The following attendees will be representing Clarion Housing Group:

·         Jane Bolton, Head of Housing Services (Merton);

·         John Ferman, Regional Director South London;

·         Simon Gagen, Head of Responsive Repairs Merton;

·         Carmen Jones, Resident Involvement Manager; and

·         Paul Quinn, Director of Merton Regeneration.

The following Clarion representatives introduced themselves to the Panel:

·         Jane Bolton, Head of Housing Services (Merton), South West London;

·         John Ferman, Regional Director South London;

·         Simon Gagen, Head of Responsive Repairs Merton;

·         Carmen Jones, Resident Involvement Manager;

·         Paul Quinn, Director of Merton Regeneration; and

·         Mike Robbins, Regional Investment Manager.

John Ferman provided some introductory remarks:

·         Clarion will come into being on 15 January 2018.  This provides an opportunity to perform in a different way.  Clarion will be the largest social landlord in the country giving it huge buying power and the ability to re-procure contracts in a way not previously available;

·         Over £2m has been spent on making job opportunities available to residents and others.  In the last 7/8 months, 330 people have received training that has led them into employment; and

·         There are legacy issues that pre-date the merger.  There was poor performance in the handling of complaints and day-to-day repairs.  However, good progress is now being made on all KPIs.  Consistently high scores are being achieved which has been independently verified.  Currently, there are no outstanding enquiries older than 3 months.  Previously, under Circle, some outstanding enquiries were 12 months old.  Clarion is committed to making these standards the norm.

In response to questions from Panel members, representatives from Clarion clarified as follows:

·         (John Ferman) Clarion’s CEO is not keen on participation in Merton’s scrutiny process; Clarion’s own scrutiny process is established through its constitution.  It therefore doesn’t seem efficient to duplicate the effort.  However, it is hoped that this will be a constructive meeting with the Council and Clarion working together to move forward through dialogue and an open and transparent process;

·         (John Ferman) Despite the scale of regeneration, this will incur no additional costs for tenants;

·         (Simon Gagen) Clarion recognises that there has been an issue with some communal doors at Morden House.  A new solution has recently been installed which includes issuing door fobs to all residents.  The success of this will be monitored through the use of these fobs.  Agrees that the doors are vulnerable and that this issue may not have been addressed in an ideal way previously.  Also noted that a new national door repair contract has just been awarded;

·         (Mike Robins) Noted the progress made with Hatfield Mead leaseholders and that going forward Section 20 consultations will be conducted with transparency and openness;

·         (John Ferman) Highlighted the Clarion Way programme which is now driving the business.  Clarion will be proactive and share information without being asked.  Its new contact software means the business is aiming to resolve 80% of the contacts received without having to move these on to another contact.  Planned works will get more consultation. This will be achieved through a 15% increase in the budget to support this area.  Accepted that residents will take some time to see this improvement happening before they can believe in it;

·         (John Ferman) Acknowledged the need to improvement resident communications but noted that this can only be achieved after the merger happens formally.  After this takes place there will be a rollout of proactive resident communications;

·         (Simon Gagen) Long term repairs have significantly improved over the last six to nine months.  Clarion is confident that there are now no long term repairs that pre-date September 2017.  This is being supported by the use of new software and new reporting methods;

·         (John Ferman) Monthly statistics show that Merton is first in London for the success of fixing repairs on the first attempt.  Others are now looking at Merton to understand the reasons for this success;

·         (Paul Quinn) There are 3,000 residents across the three sites that will be affected by the regeneration of Merton’s estates.  This is being supported by an extensive consultation of residents and regular site meetings.  Confident that using these methods will be able to bring residents through the delivery stages and encourage longer term buy-in;

·         (Simon Gagen) All four fire hoses on the Brick Field Road site are in working order following some remedial work to the values which also aims to prevent illegal use.  However, major works are the responsibility of the Council and Clarion is currently working on a submission to the Council on what should be reinvested;

·         (Jane Bolton) Sweeping of the Brick Field Road site is now happening using a small mobile cleaning unit but it is difficult to maintain the standard on the site.  Residents are being asked to support this. The site is regularly seen by site inspectors and the housing officer;

·         (Mike Robins) It can be difficult to estimate costs for works to be paid by residents.  There is need for some contingency because contractors often won’t know the full scale of the work to do until it commences.  Clarion has just put in place a third party auditor to look at estimated and actual costs on projects;

·         (John Ferman) Has been in place at Clarion since June and has found staff to be engaged.  Affinity Sutton has had a staff survey for some time which is monitored by an independent third party.  This will be applied to the whole of Clarion after the merger;

·         (Simon Gagen) The electricity supply to the Brick Lane Road site will be considered as part of the reinvestment programme that the Council and Clarion are currently discussing.  Noted that caravans are now considerably larger than they were previously and are demanding more power; and

·         (Jane Bolton) Recommended that specific questions about the Brick Lane Road site can be raised with Dawn Helps, the Housing Services Manager.