NHF Board Member conference Managing tenant scrutiny 2 nd Feb 2013

Transcription

1 NHF Board Member conference Managing tenant scrutiny 2 nd Feb 2013

2 What is required? involvement in housing related policies & services; scrutiny of performance & support for the formation and activities of tenant panels

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4 Ensuring that landlords deliver good services to tenants Self-regulation Landlords are accountable to their tenants, not to the regulator. Tenants must have the information and opportunities they need to hold landlords to account and to shape service delivery. Department of Communities & Local Government Honest and robust, evidence based self-assessment, external challenge & regular reporting to tenants Designated Tenant Panels

5 Designated Tenant Panels the formal role of referring complaints to the Housing Ombudsman honest broker role - constructive challenge debate with tenants about setting up designated panels an audit trail for decisions none, one or more than one relationships with other designated persons national register of Designated Tenant Panels

6 Tenants know their housing better than anyone. They are best placed to know what s working and what isn t. Good landlords understand that listening to tenants is not just the right thing to do. It is also good for business. Getting outcomes for tenants

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8 Banning the phrase best practice Soha - Portfolio holders and scrutiny approach Gentoo standards based groups & Customer Link Helena scrutiny & Young Inspectors Paradigm - Resident Internal Auditors Preston - Gateway Tenant Committee Rooftop - Resident Action Team

9 Tenant scrutiny different ways for tenants to be involved in scrutiny recruitment to scrutiny panels the chairing role? the independence issue? ensuring that tenants can constructively challenge methods to choose what will be scrutinised

10 Guides & information available at: Nic Bliss

11 National Housing Federation Board Members Conference Tenant scrutiny how are you managing this? 2 nd February 2013 Yvonne Davies Scrutiny and Empowerment Partners Ltd

12 Co-regulation and scrutiny - part of a wider web of landlord accountability competition / choice audit board members elections local authority redress the press social media inspection / regulation management processes customer insight / complaints

13 Challenges and opportunities Get the culture right: tenants, board and staff need to trust and respect eachother for co-regulation to work well Soha Housing

14 What happens during scrutiny common approaches Scrutiny in weeks Presentation from Manager on the service Service review of promises made to tenants Testing promises - interviews, focus groups, observation, shadowing, mystery shopping, reviewing satisfaction, performance and benchmarking (quality as well as data). Report writing pulling together strengths and weaknesses and recommendations (commonly tested on officers first) Presentation to Board Actions - agreement and planning Monitoring by who and when?

15 Four principles of effective scrutiny

16 Advantages to Board of the Scrutiny Challenge (1) Evidenced based recommendations helps Boards to fulfil responsibilities and meet organisational objectives Provides assurance about performance and contributes to good governance Evidences how decisions are working on the ground Additional source of in depth consumer opinion, on top of that already gleaned from Tenant Board Members Provides feedback on what tenants might find acceptable in times of cuts Our annual report was large and costly in production; resident engagement enable sit to be reduced to a few pages of interest on what residents wanted to know Family Housing (Birmingham)

17 Advantages to Board of the Scrutiny Challenge (2) More tenant shaped services = increased satisfaction Boards hear from tenants and nothing is filtered supports openness and transparency Helps to tighten up involvement structures, make them more focussed and triggers actions on real priorities Removes assumption and presumption, gives a real reality check on the quality of services and the priorities of tenants Complements the challenge from the Board Many organisations have only got the critical aspect of coregulation. It is the friend which enables us to work together to solve problems Amicus Horizon

18 Scrutiny Panels and Boards different starting points Re-inventing involvement: Riverside Housing Group 2 years Value for Money: New Charter Scrutiny Panel - 100,000 saving in the grounds maintenance contract and options for local labour Meeting up: Wirral Partnership Homes & Advisory and Scrutiny Panel quarterly meetings with Chair and CEO Strategy: East Durham Homes & Customer Inspection and Improvement Panel - task & finish groups & 12 month joint plans Joint Complaint Panels: Together Housing, New Charter, City West and Salix Homes - working together, independence and value There may be pressure to get results quickly. It needs time for those involved to truly understand what is expected of them and how they might go about achieving it. Training and support is essential Wherry HA

19 Scrutiny Panels and Boards different approaches Choosing subjects for scrutiny at Board: varies, either one a year (recommended only) or, left to the tenants. Fabrick Housing Group: 2 landlords, 2 Resident Scrutiny Panel > 2 Performance Committees Trafford Housing Trust: Quality & Improvement Panel > Board Liverpool Mutual Homes: Tenant Scrutiny Panel > Customer Experience Committee of Tenant Board Members Soha Housing: Virtual scrutiny meetings Salix Homes: The Senate Board delegation of performance top level review What are you afraid of? Peter Styche, Board Chair: Helena Partnerships and Salix Homes

20 Developing tenant scrutiny and co-regulation in social housing (lessons from the co-regulatory champions) Stories in tenants scrutiny and co-regulation in social housing (Case Studies) Top tips for tenants: holding your landlord to account through scrutiny Publications page of: Bed time reading

21 Remember Boards and staff need training too! Tel: Free news pages housing & social policy developments Or Join Us - over 30 other landlords and become a member and access landlord scrutiny reports, advice and what works for others.