Non Executive Member Finance and New Business CommitteeInformation for candidatesJanuary 2018

Co-operative and Community Benefit Society Registration Number 30069RHomes and Communities Agency Registration Number L4466

00 Welcome Message

03 Midland Heart: our operations, our performance and our people

09 Key documents

10 Role profile

12 Structure chart

13 Timetable & process

14 How to apply

02

Contents

Non Executive Member Finance and New Business CommitteeInformation for candidatesJanuary 2018

Welcome

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The Midland Heart journey began in 1925 with the single determination to improve the quality of life for some of the most

disadvantaged communities in the Midlands through the provision of good quality affordable homes.

Over 90 years on and we are one of the largest housing associations in the Midlands and

set to become one of the country’s largest developers of truly affordable homes.

We are in this strong position because we have consistently understood our external environment, stayed ahead of the curve and adapted well to change.

The Midlands is an exciting place to be, it is vibrant, growing and has Europe’s youngest city at its centre. Midland Heart’s future is intrinsically linked to our region and our development ambitions will play a crucial role in the way it grows and develops.

The region and our operating environment are markedly different to what they were only a couple of years ago. The housing sector is now firmly at the centre of the domestic policy agenda, with changes across national, regional and local government. The creation of the West Midlands Combined Authority, the government’s latest West Midlands devolution deal and the regional Voluntary Right to Buy pilot are all key developments that Midland Heart need to understand and maximise the benefits.

We pride ourselves on responding well to external challenges by reacting quickly and strengthening our business, as well as being the kind of employer our people trust will do the right thing by staff, customers and our communities.

In 2016, we began our Fit for the Future strategy so as to improve our financial performance as a response to the Government’s decision to impose rent reductions in Social Housing of -1% over 4 years. By adopting this strategy, the Board led the business through a period of unprecedented change, and we are now stronger for it- with continually improving customer satisfaction, highest staff engagement for years, a growing affordable home development programme and a strengthened balance sheet. Our recent In Depth Assessment (IDA), undertaken by the HCA regulatory team, confirmed our Governance and Viability ratings as G1 and V1 with glowing feedback from the HCA.

We look to our Boards and Committees to provide strong and informed stewardship of our business to ensure we remain financially strong, so that we can deliver great homes and services for our customers. A key part of this will be the oversight of an expanded programme of new homes delivery in the Midlands.

If you have a good knowledge of how to develop new build schemes successfully and have experience of, or an interest in, governance, then we look forward to hearing from you. Andrew FosterExecutive Director of Governance and Contracts

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Our mission:

A leading housing organisation, delivering homes and services across the Midlands that enable people to live independently.

We own and manage 33,000 homes, and balance great customer service and value for money to provide a range of quality services for 70,000 customers.

Our vision is to:

• Remain true to our charitable aims of providing truly affordable homes in the most challenging areas of the Midlands,

• Deliver a range of housing options balancing great customer service and value for money,

• Build desperately needed new homes for social and affordable rent whilst supporting customers who aspire to move into home ownership,

• Continue to work with commissioners to protect and enhance our Supported Living services, to support people who are homeless and seek to grow Retirement Living services to provide high quality housing options for older people

• Be the first point of call for others in the sector, who want to work in partnership with a leading housing and support provider.

Our Operations

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Our Operations Continued...

Core landlord services We offer a wide variety of services to help our customers to live independently.This support can range from carrying out maintenance and repairs to giving advice and support to help customers manage their home.

Just one example of this is our award winning Money Advice Team. They have a vast range of skills, experience and knowledge in the field of money and debt advice, and provide a free service to customers across Midland Heart.

Developing new homes Due to the increased financial certainty provided by the government’s decision to return our rent formula to CPI +1 we are now on an even surer footing to build more homes. We are confident that we will be delivering 500 new homes a year by 2019. Our focus is to continue building as much affordable rent housing as possible in our key local authority areas across the West and East Midlands.

As part of this work, we are developing our offer to older people through our retirement living developments. Given our ageing population, this work is vital not just for our growth but for the wider housing crisis. We are committed to building one new scheme every two years.

At present, we have 684 properties in construction across 10 local authority areas and we are on track to complete 324 homes this financial year.

Retirement livingWe have a significant number of retirement housing services across the Midlands.Our retirement housing enables our customers to maintain their independence whilst in a safe and positive environment. Most of our retirement schemes provide a mix of one and two bedroom apartments. We also have sites with bungalows and maisonettes, which are available to either rent or buy.

All our retirement schemes have an on-site or visiting manager and have a robust security system for peace of mind, which includes a 24-hour emergency call system.We have ExtraCare services across the Midlands. Each development provides modern apartments to rent or buy along with care and support services tailored to the individual needs of each resident. With ExtraCare, you get all the freedom that comes with having your own home, while living within a friendly, supportive community.

All of our services are Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered domiciliary care services, and staffed by trained, professional staff on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We believe that an active, independent lifestyle plays a major part in enabling older people to lead happier and healthier lives. We promote this through running daily activity programmes as well as a range of lively trips and outings. Our services have links with local people and authorities so that our older customers feel part of the wider community.

By offering a choice of individual customer-led care plans, we are able and flexible to support people who have low or even no need for care, to those with a high dependency for formal support.

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Supported living Across the Midlands we deliver over 700 units of specialist supported housing to help vulnerable people live independently.

We work closely with statutory, private and voluntary sector partners to ensure customers are able to gain the skills they need to move on to independent living. Safe and secure accommodation is often the first step on that journey.

Our move-on plans support homeless customers on their journey towards independence from day one and include:

• Managing move-on through effective joint working with partner agencies

• Arranging appropriate support packages

• Sourcing suitable accommodation options from a range of choices, including our own affordable housing

Our Operations Continued...

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Midland Heart has delivered strong financial and operational performance, borne out in our 2016/17 results and KPIs set out in our annual report.

In what was the first year of a new five-year plan, entitled ‘Fit for the Future’ this performance was achieved against a backdrop of a radical change.

A thorough review of our care business has seen a planned exit from Learning Disabilities and Mental Health services with successful transfers to new providers.

The structure of the organisation has been simplified with a single Operations Directorate to deliver efficiencies, but also a more consistent quality of service to customers.

A renewed emphasis on developing new properties primarily for affordable / socialrent, whilst ensuring our retirement and supporting living accommodation is sustainable in the long term has been at the heart of this strategy. It is therefore pleasing to note we are achieving record levels of performance demonstrating a robust value for money ethos:

• Customer satisfaction hit the highest level in the last three years (87.2% at year-end). Notably, the share of customers who were very satisfied also increased by c9% over the last 3 years to 65%.

• Repairs satisfaction has been the highest it has been in at least the last 2 years (93.2% at year-end).

• The number of complaints per 1,000 properties has been the lowest ever (29 per 1,000 properties at March 2017).

• We have achieved record surpluses (£39.8m in 2016/17), for investment in our existing and new homes; and maintained our A1 credit rating from Moody’s.

• £8m of savings banked in 2016/17 has fed directly into an increase in our operating surplus. £13m of savings has been included in our 2017/18 budget. This is ahead of the £10m p.a. target we set ourselves in July 2015 (to recover £41m over 4 years as a result of -1% rent).

• Our re-let times (18.96 days) and rent arrears (4.53%) have been the lowest they have ever been.

Our Performance

Click to view

We know that our work and the services we provide are wholly dependent upon our people. People who are engaged, motivated and enjoy the work that they do.

We expect a lot from our people and in return, we invest in their development and careers, support their wellbeing and ensure we offer a competitive range of reward and benefits. We give our people a voice about the issues that matter to them, listen to what they say and make changes where we can. We have invested in developing leadership and managerial capability, so that our leaders are the best in their field.

The way we do business at Midland Heart is underpinned by our three core values:

• People focused We are passionate about supporting our customers, colleagues and partners.

• Inclusive We value everyone’s abilities, respect their views and embrace individuality because that is what makes us as strong team.

• Professional We act as proud ambassadors for Midland Heart; working with integrity, honesty and drive to help our organisation succeed.

Our People

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The following documents are available for candidates to read and gain a better understanding of our business:

Our Fit for the Future Corporate plan (2016-20)

Our Regulatory In-Depth Assessment Board Summary July 2017

Our Annual Report – Financial Statements 2016/17

Our Partnership Brochure

Key documents

Click to view Click to view

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Finance and New Business CommitteeRole Description for New Member Introduction

Midland Heart has delivered a strong financial performance and has chosen to increase its development programme to help meet demand for new homes, with a plan to deliver 550 new homes in each of the next 5 years.

As it enters a new period of increased development, it is seeking an additional member for its Finance and New Business Committee for appointment to the Committee during Spring 2018. This role has a particular focus on appraisal of new development projects. This is a sub-committee of the Board with specific terms of reference in relation to Finance Treasury and New Business/Development matters. The Committee Terms of Reference are attached.

The Terms of Reference require that this committee has 5 non-executive members as well as 2 executive members (Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Resources Director).

Purpose of Role

To play an active scrutiny and governance role as a member of the Finance and New Business Committee so as to ensure that:

a) the Committee carries out effective monitoring of the financial arrangements of Midland Heart, including the review of management accounts and of the effective implementation of the Treasury Strategy.

b) It makes decisions upon significant financial issues where these have been delegated to this committee by the Board.

c) It makes recommendations to the Board on financial issues of major importance where these are reserved for decision by the Board.

d) It reviews and makes decisions upon new business proposals with scheme values of between £5m and £20m. In practice, this means that most new developments will come to this Committee for approval.

e) To review reports from the Executive, reporting on progress against in-year and long-term growth targets.

f) To review periodically Midland Heart’s long term financial plan to ensure it is sound and based on reasonable assumptions and to receive and consider stress testing of the financial plan.

g) It provides regular reports to the Board on the key outcomes of its meetings to inform the Board as to the financial performance achieved compared to Budget, the adequacy of its Treasury arrangements and the New Business performance achieved compared to plan.

Role profile

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Responsibilities

a) To prepare for and attend meetings of the Committee (normally 6 scheduled meetings per annum) playing an active role in the discussions held at, and the business transacted at, such meetings.

b) To receive and promptly respond to ad-hoc communications received from other committee members, and executives within Midland Heart relating to the work of the Committee, on an as-required basis.

c) Reviewing management accounts and the balance sheet on a regular basis so that the Committee can determine, and report to the Board upon, the financial position of the business. To review variances from budget and monitor the adequacy of management responses to such variances.

d) Approve Treasury policies including the approach to investing of cash and Midland Heart’s borrowing arrangements. Review the Treasury risks and the adequacy of actions taken by management to mitigate such risks.

e) Approving new loans up to certain levels of authority defined in the Standing Orders.

f) To review business case and other information supporting new business proposals (both capital and revenue schemes) with scheme values of between £5m and £20m (capital schemes) and up to £3m (revenue schemes).

g) To review monitoring reports on the performance of the Development function in meeting in-year and long-term growth targets.

Specialist Skills / Experience Sought

a) Experience of the successful delivery of development projects so as to meet financial and timescale goals.

b) Knowledge of the Midlands property market, including land and new-build valuations; of customer demand for different types of properties and tenures; of the activities of other players in the local property market; and of how our development plans dovetail into local and regional housebuilding plans and priorities.

c) Likely to come from a specialist Development background or from a General Management background which involved a significant exposure to the review and approval of large revenue and capital projects.

d) Experience of analysing and deciding upon business case submissions on both capital and revenue projects.

e) Experience of reviewing management accounts, so as to understand performance against budget and the reasons behind areas performing at a variance to budget.

General

a) This position attracts an honorarium of £2250 per annum. In addition, travel and other expenses can be claimed in line with Midland Heart’s expense policy.

b) The appointment is for an initial period of 3 years, renewable for a further 3 year period.

c) Meetings of the Committee (6 scheduled meetings per annum) are generally held in normal working hours at Midland Heart’s offices in Bath Row, Birmingham, and are generally around 2-2.5 hours duration.

Role profile Continued...

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Midland Heart LTD(Main Operating Business

of Group)• Owns all the property

assets within the Group (except Cygnet properties)

• Has charitable status• Registered Society (No.

30069R)• Registered with

Homes and Community Agency L4466

• Assets: 33,000 units• Borrowings: £569m

(total group borrowings)

Cygnet Property Management PLC (Market Rent Subsidiary)Operating Business• Registered at Companies House• Co Reg No. 02631685• Non-Charitable• Owns Market Rented property• Wholly owned by Midland Heart• Borrowings: £3.075m (discrete

borrowings from Handelsbanken)• Assets: 115 market rent properties

(Valued at £11.3m) and £6m Equity investment from MHL. No parental guarantee from MHL to Cygnet.

Midland Heart Development LTD(VAT mitigation Company)• Registered at Companies House• Co Reg No. 05743218• Non-Charitable• Wholly owned by Midland Heart• Assets: Nil• Borrowings: Nil

Midland Heart Capital PLC(Capital Markets Vehicle)• Registered at Companies House• Co Reg No. 8159931• Non-Charitable• Group’s Bond Finance Vehicle• Wholly owned by Midland Heart• Assets: Nil• Borrowings: included in Midland

Heart figure

Prime Focus Regeneration Group LTD• Non Operating Subsidiary • Owns Midland Heart

Headquarters Building• Assets: £10.4m• Borrowings: £6.3m

Prime Focus Finance LTD(Funding Vehicle)• Non-Operating Subsidiary of PFRG • Borrower under pre-2006 Merger • Loan Agreement with Nationwide

Syndicate.• Borrowings: £144.5m (included

in Midland Heart figure) (secured against 5652 properties)

Legal Entity and Operating Structure – January 2018

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Date Event

w/c 26th February 2018 Interviews (Bath Row office, Birmingham)

9th March 2018 Nominations Committee approves

appointment

March/April 2018 Induction to role

May 2018 Successful candidate attends first

committee meeting

Timetable & Assessment Process

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How to apply

Application is by CV, with a covering letter outlining why you are interested in the post, the extent to which your skills and experience meet the role description and why you consider yourself suitable. Please also complete the attached Equality and Diversity monitoring form.

Please provide with your application your full contact details including daytime and evening contact numbers.

The preferred method of application is online at:

Contact Us

If you would like a confidential discussion about the role, please contact:

Andrew Foster, Executive Director of Governance and Contracts, on 0121 666 5533

http://jobs.midlandheart.org.uk/vacancies/2118/mh/nonexecutive_fnbc_member/

Midland Heart, 20 Bath Row, Birmingham, B15 1LZ

Tel: 0870 60 70 300 Web: www.midlandheart.org.uk