We invite our customers to join a Scrutiny panel twice a year.It’s an opportunity to focus on one of our services and let us know how to improve.
Date: Spring 2023
Topic: Reporting Anti-social behaviour (ASB)
Five tenants, one leaseholder and one shared owner attended three sessions which included:
- Fact Finding and Q&A with the team: reviewing service standards, policies, procedures and performance information, costs, quality, and customers’ views relating to the service.
- Challenge and Compare: examining what other landlords do, benchmarking, and identifying any good practice.
- Recommendations: analysing findings and making recommendations to Peaks & Plains Board including an action plan to address these.
Some of the improvements we discussed included:
- Increasing awareness of our ASB service
- The Trust was asked to make it clearer for customers what we consider as ASB and what we can deal with - such as whether the responsibility lies with us, Cheshire East Council, or another agency.
- The Trust was asked to promote the 'Community Trigger' - a way of getting different organisations together to deal with a persistent issue on your patch.
- We were asked to explain more clearly how 'anonymous reporting' works - for example, by sharing case studies.
- We were asked to provide more information on what support you'll receive when you report an ASB issue - like how often you will be contacted, when, and why.
- Our Scrutiny Panel asked us to create the position of a 'customer champion' or involve Challenge Group to work closely with our ASB team and make sure our customers are at the heart of any service change. One of our Challenge Group members is now an ASB service champion.
- The Scrutiny Panel asked us to review and put in place a CCTV policy, which we have now introduced.
- Introduce a quality assessment checklist after an ASB Officer has closed an ASB case. This will ask the customer different questions - like how satisfied they were with how we dealt with their report.
- Add an option to include pictures to the reporting form on the website.
All recommendations have been closed and implemented.
Date: Autumn 2023
Topic: End of Tenancy Process
Six tenants and one shared owner attended three sessions which included:
- Fact Finding and Q&A with the team: reviewing service standards, policies, procedures and performance information, costs, quality, and customers’ views relating to the service.
- Challenge and Compare: examining what other landlords do, benchmarking, and identifying any good practice.
- Recommendations: analysing findings and making recommendations to Peaks & Plains Board including an action plan to address these.
Some of the improvements that we discussed included:
- More information about meter readings and how you should leave them e.g., £0. This results in savings for the Trust and potential customers who might have been affected due to debt.
- Explore how the Trust can send a receipt for keys. This offers reassurance to the customer that these have been received.
- Review how the Trust captures feedback about customers' experience at the end of tenancy process. This would include introducing transactional surveys once keys have been received. This will help find areas of improvement and celebrate successes
- Members would like to see a thank you added to the final letter that explains all arrears have been cleared from the former tenant's account. This will help keep a good relationship with Peaks & Plains and create a positive perception.
- To ensure the Customer Experience Team have access to a list of charities who help to remove items such as white goods. The Team will then be able to signpost customers to these support agencies.
- Investigate adding a link to the website to signpost customers to information checklists about what is involved in moving house e.g. booking removal vans, redirecting post. This was based on feedback from a former tenant whose recently ended their tenancy with the Trust.
- To create a similar checklist of key points with more information about lettable and return standards which outlines exactly what is expected from a tenant. This will inform our tenants and increase awareness of the standards resulting in decreased recharges.
- Following a comparing exercise where the panel discussed what they liked and did not like about other housing associations end of tenancy forms and the Trusts lead to the panel agreeing to review and amend end of tenancy form with the below: - Make the form available in large print - Make the boxes coloured to make it easier to read - Remove all options for adaptations list but add one box that states ‘Has the property had any improvements or adaptations e.g. stairlift, handrails, walk-in shower, ramp etc).
The Challenge Group check the action plans resulting from the reviews at every meeting. Making sure that the Trust is accountable and keeping on track with the implementation of the recommendations.
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