1. Value for Money Statement (VFM)
Value for Money Statement (VFM)
‘VFM driven by board, delivered by everyone.’

2. How we did 13
Fully achieved
16 VFM aspirations 3
Partially achieved

3. Our achievements 136 new homes built in 2018 £12m investment in homes
Digital self-service
Greater customer feedback
Introduction of Customer Hub
85% of staff engaged
Coaching
Low gender pay gap
Data integrity project

4. Cash savings
Achieved £1.025m

5. Westward’s economic impact
Value of our
homes
£347m
Value of
our jobs
£8.75m
Value of our
contracts
£29m p.a.
Social value of our
services
£25m p.a.

6. Cost per home £3,281 South West Average 2017-18 £3,157 Westward
Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) data

7. How each £1 of rent was spent
£3,281
South West
Average
£3,157
Westward
Average

8. Provide places where people want to live
Strategic objective 1
Replacement lifecycles for kitchens, bathrooms etc remain at same level despite 4 years of 1% rent cuts
Asset Management
£12m invested

9. £2.6m savings on home improvements
Saved in 6 years membership of Advantage South West

10. Energy efficiency 96.5% of our homes have a minimum SAP
rating of 55

11. Repairs Repairs completed (ave. time) * 9.5 days 3 Repairs efficiency
Westward
How we did
(1 – 4 scale where 1 is top)
Repairs completed
(ave. time)
* 9.5 days 3
* We carry out repairs when it is convenient to our customers

12. Repairs Outcomes delivered Westward Similar housing organisations
Customer satisfaction
89% Repairs
92% Quality
85%
Ratio of Responsive Repairs to Planned Maintenance
60%
40%

13. Making every home count
Housemark comparison
Westward
How we did
(1 – 4 scale where 1 is top)
Re-let time
21.5 days 3
More homes for families in need
Reducing rent loss

14. Customer service 93% satisfied with the quality of their home
89% satisfied with their
neighbourhood as a place to live

15. Customer Hub introduced
£220k saving
89% of queries resolved at
first point of contact
96% complaints resolved
and closed at stage one

16. Engaging with customers
The Customer Senate
200 independent monthly surveys
Customer survey online with a new question every month

17. Customer incentive scheme results
1,460 customers with a digital self-service MyAccount
2,777 customers paying by direct debit

18. Gauges customer loyalty
Customer service
41.7
Net Promoter Score
Gauges customer loyalty
Example comparison: Waitrose scored 46 in July 2018

19. Develop and invest in homes and services
Strategic objective 2
Every affordable home built
means 3 jobs in the local area
Every £1 of public investment
is matched with £6 from Westward

20. Development of new homes
305 new homes built since 2017
1.89% more new homes provided

21. 23 shared ownership and 12 commercial homes created
Commercial activity enabled £1.1m Gift Aid to be reinvested in our homes and services
23 shared ownership and 12 commercial homes created
35 homes built

22. Provide a great place for our staff to work
Strategic objective 3
342 people work at Westward
93% clearly know our core purpose
Staff structure reviews saved £283k

23. Our people £173k invested in staff training
£54k savings from improved sickness absence
(2.3 days p.a.)

24. Maintain our financial strength and deliver great value through efficiency and innovation
Strategic objective 4
£9.5m Surplus
Above budget and the forecast result
Reinvested in homes and services
Turnover £44.3m

25. Similar housing organisations
Income management
Operating efficiency
Westward
Similar housing organisations
(group of 8)
Rent collected
100%

26. Targets for 2020
Targets by
No. of new homes to be built
Investment in existing stock £25m £50m
Net Promoter Score
Complaints resolved and closed (stage 1) 97% 99%
No. of households supported out of debt per year

27. Our ambitions for the future
We will continue to invest in our homes and people
to make sure that Westward is around for future generations and can continue to meet customer needs.

28. To read the full VFM statement:
We welcome any feedback or queries on our approach to VFM or our over-arching strategy
To read the full VFM statement: