As a ‘registered provider’ of social housing (a housing association), we are ‘regulated’ (governed) by a government agency called theHomes and Communities Agency (HCA). As such,there are a number of set standards we have tomeet which guarantee we are strong and financiallysecure as a business, and that we provide youwith a quality and value for money service.

The HCA believes that residents should decidewhether their landlords actually provide them witha good service. The HCA wants you to look athow well we perform against the set ‘consumerstandards’ and challenge us where you think ourservice needs to improve.

It is the Accent Board that makes sure we meet the requirements of the HCA’s economicstandards. The HCA is happy that our current and long term financial plans are secure and as a result they have upgraded the judgements theyaward for our finances, viability and governanceto the highest level.

Our customer service committee is responsiblefor monitoring how we perform against the consumer standards. This annual report shows you

how we have performed against the standardsand how we have made a difference to yourhomes, communities and lives over the past year.Similar to last year. We have used traffic lightsbecause you have told us it is easy to see wherewe have done well and reached our targets (agreen light), or where we have scored quite high,but not reached our targets (an amber light).

For value for money, we’ve included this reportas part of your magazine as it would cost more toproduce it separately. Please tell us what you thinkof the report by completing our questionnaire atthe end and returning it to us.

You will notice that we have rated ourselvesgreen in some areas of performance even thoughour scores are lower than they are in some areaswhere we have rated ourselves amber. This isbecause we met the targets we set ourselves inthese areas. Where we have rated ourselvesamber, despite a higher score, it is because wehave either not reached our targets, or we arenot in the top 25% of performing landlords inthe country in these areas of service.

The consumer standards

TENANT INVOLVEMENT AND EMPOWERMENT – your choices, how you get involvedand influence our business and how we understand and respond to your needs.

TENANCY – how we let our homes andhelp you to exchange your homes.

HOME – the quality of our homes andhow we repair and invest in them.

NEIGHBOURHOOD & COMMUNITY – how we work in your neighbourhoods withour partners to provide you with new and improved services and tackle problemssuch as anti-social behaviour.

TONENERESIDENTSDamian Roche Regional Housing Director

ANNUAL REPORT 2012/13ANNUAL REPORT 2012/13

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Delivering your services in 2012We want to be in the top performing landlords inthe country and continue to improve our servicesto you year on year.

We provide a wide range of opportunitiesfor you to get involved in what we do and howwe do it. We continued to develop our IT andtelephone systems to enable us to provide a moreefficient service when you contact us and to tailorservices as much as possible to your needs.

Our website has information on welfarereform, money matters and budgeting, andvideos on key issues affecting you. Our residentengagement pages promote events and activities.Improving our website to make it more interactivefor you is a priority for the future.

Because our assisted decorating and gardeningscheme is so popular, we have committed morefunds to continue it this year.

96% of calls were answered within target timewhich is an improvement from last year.

We provide you with a range of information tosupport you in your tenancy. All our documents canbe produced in different languages, large print,on audio or in Braille on request. Around 130 ofyou receive information in oneof these formats.

We use email and text messages, and offer an ‘e-panel’ for residents who can’t, or do notwish to, attend formal meetings. Our offices and meeting venues are wheelchair accessible,and we provide transport, British Sign Language(BSL) services and a hearing loop where needed.

We have worked closely with residents and contractors to produce a code of conduct whichwas launched with all our contractors.

Deliver excellent,locally agreed servicesDeliver excellent,locally agreed services

94.0% 85.0% 93% 93% 100%

33.5 25.5s 27.46 26.63s 25

6.25% 6.02% 3.69% 3.53% 3.5%

N/A 40% 81.8% Not measured 90.0%

N/A 50.8% 63.0% 75.0% 75.0%

N/A 50.0% 72.0% 66.0% 75.0%

19.0% 18.0% 15% 13% N/A

85.0% 87.0% 87.0% 87% 90%

N/A 65 37 61 N/A

N/A 113 103 133 N/|A

Letters responded to on target

Time (in seconds) to answer calls.(Pre-recorded message lasts 14 seconds)

Calls ended by the caller

Calls resolved in timescale

Satisfaction with complaint handling

Satisfaction with complaint outcome

BME and EU states lettings

Customer profiling data collected

Number of aids and adaptations(major)

Number of aids and adaptations(minor)

Target2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

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Our Independent tenant scrutiny panel’s first review was of our complaints process.They highlighted good practice and recommendedservice improvements.

A resident led complaints group monitored ourperformance, identifying good practice and theneed for service improvements. Our new processwill be more accountable to you and make surethe right staff deal with your complaint. We willuse your feedback to further improve the service.

We carried out road shows on welfare reformsand money matters. Our formal resident engagement groups (such as the Residents’ Panel) continue to meet to discuss specific issues, monitor our performance andrecommend service improvements.

Delivering your new personal,modern, better service Our new tenancy sustainability team will workwith residents who need support to help themstay in their tenancies

Through our new resident engagement strategy, we will improve the ways you can getinvolved and influence the services we provide

Our customer service team will aim to resolve80% of your enquiries at the first point of contact.

We will improve our website by offering arange of new interactive features (such as payingyour rent), which you can access from computersand smart phones.

The tenant scrutiny panel is reviewing how wemanage anti-social behaviour.

We will continue to promote ‘digital inclusion’by helping you access online services, and provideyou with training and support.

We will continue to use Facebook and Twitterto tell you about events and how your feedbackis changing our services.

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Delivering your services in 2012We have built 94 homes and we will build a further 85 this year.Our new development of four apartments (pictured right), and 21flats and houses in a conservation area of Peterborough attractednational acclaim when it was voted into ‘Inside Housing’ magazine’stop 50 affordable housing developments of 2013. 81% of the newresidents were very satisfied with their homes.

You are involved with a number of ways in themaintenance service, including contract meetings,evaluating tenders for works, reviewing perform-ance and influencing service improvements.

All our homes currently meet the Government’sDecent Homes Standard. We are now developingthe ‘Accent Standard’ an even higher standard forour homes.

96% of you were very satisfied with ourimprovements (new kitchens, bathrooms etc).

100% of you who had your homes adaptedwere satisfied. We are required to service your gasappliances every year. Our current rate is 99.8%and the only reason we do not reach 100% isbecause we cannot always gain access.

In response to your feedback, we now aim to make appointments for all repairs. We havemade and kept almost 96% of them. 100% ofyour calls are answered in overall target times (24 seconds) and 94% of you were satisfied withyour repair. We try and get work completed at afirst visit and, although this is not always possible,we currently fix 91% first time.

Delivering your new personal,modern, better serviceWe continue to maintain and invest in yourhomes. We estimate that between £5M and£5.5M will be spent on repairs and other majorworks in each of the next two years.

Provide high qualityhomes to live inProvide high qualityhomes to live in

64% 84% 89% 85% 84%

73% 82% 85% 82% 87%

50 days 50 days 97 days 50 days N/A

Satisfaction with outcomes

Satisfaction with case handling

Average days to resolve a case

TopAnti-social behaviour 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 Target Quartile

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The official opening of the WindmillEstate play area in Fulbourn

Cassie and her daughter Jasmine were very happy withtheir new shared ownership home in Stamford.

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Delivering your services in 2012We support those of you who are affected by the Government’s welfare reforms. Our welfarebenefits advisor has helped residents in a numberof ways, including helping you make the most of your money, get back into work, and moveto smaller home. We raised awareness of thechanges with road shows, and leaflet drops. We also arranged home visits to those of youwe knew were affected.

We introduced starter tenancies for all new residents. They help us make sure you can live safely and peacefully in your homes.Our housing officers keep in touch to offer support when needed.

We continue to promote Homeswapper, themutual exchange scheme that helps residentsmove. We helped 73 people to move last year,more than double the previous year, and morepeople are registering.

Our tenancy sustainability officers work withresidents who need extra support to successfullymaintain their tenancies, including setting up anew home, benefit and debt advice, training and employment.

We have been improving yourneighbourhoods and communities by:

• Talking to schoolchildren about theimpact anti-social behaviour can haveon communities.

• Working with you to develop goodneighbour agreements.

• Working with partners to provide workopportunities, training, and resourcesto help people manage their money and their tenancies.

We act promptly to resolve anti-social behaviour,working closely with the police, councils andother partners. We use all the tools availableto resolve your cases, including mediation andacceptable behaviour contracts,

More of you are satisfied with how we manageanti-social behaviour than before, see our chart onpage 4 of this report for details.

Delivering your new personal,modern, better service

We will continue to support you through theGovernment’s welfare reforms.

We will continue to develop good neighbouragreements on our estates in consultation withyou. We will produce a local newsletter for feedback from estate inspections.

We let our empty homes more efficiently byallocating them to people in need more quickly.Our housing officers can be seen more often onour schemes carrying out planned health andsafety checks on estates with communal areas.This makes sure our estates are free from hazardsand nuisance such as fly tipping, abandoned vehicles, graffiti and damage to communal areas.

Support our residents to sustaintheir homes and communitiesSupport our residents to sustaintheir homes and communities

Accent staff preparing to meet residentsduring the summer roadshows

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Repairs &

MaintenancePlanned

MaintenanceHousin

g

ManagementService

Charge Costs

Rent Loss

from Empty

HomesIntere

st on

Loans and

Mortgages

Surplus*

Generated

Be an ambitiousand successful businessBe an ambitiousand successful business

Delivering your new personal,modern, better serviceBy changing the way we deliver our services,we are on track to save £1.75 million each year.Savings have been made by cutting office andadministration costs and having fewer seniormanagers, not by cutting services. We will continue to reinvest these savings into yourhomes, communities and services.

How every £1 of your rent is spent across the north

12p 22p 20p 10p 1p 22p 13p

We’ve reached the end of our annual report section. Please let us know what you think ofthis information by filling in the questionnaire over the page. In return, we’ll enter your repliesinto a prize draw to win £50, £20 or £10 in high street vouchers. Thank you and good luck.

Left: After nine years service on the board andChair for two years Roger Davis (right) hands overthe Chairmanship of the Accent Nene CustomerServices Committee to Paul Grant (left).

We spent an extra £1.7 million on major improvements to your homes.Your rent this year did not pay for this, the money came from cash generated in previous years.

*This surplus is needed to meet therequirements of our funders and toprovide money to reinvest in your homes

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