To receive any statements from Directors of Council Owned Companies.
In accordance with Procedure Rule 4.2.24 the total time allocated to this item shall not exceed 10 minutes, and no Director, except with the consent of Council, shall speak for more than 3 minutes.
Minutes:
Charles Margetts, Non Executive Director Optalis:
I spoke briefly earlier about Optalis. I thought it was time to give Members a much more full update. When I first took on this role two years ago, it was clear that Optalis needed reform to make it suitable for the needs of the future and to make it suitable for what the Council actually wanted from it. I am pleased to advise that following long discussions with RBWM we have now reached agreement and signed a new contract to set Optalis up for future years.
There have been some significant changes to the purpose and the management structure of the company. I referred to some of these briefly earlier, but to cover the other ground; a reduction in management structure and bureaucracy to make decision making quicker and easier, and also to give a stronger direct relationship with each local authority partner. What this means is that three Boards have gone to one, as I said, and that one Board consists of the CEO, the Director of Adult Services from each authority, and the Lead Member. For the first time we have direct strategic control of the company.
The refocus of Optalis, which I referred to earlier basically on to quality rather than growth and the efficiency drive resulting in the saving of £2.5million a year. The other £2.5million over the last two years I should say. The other thing is that Optalis Wokingham will now operate independently from Optalis RBWM. This allows the company the freedom to design services that meet the needs of Wokingham residents and greater flexibility.
WBC has set the following priorities for Optalis to continue the transformation of services and to focus heavily on the retention and development of staff. With the current situation around the uncertainty around the Government’s Adult Social Care proposals, which my colleague Councillor Kaiser referred to a few minutes ago, that is most helpful basically to do that. From a Wokingham point of view, using Optalis to provide care gives certainty of ongoing costs over time and enables us to hedge against the uncertainty in terms of cost in the care sector. It also ensures that any surplus money can be returned to WBC rather being used to pay Directors’ bonuses or shiny new offices. This enables us to plan financially, more effectively for the future with greater confidence. Whilst this change has been underway Optalis has maintained and improved the quality of care that it offers. David Birch and his team continue to move forwards. An example of this is, recently Wokingham coming first in the South East and second in the UK in the recent Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework. This measures the number of adults with learning disabilities who return to paid employment. The figure in Wokingham is over three times the national average, which is a real credit to the company and all the people who work there. I would like to thank the Supported Employment Service specifically for their work in this area.
Mr Mayor, in conclusion I would say that we believe that Optalis is well placed to continue its work, and to serve our residents. I know that there are some exciting new things that I will be able to talk about in the upcoming months, which are now being developed.
Norman Jorgensen, Non Executive Director Loddon Homes:
As a company wholly owned by Wokingham Borough Council, Loddon Homes has two main objectives. One is to provide much needed affordable housing in the Borough, and the second is to generate a financial return to the Council. I believe that Loddon Homes is an organisation that this Council should be proud of. This evening I will give you a bit of a snapshot. Firstly, we currently have one hundred and twenty three homes in our portfolio, with a further nineteen due by the end of the financial year. The total asset value of these is in excess of £30million. We receive an annual rent and service charge income of about £570,000, and we have a further pipeline of around four hundred new homes over the next four years, supporting the delivery of the Council’s housing programme. Underpinning this is Loddon’s Homes robust five-year business plan, which is able to flex should Loddon’s and the Council’s housing objectives change, as well as withstanding the scrutiny of our Board and the Housing Regulator. The final version of the plan is expected in January.
We have just completed a couple of months of exceptional delivery and performance by the company. We took ownership of the final homes at Arnett Avenue, marking the completion of the first phase of the Gorse Ride regeneration. I recently met other members of the Board and members of Gorse Ride Community Steering Group to have a tour of the completed shared ownership apartments, and I can attest to the exceptional quality and workmanship of the final build. Whilst I was there, I met residents who had already moved into their new home, and they could not speak more highly of the property or of the service and support that they had received since moving in, from both Loddon Homes and the developers RJ Leighfield and Sons. I am pleased to report that 50% of all the shared ownership sales completed within a month of the properties being handed over. I am also pleased to report that we have received the initial feedback from our biannual residents’ survey, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with 90% of residents being happy or very happy with the overall service that they receive from Loddon Homes. Over 95% say they would recommend us as a landlord, and 95% are happy with the quality of their home. We are only part way through the feedback and the full results will be published in December.