Spring 2014

Tenant News QL goes live and on target In the October newsletter we gave you some information about the work that was underway to develop an entirely new, fully integrated computer system for the company to replace our old, obsolete system called Quartet. Since August last year we have worked very closely with the software supplier, Aareon to meet the very tight deadline for going live on 3 March 2014. Thanks to the considerable efforts of Kevin Cairns, David Wilson and the team of module leaders Lesley Shade, Peter Davies, Janice Gray, Gavin Wolfe and David Jordan, seen below, who were seconded to work full time on the project, we achieved the targeted date for going live. As well as carrying out training for all the system users the module leaders have been working on additions to the core system which will further enhance the way it works and fully meet our requirements for the future. QL gives Weslo a system that performs multiple business functions within one core database. This means that housing, finance and repair information is held in one dedicated system and is not reliant on other applications. A change to information in one part of the system automatically updates all other relevant data immediately. There is less potential for mistakes and less strain on resources. More importantly though there are clear and tangible benefits for you, for example:

l Requests for repairs are being logged more

accurately and being actioned automatically with the job lines issued electronically - all on the same day. This improves our accountability to tenants and improves the turnaround time for service requests.

l The new system is much more effective in alerting staff

to tenants special contact requirements for example where a tenant is disabled, hard of hearing or prefers large print forms and letters.

l Household information is displayed on one screen. This

minimises the length of time taken to answer queries which will be of particular benefit to those who contact Weslo by telephone.

l Tenants living in the Falkirk, North and South Lanarkshire

areas claiming housing benefit will get more accurate information on their account balances as the new system recognises a four-weekly benefit payment pattern. Printed account statements have been revised to make them clearer and easier to understand. They now contain details of all accounts for that tenant along with contact details for their Housing Officer.

l Staff will be able to quickly create multiple contacts lists -

text, email or letter – which can be used to communicate with tenants. This might be used to make you aware of maintenance or improvements works or to update you in the event of an emergency situation e.g. a major power failure or water mains disruption.

l The waiting lists for property transfers, lock up garages

and garage plots will be maintained electronically. This will improve efficiency in responding to enquiries and offering properties when they become available.

l The new system is compatible with a wide array of

handheld and tablet devices which will be used initially by our inspectors and tradesmen. An immediate benefit should be reduced times in letting empty properties as work orders will be raised by the inspector electronically at the initial inspection of the property thereby speeding up the process. Inspectors will also be able to raise jobs electronically while on site, again speeding up the repair process for tenants. It has not been possible to fully implement QL in what has been a relatively short and intense timescale but we have the system up and running and we look forward to telling you about the introduction of additional new functions in future editions of Tenant News.

We have invested a considerable six figure sum on this project which will enable us to deliver the services you have come to expect from us in a more efficient and effective way now and in the future.

Weslo tenant News

First Education Grant Paid Out

New Homes let in Armadale

It was with great delight that Weslo’s Finance Manager, Donna Henderson recently presented a cheque for £500 to Steven Sneddon of Whitburn. Steven is the first recipient of Weslo’s new Education Grant that launched in December 2013. Below we see Donna presenting the cheque to Steven while Scheme Administrator, Ann Kerr looks on. Steven is currently in his second year of an HND in Sport, Fitness & Exercise at West Lothian College and hopes to further his studies at Napier University or the University of Abertay. He already volunteers as a football coach for local youths and is keen to continue giving back to the local community as he progresses his studies. A delighted Steven said, “The scheme is a great idea and the money will come in very useful”.

Many of you may recall from our last Newspaper that we were eagerly awaiting the handover of 19 new homes for social rent and six mid-market properties at Bathville Court, Armadale. It is with great delight that we have been able to offer people these new homes. During February six Weslo tenants and 13 applicants from the West Lothian Common Housing Register were able to visit the site and view their potential new homes. The properties were handed over to Weslo on 24 February 2014 and tenants began to move into their new homes shortly after. Pictured above are Lara-Louise Kennedy and her son Flynne who were delighted to accept the keys to their new home from Nicola Hughes, Housing Assistant.

Weslo’s Finance Manager, Donna Henderson said: “Steven is the first of many students we hope to assist with the cost of their studies. We’ve awarded another two grants in the past couple of weeks and have another one in the pipeline. We would welcome more applications from tenants who are in or planning to enter university or college education”.

Lara-Louise said, “New year, new home, new baby and new start. I am over the moon with my new home! It has been worth the wait.” Wherever possible we try to match applicants for vacant homes from our Transfer Waiting List. If you are interested in transferring to another property perhaps because your current home is too small or too big; the financial effects of the welfare reforms might be causing a strain on your finances; or your home may no longer be suitable due to medical or mobility issues; whatever the reason, we could consider a transfer.

Weslo tenants or their dependants can apply for assistance to support them achieve their educational goals and sustain their education. The programme aims to remove some of the barriers that tenants may face entering further or higher education at HNC level or above. An application can be made for up to £500 per year to put towards the cost of books, equipment, travel costs or any other cost that a student may incur during their time at college or university.

If this is of interest you can download a transfer application form from our website at www.weslo-housing.org or give us a call on 01506 634060. We are particularly interested in hearing from tenants who are overcrowded or wish to move to a smaller house which better suits their circumstances.

If you would like more information on this scheme please contact Ann Kerr on 01506 639160 or email [email protected] 2

Weslo tenant News

Weslo appoint new Weslo Initiatives Manager Ashley Bryant was appointed Manager of Weslo Initiatives in August 2013. After a successful career within banking Ashley left a senior management position to start her own property management and letting company. Based in central Edinburgh she provided a management, letting and maintenance service to landlords throughout the city and provided tenants with good quality homes. Ashley has seen the private rented sector change drastically over the past decade and witnessed firsthand the effects on the industry. Since joining Weslo she has worked closely with the Executive Team of Weslo Housing Management to integrate the newly rebranded Weslo Property Management into the currently evolving private rented sector. You may recall that Weslo Housing Management owns mid-market rented properties in Millhaugh Lane, Bathgate, Corbiehall, Bo’ness and Sheephousehill Lane in Fauldhouse. Weslo Property Management now provides the management and letting function for these properties.

Property Management to build upon the reputation for excellent customer service that Weslo Housing Management has established over the last 20 years. With access to a wide range of products and services, we are confident that we will meet all the needs of landlords and tenants in the private rented sector.

As well as managing our own growing stock of midmarket rented properties we now able to offer a management and letting service to landlords within West Lothian and Falkirk.

If you want to know more about these services check out the web site at www.weslo-housing.org/property-management You can contact Ashley on 01506 639168 or email [email protected]

Services include: l Full

Property Management

l Landlord l Full

Safety Checks

l Let

Dedicated repair service telephone numbers

Only

l Maintenance

No matter where you live the telephone numbers to report a repair are the same even if you need to report an emergency when our offices are closed. Just ring the numbers below and you will be automatically transferred. The numbers operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Landlord Viewing Service

The newly rebranded Weslo Property Management is a fully functioning property management and lettings business, with a unique and professional approach, incorporating the latest legislative changes that set us apart from the competition. Based on a commitment to provide high quality customer service to our landlords and tenants alike, ours is a transparent and coherent service at an excellent price. Our parent company offers us financial strength and allows Weslo

For gas repairs For all other repairs If you smell Gas Call

01506 639144 01506 639143 0800 111 999

If you need to reschedule your gas service, please call 01506 639144 during office hours Monday – Friday. You can also report repairs on line at - www.weslo-housing.org

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Weslo tenant News

Tenant Director Election – your chance to stand as a Tenant Director! As you may know Weslo has four places reserved for Tenant Directors on our Board of 12. Tenant Directors attend Board meetings (every 6 weeks) and have an equal say in approving the budgets and policies of the company.

Easy on the eye We want to make it as easy as possible for you to read this edition of Tenant News. You can ask for this to be provided in Braille, large print or on an audio cassette and we can provide translations into other languages. We have sent large print copies out to two tenants who find it much easier to read. If you think this would help you to enjoy reading the Tenant News, please get in touch with Margaret whose details are at the end of this article.

In accordance with our constitution two of the current serving Tenant Directors will retire at our AGM this year. This means that an election ballot will be held around May and all tenants will receive a vote. The election process will be independently supervised by Electoral Reform Services. Anyone elected as a Tenant Director will be a member of Weslo's Board for at least 4 years and can stand for re-election thereafter. Training will be provided and travelling expenses will be reimbursed. You will have received a letter in March asking if you were interested in standing for election and giving more details about the process and what is involved. These are important positions on the Board as they allow tenants front line involvement in the running of the Company. Many of our previous Tenant Directors have been elected following a period of involvement on our Tenant Participation Committee which is involved in consultation on the rent increase, policy changes and other matters. We are always keen to hear from any tenants who may wish to become a member of this group too. If you would like to know more about the issues that you would be involved in, the minutes of recent meetings are available on our website: www.weslo-housing.org/information/minutes Is this something that you would be interested in and would like more information about being a Tenant Director, or joining Weslo's Tenant Participation Committee, please contact Christina Tiffney on 01506 634286 who will be able to assist you. Alternatively, please do not hesitate to contact any of the tenants whose details were listed in the recent letter for some first-hand information on what it means to be a Tenant Director.

4

If you have access to the Internet, you can log on to our Browsealoud-enabled website at www.weslo-housing.org where we have speech-enabled our website to ensure that it is accessible to as many people as possible. Browsealoud makes websites more accessible to people who find it difficult to read text on websites or who prefer to listen to web content. You can also convert text on Browsealoud-enabled websites to MP3 files; this means you can listen to the content of web pages whenever and wherever it suits you. If you would like more information please contact Margaret Walker on 01506 639121 or email [email protected]

Weslo tenant News

Weslo tenants - a satisfied lot In a recent independent survey carried out by the Knowledge Partnership, tenants returned a 93% level of satisfaction with the overall service they receive from us. Equally impressive was 91% of tenants were satisfied with the repairs service which is a remarkable achievement considering we carry out 9,000 jobs annually. l 89%

are satisfied with how Weslo manages their neighbourhood

l 89%

agree Weslo keeps them informed about services and decisions

l 88%

are satisfied with our communication materials

l 87%

are satisfied with the quality of their home

l 85%

agree their rent is good value for money

The Knowledge Partnership’s Director, Alan Kennedy said “These figures are in line with results for Weslo’s last two tenant satisfaction surveys, suggesting that the company has maintained very high customer standards over a sustained period (overall satisfaction in 2005 was 91% and in 2010, 94%)”. Weslo’s Chief Executive, Mike Bruce said “All Weslo staff are trained to provide the best possible service to our tenants therefore it is very gratifying to receive these very high levels of satisfaction. We are reviewing the large number of suggestions and bright ideas we received from tenants about how we could improve our repair service, your neighbourhood and home. Many tenants mentioned they would like us to install new bathroom suites. I am pleased to announce that our Board recently approved a pilot programme to upgrade 96 bathrooms as part of our 2014/15 Improvement Programme. We will look to this programme to inform us as we extend the new bathroom provision in years ahead.” You may recall that all returned surveys would be entered into a prize draw to win one of six cash prizes each worth £50. The lucky winners were: Mr McGrogan Addiebrownhill , Mrs Sheppard - Denny, Mr Armour - Polbeth, Mr Gray Bo’ness, Mrs Morton - Blackburn and Mr Beresford - Bathgate. We would like to thank all of you who took time to share your views by completing the survey. This information is vital in ensuring that we take your opinions into consideration while reviewing our priorities.

Staff Changes Heather Cranston joined Weslo as temporary Receptionist in July 2013 then moved to the Estates and Repairs Departments to provide admin support before taking up the permanent post of Receptionist at the beginning of October. Heather moved to Scotland from New Zealand in 1992 and has worked in a variety of admin jobs before joining Weslo. She said, “I really enjoy the face to face contact with tenants that working in the busy Bathgate Reception provides while dealing with enquiries and rent payments. In my spare time I am involved with the Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia Pipe Band; my late husband was a drummer, my son is a piper and I am on the Committee. This takes up a lot of my time but if I do get any additional spare time I enjoy reading, knitting and taking the family dog for a walk. “ At the end of January Anne Arnott left the company after almost three years. Anne was an Executive Assistant with the day to day responsibility to provide support to the Chief Executive and Directors. We wish Anne well for the future. Her replacement, Christina Tiffney was appointed in December 2013. Prior to joining Weslo, Christina worked as an Advocate’s Clerk assisting prosecution and defence counsel who conduct high profile criminal cases. “After working in Criminal Law for the last 11 years, I decided it was time to move on. Having never considered housing before, I have been pleasantly surprised to discover it is a fast paced and ever changing sector. Weslo places a strong emphasis on training and personal development so I am looking forward to learning more about housing and developing my new career in the Executive Team. Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming making my first months in the post a great experience. In my spare time I help to run a club night in Edinburgh and love going to concerts and festivals. I also enjoy the gym, cooking and watching sports.” 5

Weslo tenant News

20 years in the blink of an eye

Susan Anderson, an original member of Weslo, is retiring and here she shares with you what she has been up to over the past 20 years and what she has planned for the next few months.

I’m leaving to pastures new at the end of March just as Weslo is celebrating its 20th anniversary as an organisation. I can still remember the excitement in those early days of the stock transfer when we were freed from the huge national organisation of Scottish Homes. Suddenly we had our own identity and were able to look after our own tenants and budget our maintenance programmes as we wanted. Housing Officers and our newly appointed inspectors could look at stock in our estates and make recommendations on what was needed to be replaced or modernised. We could deliver a local service to our tenants. Looking back I see my time at Weslo in three chapters. The first chapter was as a Housing Officer scurrying around West Lothian assisting tenants, inspecting empty houses and dealing with anti-social problems. During this time I became a mum and attended University to do a Post Graduate Diploma in Housing Studies. It was a busy time but I enjoyed the varied work and meeting tenants. Chapter two, which lasted for over thirteen years, was spent as the Estates Manager in the Bo’ness Office. Below left you can see me chatting away to Betty Patterson who was my predecessor as we got together in 2004 to celebrate Weslo’s 10th anniversary. This was a very enjoyable time of my life as I got to know many tenants and their families and also worked closely with other organisations such as Falkirk Council, the police and social work. In Bo’ness local organisations met and continue to meet regularly to try and resolve local problems to make Bo’ness a close and safe community. It was during this time that I took up walking and spent many lunch times pounding the streets trying to get fit. I met many tenants on my walks which was a good enough reason to stop for a break! On the 10th anniversary of Weslo’s stock transfer in Bo’ness the staff and I took part in the Children’s Fair which was really good fun and we were cheered on by many tenants. I worked closely with Bo’ness and Linlithgow tenants watching families grow. I sometimes felt a bit old when those who had moved in as toddlers were calling in to the office to pay their mum’s rent! I also felt very proud to see younger tenants reckless in their first tenancy grow into very sensible hard working parents. I had the greatest pleasure in meeting elderly tenants who told me some of their life’s experiences such as Miss McQueen driving to Spain in her own car in the sixties or Mr Morrison taking part in cycle races. I felt privileged that so many tenants welcomed me into their homes and inspired me so much by their achievements. Chapter three, from June 2012 has been an exciting time. My new job has been to implement Government initiatives and changes in legislation into the organisation such as the new Complaints Handling Procedure and Welfare Reforms. I met with local councils, housing associations and other local organisations to discuss common approaches to publicise and assist tenants in understanding the changes to the benefit system. I trained staff on new procedures, created information sheets and gathered statistical information for company reports. My latest project was to work with West Lothian Credit Union to set up a service agreement on Jam Jar Accounts – you can read about this in the Welfare Reform article. In April I’m setting out to cycle across Canada, coast to coast, with my husband. We’re giving ourselves just over five months to complete this adventure visiting places of natural beauty and interest. We’ll be camping most of the way but if the weather’s really bad and we want to dry out our gear we’ll find a hotel! I will take with me fond memories of my time at Weslo of both staff and tenants alike and hope that I can draw on my experiences to help me in my new life. I wish all the Weslo tenants I have got to know over the past twenty years a fond farewell. All the staff at Weslo and I am sure that many of you who have had the opportunity to have met Susan over the past 20 years wish Susan all the best as she sails into the future. Bon Voyage 6

Weslo tenant News

Happy at work Staff are one of the most valuable resources that a company has and it is important that they know that they have a voice, that they feel valued and that the work they do is appreciated. As a responsible employer it is important that periodically we take steps to find out how staff feel about their job and Weslo, as their employer. It has been just over four years since we last undertook a formal staff survey (notwithstanding our inclusion in the Best Workplaces Scotland Awards 2011), so in 2013 we commissioned the Knowledge Partnership to carry out a new staff satisfaction survey to find out exactly what staff though of their roles and responsibilities, their work environment, their pay and benefits and their experiences with management. Mike Crozier, Operations Director presented the findings of the survey to staff and Board members at the Away Day that was held at the Houstoun House Hotel, Uphall in October. These results were on the whole positive and compared favourably with our 2008 survey. We also undertook a comparison with results from recent surveys commissioned by our peers, the results are detailed below.

Weslo staff satisfaction compared with other RSLs Measure Overall satisfaction Being kept informed Comparable pay Feeling valued Support from line management Appraisal procedure Feedback from line management

Weslo 92% 94% 83% 76% 75% 71% 68%

RSL 1 91% 75% 64% 56% 67% 78% 64%

RSL 2 88% 63% 53% 41% 69% 63% 47%

During the presentation Mike summarised the purpose of the staff survey which 92% of staff completed and highlighted a few of the key areas to be addressed, these were: l Management l Training

l The

of staff

Appraisal System

l Lack

and Development

of feedback on staff performance

Mike who is seen above with the Housing Management staff during the Away Day said, “We have already introduced some new training and development packages in response to this survey. As we go to print, I am putting the final touches to a new appraisal system that will be implemented in the next few months. There has been a lot of change in Weslo over the past five years with the recession, increased regulation, welfare reform and the introduction of the Scottish Social Housing Charter. At the same time, we have been attempting to drive up performance standards and address performance issues in some areas. As a result our performance indicators have largely been maintained or improved but overall standards are higher. Whilst we are very pleased overall with the survey results we cannot afford to be complacent and we need to ensure that we continue to make Weslo a good place to work for our greatest asset, our staff.” 7

Weslo tenant News

Weslo Works In recent years we have been directing our resources to achieving Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) compliance by 2015. This has resulted in the development of an asset management database which allows us to record the findings of the structural surveys that been carried out which in turn allows us to identify those homes that will fail the SHQS and the criteria they are failing on. We are now approaching the end of this process and have a full breakdown of what is required for 95% of our stock. We expect to have the remaining 5% of the stock surveyed by the end of March. This has allowed us to use the information gathered to instruct the work necessary to ensure that we have completed all the work reported as required by our SHQS database before the compliance date in 2015. In previous programmes we have carried out extensive external painter work on a cyclical basis to ensure that the soffits and facings, which were generally made of wood, were suitably treated to withstand our weather conditions. With the introduction of new materials, this work is not necessarily required on the same frequency and it is our intention to look at this programme in the coming year and re draft it to take better account of the increased lifespan. As our surveys shows the painter work to our stock to be in good order we are not including any external painter work in this years’ programme. In the coming months we will be undertaking the following programme of work: Heating systems – We will be replacing 241 obsolete boilers and upgrading systems in a further 125 properties at a cost of approximately £1,030,000. The addresses are spread over a wide area including Armadale, Linlithgow, Blackburn, Bo’ness, Bathgate, Stoneyburn, Broxburn, Livingston and Whitburn. Ventilation - During 2013 we installed kitchen and bathroom extractor fans in approximately 350 homes and this year a further 340 homes, in various estates, will have this work undertaken to ensure that they meet the SHQS. There are 225 properties that do not have the required six sockets in the kitchen; in these cases the kitchen electrics will be upgraded. We anticipate the contract value to be in the region of £230,000. A new programme for Weslo will be piloted this year when we aim to undertake our first bathroom refurbishment programme. This year we propose to upgrade 96 houses in Avondale, Armadale and Stoneyburn. The work involves stripping out the existing bathrooms, fit new bathroom suites, electric over bath showers, wet wall panelling above the bath, vinyl floor covering, new light fitting and painter work. Tenants will be given a choice of wet wall colours from a range of six samples; similarly they will be given a choice of vinyl floor covering and paint colour. This ensures we leave the house with the entire bathroom as a completed project which will provide a better facility for the tenant and reduce the requirement for costly unplanned callouts to repair old and obsolete fixtures and fittings. We anticipate the contract value to be in the region of £300,000. As you can see, we anticipate spending £1,560,000 on planned maintenance work during 2014/15 but our commitment to ensuring that our properties are maintained to the highest standard does not end there. In future years we look forward to extending the bathroom refurbishments as well as carrying out electrical rewiring to homes where necessary. Meanwhile, we need to continue with a programme of boiler/heating replacement work where necessary and review the cyclical painting programme. We will bring you further information on how these contracts are progressing in the autumn edition of Tenant News.

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Weslo tenant News

Improved Energy Efficiency Towards the end of 2013 we were able to secure grant funding from the Governments Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) scheme and the Energy Savings Trust to install external wall insulation to 360 no fine properties. These properties are built of poured concrete and it has been difficult to improve the energy efficiency of these homes without the application of external insulation. Home Energy UK started on site in January 2014 and completed work on almost 100 homes before the grant funding was withdrawn following the announcement of a Government review of ECO. The Governments proposals are currently out for consultation and we await the outcome of this exercise to see what changes will be made. In the meantime we are actively pursuing other sources of grant funding in an effort to complete this programme. The majority of our older housing stock is traditional cavity wall brick built which benefitted from cavity wall insulation in the 1980’s. We have been able to attract some grant funding to extract and refill the cavities and have started on a programme of work to this house type but given the volatility of the grant regime for this work we are only able to do small numbers at a time and have recently started work on the Falside estate in Bathgate. If we are able to extend this programme we will contact those tenants affected individually to advise them in advance of the contractor starting work. If you have any questions or comments on the Planned Maintenance Programme, please contact Rob Tait, Technical Unit Manager on 01506 639107 or email [email protected]

Garden Maintenance Since 2010 we have operated a Garden Maintenance Scheme which has proved popular with those who benefit from the service. During 2013, we looked at the feasibility of providing a similar service to tenants who were not eligible for the free scheme. Our consultation exercise showed that there was little demand from tenants who were prepared to pay for a garden service. We will be operating the garden maintenance scheme again this year to assist those tenants who are unable to maintain their garden due to frailty, old age or disability. To benefit from the scheme applicants and all members of the household must be either: l Aged

16 - 65 and in receipt of Disability Living Allowance / Personal Independence Payment, or

l Aged

65 - 70 with the application form signed by a doctor, or

l Aged

70 years or over, or

l Registered

blind.

The scheme is delivered by Weslo’s permanent gardener who, assisted by seasonal workers, carries out the following: l regular

grass cutting between April and October l strimming small rough areas and edges

l pruning

hedges twice per year.

Outwith the growing season and when time permits the team will carry out additional duties including clearing out empty houses, removing rubbish and general tidy ups on the estates. If you think that you might qualify for the scheme please email [email protected] or contact your local office:

Weslo Housing Management 66 North Bridge Street Bathgate EH48 4PP Tel: 01506 634060

Weslo Housing Management 15 North Street Bo’ness EH51 0AQ Tel: 01506 639100 9

Weslo tenant News

Welfare Reform Update Since the last article in the Tenants Newsletter there haven’t been many changes to the programme of Welfare Benefit reform. However it may be useful to have a recap about some of the benefits and to prepare for their introduction. payments for things like rent and other bills. If it doesn’t you might want to switch to one that does.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Personal Independence Payment is the benefit which has replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for all new claims for people aged 16 – 64. It is payable if the claimant has significant personal care needs and/or mobility problems.

Your Housing Officer can give you advice on ‘basic’ bank accounts and Credit Union ‘jam jar’ accounts and how to set one up. l Budgeting - Because UC is paid monthly you’ll

probably have to make changes to the way you budget especially when you are moving from the old to the new system. You will need to sit down and work out how much money you have coming in each month and what you need to pay out.

From 2 June 2014 tenants who have fixed awards of DLA ending on or after that date will be invited to claim PIP. Please be aware that your DLA will end and you will have to complete a PIP application. You may also have to attend a medical assessment.

l Going online – Everyone will have to make their claim

and manage their payments online. If you don’t have access to the internet pop into your local library or community centre as most of them have computers which you can use free of charge.

Universal Credit Universal Credit (UC) will bring together income-related benefits into one single payment and will be phased in over the next three years. UC will only apply to working age people who are looking for work or who are on a low income and will replace many of the benefits and tax credits they get at the moment. It will not affect pensioners.

If you are worried your IT skills aren’t up to scratch your library should be able to help you find a course. Your Housing Officer will also be able to signpost you to other organisations that can provide training and places where you can access computers. We know that these changes are having a big impact on many of you and we are continuing to investigate how we might ensure that you have access to quality advice services.

The main changes are: l You will receive a single monthly payment, paid into

your bank account.

l If you get help with your rent (currently housing

benefit), this will be included in your monthly payment. You will then be responsible to pay your full rent to Weslo.

l If you and your partner are both eligible, you will get

one monthly payment for the household

l It will generally be managed online. You will be

expected to make your claim online, report any changes online and check on your payments through your online account.

l There are no limits on how many hours a week you

can work if you’re claiming UC. Instead, the amount you get will gradually reduce as you earn more, so you won’t lose all your benefits at once. We recently signed a Service Agreement with the West Lothian Credit Union to make their new Jam Jar Accounts available to all Weslo tenants, regardless of where they might live. The photograph above shows Susan Anderson on the left with Alison Wright and Alan Dungavel signing the Service Agreement between the two organisations.

Are you ready for Universal Credit? There are things you can do now to make sure you are ready for the changes when they happen: l Banking - Make sure that you have a Bank or Building

Society Account that lets you set up regular 10

Weslo tenant News If you do not have a bank account you can choose to open a jam jar account and your benefits can be paid into it. If you have rent to pay, it ensures that your rent will be paid to Weslo and the remainder of your money will be loaded on to a prepayment card at times during the month to suit your budgeting needs. You will be offered support and advice through the Citizens Advice Bureau on how to manage your own money to avoid rent arrears and getting into debt. The West Lothian Credit Union can also provide access to IT skill training and to computers in order to submit benefit claims.

assistance to those who are experiencing financial hardship. If you think you might be eligible for additional help and don’t want to wait until our staff visit you can always contact your local council and ask them to send you a DHP claim form or give your Housing Officer a ring on 01506 634060.

Satisfaction with Repairs

If you want further information about the benefits of the jam jar account please contact your Housing Officer. In January 2013 we appointed Ann Kerr as Welfare Rights Officer and a large number of households have benefitted from her advice on a range of benefits. Ann continues to hold surgeries in a variety of locations providing help and advice on Welfare Benefits, Fuel Poverty, Debt Advice, Housing Benefit, Disability Benefits or any associated appeals.

Since the introduction of the curiously named e-squiggles electronic data collection system, now known as Konformance, we have been able to obtain immediately after a repair your level of satisfaction. Between March and December 2013, we carried out 10,978 repair jobs and 3,468 (32%) tenants gave us feedback. 3,389 (98%) of tenants said they were very satisfied with the repair carried out in their home. Only one tenant reported they were fairly satisfied while 15 tenants were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the repair service they received.

If you would like help or advice on any benefit matters why not call in and see Ann at: Whitburn & District Community Development Trust, 61 West Main Street, Whitburn on 14 April, 2014 and every fortnight thereafter between 9.30 and 12.30. Strathbrock Partnership Centre, Room 5, 189A West Main Street, Broxburn on 7 April 2014 and every fortnight thereafter between 9.30 and 12.30.

These are very encouraging figures for Weslo, so we would like to thank you for taking the time to complete the survey and letting us know your opinions. If you are not able to complete the survey at the time the repair is carried out you can go online to our new look website at www.weslohousing.org/repairs to complete the survey electronically.

Weslo, 15 North Street, Bo’ness on Thursday 3 April and on the first Thursday of each month thereafter between 9.30 and 12.30. Alternatively if these dates are not suitable, you can contact Ann on 01506 639160 or email [email protected]

We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that, regardless of how you comment on repairs carried out in your home, all responses are placed in a quarterly draw where a lucky tenant will win £75 of vouchers for a store of their choice.

From April 2013 many of you claiming housing benefit saw the amount of housing benefit being paid reduce because you were deemed to be ‘under-occupying’ your home. This has been referred to as the ‘bedroom tax’. Weslo’s Housing Officers are attempting to speak to all those who have been affected by the end of May to ensure that you have appropriate advice and support to minimise the financial burden wherever possible. They will advise on the availability of Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) which is available through local authorities to provide temporary

The most recent winners were Mr Preston from Broxburn and Mrs Middleton from Fauldhouse. Here she is seen receiving her £75 Morrison voucher from David Jordan, Assistant Admin Officer If you would like to be in with a chance to win, please make sure you tell us about the service you have received. This information is vital in ensuring that we continue to deliver the service you expect. 11

Weslo tenant News

Supporting your Communities Weslo has established a tradition of supporting community groups and requests for financial support are vetted by our Community Budget Committee who have distributed over £14,000 since March 2013. During this time we have handed out 21 Kindle Fires. This is a family friendly tablet that allows you to experience movies, TV, games and books and even lets you browse the internet and keep in touch with family and friends. These have been very popular fund raising prizes for many organisations including Bo’ness Rugby Club who held a Halloween Fundraising Ball in November and raised a fantastic £1,258 to be used to buy some new training equipment. Bathgate Early Years Centre also received a Kindle Fire which was one of their raffle prizes at their Christmas Fair in November. Mvairi Lynch, Headteacher at the centre wrote to tell us “We raised £790.55. This money has helped towards the cost of giving our children a fabulous experience in the nursery at Christmas and will also be used to buy some new resources to be used in the nursery in the New Year. Once again thank you for supporting the event and the children and families of the community in and around Bathgate.” We have been able to support four local football teams with cash donations; Blackburn United FC, Bo’ness United Community Football, Bathgate Thistle CFC Under 16s and Bathgate Thistle FC have all benefitted. Two other teams, both in Polbeth were looking for clothing items for their teams and above right you can see Polbeth United FC Under 17s proudly showing off their new red rain jackets while Polbeth Dynamo show off their new strips. Jim Binnie the Dynamo’s coach said “a massive thank you to Weslo for sponsoring the team. This is the kids’ first season in eleven a sides and it has been

exciting and challenging in equal measures... the kids are getting on well and the strips you have bought look very smart and represent the club well.” The team can be seen bottom left in their kit. Pulsation Z (above right) is a local street dance group attended by over 34 children from all over West Lothian. In September 2013 their senior team was placed 4th in the World Championship while their juniors were placed in the top 14. This was a fantastic result as they had only been together as a group for 9 months. Dancing helps children develop self-confidence and improves their social skills so it was with great pleasure that we were able to

This year Weslo staff chose to support Sunndach as their chosen charity of the year. The charity operates a dedicated nurse led unit based in Livingston which looks after children with complex disabilities and life limiting illnesses. Money raised will be used to upgrade their sensory room which is used by all the children. Since March 2013 staff have held a series of monthly fundraisers and to date they have raised over £1,000 from the sale of home baking and a variety of lunchtime snacks along with a Christmas Fayre which raised a whopping £300.

Look out for the next edition of Tenant News when we will bring you photos of the presentation and news of our chosen Charity of the Year 2014-15. provide the group with money to buy a mobile sound system that they can take to events. And now something a bit further from home. We have been helping families in Zimbabwe get clean drinking water through the installation of an Elephant Pump as can be seen on the right. As a business we have a number of water coolers throughout our offices. Our supplier, AquAid made donations in our name to The Africa Trust who completed the constructed of an Elephant Pump during December.

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If you know of any group or worthy cause that might benefit from our assistance then please write to Weslo Housing Management, Community Budget Committee, 66 North Bridge Street, Bathgate, EH48 4PP with full details.

Weslo tenant News

Lifelong Learning - What’s it all about? You often hear the phrases – “You are never too old to learn” and “It’s good to learn new skills” but what do they mean? During 2013, Weslo supported a number of staff in their efforts to learn some new skills through craft classes that were organised through two local businesses Keltra Crafts and AJSE Beads. Staff had the opportunity to learn some needlework skills and how to make beaded jewellery. Learning does not just mean studying for qualifications or to improve job opportunities; it can cover a whole range of mind expanding and physical opportunities These courses were not necessarily the skill sets needed by staff to complete their day to day work but they were developing skills that could allow them to do things that they may not have attempted before. Learning can develop new, update old or build on current skills which in turn can be very satisfying, raise self-esteem and make you feel better about yourself. In the past staff have benefitted from a conversational Spanish course, improved their culinary skills with cookery classes and even participated in Salsacise classes. Right, we see Julie Cowie, Linda Kesson, Linda Gibson and Janice Gray as they show off some of the bags and cushions made at the needle craft classes and below are some thoughts from staff who took part in the recent classes.

Anne Marie were so helpful and nothing was too much bother for them although they must have been frustrated at times.”

Alison Barker, Owner Liaison Officer who took part in the needlecraft classes said, “It was great to learn something new, make something practical and unique, and have a bit of blether with work colleagues you don’t get to talk to during the day. Also supporting a local newly started business was good."

Patricia Torsney, Admin Assistant said, “I really enjoyed the classes and can't believe we all came away at the end with something functional. I hope that we get the opportunity to do something similar in the future.” Julie Cowie, Admin Assistant said, “I really enjoyed our sewing class, friends and family have been really impressed with my cushions. It was a great way to help the new staff settle in and get to know the others. The fact that it was paid for by Weslo was very generous.”

June Harper, Housing Officer who took part in both classes said, “It was nice to be in a setting outside a work environment where the discussions did not involve work. It was friendly, a laugh and stress free and the only problem was choosing what fabric or beads you wanted for your particular item. A big thanks to Tracy and Kelly from Keltra Crafts and Anne Marie from AJSE Beads who were lovely and very helpful, especially to those of us who were total novices.“

Jade Cook, Clerical Assistant said, “I really enjoyed Keltra Krafts; I couldn’t sew on a button and now I can sew, stitch and use a sewing machine. The jewellery making was great fun and it’s strange when you see others at work wearing their personalised jewellery and know that you can do that too. As well as learning new skills, it was also a good team building exercise.”

Linda Kesson, Housing Assistant said, “I enjoyed the classes despite making a few errors due to inexperience and I am really pleased with the end results. Tracy, Kelly and

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Weslo tenant News

Tenants get the opportunity to meet other tenants In November, Tenant Participation Committee (TPC) members Graham Lawson from Armadale and Janette Wallace from Stoneyburn attended the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) Annual Conference at the Fairmont Golf Hotel in St. Andrews. They were accompanied by June Harper, Housing Officer, who was involved with the TPC during 2013. The event was held over three days and offered the 300 delegates a wide range of sessions, workshops, talks and exhibitions. TPAS is the national tenant and landlord participation advisory service for Scotland and was created to promote good practice in tenant participation. Delegates attending this year’s Conference and AGM represented a wide range of housing providers as well as public, private and voluntary sector organisations.

committed housing staff were to providing a good service to tenants and said “Altogether an interesting experience as a first time delegate. I had the opportunity to meet people from different walks of life who all share an interest in Social Rented Housing. I was able to hear how different RSL’s operate and their commitment to tenants, what service they provide and the quality of the service, how they engage with their tenants and how well they work in partnership which I personally think and feel is the way forward. The conference has made me more aware of the excellent service that Weslo strives to provide to their tenants”.

One of the main topics running through this year’s conference was Welfare Reform and the impact on tenants and housing providers. June found the presentation by Ken Dow, a self-employed financial inclusion advisor one of the most interesting and thought provoking presentations that she attended; his presentation reflected on the changing rental market and how this is impacting on housing benefit claimants.

Janette, who is also a Tenant Director on Weslo’s Board, chose to attend workshops on tenancy sustainability, tenant scrutiny and welfare reform. She said, “The workshops enable us to hear about and discuss issues which we might not be aware of as tenants and would not necessarily get the opportunity to discuss. It is also provides the opportunity to meet tenants from other areas, exchange views and compare how individual landlords perform.”

June said that Ken’s question, “Is spiralling personal debt going to be the real cost of Welfare Reform?” prompted agreement from many of the delegates. There was more reaction when he argued that the introduction of the “bedroom tax”, and the forthcoming introduction of Universal Credit (UC) that will see benefit claimants receive their eligible payments direct, will lead to a huge increase in the demand for the services provided by the so called “Pay Day Lenders”. All of this was causing social tensions and he spoke about coping strategies such as budgeting, moving to a smaller property and borrowing. However, there was a consensus amongst delegates when Ken argued that the biggest and best strategy was for housing providers to provide good welfare advice.

June said, "This year it seemed that there were more tenant representatives and I was particularly struck by how many younger delegates attended. This was a great opportunity to share the views and thoughts of the younger generation. In my opinion it was one of the best TPAS conferences I have attended.” Graham and Janette, who we see in the photo above with June, agreed that this had been a great opportunity to meet new people and exchange ideas and they were pleased to have been given the opportunity to attend the conference.

As you will be aware, Weslo has been pro-active in this area and has employed a dedicated Welfare Rights Officer since January 2013 to provide advice and assistance to our tenants.

If you are interested in being involved in the Tenant Participation Committee and would like more information please phone David McLaren, Housing Manager on 01506 639120 or write to him at 66 North Bridge Street, Bathgate, EH48 4PP.

Graham Lawson is a fairly new member of the TPC and this was his first opportunity to attend this conference and found the experience very enjoyable. He was struck by how 14

Weslo tenant News

6 easy ways to pay Would you benefit from having your home adapted? your rent Weslo carried out approximately 150 medical adaptations in 2013/14. These adaptations vary depending on individual needs which are generally assessed by an Occupational Therapist (OT). The work carried out can range from something fairly minor such as fitting lever taps to baths and sinks to assist someone who suffers from arthritis to the construction of an extension to provide a ground floor bathroom and bedroom to provide suitable accommodation for a disabled household member. We are aware that some of you may need support to help live independently in your home. We can provide simple medical adaptations that could make a big difference to your daily life. Struggle with stairs? A lot of people, through age or disability, have difficulty walking or negotiating stairs. One of the most common adaptions we carry out is fitting additional bannisters, handrails and grab rails. An OT recommended that a tenant in Fauldhouse would benefit from having an additional bannister fitted. Weslo joiners carried out the work and on completion the tenant told us, “This has helped greatly and the service was fantastic”. Is having a bath becoming more difficult? Grab rails don’t just have to be fitted beside a doorway; we regularly fit grab rails in bathrooms to help people get in and out of the bath safely or even just to pull themselves up. We recently fitted grab rails in a bathroom and along a hallway leading to the bedroom of a property in Bo’ness to enable the tenant, who has limited mobility, to walk independently. The tenant also had an outside light fitted to help when it gets dark and an intercom will be installed to avoid having to rush down stairs when someone calls. The tenant rated the service 10/10.

As a Weslo tenant you are due to pay your rent on the 1st of each month in advance. We would prefer that where possible you pay by Direct Debit as this allows us to automatically upload your payment to your rent account. This reduces the risk of misallocating your payment while minimising administration costs. We also provide alternative ways to pay if you don’t want to use the Direct Debit facility and all of these, including Direct Debit, are detailed below. Recently we moved our day to day banking to the Royal Bank of Scotland and if you pay by Standing Order or by Bank Credit Transfer you should contact your bank to ensure that you are using the correct account details. The new details are listed under option 5 - Bank Credit Transfer. If you pay by another method no action is required in relation to Weslo’s change of bank account.

At the Office You can pay by cash, cheque, or debit/credit card at the office which is open Monday to Friday from 8.30 am 4.30 pm.

Direct Debit You can pay by Direct Debit; your payment will be taken direct from your bank account and paid to Weslo on the agreed date. If you would like to change your payment method to Direct Debit please contact Weslo on 01506 634060 and we will send you a form. You should return the completed form to 66 North Bridge Street, Bathgate, EH48 4PP.

Telephone

Find it hard to turn on taps? Mrs Robertson from West Calder struggled with turning taps on as she suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. After being referred to the OT, she was assessed and within a few days new lever taps were fitted in her bathroom by Weslo plumbers. She said, “I have had to rely on my husband to turn these taps on and off for me, now I can do this for myself. I am hopeful that I will be able to get the kitchen taps modified so I can do the dishes. It is amazing how these small changes have made such a difference to me and the service that I received was fantastic.”

Pay by debit/credit cards by phone. We accept all major debit & credit cards. Call 01506 634136, Monday to Friday from 8.30 - 4.30 and a member of staff will process your payment via Worldpay and you will be sent a confirmation text message immediately. You will be given the option of receiving a statement to confirm your new account balance.

Find it difficult to get up and down outside steps? Need extra light at the front door to be able to see people?

Rent Payment Card

Another common adaptation is the installation of handrails to assist people get up and down external steps. Recently we were asked to paint the edge of the external steps to help a visually impaired tenant see where the individual steps were and we are investigating fitting an outside light on the advice of the OT. This helps tenants feel safer answering the door and returning home at night. Five easy steps to get your home adapted: l Talk to your Housing Officer. l Ask for a referral to an OT who will assess your needs. l The OT will identify what is required and ask us to carry out the work. l The work will be completed. l You will be asked for feedback to ensure that you are happy with the work done to your home. If you think that you or someone you live with would benefit from a medical adaptation to your home please contact your Housing Officer on 01506 634060 (West Lothian) or 01506 639100 (Bo’ness) to have a chat about your needs and the process. You can also make a selfreferral by contacting West Lothian Council on 01506 775666 or Falkirk Council 01324 506400. 15

You can pay by cash, cheque or debit card at: l Weslo Offices l Any Post Office l Pay Point outlets at local shops and garages l On-line available at www.allpay.net l By SMS text

Bank Credit Transfer You can pay rent using Bank Credit Transfer at any bank regardless of whether you have a bank account but you may have to pay a fee. Please remember to quote your address and/Tenant ID number. Our Payee details are: Royal Bank of Scotland, Bathgate Branch, 8 Hopetoun Street, Bathgate EH48 4EU Credit to Account Weslo Housing Management. Account No: 10812575 Sort Code: 83-16-05

Postal Payment You can make payment by cheque through the mail, please ensure that these are crossed and made payable to Weslo.

Weslo tenant News

It’s not just about tenants!

Competition Time Here is your chance to get busy over the Easter holidays... and maybe even win yourself a prize!

Did you know that Weslo own and manage almost 2,300 properties located in approximately 60 different estates. Each estate is unique in its layout which often includes areas of open space, unadopted footpaths, garage blocks and garage sites. In addition to the tenanted properties there are also over 3,500 home owners living on these estates.

If you love crafting or enjoy drawing and would you like to enter our Easter Decorated Egg Competition, then get your art goodies out over the holidays and start creating. We would love to see what “eggstravagant” creation you can produce for Easter. Simply decorate a hardboiled egg - you can draw, paint or create it with beautiful sequins and glitter, it could be black & white or coloured like the rainbow!

As a tenant you will be aware that we provide a maintenance service in the estates; carrying out regular estate inspections, undertaking repairs where required and overseeing the contract to maintain the landscaped areas. None of this work is recharged to you as a tenant as the cost is covered in your rent charge. But what about the owners, I hear you ask. Under the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, which came into force on 1 October 2012, we are what is referred to as the Estate Manager and we bill individual owners for their share of the cost of work carried out on the estates. Since the new legislation came into effect we have had to register as a property factor in order that we can continue to provide owners with a management service and recover the cost of providing that service. We have had to provide every individual owner with a Written Statement of our obligations based on the Title Deeds and Deed of Conditions that were drawn up when the properties were first sold off. This document outlines the services we will provide.

It doesn’t matter if it is your son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, niece or nephew; they have the chance to win a £25 gift voucher (for a store of their choice). There are two age groups and a prize for each – the first age group is open to children aged five and under, the second for those aged 6 to 11. Below is a photograph of some eggs decorated by staff last year, these might give you some ideas.

This in itself has been a huge piece of work for Alison Barker, our Owner Liaison Officer. Alison deals with owner enquiries, works with owners to organise common repairs and manages owners’ accounts. She also engages with empty homes co-ordinators in the local authorities to ensure that we work with owners to reduce the impact of empty properties within our estates. In February, we issued owners invoices to the value of £96,000. In the coming weeks Alison will be monitoring these accounts carefully to ensure that the invoices are paid and in April she will be overseeing our first Owners Survey to find out what they think of the service we provide in order that we can report to the Scottish Housing Regulator. This is an essential service that all residents on our estates, tenants and owners, benefit from and we work hard to provide a quality, cost effective service.

Improvement Plan Following an inspection by the Scottish Housing Regulator in 2009 Weslo produced an Improvement Plan and the Regulator, our Board, staff and tenants have been given regular updates on progress towards its completion. The original Plan contained 31 objectives and only one objective remains to be completed. This objective relates to carrying out surveys on all of our properties to ensure compliance with the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS). As many of you will be aware we have been visiting all properties to carry out internal and external surveys with the aim of having all properties surveyed by March 2014. To assist in this we have retained the services of Graduate Surveyor, Lisa Fleming and have re-employed Vitalijs Gailevskis until 31 March 2014. At the end of February there were 39 surveys still to be completed out of almost 2300 houses and we remain confident that these will be complete by the target date of 31 March. We continue to experience problems getting access to some of these properties so if your home has not already been surveyed keep an eye out for the surveyors in your area or get in touch with John Rankine on 01506 639110 to make access arrangements. We really appreciate your assistance in providing access for these important surveys as the information obtained helps inform Weslo’s future investment proposals for all of your homes. 16

So why not get busy and send us your Easter egg along with a card with your name, age and address to Margaret Walker, 66 North Bridge Street, Bathgate, EH48 4PP. If you live in Bo’ness or Falkirk, you can hand your entries into the office at 15 North Street, Bo’ness and it will be passed on to Margaret. Entries should be received by Thursday 17th April 2014.

Dates for your Diary The Bathgate and Bo’ness Offices will be closed on the following dates:Friday

18 April 2014

Monday

21 April 2014

Monday

5 May 2014

Monday

19 May 2014

Friday

12 Sept 2014 (PM)

Monday

15th Sept 2014

We will also be closed on Thursday 2nd Oct) for staff training. You will still be able to report emergency repairs on these dates by contacting 01506 639143 when you will be put through to our out of hours service.