In Place? Yes / Partial / Planned / No Yes. Partial. Partial

Transcription

1 Value for Money Self Assessment Section 1 The Strategic Perspective SP1 SP SP6 Is there a formal, and agreed, VfM strategy in place? If a VfM strategy exists does it link the organisation's social objectives with the business strategy? Does the VfM strategy have a SMART action plan related to cross-cutting VfM issues? / / priority 1 to 3 Strategy approved by Board vember 01 1 The value for money strategy discusses the importance of the links but there is no clear link between the Corporate plan for this year and the value for money strategy 1 The action plan is out of date and needs to be revised to reflect the current position.

2 Section Financial Strategy FS1 FS5 FS9 Does the organisation have a financial strategy that links to its long term business plan? Have the financial strategy and key business plan objectives been developed with and communicated to staff? Does next year s budget reflect the prioritisation of resources for specific service areas or objectives? / / Included as part of the business plan could be more explicit. Through staff briefings and team meetings and appraisal meetings First year of the business plan based on Corporate plan and the strategic priorities agreed by the Board at the Away Day priority 1 to 3 1

3 Section 3 Efficiencies and Targets / / ET5 Are the VfM targets analysed between: Management Increasing properties to reduce unit costs. Management costs per unit SMT reflected in the financial projections. Commodities MC Interest payable Capital/major works MC 1 Do the VfM targets set within each of the above areas support both financial strategy and corporate ET6 priorities? priority 1 to 3

4 Section 4 Costs and Comparisons CC1 CC3 CC4 CC5 CC6 CC1 Are the total operating costs of the organisation s activities known? Can they be easily split into the main headings of: Procurement and management of major works / / Management Accounts MC Interest payments Accounts Do the financial and accounting systems enable the Coding structure analysis of costs by service area? Can you produce historic data that allows trend Managements Accounts from past analysis for each service area? years Is the budget for next year (future years) split down Budget / coding structure by service area? 1 Do budget holders/service managers know the costs of their service area? Is the benchmarking data actively communicated across the business and does that knowledge lead to new targets? Budget holders allocated to all budgets. Budget holders review spend against their budgets Benchmarking report is considered by the Board. KPIs are revised and added to over time. KPIs benchmarked are agreed by the benchmarking group SMT priority 1 to 3

5 CC13 CC17 CC0 CC1 CC CC3 Is benchmarking carried out for service areas in addition to housing sector peer groups (e.g. private sector call centre performance indicators)? Can the organisation explain the main reasons for costs in particular service areas or overall being higher or lower than average/expected? Are the financial appraisals for "new developments" based upon assumptions agreed by the Board? Is there a robust process for assessing the ongoing (revenue) financial implications of capital/new build/major works projects? Is the financial monitoring across the business effective? Are underspends and overspends identified and reported promptly? plans to look at this at the moment. We would need to identify appropriate areas. In the group meeting we discuss the reasons for variances. In 014/15 we will be carrying out more work into the reasons for differences in component costs Last approved by Board in Uses project appraisal software and incorporated into the business plan. The Board can clearly see the impact of new development on the Business Plan and covenants going forward. Reviews and SMT monthly and management accounts to Board. Internal Audit reports on these areas. 1 SMT and Board meetings

6 Section 5 Effective Procurement EP1 EP EP5 EP6 EP7 EP8 Is there an agreed and up-to-date corporate procurement strategy for the supply of all types of goods and services used by the organisation? Can the organisation show that it has participated in modern methods of procurement, including partnering arrangements, collective procurement partnerships, outsourcing and shared services? Does the organisation have a user friendly procurement guide that has been developed by staff that order goods and services. Have all staff who buy goods and services been trained on the requirements of the procurement strategy? Do you have a procurement expert to whom staff can refer to? Is there a schedule of all commodities and supplies procured by the organisation together with a current supplier list and timetable for review over a three- to fiveyear period? / / Contracts extended where performance of contractors has been good MC priority 1 to 3 Use of external advisors for the procurement of maintenance contracts. 1

7 Section 6 Financial and Performance Management FPM1 FPM Does the organisation know the "return" - both financial and social - on its assets? Can you clearly see how the "return" links back to the organisation's objectives and business strategy? / / Return on assets included on the statement of accounts. The Asset Management strategy includes a sample of returns on individual properties. The information is in the same format as the business plan. It covers the main areas i.e. the Board are able to see how spare capacity is used. On some areas e.g. repairs and maintenance Budget holders put forward budget to SMT then Board FPM5 Can budget holders describe how they are contributing to SMT improving VfM? FPM6 Are budget and service managers involved in setting future SMT budgets? FPM7 Are budgets explicitly linked to performance targets? 1 FPM8 Is there a robust and demonstrable approach to budgetary Through SMT. Internal audit SMT control and management? reviews. Does the financial and budget structure adequately Based on size and complexity FPM0 support the service delivery of the organisation? of the organisation FPM1 Are financial and management systems aligned? yes Integrated system 1 priority 1 to 3

8 Section 7 Information Management IM1 Are information systems in place to allow costs and outputs/performance information to be measured and monitored across the following activities? / / Collected manually/exported from SDM currently. Planned new dashboard system for SDM to produce performance information automatically priority 1 to 3 Income management (inc. all types of As above income) Repairs and property services As above MC 1 Financial systems Management accounts 1 Human resources and payroll systems For payroll via the contractor 1

9 Section 8 Embedding a Culture of VfM EC9 EC10 / / What arrangements are in place to allow staff and key stakeholders to promote value for money? Examples could include: VfM forums As part of tenants forum 1 Periodic VfM drives/awareness raising sessions Staff suggestion schemes Has there been a VfM awareness-raising plan/campaign with customers? Have customers discussed VfM at forums, conferences or other events? priority 1 to 3 During staff meetings 1 Scheme still in place but not promoted 1 At Tenants Forum 1 Recent examples of VfM initiatives undertaken by organisations include: 1 Reviewed the need for printed communications and we will be making more use of text and . Taken the decision to uses HMRC rates rather than local government rates. 3 Tendering exercise for new private finance to ensure that we achieved the most competitive rate 4 Price freezes on contracts for