At a time when finances are a real worry for many organisations Barnet Homes has been recognised for looking after its cash

The ALMO, which was set up by Barnet Council in 2004, has identified more than £6.7million of savings putting it in the top 10 ALMOs for efficiency gains.

The cash was saved through Barnet Homes’ work with the London Area Procurement Network and by negotiating down prices, overheads and profits with its partners and as a result the ALMO was able to invest more money into adaptations for tenants with disabilities.

Counting the pennies is not the only area where Barnet Homes has shone - it has also received praise from the Audit Commission, which awarded the ALMO two stars for good service.

The positive verdict followed an Audit Commission inspection last November which found that Barnet Homes had made many improvements since its previous inspection in April 2006.

Margaret McPeake, chief executive of Barnet Homes said: “I am very pleased the inspectors highlighted our improvements including our residents’ gardening club, our staff innovation panel, which funds bright new ideas and our talking sign boards in several languages, as examples of good practice and innovation.

“My thanks go to staff, the board and the many resident representatives. I know we are all looking forward to finishing our Decent Homes programme and making the improvements which the inspection helped us identify. We also have exciting plans afoot to involve even more residents.”

And of course behind the awards and the accolades Barnet Homes is continuing its drive to improve life for the residents of the 11,000 tenanted properties and 3,500 leaseholder properties that it manages.

It’s £150 million Decent Homes programme is well underway as it works towards the Government’s 2010 target and work has been completed in 3,300 homes, including new windows for 1,500 properties, 2,600 new kitchens and 1,300 new bathrooms and heating
systems.

The service that Barnet Homes offers is, of course, all about the tenants and tenant participation is key to the organisation’s success. “We pride ourselves on our residents being at the heart of all our services,” says Vi Britchfield, chair of the Barnet Homes board. “We want all our residents to have a say about the services we provide and to have an equal opportunity to be involved in making decisions about where they live.”

There are four elected tenants and one leaseholder on the management board and a variety of different ways for residents to get involved with the organisation.

One of these is a three-way formal agreement between residents, Barnet Council and Barnet Homes, called the Tenant Compact. This gives every tenant a say on how services are run and is closely monitored.

As a result of input from residents a number of improvements have been made to Barnet Homes’ services including the creation of a call centre, the introduction of quarterly rent statements, and adaptations to the homes of disabled people.

And it is not just enough to have resident participation Barnet Homes wants to ensure that the tenants involved in its groups and associations have the necessary skills to take on their roles as representatives of their communities. That is why it has developed a comprehensive training programme, and courses including teaching residents how to become mystery shoppers to test its services.

Many tenants are put off getting involved because they think that it is boring but Barnet Homes has proved that it can be fun with a series of social events within the community. It’s also started a garden club and funded two tenants to do a gardening course at college.

Barnet Homes has dedicated community partnership workers to help get residents ideas up and running by offering help with setting up groups, obtaining funding, equipment and training.

And tenant involvement includes all members of the community, no matter how young or old.

Last year a youth engagement panel was set up and £60,000 was set aside to fund projects after residents said that they wanted Barnet Homes to do more for young people. And there is a youth forum for 12 to 17 year olds, which meets every six weeks.

While residents of Barnet Homes’ sheltered housing had the opportunity to learn IT skills, such as sending emails and shopping online at its BITE Club.

And there are plenty of community programmes planned for the future, including a new resource centre for residents, equipped with computers and also offering a photocopying service.

There is no doubt that Barnet Homes has firmly ensconced itself in the community that it serves and is making great strides to improve the quality of life for its tenants.