It is my pleasure to share with you the 2023/24 Annual Performance Report.

Each year, this report serves as a vital tool for sharing how we are performing in line with the Scottish Social Housing Charter outcomes. We are particularly proud that our tenants have played an active role in shaping both the content and design, ensuring that this report reflects your needs and interests.

Over the past year, we’ve continued to face challenging economic circumstances but thanks to the dedication and hard work of our staff, I am pleased to report that our housing service remains strong. In fact, we continue to perform above the Scottish average in several key areas, including tenant satisfaction, delivering value for money on rents, and maintaining a highly responsive repairs service. These achievements are a true testament to our team’s commitment to providing the best possible services to our tenants.

We understand that the ongoing cost of living crisis is affecting many of you and continues to put pressure on household budgets. To help alleviate some of the cost pressures, we have rolled out a range of energy efficiency initiatives including solar panels, air source heat pumps, new windows and doors and better household insulation to reduce energy costs and combat fuel poverty, but they’re also playing a critical role in supporting our environmental targets. We remain committed to expanding these programs further in the years to come.

Additionally, in response to the Scottish Government's declaration of a housing emergency in May 2024, we are more determined than ever to address the housing challenges facing our communities. With one of Scotland's most ambitious affordable housing programs, we’re on track to deliver 5,000 additional council homes by 2035. This past year alone saw the completion of 335 new build homes, alongside 126 properties acquired through our Open Market and Empty Homes Purchase Schemes.

I would like to extend my thanks to our officers, staff, and Tenant Participation Team, as well as our tenants, residents’ groups, and the North Lanarkshire Federation. Your dedication has been instrumental in driving the improvements that help make North Lanarkshire a great place to live. We look forward to continuing this journey together.

It has been another bumper year for the Federation committee, with each one of us doing our upmost to ensure that the Tenants & Residents groups of North Lanarkshire are receiving all the help and information necessary to keep afloat!

With the future in mind, and in the knowledge that a stationary wheel soon seizes-up, we decided to expand the executive committee, incorporating extra, ring-fenced places, with the emphasis on “Inclusion” and this was passed unanimously at our AGM in June. A code of conduct for the committee was also introduced and passed at the same meeting.

We are still reaping the rewards of the office upgrade and, since moving in, we have had to purchase a few more tables to accommodate the number of delegates at some of the meetings. (We are even hosting the Motherwell & Bellshill Chairpersons meetings).         

For our annual McMillan Cancer Care Coffee Morning the room was absolutely packed and we raised about double the amount of last year. A huge Thank You to everyone who baked, helped make tea & coffee, washed dishes, cleared-up afterwards and of course, all the extremely generous people who dug deep for this great cause.

I’ve been saying it for years now but, it’s finally been made official, we have the best T.P. Team in Scotland, Gold-Accredited Award! A credit to North Lanarkshire, they are professional, dedicated and, Simply The Best! Working with the team is always a pleasure and together we are making a difference. I’ve been to several evening meetings with them, either to set-up new groups or to assist established ones and I’m always impressed by their patience, understanding and knowledge.

Our Scrutiny group is continuing its current project, Retirement Housing; it will last for a few more months and by the end of it, we hope to be able to introduce a new sub-group for Retirement Housing complexes. The other sub-groups continue to flourish, with changes being made as and when necessary.

Finally, by the time you read this, our new website will be fully functional, it has been a long, drawn-out experience and, hopefully, it will have been worth the effort everyone has put in.