A2Dominion South has 'more strengths than weaknesses' according to an independent report released today by the Audit Commission.
Audit Commission inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of the South East based housing association. Inspectors examined how well A2Dominion South is delivering its responsive repairs service, managing gas safety checks and working with its tenants to develop and deliver services. The inspectors found that residents have a good level of involvement in deciding and improving services, there is a strong focus on delivering value for money and the association is effectively completing gas safety checks in tenants' homes. However, A2Dominion South needs to know more about the needs of all tenants to help inform the way it delivers services and the responsive repairs service is weak.
Julie Watts, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:
“A2Domion South is involving tenants in the way that services are delivered and improved. It needs to do more to make sure that its services meet individual customer needs and, importantly, improve the way that it delivers repairs to tenants' homes.”
Strengths include:
- Tenants have influence over deciding and improving services, and a range of opportunities for them to be involved.
- Gas servicing arrangements are effective.
- A2Dominion South is able to demonstrate that it is delivering value for money for tenants.
Weaknesses include:
- The service needs to understand better the needs of all tenants.
- Repairs are not being carried out quickly.
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include:
- Collecting profile information for all residents and using this to make sure services are delivered fairly and to meet individual needs.
- Improving the management and performance of complaints handling.
- Ensuring the approach to checking the quality of completed repairs is robust and that outcomes inform contract management and tenant feedback.
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) is the affordable housing regulator in England and works with the Audit Commission on the inspection of housing associations. The TSA commissions the Audit Commission to carry out inspections and the results are used by the TSA in its overall assessment of housing association performance.
Notes to editors
- A2Dominion South (A2DS) is a registered charitable subsidiary of A2Dominion Housing Group. A2DS provides services to around 14,000 homes across Surrey, Kent, Hampshire, Sussex and Wiltshire. Its services are concentrated on general needs, sheltered and supported housing as well as homes for key workers and shared ownership.
- A2Dominion Housing Group was formed in October 2008 following the merger of Dominion Housing Group and A2 Housing Group. The Group manages over 33,000 homes across London and the South East and provides central corporate functions to group members including strategic leadership. 850 staff are employed across the group.
- The Audit Commission introduced short-notice inspections for housing associations to give inspectors a clearer and more realistic view of the services that tenants receive.
- Associations are given just five days notice of the inspection before their services are rated on a four point scale - from 'strengths significantly outweigh weaknesses' down to 'weaknesses outweigh strengths'.
- Within two months of the publication of this report, A2Domionion South will provide the Audit Commission with a plan showing how it will implement the report's recommendations. The Commission will then assess and publish A2Domionion's prospects for improvement.
- The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone.
- Our work across local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services means that we have a unique perspective. We promote value for money for taxpayers, auditing the £200 billion spent by 11,000 local public bodies.
- As a force for improvement, we work in partnership to assess local public services and make practical recommendations for promoting a better quality of life for local people.
For further information, please contact Callum Collins, Senior Regional Communications Manager (Southern) on 0844 798 8844.