Value for Money
Organisations often talk about Value for Money (VFM), but what does it mean?
VFM is the balance between cost and quality. VFM is about providing and maintaining the same service, whilst reducing costs or providing a higher level of service for the same money.
Irwell Valley is committed to getting the most out of the money our customers pay in rent and service charges and we are focusing on improving the VFM of our services and making savings wherever possible for re-investment
How is Irwell Valley HA achieving VFM?
We regularly assess the services we provide to see whether we are getting value for money for the goods and services we buy or getting better value for the same cost. We do this whilst taking customer views into account. In addition to this we regularly compare our costs and performance with other housing associations to find out if and how we can improve further.
Every year we set ourselves cost saving targets. In 2009/2010 our target saving was £533k, we surpassed this target with total efficiency savings of £944k. Of this, £575k was re-invested into the areas our customers thought would achieve the greatest benefit.
For further details on the above savings & reinvestments please click here.
This year 2010/11, our target is £54k, this is based on indicative savings we think are achievable on contracts for goods and services that are due for renewal throughout the year. To date, our efficiency savings against this target are £207k. In addition to this, through reviewing our spend across all departments, we identified an additional £235k of savings which can be redirected into higher priority areas. The VFM Steering Group met in November 2010 and agreed that this should be reinvested into what customers have said through surveys is their main priority – this is improvements to properties – namely kitchens.
This reinvestment of savings will mean that approximately a further 100 kitchens can be installed in 2010/11 with priority being given to our Solid Gold customers.
We are currently in the process of identifying areas for targets for the next financial year. Do you have any ideas of areas where we can save money? Please see below for how you can get in touch with us.
VFM Steering Group
This group brings together customers and colleagues to discuss ways of continually reviewing the VFM of our services and looking for ways of increasing efficiency whilst maintaining a service, that our customers want. The groups meets three to four times a year, where ideas and initiatives are discussed and incorporated onto our VFM and service plans. FIf you’d like to be involved, please get in touch.
We are also looking for customers to get involved in our procurement projects during 2011/12. Many of these will have a direct impact on you and we need your help to ensure that you get the best service. Up & coming procurement projects are detailed here:
http://www.irwellvalleyha.co.uk/content/674/future-procurement-.aspx
Telephone a member of the VFM team: 0161 610 483916 or e-mail: VFM@irwellvalleyha.co.uk