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Housing estate management project (HEMP) team review

Please find below the consultation document for the Defence estates ? Operations housing HEMP team review

As you will see, the business improvement team is recommending option 3. This is a major restructuring which includes splitting the team between land management services and the asset management team.

If you have any comments on this consultation document, can you please email them to John Russell, the PCS lead in Defence estates at john.russell@hd.de.mod.uk by 7 September 2009.

 

 

Introduction to the Project

The tasks assigned was to conduct a review of the Housing Estate Management Project (HEMP) team this will include a review of the roles and responsibilities, the team structure and post requirement and the future location of the team

Background

Deputy Director Housing (Strategy and Planning) requested the assistance of the Business Development Team to conduct a review of the HEMP Team. This work had initially been tasked to DGMC team from Central TLB but due to a reorganisation they could no longer allocate resource to the task.

A scoping document was prepared by the team and agreed by all parties on the extent of the work to be carried out. It was additionally agreed that the initial TOR’s and Consultation documents from the original review were still extant and would apply to the HEMP team review

The data gathering stage was conducted through a series of meetings, interviews and proformas. The data was analysed and where gaps identified further research conducted.

Key Recommendations

The Management Board may wish to consider the following Key Recommendations

That option three is considered the best option to maximise the expertise within the current team without losing the professional interface required with Annington Homes Ltd (AHL) or diminishing the service to our customers.

That the HEMP Team B2 post be utilised to provide leadership and direction for the Asset Management Team, which would subsume elements of the HEMP team;

A review of the Roles and TORs of the Planning & Policy Team be undertaken to ensure clear linkages are established with the Asset Management Team;

Invite AHL to participate in a joint review of the Beacon Unit Rent Review Process in order to identify an improved methodology for undertaking this work.


Issues identified

Organisational Structure

The nature and complexity of the work indicates that Director Housing benefits substantially from the professional skills and knowledge that a LMS team can offer though that does not mean that the HEMP Team have to remain in their current context or in their current numbers and a number of options will be discussed within this paper on how these could be better deployed to benefit the Housing Directorate.

Location

There is no clear business rationale for the team to be based at Catterick and whist it may suit many of the individuals within the team it is not necessarily best placed for the business particularly in light of the vast majority of SFA being located in the South and in terms of its interaction with the Asset Management Team. As a result the HEMP Team incur considerable travelling time and Travel and Subsistence (T&S) costs, again the options will try and address this issue.
 

 


Posts

The current structure is shown at Appendix 1 to Annex B and consists of 1 x B2, 2 x C1, 5 x C2, 3 x Band D and 1 x E 1 of these staff 2 are Agency (1 x C1, 1 X C2) and 1 x additional C1 Post funded by Land Command to meet the increased workloads due to Bulk Hirings in support of Project BORONA and increases on the SPTA. Of these staff currently 5 are RICS qualified whilst the remainder provide technical advice with the exception of the E1 who provides administrative support to the business.

The C1 Agency post looking after the utilities management was a lifed post until Oct 2008 by which time a degree of skills transfer should have been completed. As this was one of the individuals not available for interview the background to this post has not been explored but consideration should be given to whether this post needs to be established or if the skills transfer has been completed in order to reduce the costs of employing Agency staff.

Additionally, there have been problems in recruiting to fill a number of posts within the team with quotes of PPPA taking up to a year to fill posts. However this does not seem to be the case in other LMS areas where recruiting has attracted good responses so this may be linked to the current location of the HEMP Team

Data collection has shown that some members of the team are working increasingly long hours with some identifying 40-45 hours as the average working week and indeed some quoting as much as 25% over their paid hours. There is evidence of a fracture amongst the team particularly between higher management and some staff and this is contributing to the stress levels within the team with it being quoted that one individual found it difficult to be in that working environment.

The Team Leader has identified throughout that:

‘Analysis of individual workloads shows that the team is overloaded with no time allowed for either professional or other training’

‘the team is suffering from a long hours culture which is leading to stress levels which are unacceptable, one member of the team has just returned to work following stress related sickness’

This indicates that the teams working practices and programming need to change, although it should be noted that only 15-20% of management time is identified as time spent on team management.

There have been a number of quotes from senior members of the team that the majority of the posts should be RICS qualified. While it is accepted that there continues to be a fundamental requirement for the team to have access to and, particularly during the negotiation process, a real input from professionally qualified personnel the review team did not agree the need to increase the number of qualified staff. Much of the investigation into both the BURR’s and the Dilapidations process can be completed by technically competent trained staff and indeed is currently are undertaken at that level.

However, what is missing at the moment is the ability to ensure that technical competence is developed and utilised to its fullest capacity and this is due in part to the lack of space for training and development and it is felt that this can be addressed by better programming of work.

Professional Expertise or Management

The management structure of the team is currently professionally qualified and at times there can be a conflict of priorities between their professional role and the management of the team. Consideration should be given to having a non-professional manager who can focus on the long-term plan and resource management of this small but busy team.

Travel and subsistence

As previously stated it would appear that some team members are working long hours, much of which is spent in travelling time and with an above average number of nights away from home and this has led to a substantial Travel & Subsistence bill. The nature of the work particular with the BURR programme dictates that there will always be an element of travel but better planning across the year may alleviate some of these excess hours. Some staff suggested that the delay to starting the BURR programme this year has had an impact on the work programme and this could clearly have been avoided.

Beacon Unit Rent Reviews

Currently much of the fieldwork is carried out by the technical advisors and this is a right and proper use of the team resources but the process means that much of the work is difficult to plan and even when the comparisons are developed and initial meetings held with AHL there will invariably be further questions that need to be investigated. One suggestion made by staff was that once both parties have completed their fieldwork information should be exchanged prior to initial meeting in order to avoid these further workloads. Whether this is viable or not is for the professional staff to answer but it does ask the question if, after over ten years of utilising this process, there should be a joint review of the whole process.

Negotiations between DE and AHL on the BURR and dilapidations costs are currently handled by either the B2 or C1 within the team. It is accepted that the professional expertise in terms of RICS knowledge is essential and there needs to be continuity in terms of RICS involvement but considering the large sums of money involved and the management levels at which this is dealt with within AHL it appears surprising that DE includes neither Commercial nor Financial senior management in the process. This maybe something the Housing Management Team may wish to consider as part of any process review.

Recommendation

That DE invites AHL to participate in a joint review of the Beacon Unit Rent Review Process in order to identify an improved methodology for undertaking this work.

Options

There are a number of options the Housing Management Board may wish to consider in order to continue to improve the working practices and management of the HEMP team and also to bring some cohesion to asset management across housing planning and delivery.

Option One

Limited Change through a formalising and prioritisation of the teams required outputs through clearly defined job descriptions, management direction and better long term planning. Consideration would need to be given to the Agency posts currently being filled within the team to ascertain if these should become permanent posts or transfer the skills back into the wider team in order to minimise the requirement for Agency staff and reduce the additional costs to the business.

 

Advantages

The teams understanding of the task is utilised and the expertise brought in by agency staff can be used by the team.

Disadvantages

Will not address the issues of team management/ fracture or current stress levels within the team.

Will not address the issue of lack of time for professional training.

Team will continue to deliver as they have always done with little innovation being brought to established processes.

Option Two

To disperse the various members of the team across the regional areas to allow each of the Area Housing Managers a specialised team to carry out this work within the regions with a central management team attached to the Asset Management Team to programme and direct their work. Line management of the teams could remain with the central management team but functional day-to-day management could sit with the areas managers

In terms of numbers this would relate to

1 x C2 and 1 x Band D per Region and a management team of 1 x B2, 1 x C1 and 2 x C2 and 1 x E1 co-located with the Asset Management Team

Advantages

It places the Technical members of the team on the ground which will allow them to better understand the locations and condition of the estate
It will considerably reduce the T & S bill for the team
It will allow the team to be more proactive with their time in assisting the Area Housing Manager with the management of the estate

Disadvantages

This had been the situation in the past and led to even more fragmentation and differences in the way work was carried out
Could fragment further what is already perceptually a overworked team
Could reduce the levels of training of staff within the team if not managed well
May lead to team members being utilised for other work by the Area Managers in the quieter periods

Option Three

That D Head Housing Strategy and Plans radically restructures the team to allow a better focus on the overall management of the assets without degrading the current work undertaken by the team. This may be achieved by transferring the professional elements of the team back into LMS (possibly 1 x C1 and 1 x C2) and establishing a service level agreement with LMS on the amount of work required for the professional elements of the work the team currently undertake. The remaining functions of the HEMP Team should be subsumed into the Asset Management Team better linkage between the Planning team and the Asset Management Team.


Recommendation

That the HEMP team B2 post be utilised to provide leadership and direction for the Asset Management Team, which would include elements of the HEMP team.


The remainder of the team’s technical advisors and administrative staff under a B2 manager could then be subsumed within the Asset Management Team at Brampton to provide the technical expertise required to carry out the fieldwork required for both the BURR and Dilapidations work.

Though throughout the review it has been difficult to understand the linkages and engagements between the Planning Team, Asset Management and HEMP Teams and the management Board should consider reviewing the Roles and TORs of the Planning team to ensure those clear linkages are established

Recommendation

That the Management Board should consider reviewing the Roles and TORs of the Planning team to ensure those clear linkages are established

Advantages

This new structure will allow for the continued professional training of the RICS staff and allow greater flexibility within LMS to provide the support required to the rent reviews and dilapidations work and any professional advice as identified in the SLA
It will ensure the continued professional interface with AHL
It will address the Team Leader’s concerns at the lack of professional training opportunities
It could free up assets to undertake work such as marriage values and related assets which has had to be put on hold due to staff shortages within the team
It will provide a more robust link to the overall management of assets within housing
It will allow better programming in terms of the five year cycle for rent reviews
Centralising the team at Brampton will allow for more flexibility of use of the team and in turn reduce the T & S costs
It will allow technical input into the Asset Management Team at an early stage of planning
It will create an Centre of Excellence in managing the assets within Housing

Disadvantages

May give the impression of breaking up the team which will have to be managed
Staff may be reluctant to re-locate to Brampton
It may over time reduce the expertise within the technical element of the team and plans will need to be put in place to maintain those skill areas.

Recommendation

Option Three is considered the best option to maximise the expertise within the current team without losing the professional interface required with AHL or diminishing the service to our customers

 

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