our tenants and council’s responsibilities as a landlord, maintaining our focus on tenant safety and delivering best in class tenancy management services
- maximize our efforts to get better value for the money we spend on improving services and a better return to the Housing Revenue Account
Partnership working
Whilst partnership working is strong, there are opportunities to develop greater openness, trust and honesty, to better agree shared goals and values and ensure better communication between our key service providers. We need:
- to seize the opportunity the Commissioning Review presents for re-setting the ODS relationship and ensure better outcomes for tenants
- a shared partnership vision and goals that we all buy into and understand
Data driven works programmes
We are making improvements to data but need to work on these areas:
- accessing data is difficult and we need to work on removing barriers
- we are building our stock condition survey data, but recognise this will take time to complete, we need to ensure QL can effectively hold the data
- budgets need to be driven by up to date, accurate stock data, rather than by custom and practice
Safety and compliance
Recent regulatory involvement has brought compliance into focus, with policies, procedures and recording keeping all needing to be improved. We need:
- systems that allow easy and full visibility of compliance at any one time
- a clear understanding of outstanding remedial works in key compliance areas and works programmes in place to address these
High calibre and motivated staff
Staff turnover and good housing skill shortages across the profession is making it difficult to recruit the skills required. We need to:
- improve our approach to induction, training and team development.
- build our organisational culture through a stronger operating framework and collaborative working
Investment targeted to future needs
We need to:
- take a stronger position on defining standards with reference to costs and benefits for items such as materials, works specifications and voids
- complete the development of a new energy efficiency/retrofit strategy
- develop and agree a longer-term, evidenced based plan for future investment
Systems, processes and procedures
To improve functionality of our systems, processes and procedures we need to develop:
- a clearer view on what we are trying to achieve and what good looks like
- a set of clear, transparent approaches to dealing with the range of key issues
Value for money
To ensure we make the best financial return for the HRA and achieve value for money through our contracting, we need to address the following areas:
- the delegation of budgets to ODS presents real challenges that need to be addressed through a much stronger strategic client role
- the Commercial Review is a big opportunity for a reset on value for money with ODS and more widely
Performance and programme management
Our view on performance across the range of key asset areas isn’t sufficiently clear and we rely too heavily on third party data and reporting. We need to:
- ensure robust contract management and oversight of all contractors, including ODS
- be a strong strategic client, taking ownership of the ODS relationship, such as taking a lead on budgets and specification of materials and components
Tenant-focused services
We are insufficiently open and transparent with tenants about services and standards. We need to:
- develop our service standards
- develop a stronger focus on resident engagement with more resident groups, taking ownership to drive future programmes of work with them, building on the results of the tenant priorities survey in July 2024
