Next week, cabinet will review the performance of Berneslai Homes against the annual business plan for 2024/25.

In November 2024, Barnsley became the first local authority to receive the highest C1 judgement from the Regulator of Social Housing.

We saw this as the backdrop for even greater progress and this year has been a journey of listening, learning, and improving together with tenants and the communities we serve.

Our commitment to tenant engagement is unwavering and we’re taking a proactive approach to hearing from more and different voices.

We’ve provided over 10,000 tenants with opportunities to give feedback and work with us to improve our services.

This collaborative approach ensures that tenants are at the heart of everything we do, and their voices are heard and valued.

The main priority has to be a meaningful commitment to safety and quality; things that are of utmost importance to tenants, especially since the heartbreaking events at Grenfell and the tragic death of young Awaab Ishak.

We’ve worked hard to maintain 100 per cent compliance in key safety areas, including gas, fire, and lift safety, ensuring that tenants live in safe and secure homes.

Our investment in 593 decent homes works and over 900 major adaptations is evidence of our dedication to providing high-quality housing for all.

Additionally, we’ve relet 751 homes under the new Homeseeker Lettings Policy which is delivering against its aim to rehouse those most in need first.

Despite ongoing economic challenges, including the further roll out of Universal Credit, we’ve been able to maximise Housing Revenue Account (HRA) income, collecting over 100 per cent of rent due, including previous rental arrears and pre-payments.

This success is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team who are committed to supporting tenants to sustain their tenancies.

Thanks to the innovative use of new technology to intervene early in arrears cases, we’ve been able to increase the number of quality conversations we have with tenants to offer support and advice regarding rent payments to those who need it most.

Supporting tenants is crucial and our dedicated Tenants First team have continued to deliver life-changing support to over 2,000 tenants to help them navigate challenges with the cost-of-living, securing an additional £1.2m in benefit income for our tenants.

The Ambition programme has also successfully supported 182 tenants in their journey towards work.

Our overall performance in comparison with other comparable housing providers is strong, as reflected in the Housemark benchmarks and peer group median for the year 2024/25.

While there is much to be positive about here in Barnsley, we remain vigilant and committed to addressing the areas where improvements are needed.

We’ve identified areas for further work, such as improving communication with tenants, dealing with complaints effectively, and of course improving satisfaction with our responsive repairs service.

Our detailed action plan, developed in consultation with tenants and Barnsley Council, will guide our efforts to improve satisfaction and service delivery in the coming year.

This requires a concerted effort from all teams across Berneslai Homes.

We’ll continue to work closely with Barnsley Council, tenants, and our partners to achieve our shared goals in delivering a well performing, effective, and efficient service to council tenants.

Housing provider review meeting scheduled

THE performance of Berneslai Homes over the past year is set to be discussed by councillors – and a report states that although their work is strong compared to other housing providers some improvements need to be made.

At Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, the councillors will review the housing provider in line with their agreement to ensure they are meeting the targets that they have been set.

The council issues a total of 32 key framework assurances (KPI) for the last 12-month period, with the targets agreed annual.

At year end, performance is rated based on whether annual targets have been achieved (denoted by green coloration), narrowly missed the target (denoted by amber coloration) or not achieved (denoted by red coloration).

Of the 32 set, ten were reported as green, five were amber and 13 were red.

A further four targets were set in line with the peer median – with reporting levels for ASB incidents/hate crimes being less than median levels – so positive – and the numbers of complaints at stages one and two being higher than median levels.

The report highlights a number of areas that Berneslai Homes is excelling in.

For example they are responding to complaints quickly and are keeping tenants safe with their building safety.

It also added that Berneslai Homes collected 100.5 per cent of the rent that was due over the last year which also includes previous rental arrears.

But there are a number of areas the council has told Berneslai Homes to improve in,

These include their communication with tenants, backlog of repairs, dealing with antisocial behaviour and maximising income.

A business action plan, which will be discussed by the council’s ruling cabinet members on Wednesday, has subsequently been set up.