Case Studies
Glasgow Housing Association - Housing Options research (read more...)
Link Group – Older People’s Advice Business Plan (read more)
Link Group – Self assessment (read more...)
Riverclyde Homes - performance management training (read more...)
Places for People Scotland Care and Support – bid support, strategy development and business planning support (read more...)
HQN – Governance toolkit (read more...)
Services Include
Housing research and feasibility studies
Strategy, policy development and business planning
Governance reviews
Investment appraisal and project management
Mergers/group structure appraisal and stock transfer project management
Self assessment, service reviews and improvement plans
Bid support to win new business in competitive tenders
Anna works with housing associations on
- Business and strategy development
- Bespoke research and feasibility studies
- Self assessment and pre-inspection support
Anna's research and management consultancy disciplines combined with professional experience in the private sector, local government, Scottish Homes and housing associations means she understands the challenges in achieving growth and service improvement in this increasingly complex and risky environment .
Anna believes change must be underpinned by a strong evidence base, and then implementation managed carefully in partnership with Board/Committee members and staff teams.
Case Studies
Client: Glasgow Housing Association and Glasgow City Council
Mandy Littlewood Social Research Consulting led this research team which included Anna Evans and Heriot Watt University. The aim of the research was to assess the nature and scale of barriers to meeting housing need in Glasgow and the reasons for people seeking housing.
The main outputs form the study are:
- An assessment of the key barriers to housing for people living in Glasgow and moving to the city to live, including analysis of the frequency and severity of common issues
- Strategic options/recommendations regarding requirement for services and products which would help remove barriers to housing for people in Glasgow
- Specific recommendations about the development of a housing options service
- An overview of the potential contributions that different organisations in Glasgow could play in providing a housing options service
- Key risks/issues for GHA to consider in relation to any recommended business or service development.
Client: Link Group
The Older People’s Advice Service has been operated by Linkwide Ltd over the last five years, and following very positive outcomes for older people in Scotland the Link Group wishes to consolidate to service in central Scotland, and extend its benefits to a wider population in Scotland. Anna Evans Housing Consultancy was appointed to develop the business case for the next five years for submission to the Scottish Government and other prospective funders.
Client: Link Group
Appointed by Link Group to review the housing association’s arrangements for self-assessment and quality assurance in the context of the changing Regulatory framework and anticipated inspection within the next few years. Involved a review of all governance and performance management systems / data collection and reporting methods and recommendations on how the Group should develop its self-assessment system.
Colin Culross Asset Management Director said
Anna's work was essential as a prequel to Link's approach to self assessment and served as a bedrock for scoping the project and determining the key objectives
Clients: Bridgewater Housing Association and Linstone Housing Association
AEHC has been appointed jointly by these two associations to undertake a review of their sheltered housing stock and services. The stock is suffering from low demand and changes in demand profile and the housing support context means a detailed appraisal of the long term options is now required. The option appraisal involves demand and supply analysis across Renfrewshire, financial analysis, and development and appraisal of long term stock and service options.
Client: Riverclyde Homes
Anna provided training to the senior management team. Training involved a review of the key concepts of performance management, the relevant Regulatory considerations, and training on the full set of tools which senior managers may employ in strategic and operational performance management. The training day included group and individual interactive sessions.
Client: Places for People Scotland Care and Support
AEHC was appointed to provide a range of management consultancy support and strategy development. The learning disability strategy development involved researching the market and commissioning strategies in 8 target local authorities, providing competitor analysis and developing an action plan for business development and service improvement.
AEHC was also appointed to develop an outcomes measurement tool so that PfP could measure and monitor outcomes for service users, rather than just relying on input/output related key performance indicators. This work involved a review and discussion of PfP’s existing outcomes assessment methods, appraising the client on the alternatives/options available and developing a new method for reporting service user outcomes. This links to Anna’s previous work in developing a Housing Support outcomes model for the (then) Scottish Executive which has now been taken forward by the Housing Support Enabling Unit (branded Better Futures)
Other work for PfP has included production and analysis of a staff survey and governing body self assessment questionnaire.
Client: Places for People Scotland Care and Support
Anna Evans Housing Consultancy was appointed by Places for People Scotland Care & Support to provide hands-on support in making competitive bids to provide care and support services. The consultancy work involved: discussing and agreeing the bid strategy; issuing a comprehensive information requirements list to the client; assisting in drafting the bid before it was issued to the tendering local authority. Anna has also provided hands-on advice in preparation for interviews / presentations.
Rhona Murray, Director of Places for People Care and Support said
Working with Anna was such a positive experience - her knowledge, perception and guidance was invaluable and she also proved to be excellent value for money due to her ability to achieve objectives very quickly without compromising quality.
Client: HQN Ltd
Anna Evans has been working with HQN Ltd to develop a governance toolkit, specifically for RSLs in Scotland. It provides a framework to achieve excellence in governance in the Scottish Housing Regulator Era. The toolkit asks a number of searching questions for individual Board members and senior management staff to identify strengths and weaknesses in governance. It then provides a means of scoring to enable comparison across the Board. The toolkit provides pointers to address weaknesses and sources of further information. For further information on the HQN governance toolkit contact HQN on 0845 4747 004.
The toolkit was launched through a conference for RSLs in January 2009. Anna launched the toolkit and other speakers included Professor Lorne Crerar, Chairman of Harper Macleod LLP who spoke on the impact that his recent Review of Regulation, Audit and Inspection may have on RSLs. Robert Tamburinni, Chief Executive of North Glasgow Housing Association spoke on governance in the context of community based housing associations. Paul Minto, Partner of HBJGatelyWaring LLP spoke on governance in a housing stock transfer context, and Ewan Fraser, Chief Executive of Dunedin Canmore Group spoke on governance from a housing association merger context.