Tenant Panels
April 2014 Round-up
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April Activities:
Home Standard Tenant Panel Meeting.
24th April - Perton Civic Centre
Number of attendees; 11 plus 1 Staff Member
Purpose: part of the Tenant Panel meeting cycle.
Following on from the March meeting the panel, in the absence of Phil Woodhead, compiled a list of
questions relating to work they had undertaken on “no access calls” Variation’s of works orders ,
communication and publicity of the repairs service in relation to the local offer. The panel tasked
the Services Officer to ensure that PW received the list in sufficient time to prepare to answer and
discuss at the April 2014 meeting.
PW attended the meeting and held a Q@A session on the questions with panel members. PW also
took part in the feedback and analysis session based on the repairs mystery shopping exercise,
which highlighted some areas that will require further investigation by both Client Services and
Customer Services.
This work will continue into the June meeting and beyond.
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Tenant Panel Meeting Tenancy Conditions Review
24th April - Acton Court
Number of Attendees; 8 plus 1 staff member
Purpose: to gain customer insight into proposed changes to the existing Tenancy Conditions in
relation to rent arrears and grounds for Possession.
Sam Allcott produced a Board report and gave background detail to Welfare Reform and the
proposed introduction of Universal Credit.
Also introduced to members’ detail of residual rent arrears that traditional recovery methods are
not seen as relevant or effective.
The group agreed to meet again in July 14 where they will continue their investigation into
alternative collection methods.
Tenancy Standard Tenant Panel Meeting
16th April - Essington Community Centre
Number of Attendees 8 plus 1 staff member
Purpose: part of the agreed Tenant Panel meeting cycle
Guidance:
“SSHA must let its properties in a fair, open and transparent manner”
“And must demonstrate value for money in the delivery of the service”
Exercise undertaken by panel members on the subject of internal transfers, and associated costs, in
response to panel members wishing to understand how the associated costs had reduced so
dramatically.
Members also undertook an exercise in understanding schedule of rates items and how schedules of
work are produced and costs produced, members registered the disappointment that no one from
Client Services or Property Care attended the meeting in order to expand on this.
Attendees from the Q@A session on the 9th April also contributed to the discussion. Panel
members informed that as of their May meeting Tracey Griffiths would be joining the panel as their
new Lead Officer.
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Home Standard Tenant Panel Mystery Shop Exercise (Repairs Journey Mapping)
11th April - Acton Court
Number of Attendees 4
Purpose: following on from the Home Panel investigation into how the repairs service is
communicated and perceived, data was randomly extracted from completed repairs reports, and 4
members of the Home Panel undertook a telephone survey of the customers identified. The
intention being not to focus on the repair itself, but the process, and look to identify communication
issues or trends. Also to measure the customer experience against our published SLA.
Results have since been collated and shared with Customer Services and Client Services. Further
feedback and analysis will be undertaken in future meetings of the panel. It was also agreed that the
exercise would be re-run in a mirrored fashion at the end of September 2014 in order to correlate
the results.
Tenancy Standard Tenant Panel Focus Group (Q@A with Neighbourhood Services Manager)
9th April - Essington Community Centre.
Number of Attendees 4 plus 1 Staff Member
Purpose; following on from the Panel investigations into internal transfers and mutual exchanges, Panel
members constructed a series of questions and arranged a meeting with Neighbourhood Services
Manager.
The meeting took place with very lively discussions and frank exchanges, detailed answers were
provided by Neelam Samra.
Panel members will be in a position to feedback to the wider membership at the full Panel Meeting on
the 16th April.
This session will allow the projects to proceed.
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Involvement and Empowerment Standard Tenant Panel Meeting
8th April - Codsall Village Hall
Number of attendees; 10 plus 2 staff members
Purpose: part of the agreed Tenant Panel meeting cycle, concluding the work from the March 14
meeting.
Julie Reid
Presented repair related call statistics for March 14 looking at how many of those calls could be
avoided. The Panel wanted to understand more of the relationship between Call Centre, Client
Services and Property Care. JR also presented end of year Call Centre statistics and costs allowing
members to understand an average call cost, linked to quality of communication.
Emma Cooper
Following on from the March Meeting where a series of questions about policy implementation
were put to the NEMO’s, EC attended to deliver the responses and agreed to a Q@A session.
Members felt that these questions and the fact that they needed such a level of explanation could
potentially be systematic of poor communication.
Both items will be followed up on at the May and June 14 meetings
Externally sourced Panel Members training session (unlocking the true potential of involved
customers)
1st April 2014 - Codsall Village Hall
Number of attendees 10 plus 1 external trainer (consultant)
Purpose: In order to develop the skills and knowledge of the panel members, SSHA has identified that
some members will benefit from training and insight in order to help them better understand their role
in co-regulation; and in particular, their relationship with the Board.
Panel members’ attended half day training and information session with the following aims:
•
To explore the role and responsibilities of the board and its directors
•
To consider the similarities and difference between the role of the board and the role of the
Tenant Panels
•
Identify the key skills for panel members to be effective in informing and influencing the board.
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During April there have been 55 tenants and 6 staff members being actively involved.
Areas that have gone well:
April has been yet another busy month which has gone well and has exceeded our expectations. We
have also begun the process of formulating specific service improvement recommendations in line
with the Local Offers. The panels have also begun to diversify taking on a review of tenancy
conditions and rent arrears remedies and to define their own work load.
Areas for concern:
No specific areas for concern; it is however now appropriate to take a detailed look at and reinforce
the importance of the Lead/ Deputy relationship with the Panels. We will have to consider different
ways of continuing to raise the profile of the Panels within the business and also with our customer
base.
2014 Activities
May 2014
Tenant Panel meetings
13th May – Involvement and Empowerment standard
21st May – Tenancy standard
29th May – Home standard (deferred to 5th June)
Gas Safety Policy Review – 29th May 2014
Tenant Repair Survey - ongoing
June 2014
Tenant Panel meetings
10th June – Involvement and Empowerment standard
18th June – Tenancy standard
5th & 26th June – Home standard
July 2014
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Tenant Panel meetings
8th July – Involvement and Empowerment standard
16th July – Tenancy standard
24th July – Home standard
1st July – Tenant Panel progress and Future Plans Event
7th July – Tenancy Conditions Review
Richard Davis 30th April 2014
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