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Exceeding ExpectationsTrident’s Social Accounts 2010 to 2012

2 Exceeding Expectations. Trident’s Social Accounts 2010 to 2012.

Chair’s ForewordContents

Acknowledgements and Authors 03

Foreword by Abigail Robson, Chair of Trident’s Social Audit Panel 04

Introduction by John Morris, Trident’s Group Chief Executive 05

Summary – Headlines 06

Summary – Trident’s ‘Balance Sheet’ 07

Scope of the Social Audit 08

Trident and its Operating Environment 10

Governance Statement: Trident’s Mission 12

What Stakeholders Think 14

Economic Impact 16

Dedicated Community Investment 18

Social Value: Meeting Needs, Providing Homes 20

Social Value: Services to Residents and Communities 22

Social Value: Social and Environmental Economies 24

Looking to the Future 26

3Exceeding Expectations. Trident’s Social Accounts 2010 to 2012.

Acknowledgements and Authors

The authors would like to thank the GroupManagement Board and Executive Board of theTrident Social Investment Group, especially GroupChair Mike Pritty and Chief Executive John Morriswho agreed bravely to let Trident be the firsthousing association group to take part in acomprehensive social audit. Thanks also go tothose Directors, including Noel Grace, Ann Rivera,Tony Clark and Anthony McCool and staff whoprovided information, were interviewed or took partin focus groups. We are grateful to those Tridentresidents and service-users who gave their timefreely to take part in six focus groups across theMidlands. Special thanks to Sally Underwood (and previously) Tom Forty who helped obtaininformation from various parts of the Trident Groupover twelve months, and Patricia McCabe of Central Consultancy and Training who played a vitalrole in training and mentoring Social Audit Panel(SAP) resident members over 2012/13.

Finally, we are considerably indebted to the SAPmembers who have provided excellent feedback onvarious drafts of ‘Exceeding Expectations’ andasked searching questions of Human City Institute’s‘Measuring-Up’ method approach during this, itsfirst outing. Particular thanks to Abigail Robson andRobin Miller, the SAP Chair and Vice-Chairrespectively, for their expert steering of the socialaudit during 2012/13, and to resident andstakeholder SAP members who have providedunique insights.

Social Audit Panel Members

Abigail Robson Chair of the SAP, Trident Group Board Member

Robin Miller Vice-Chair of the SAP, Trident Reach Board Member

Louise Cannon Trident Reach Board Member

Lindsey Jones Trident Housing Board Member

Bernadette Herron Trident Resident

Ann James Trident Resident

Rehema Tross Trident Resident

Gary Mills Trident Resident

Paul Walker HCI Trustee, Stakeholder

Malik Ullah Chair of Shahjalal Housing Co-operative, Stakeholder

Hilary Mitchell Dorcas Board Member,Stakeholder

Tony Clark Director of Housing, Trident SIG

Authors

The two main authors of the report are:

Kevin Gulliver is Director of the Human City Institute, Chair of the Centre for Community Research and a Partnerin Something Worth Saying (SWS) Communications.

Dawn Prentice is Public Affairs Manager of the Human City Institute, a Partner in Something Worth Saying (SWS)Communications and Director of Dawn PrenticeCommunications.


I am delighted as Chair of Trident’s Social Audit Paneland Chair of the Trident Housing Board to contributethis Foreword to ‘Exceeding Expectations’ – the first set of ‘social accounts’ for Trident Social InvestmentGroup. The following report outlines the findings forApril 2010 to March 2012, although it also looks to thefuture. We intend to publish ‘social accounts’ every twoyears in the autumn following the accounting period, to sit alongside our financial accounts, including morein-depth social return on investment studies ofindividual services and activities.

While compiling our social accounts, we have beenconscious that we need to create new systems forcollecting information to measure economic impact and social value. This will be a priority for us in 2013 to 2014. All housing organisations are now facing thischallenge. With this proviso, we are proud to havepublished the first set of comprehensive ‘socialaccounts’ in our sector.

‘Exceeding Expectations’ was chosen as a title sinceonce the social audit had been completed it becameclear that the economic, environmental and social valuecreated by Trident was more than originally envisagedwhen we embarked on the research. The report showsthat, today, Trident manages around £150 million ofhousing and community assets with a turnover of £35 million, reserves of £13 million and employingalmost 850 staff. These assets and resources enable asignificant impact on the Midlands’ economy, especiallyin the areas where Trident has concentrated housingstock and care and support schemes, and where wedeliver extensive community services. Our overalleconomic impact on the Midlands’ economy averages£50 million per year. The social value we create in theMidlands’ most deprived communities approached £7 million in 2010 to 2012.

The approach we have adopted in evaluating Trident’scommunity impact is based on the ‘Measuring-Up’methodology developed by the Human City Institute –Trident’s research partner. This methodology does not‘reinvent the wheel’ but synthesises various elementsderived from social audit, social return on investment(SROI) and social valuation approaches but with aspecific application to social housing, especially inrelation to resident and stakeholder scrutiny, value formoney and the investment priorities of our residentsand service-users. We have tried not to ‘over-claim’since this is something our research shows bringssocial value measurement into disrepute. The socialvalue calculations in the following report are based on conservative estimates and use of cautious proxyvalues supported by external research sources wherepossible, the judgement of our HCI auditors andindependent methods, augmented by views andopinions via focus groups and surveys with residentsand service-users, stakeholders and staff.

‘Exceeding Expectations’ has been overseen by ascrutiny panel evenly divided between Trident boardmembers, residents, service users and stakeholders.This high degree of involvement and scrutiny is, webelieve, unique in social housing on such a project. I would like to thank all members of the panel for their input to what, has been a highly successful and informative exercise.

Abigail RobsonChair Trident’s Social Audit Panel

Foreword


All at Trident are rightly proud of this evaluation of ournew ‘social investment’ approach, and our activitiesand achievements over the last two years. This socialaudit is one of the first of its kind in the housingassociation sector. It takes a comprehensive look atthe economic impact Trident has on the region wherewe operate – the Midlands – and the social value wecreate across a wide range of activities includinghousing, care and support, community investmentand environmental services.

Trident has a long history of making significanteconomic, environmental and social contributions toour local economy and the communities in which wework. Stretching back to 1962, we have deep roots in‘on the margins’ communities in Birmingham, theBlack Country, South Derbyshire and other parts ofour region. Our community impact is also magnified aspart of the Midlands’ housing sector generally and aspart of the Matrix Housing Partnership specifically.Matrix combines the unique competencies of some ofthe Midlands’ major housing organisations andenables our ‘multiplier effect’ to be maximised to thebenefit of local supply chains, to create newemployment and training opportunities, and to aiddisadvantaged communities across our region to copewith austerity and welfare reform.

The publication of our social accounts – ‘ExceedingExpectations’ – is one of the new ways in whichTrident is measuring its performance beyond the usualfinancial and key performance indicator framework. At a time when housing associations are tackling thefallout from the international financial crisis, welfarereform, and the introduction of new value for moneytests, measurement of our impact on communitiesand increasingly fragile, local economies is crucial.That’s why Trident is committed to being a new type ofhousing-based organisation with a weather eye onvalue for money (VFM) and the growing risks apparentin a challenging operating environment whileconcentrating upon maximising, and charting, oureconomic, environmental and community impact.

Trident evolved into a social business from 2008 to2010 and is now developing into a ‘social investmentgroup’ of housing associations, care and supportcharities and social enterprises as a response tooperating conditions and emerging policy priorities.So alongside our corporate development and inconjunction with our corporate plan, we havepublished a ‘Social Investment Strategy’ to guide ourwork over the next five years. A second set of socialaccounts will be published in 2014/15 to chart ourtransition to a fully developed ‘social investmentgroup’ and to evaluate the implementation of our‘Social Investment Strategy’. To this end, I will bemeeting with our Social Audit Panel on a regular basisto ensure that the momentum we have created canbe sustained. Transformation of our communities andthe improved quality of life and life chances ofresidents and service-users will be our key tests.

I would like to thank Trident board members, staff,residents and stakeholders in helping to build Trident’s‘social investment’ work and in compiling theseimportant ‘social accounts’.

John MorrisTrident Group Chief Executive

Introduction


Scope of the Social Audit

This first social audit of Trident Social Investment Groupwas undertaken by the Human City Institute (HCI),utilising various approaches including Sheffield HallamUniversity’s economic impact model, the NationalHousing Federation’s Neighbourhood Audit and HCI’s ‘Measuring-Up’. This has enabled triangulatedevaluation of how Trident deploys its assets and itsimpact on local economies, communities, residents and service-users, placed in Trident’s operatingenvironment context.

Stakeholder Views

The social audit was highly collaborative with boardmembers, partners, residents, service-users and staff being involved throughout. The social audit wasoverseen by a multi-stakeholder panel. A synthesis of views from stakeholder surveys shows that allstakeholders back Trident’s ‘social investment’ missionand associated brand. They recognise that Tridentdelivers a range of social value services and awaitfurther roll-out of services to tackle austerity and welfarereform and action Trident’s ‘£-Stretch’ VFM measure.

Economic Impact

Trident has a significant impact on the Midlands’economy with the product of Trident’s direct andindirect output calculated as £101m over 2010 to2012. Trident also creates and maintains almost 1,200 jobs in the region including direct employment(850) and indirect employment in associated supplychains and retail sectors, contributing almost £1m tothe Treasury through tax and national insurance overthe two years.

Dedicated Community Investment

Trident invested just over £1.2m during 2010 to 2012.Of this community investment, for every £1 Tridentinvested, £0.70 was invested by other funders. More than £550,000 was invested in projects related to wellbeing, health, poverty and social exclusion,£335,000 supported environment, liveability, safety and community cohesion projects, and £325,000 incultivating employment, enterprise, education and skills.

Social Value – Meeting Needs, Providing Homes

Over the two years, Trident created social value of£2.9m from meeting needs and providing homes. More disadvantaged households were accommodatedover the social audit period. Lettings to homelessapplicants doubled. Social value was created throughTrident’s development programme, via leasingarrangements with private providers, investment inhome improvements and tenancy support.

Social Value – Services to Residents and Communities

Much-valued frontline services to residents, service-users and communities created £2.1m over two years.Trident has a long history of generating social valuefrom housing management services, support servicesdelivered to vulnerable residents, provision ofcommunity facilities and retail units and building socialcapital through resident involvement.

Social Value – Social and Environmental Economies

Trident’s growing support for the social andenvironmental economies generated £1.8m of socialvalue. Partnerships with existing and embryonic socialenterprises put in place development and servicecontracts, provision of facilities, staff and volunteers,tackling fuel poverty, supporting research andcampaigning, raising surpluses via charity shops forreinvestment in services.

Summary – Headlines


Summary – Trident’s ‘Balance Sheet’

‘Balance Sheet’ (2010 to 2012) –Summary of Trident’s Economic Impact, Community Investment and Social Value

Economic Impact (Sheffield Hallam Model) Monetary Value

Output:(Direct and Indirect Turnover and Development – £millions) £101 million

Gross Value Added:(GVA – £millions) £47 million

Total Employment:(FTEs – Direct and Indirect) 1,190

Community Investment (NHF Neighbourhood Audit Approach) Monetary Value

Community Investment:(Employment, Enterprise, Education and Skills Projects) £325,000

Community Investment:(Wellbeing, Health, Poverty and Social Exclusion Projects) £550,000

Community Investment:(Environment, Liveability, Safety and Community Cohesion Projects) £335,000

TOTAL COMMUNITY INVESTMENT: £1.2 MILLION

Social Value (HCI Measuring-Up Methodology) Monetary Value

Social Value:(Meeting Needs, Providing Homes) £2.9 million

Social Value:(Services to Residents and Communities) £2.1 million

Social Value:(Supporting the Social and Environmental Economies) £1.8 million

TOTAL SOCIAL VALUE: £6.8 MILLION


Backdrop

Social landlords, and their subsidiaries in the care andsupport and social enterprise sectors, have increasinglyto demonstrate their beneficial effects on the economy,the environment and local communities and the value formoney (VFM) their work represents to stakeholders andtax payers. The creation of economic and social valuethrough planned deployment of their assets isbecoming an equally important feature of the evolvingpolicy environment, codified in the Public Services(Social Value) Act 2012.

Social Audit and Accounting

Trident has led the social housing sector in developing a ‘social investment’ mission and seeking to evaluate its implementation. The following report represents the first attempt by Trident to explore how it mightestimate its impact on the regional economy and local communities. To this end, Trident commissionedresearch partner the Human City Institute (HCI) toundertake the social audit across the Trident Groupsynthesising a range of techniques to obtaintriangulated perspectives on its economic impact,community investment and creation of social value. HCI developed its ‘Measuring-Up’ methodology whichdraws upon a range of techniques and approachesfrom the Third Sector in the UK, the European Union,the USA, and Australia.

‘Exceeding Expectations’ is a summary of a morecomprehensive internal report presented to Tridentincluding technical appendices. The key objectiveshave been to:

• Inform the development of Trident’s SocialInvestment Strategy ‘Grounded Growth,Dedicated Delivery’ and establish a means to evaluate its delivery.

• Test out different methods of evaluation ofeconomic impact, community investment andcreation of social value including those thatallocate monetary values to social activities, those based on stakeholder engagement, opinion and scoring, and those that test socialreturn on investment for specific services.

• Synthesise the results from varyingmethodologies to provide an overview of the achievements of Trident as an evolving ‘social investment group’ for a two year audit and accounting period (2010 to 2012).

Scope of the Social Audit

The Social AuditPanel at work.


Economic Impact and Social Value

Four key concepts used in the report are:

Economic Impact: A number of methodologies,including that by Sheffield Hallam University forsocial housing, have been developed recently toevaluate economic impact in specific geographiesand sub-sectors. These include annual outputturnover (a measure of annual activity built uponfixed assets developed over time such as housingstock, schemes and projects); employment andother people-based economic activity; Gross ValueAdded (GVA – output plus any additional valuegenerated to local economies); indirect ‘ripple’effects (economic multipliers).

Community Investment: The National HousingFederation with the Third Sector Research Centrehas created a Neighbourhood Audit methodology for measuring the extent and nature of communityinvestment by housing associations beyond thatassociated directly with mainstream housing, careand support services. The approach calculatesinvestment in terms of people, services and facilitiesacross six topic areas including employment,education, health and wellbeing, poverty and socialexclusion, the environment, and community cohesion.

Social Value: This refers to the wider non-financialimpacts of programmes, organisations, activitiesand interventions, including the wellbeing ofindividuals and communities, social capital and the environment. These are typically described as‘soft’ outcomes, mainly because they are difficult toquantify and measure. It also describes the additionalbenefits to communities from a commissioning orprocurement process over and above the directpurchasing of goods, services and outcomes.

Social Return on Investment: SROI is an analytictool for measuring and accounting for social value,incorporating social, environmental and economiccosts and benefits into decision making, providing afuller picture of how value is created. SROI assigns,through construction of assumptions based onwider research, a monetary figure to social valuecreated. Activities can then be quantified to obtain a monetary value of their investment.

‘Measuring-Up’ – Key Steps

HCI’s ‘Measuring-Up’ approach includes five steps:

Step 1 What are Trident’s mission, corporateobjectives and activities as a ‘socialinvestment group’ – Trident’s ‘Governance Statement’?

Step 2 What is the context within which Tridenttries to realise its mission, meet itsobjectives and deliver its services?

Step 3 What are the resources Trident brings to bear and what are its activities across the Group?

Step 4 How can the results of Trident’s work be evaluated in terms of social valuecreated and direct and indirect impact on communities and local economies?

Step 5 How can the outcomes achieved byTrident be quantified, summarised and presented?

Assumptions and Representation

In calculating economic impact, community investment and social value, HCI has been guided by otherresearch in these fields from academic and tradebodies. Proxy values have been assigned to the socialvalue of Trident’s services and activities. These proxyvalues have been calculated partly through monetarysavings to agencies and taxpayers (for example,dealing with ASB, mortgage rescue, housing ahomeless household, saving jobs) and partly from ‘soft’ outputs and outcomes (such as wellbeing). Proxy values are based on verifiable external researchwhere possible and the judgements of the auditors.Values have been estimated conservatively since over-claiming in social valuation exercises reduces credibility.


About Trident Social Investment Group

Trident is a Group of housing associations, charitiesand social enterprises managing 3,500 homes acrossthe Midlands, of which 1,000 are based in care andsupport schemes. Besides two housing associations,the Group incorporates:

Trident Reach: Provides homes and services tohomeless people, those with disabilities, olderpeople and women suffering domestic violence, and is a key deliverer of Trident’s communityinvestment and tenancy support work.

Trident Star: Manages private rented sectorhousing and seeks to negotiate with private sectorlandlords to house vulnerable groups such ashomeless people and ex-offenders.

Trident Inclusion: Tackles financial and digitalexclusion particularly through money, welfarebenefits and debt advice services.

Dorcas: Provides housing and services to theAfrican-Caribbean community and delivers projectsthat tackle community concerns, such as ‘guns andgangs’.

Trident also works closely with social enterprisesincluding the Jericho Foundation, which aidsdisadvantaged people in Birmingham, the Bangladeshicommunity-led Shahjalal Housing Co-operative,‘thinktank’ the Human City Institute, and SocialEnterprise West Midlands.

Trident employs more than 850 staff has an annualturnover of more than £35m and manages assets ofclose to £150m. The Group is a member of the MatrixHousing Partnership which oversees more than 27,000homes and deploys £1bn of assets.

Trident’s Operating Environment

Trident’s operating environment is increasingly complex:

PEOPLE AND PLACE

• Trident houses a predominantly disadvantagedclient group although there are pockets of greateraffluence and some high levels of employmentand embedded self-employment.

• Trident’s residents and service-users areincreasingly characterised by low income and fewassets, multiple needs and stunted life chances.

• While some of Trident’s neighbourhoods arerelatively affluent (in Edgbaston, Birmingham forexample), most are extremely deprived andlocated in inner Birmingham, the Black Countryand South Derbyshire. Trident’s central site estateis in the Ladywood Parliamentary constituency –the second most disadvantaged constituency in England.

POLICY

• Key challenges facing Trident include the need to improve its VFM while tackling the effects ofausterity, welfare reform and public sector cuts(especially to housing investment and thesupporting people programme) on vulnerableresidents, services-users and communities.

• Trident is tasked with developing its governancestructure to meet the challenges of a newregulatory regime emphasising risk managementin relation to assets while requiring greater impacton communities on the back of those assets.

PURPOSE

• Trident’s historic purpose as a ‘social business’meets its logical conclusion as a ‘socialinvestment group’ that seeks to improve lives andlife chances of some of the Midlands’ mostdisadvantaged communities. It fits with some ofthe most distinctive characteristics of housingassociations, historically as ‘beacons of hope’, ‘on the front line’ and as community investors and ‘anchors’.

Trident and its Operating Environment

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘We need to be careful about what we spendand monitor everything including water: don’tjust let it go down the drain. We never fill thekettle – only just enough for a cup of tea. We’retending to get up later and to go to bed earlier,wear extra woollens and drinking hot soups tostay warm and to keep heating bills down’.


This element is used to establish clarity about Trident –its mission and values, Corporate Plan, objectives and targets. The element includes clarification of organisational constitutional aims and objectives and governance arrangements that guide strategic and operational management.

Trident’s mission is to be a ‘Beacon of Hope’to disadvantaged communities in the ‘Age ofAusterity’ and beyond linked to nine values:

• People Centred.

• Leaving None Behind.

• Fostering Wellbeing.

• Financially Robust.

• Excellence, Involvement and Innovation.

• Co-operative.

• Committed to Community Investment.

• Furthering Social Justice.

• Building-In Sustainability.

Trident has set three corporate ambitions:

To be acknowledged as an outstanding socialbusiness group with an associated high publicprofile and reputation.

To be recognised as an excellent serviceprovider that places involvement of people,communities and stakeholders at the core of its approach.

To be acknowledged as a successful,sustainable and environmentally friendly social investment group.

In addition, three objectives have been established toguide Trident’s evolution into a fully operational socialinvestment group:

To align all Trident’s policies, practices andactivities on tackling poverty and disadvantage,the effects of austerity and welfare reform, andimproving the lives, life chances and cohesionof the communities in which Trident works.

To maximise Trident’s impact on localcommunities and economies to ensure vibrantneighbourhoods while offering better VFM,enhanced cost-effectiveness and a greaterstake to customers.

To create a fit-for-purpose Social InvestmentGroup to deliver cost-effective, community-based social investment, through a range ofdelivery vehicles, including subsidiaries andsocial and community enterprises.

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Governance Statement: Trident’s Mission


Collecting the Views of Stakeholders

The views of a range of stakeholder groups wereexplored in the following ways.

Board Members: Three Trident Group Board‘awaydays’ discussed the social audit and Trident’s‘social investment’ mission in relation to VFM,growth and services.

Senior Staff Interviews: In-depth interviews withDirectors and other senior staff (a total of thirteen)were undertaken to gauge the key ‘social value’activities of the Trident Group.

Social Audit Panel: A Social Audit Panelcomprising board members, residents, service-users and partners was established in 2012 tooversee the social audit process.

Resident and Service-User Surveys: Inclusion of‘social investment’ questions in Trident’s STARPLUS survey of 2012/13 determined Trident’s socialinvestment priorities – food, fuel, furniture, financeand futures – the ‘five Fs’.

Resident Focus Groups: Six focus groups withresidents and service-users.

Stakeholders Survey: Twenty-six partners, sub-divided into six sub-sectors including public, thirdand private sectors, housing, care and support,were interviewed in-depth. Questions concentratedupon Trident’s ‘social investment’ mission andbrand, its current impact on communities and howit might enhance its community impact in future.

Views of Stakeholders

A vast quantity of information was collected on thevarious views of stakeholders. The adjacent diagramprovides a summary of the triangulated results.

PARTNERS

Trident’s Social Investment Mission and Brand:These were seen as strong, ethical and relevant tothe operating policy environment. Many see ‘socialinvestment’ as where housing associations shouldbe placing social purpose above commercialism.

Trident’s Community Impact: Stakeholders aresupportive of Trident’s achievements to date. Local procurement, ethical investment and greenimpacts, financial exclusion, employment, trainingand community engagement are seen as areas for expansion.

Trident’s Asset Deployment: Stakeholders want tosee Trident utilise its assets more widely to supportlocal businesses, social enterprises and supplychains in a joined-up way to maximise impact andenable greater embedding of social capital in local communities.

What Stakeholders Think

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘Trident’s mission is how I want to see housingassociations operating, The mission covers somuch more than the core of housing and itencompasses what Trident is doing while givingsome weight to the outside world. It is verypositive and I hope it encourages Trident’speers to follow suit’.

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘The timing is good because it fits in with currentissues in the sector. Social investment is theright thing to focus on. It serves as a reminderof why we are in the sector. We seem to haveforgotten our origins and moved towards theprivate sector with the aim to be moreprofessional, but we need to combine both thepositive elements of both sectors’.


RESIDENTS AND SERVICE-USERS

Quality of Life Priorities: Rated top was betterhealth and wellbeing (at 65 per cent rating this asvery important) followed by greater financialsecurity (at 57 per cent), a home that better meetstheir needs (at 49 per cent), and better facilities fordisabled people (at 45 per cent).

Financial Exclusion Priorities: Actions by Trident to tackle financial exclusion were highly rated,including help with digital inclusion and moreaffordable Information and CommunicationsTechnology.

Social Investment: Tenants are highly supportive ofthe work Trident is doing around social investment.They want expansion to tackle problems aroundlack of furniture, affordable credit and food, healthand wellbeing, and employment and training.

Future Housing Aspirations: Some 15 per cent of tenants said that they were very likely to movehome in the next three years and a further 15 percent said they were fairly likely. Looking forward 10 years, 40 per cent expected to be renting fromTrident, 4 per cent thought they would be rentingfrom another housing association, 14 wanted to be home owners and 3 per cent shared owners,8 per cent thought they might be in councilhousing, and 6 per cent expected to be living insheltered housing.

STAFF

Trident’s Social Investment Mission: Staff aremotivated by Trident’s mission as a ‘socialinvestment group’ especially the elements oftackling disadvantage, supporting communities,creating jobs and seeking to make a wider anddeeper impact.

How Social Investment Can Improve VFM: Tailoredservices enable Trident to save public funders likelocal authorities, the NHS and the care systemmoney and increase social value. Staff want Tridentto determine which services increase social andmonetary value.

Social Auditing Can Help Create More Social Value:Involving residents, service-users and communitiesmore in planning and measuring services willratchet-up social value over time. Both soft andhard values need to be in the mix. Trident alsoneeds to look at long-term impacts as well asshort-term gains.

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘Trident needs to ensure that it has procurementpolicies that reflect social, economic andenvironmental outcomes. For instance, throughthe tendering process for work, Trident shoulddemonstrate the importance of social andenvironmental impacts and give this a highweighting within the tender’.

TRIDENT’S ‘SOCIAL INVESTMENT’ MISSION

VIEWS OF STAFF

Staff from all departments andsubsidiaries welcome the ‘socialinvestment’ mission but would likemore information on implications

Staff recognise the range ofsocial/added value services already delivered but requireevaluation and more planning

STAKEHOLDER VIEWS

Trident’s new brand supported

Trident’s ‘social investment’ mission approved

Partners want to see roll-out and demonstration projects

Interest in £-stretch/VFM aspects

RESIDENTS’ VIEWS

Residents approve of the ‘social investment’ approach

Want action to address austerity and welfare reforms

Want concentration on ‘5Fs’especially food, fuel and

affordable finance


Measuring Trident’s Economic Impact

Gauging the economic impact of the Trident Group can beundertaken using methodologies developed recently forhousing-based organisations by Sheffield Hallam University.These methodologies include:

• Annual output turnover (a measure of annual activitybuilt upon fixed assets developed over time such ashousing stock, schemes and projects);

• Employment and other people-based economic activity;

• Gross Value Added (output plus any additional valuegenerated to local economies);

• Indirect effects (‘ripple’ effects or economic multipliers).

Economic Impact

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘I think Trident’s new approach is spot on,I suspect that Trident has been doing itfor some time but has now formalisedthe approach. It adds a good dimensionto Matrix. A partner clearly committed tosocial investment and social justice isgreat to have as a strong voice in theMatrix Housing Partnership’.

Trident Group Assets, Turnover and Surpluses (2011-2016)

Group Assets, 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16Turnover and Surpluses

Housing Properties at Cost £137.1m £155.4m £171.1m £173.9m £176.3m

Net Book Value £61.2m £73.6m £87.3m £87.8m £88.5m

Total Fixed Assets £65.3m £77.6m £90.9m £90.9m £91.2m

Net Current Assets £11.2m £5.6m £5.6m £5.6m £5.6m

Gross Rental Income £14.4m £16.2m £17.2m £18.2m £18.9m

Total Turnover £29.7m £30.4m £34.8m £30.1m £31.1m

Retained Surplus After Tax £1.7m £1.6m £1.9m £1.8m £1.9m

Cumulative Retained Surplus £12.4m £14.0m £15.9m £17.7m £19.6m

Trident’s Economic Impact on the Midlands (2010-2012)

Ways of Calculating Direct Indirect TotalEconomic Impact Impact Impact Impact

Output: £65m £36m £101mTurnover and Development £millions

Gross Value Added: £26m £21m £47m£millions

Employment: 850 340 1,190(FTEs)


Trident’s economic impact under three key headings is shown here:

Output: Trident’s total output in the Midlands’economy is assessed at £101m of which £65m isdirect and £36m is indirect. This represents aconsiderable contribution to the regional economy.Additionally, since Trident works predominantly inthree communities – central Birmingham, Sandwelland South Derbyshire – its economic impact ismore concentrated geographically. Only estimatescan be made here but probably around one third ofTrident’s economic impact is made in these threecommunities. From Trident’s payroll data, themajority (around three quarters) of Trident’semployees live within five miles of their place ofemployment (office or housing scheme) and morethan one third within two miles.

Gross Value Added: This is a measure of theeconomic value of goods and services provided ina geographical region or economic sector minusintermediate consumption (gross minus net outputor approximately 45 per cent). Trident’s direct GVAis calculated at £26m and indirect GVA as £21m. So Trident’s total GVA to the Midlands’ economyequates to £47m. As above, around one third isconcentrated in central Birmingham, Sandwell andSouth Derbyshire.

Employment: Trident’s full-time equivalentemployee count is around 850 although it variesover time, especially in Trident Reach’s care andsupport housing schemes. A further 340 jobs aresupported in the supply chain and in local retailoutlets in Trident’s spheres of operation. Additionally,Trident’s direct employment contributes £740,000per annum in income tax and national insurancereceipts to the Treasury and a further £270,000 in tax and national insurance via indirect employment.

Social Audit Panelresident members withChair, Abi Robson.


Trident invests heavily in community-based servicesacross a range of service types. This section looks atthe monetary value of that community investment insix sub-sectors based upon the neighbourhood auditmethodology developed by the Third Sector ResearchCentre (TSRC) for the National Housing Federation. The results shown below were generated for theneighbourhood audit which crossed over the period of the Trident social audit.

Dedicated Community Investment

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘Increase the money advice service to includesurgeries with extended hours on Saturday andevening sessions to help tenants manage theirincome, give them advice and signpostingservices. We need greater promotion of themoney advice service to raise awareness. We’d also like more affordable credit and lowcost loans – lower than credit unions and onlyfor Trident residents’.

CASE STUDY: Money Advice Services

Trident has invested heavily in money advice services for residents for the last four years to address thehigh levels of financial exclusion among its client group. For example, more than half do not have savings,few can access affordable credit, one third carry significant debt, one fifth always or often feel harassed bylenders, and 1 in 5 have debt repayment schedules that account for more than 20 per cent of their annualincomes. A significant minority of tenants have to go without necessities, such as food and heating, on aregular basis to meet their debt repayments.

Trident’s money advice services helped 630 residents and service-users over the two year social auditperiod. Most of these were from Birmingham. A total of £209,000 in income maximisation was achievedduring 2010 to 2012, mostly by facilitating welfare benefit take-up.

A further £521,000 of personal debt was advised upon by Trident, around two thirds of which can beincluded as debt write-down or consolidation, so reducing resident and service-users’ debt overhang andimproving the sustainability of tenancies and their living standards.

All of this was achieved at an investment rate by Trident of around £120,000 over the two years.

Dedicated Community Investment (2010-12)

Community Investment Areas Monetary Value

Safety and Community Cohesion Projects: £165k

Education and Skills Projects: £180k

Employment and Enterprise Projects: £145k

Environmental Liveability Projects: £170k

Wellbeing, Health and Sports Projects: £260k

Poverty and Social Exclusion Projects: £290k

TOTAL COMMUNITY INVESTMENT: £1.2 MILLION


Trident invested just over £1.2m in the social audit period. Of thiscommunity investment, for every £1 Trident invested, £0.70 wasinvested by other funders.


Trident’s core activity within ‘social investment’ ismeeting housing and social needs by providing homesand lettings to vulnerable client groups. To this end,Trident increasingly housed more disadvantagedhouseholds over the social audit period, includingdoubling the number of lettings made to homelessapplicants. Trident has enhanced its ability to aiddisadvantaged households by providing more homesthrough development, leasing arrangements withprivate providers and investment in homeimprovements. In addition, all housing applicants nowcome through a ‘homeless hub’ to enable swifterresponses to the most severe housing and social needs.

Trident Reach provides a range of support to vulnerablegroups in the community to both meet needs andprovide homes. Services include tenancy support,

independent living services, community supportservices, involvement and engagement. Many of theseservices are delivered from a scheme-based platformthrough housing provision. Others are delivered in thecommunity in partnership with others including localauthorities, health agencies, other housing organisationsand social enterprises. The social value from this workamounts to around £1.5m.

It is estimated that Trident created social value totalling £2.9m fromits provision of homes and meeting needs during 2010 to 2012.

Social Value: Meeting Needs, Providing Homes

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘Homeless work has an intense period ofsupport up-front but in the longer term hastremendous benefits. Some of the homelesspeople Trident helps become volunteers tosupport other service-users, for example. Some are trained to take part in helping otherhomeless people we house and support.

Key Social Value Area: Meeting Needs, Providing Homes

£0 £50 £100 £150 £200 £250 £300 £350 £400

Miscellaneous

Equality and Diversity

Care Village – Oaklands

Market and Sub-Market Housing

Housing Homeless People

Asset Management and Home Improvements

Mortgage Rescue

Monetary Value £000s

£95k

£120k

£130k

£150k

£260k

£280k

£400k


CASE STUDY: Homeless Transition Fund SROI Forecast

Trident Reach’s Homeless Link Transition Fund Project was set up to establish sustainable pathways intoaccommodation for homeless people leaving hospital or prison and at risk of rough sleeping in theBirmingham area. The multi-disciplinary Project Steering Group agreed that the study should go beyondcalculating SROI to forecasting. An independent study by Midlands-based People and OrganisationLimited showed the potential for generating considerable social value. The study assumed fifty releasedoffenders at risk of homelessness, supported in a year at a cost of around £62,000, the generated socialreturn projected as at least £190,000:

• A forecast based only on benefits to government agencies (for example the criminal justice system,local authorities, central government and local health services) would generate a social return of £1:£3.2.

• A forecast based on benefits to government agencies plus the ex-offenders at risk of homelessnesswould generate a social return of £1:£19.

• The high return of £1:£19 relates to impact of sexual assault on an individual. If sexual assault isexcluded from the forecast the return is £1:£8.

Key Social Value Area: Services to Residents and Communities

£38k

£55k

£120

£130

£230k

£300k

£300k

£420k

£0 £50 £100 £150 £200 £250 £300 £350 £400

Other

Retail Units

Social Capital - Resident Involvement

Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour

Receptions and ICT

Social Capital from Training

Money Advice Services

Tenancy Support Service



A key measure of Trident’s ‘social investment’ isproviding much-needed, frontline services to residents,service-users and communities. Trident has set downdeep roots in this area of activity with a proud historyof generating social value in supporting ‘on themargins’ communities. Trident’s activities in this areainclude services stemming from housing management,support services delivered to vulnerable residents byTrident Reach, community facilities and retail units andthe provision of a range of social capital buildingactivities through resident involvement.

It is estimated that Trident generated social value from itsservices to residents and communities of £2.1m over thetwo year social audit period.

Social Value: Services to Residents and Communities

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘Trident could extend its IT training. Also help usto develop our skills including personal skills,practice interviews – what to say and what notto say. Other support with communication forjobs, giving references for the work experiencewe’ve had with Trident would be valuable too’.


CASE STUDY: Tenancy Support Service

Trident’s Tenancy Support Service, which topped the Customer Service category in the national HousingExcellence Awards in 2013, was established in 2011/12 and is now being expanded by Trident. Theservice provides a much-needed service to Trident’s residents, creates significant social value – both interms of reducing costs to public service agencies across a range of service areas and improving health,wellbeing and employment status of service-users.

Trident’s approach includes regular visits to residents’ homes, fortnightly regional housing surgeries andofficers taking the lead in resolving residents’ various problems on a one-to-one basis. In response towelfare benefit reforms and growing poverty and disadvantage, Trident has introduced a Rent Relief Fund,a Food Bank and Furnished Lettings Service, which all help residents to create more sustainable homes.

The Rent Relief Fund is particularly successful in helping young working residents who are struggling topay their rent. The Furniture Lettings Service helps those moving into unfurnished homes to create a realand sustainable future. It is estimated that the Tenancy Support Service creates more than £400,000 insocial value to public sector partners and service-users annually.


Crucial to Trident’s development as a ‘social investmentgroup’ is the support for the social and environmentaleconomies. Trident has developed partnerships with a range of existing and potential social enterprises,including making space within the Group structure (e.g. for Dorcas). Trident’s support includes providingdevelopment and service contracts, provision offacilities, staff and volunteers, tackling fuel poverty,supporting research and campaigning, raising funds via charity shops for investment in services to supportvulnerable groups such as women experiencingdomestic violence.

Social Value: Social and Environmental Economies

STAKEHOLDER COMMENT

‘Trident could create and support more socialenterprises. They should invest more inpurchasing services from social enterprises and create sheltered markets for local productsand services provided from enterprises based inthe community. Trident could do more to workwith partners, such as other Matrix members, to do likewise’.

Key Social Value Area: Social and Environmental Economies

£35k

£50k

£120

£130

£160k

£190k

£200k

£450k

£0 £50 £100 £150 £200 £250 £300 £350 £400 £450

Other

Charity Shops

Tackling Fuel Poverty

Dorcas

Environment Clean-Up, Recycling

Human City Institute

Shahjalal Housing Cooperative

Jericho Foundation


It is estimated that Trident created a social value in the socialand environmental economies in the Midlands of more than£1.8m over the two years.


CASE STUDY: Human City Institute

Trident invested £85,000 in the Human City Institute, an independent research charity and ‘thinktank’ overthe 2010 to 2012 period, supporting HCI’s research and campaigning work, including the projects underthe ‘No Community Left Behind’ research theme, which involves BME, faith and lifestyle communities inaction research work.

On the back of Trident’s investment, HCI raised a further £200,000 to support a full and varied researchprogramme totalling more than £300,000 over the two years.

Considerable media coverage of social exclusion issues such as austerity, welfare reform, inequalities, and improving life chances, extending mutualism and enhancing social mobility was achieved equivalentto £180,000 using the advertising value equivalent (AVE) approach with a x2.5 uplift.

HCI has worked with Trident to highlight the plight of low income communities affected by austerity,welfare reform, poverty and discrimination to policy-makers and partners via conference speaking,lectures, seminars and roundtables.


Conclusions

This first comprehensive social audit of Trident SocialInvestment Group has informed the development ofTrident’s Social Investment Strategy ‘Grounded Growth,Dedicated Delivery’, helped Trident test out differentmethods of evaluation of economic impact, communityinvestment and creation of social value, and enabled a synthesis of the results to provide atriangulated assessment of where Trident is as a ‘social investment group’.

The report is well titled ‘Exceeding Expectations’ sinceit has shown that Trident makes an important impact onthe Midlands’ economy, is committed to communityinvestment and has the potential to increase the socialvalue it produces and to amplify returns on investmentwithin the developing value for money framework. The social audit evidences that Trident is a listening andlearning group of organisations that are committed toimproving the position of disadvantaged communities.

Supporting Social Investment Strategy Development

The social audit has helped Trident to shape its socialinvestment mission and the development of its socialinvestment strategy. The strategy – ‘Grounded Growth,Dedicated Delivery’ – is based on delivery of five keyservices areas – Trident’s ‘Five Fs’:

FOODAffordable and sustainable food supply, food co-operatives.

FUELAffordable warmth, tackling fuel poverty, fuel education programmes.

FURNITUREFurnished lettings, homes not housing, decent homes+.

FINANCEAffordable credit, money and debt advice, business development and support.

FUTURESHealth and wellbeing, employment and training,skills, research and community consultancy.

Trident’s Next Steps

Trident has learnt important lessons from the socialaudit, including in-depth knowledge about whatstakeholders would like to see the Group achieve inthe future. Engagement of stakeholders in the SocialAudit Panel has been a revealing exercise in howstakeholder groups can work together to providevarying perspectives on how economic impact isachieved, how resources are invested in communitiesand the ways in which social value might beextended. Trident will be communicating theconclusions of the social audit with stakeholders,especially residents, service-users and communities.

Trident fully intends to repeat the exercise over 2013to 2014 and develop further ways to evaluate itshistoric social purpose, roll-out its corporate mission,and how social dividends from improved efficienciesand from commercial activities might be generated to the betterment of the quality of life of residents,service-users and communities until the end of the decade.

Looking to the Future


Trident’s urban village inthe heart of Birmingham.

Trident Social Investment Group, 239 Holliday Street, Birmingham B1 1SJ. www.tridentsocialinvestmentgroup.com Switchboard: 0121 633 4633. Freephone (from BT landline) 0800 111 4944. Mobile (reduced rate) 0300 123 1113.Out of hours, emergency repairs and to report anti-social behaviour: 0121 643 6060.

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