Corporate Strategy

We understand the impact that good quality, safe and secure homes can have on the health, quality of life and life opportunities of tenants and customers, and their families.

For our existing homes, we will:

• Maintain a high level of understanding through the analysis of stock condition surveys, repairs
trends, complaints and other valuable insight and intelligence we gather during our touch points with tenants and customers

• Carry out a strategic sustainability assessment of existing assets every three years

• Ensure our investment in existing properties remains a key priority and that the level of investment reflects the needs of our homes and estates

• Increase the proportion of responsive maintenance services that are delivered through our in-house provider, our Property Maintenance Division, where they have demonstrated a positive cost and quality return on investment

• From a good starting point, continue to deliver further energy efficiency works, to meet our obligations and save our tenants money

• Keep our tenants safe through a comprehensive inspection, maintenance and monitoring regime

On the delivery of new homes, we will:

• Understand local housing markets, changing demographics, need and aspiration

• Seek to align the delivery of new homes to reflect and support local and regional growth plans

• Ensure our homes are the right properties, in the right places, built to the right standards, and at the right cost – to strengthen communities

• Engage and work positively with a range of partners to deliver new homes, including the North East Combined Authority, and our local authority partners, house builders, land owners
and development contractors

To demonstrate delivery against this objective we have identified a range of measures and targets, including four key success factors:

The Bernicia Effect:

1) Maintaining comprehensive, up to date data, insight and intelligence on our housing stock and maintenance trends.
2) Effectively use this to maintain high satisfaction levels with the quality of our homes.
3) Evidencing our commitment to keeping tenants safe within their homes.
4) Delivering up to 1000 new homes (starts on site) during this Corporate Strategy period.

Our customers want to live in safe, secure, affordable and comfortable homes. They also want
to live alongside considerate and respectful neighbours, in safe, welcoming and well managed
neighbourhoods. They also want the ability and opportunity to connect and engage with like
minded people in their community.

In response to this, we will:

• Provide a range of ways for customers to influence strategic decision making and the design
and delivery of service standards and improvements, in support of our customer first culture

• Learn about the people living in our homes, so we have services in place to meet their diverse
needs and that deliver fair and equitable outcomes

• Be clear about our services and standards, publicise these, and effectively engage tenants in
monitoring and scrutinising our performance on delivery

• Produce and publish timely and targeted performance and management information to
empower tenants with relevant knowledge

• Be customer, community and colleague connected, to engender and strengthen mutual trust
and respect, enhance customer engagement, and connect colleagues to rich, robust and
comprehensive insight

• Build clear and effective local management plans to maintain positive, inclusive
neighbourhoods and respond to any fragile environments

• Work in partnership to maintain stable and sustainable tenancies and neighbourhoods,
specifically considering our approach to lettings, safer communities, safeguarding and
domestic abuse

• Work in partnership to help prevent, and respond to, rising homelessness, through the
provision of permanent and temporary accommodation, as well as specialist supported
housing that enables people to maintain their independence

• Support economic wellbeing, helping tenants optimise their income and minimise outgoings,
improving their financial resilience and economic stability

• Support social wellbeing, extending activities delivered at our community facilities into the
wider neighbourhood and community through physical and digital means

To demonstrate delivery against this objective, we have identified a range of measures and
targets, including four key success factors.

The Bernicia effect:

1) We will be clear about the services and standards we deliver and will widely publicise them.
2) Use insight and intelligence to secure equitable outcomes.
3) An annual report to Board from tenants (with summary in financial statements) on
performance against priorities.
4) Triennial external validation of our tenant engagement framework.

Organisational effectiveness begins with clarity and strength, of purpose and in leadership. We are clear on the value we wish to deliver and provide strong and transparent leadership that is evidence based, and outcome focused.

We have robust risk management and financial controls and align our resources, both financial
and people, to deliver our objectives. Our approach is supported by a clear policy framework and investments in technology that enable us to deliver.

To demonstrate organisational effectiveness, we will:

• Demonstrate excellence in governance, having efficient and effective structures in place, including those that enable and embed the voice of our tenants in and across the organisation

• Provide strong leadership, supported by clear succession planning that meets our strategic needs

• Continue to promote inclusivity, as this makes us a stronger and better organisation

• Ensure that appropriate and robust financial management and controls are in place

• Maximise capacity and the delivery of value wherever possible

• Embed a Value for Money approach

• Ensure the financial position of Bernicia remains resilient

• Maintain high levels of colleague engagement, consulting and working with colleagues to gain valuable insight and intelligence that influence plans, priorities and objective setting

• Embed the new Bernicia Way values, enabled by effective performance management, and clear, relevant and timely communications

• Undertake effective workforce planning, investing in our talent pipeline, to ensure Bernicia are future ready, with the right skills, in the right place at the right time

• Use technology to “do the heavy lifting” and to support our business to continually improve

• Ensure our ICT systems and infrastructure are resilient and protected

• Provide accurate, timely and robust data, that informs decision making

• Ensure ICT delivery follows robust governance, information management and change
management principles

To demonstrate delivery against this objective, we have identified a range of measures and
targets, including four key success factors.

The Bernicia effect:

1) Positive G, V and C regulatory judgements.
2) Meeting our financial targets.
3) Demonstrating high levels of engagement with, and support for colleagues.
4) Optimising technology to drive the organisation forward.

We believe the North East is a region of opportunity and that a good and secure home can be a launchpad to closing inequality gaps, improving the quality of life and life chances of our tenants and wider communities. As an anchor institution we are rooted in and trusted by our communities and as such we are well placed to deliver opportunity to and for them. By
innovating and working with trusted partners, both within and outside our sector we believe
we can have an even greater impact.

We will:

• Continue to support and promote the work of our sector trade and professional representative bodies to highlight the importance of housing at a national and regional level

• Continue to support and work with the North East Combined Authority and with our Local Authority partners, Strategic Partnerships and with other organisations who champion the North East, promote its potential and deliver opportunity to its residents

• Continue to invest significantly in aspirations, confidence, skills development and employability support, particularly for young people and social housing tenants

• Support the NECA Mayor’s focus on child poverty by tackling the causes of poverty with a comprehensive and multi layered long-term response. Whilst doing so we will also provide support to those suffering from the symptoms of poverty to help them in the immediate term

• Support the New Deal for North East Workers through our adoption of SHINE and other Local Employer commitments

• Continue to deliver on our commitments to Care Leavers and Armed Forces by removing
barriers to opportunity

• Work with our supply chain to maximise public value for the region in our procurement of contracts

• Use insight to better understand need and support economic and social wellbeing in communities where we operate

• Support the ambitious growth plans of our Commercial company, Kingston, who operate on
a profit for purpose basis. Kingston donates their surplus to Bernicia as gift aid, to enable us to deliver more community investment initiatives across the North East

To demonstrate delivery against this objective, we have identified a range of measures and targets, including four key success factors.

The Bernicia effect:

1) Our Community Investment priorities of financial and social inclusion will deliver at least £30m of social value over the strategy period.
2) Demonstrating our contribution to partnerships that promote the region and seek to deliver opportunity to and for its residents.
3) Growing the profitability of our Commercial company, using this to increase the contribution of Bernicia to our community investment initiatives.
4) Positive stakeholder perception survey.