RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN

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1 Owner: Ewan Moar Last Review Date: January 2013 Next Review Date: June 2014 RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN Newlon is committed to ensuring that residents needs and views are at the heart of service improvement. Newlon provides a wide range of effective opportunities for residents to scrutinise and shape the services it provides in order to achieve this. This is known as Co-regulation. This is mainly for good business reasons so that services reflect residents needs and preferences, are continuously improving and become better value for money. It is also to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, of which Co-regulation is a key element, and match good practice. This Strategy sets out the objectives for resident involvement and how they will be achieved. There is also a Resident Policy which complements this Strategy and which gives guidance to staff about the opportunities currently provided. Between them, these provide a statement on Resident. This strategy is in line with Newlon s Business Plan which has 4 main business objectives: 1. To expand the number of high quality homes we provide 2. To improve the quality of services provided to our residents 3. To be an efficient and effective organisation 4. To develop successful partnerships with external stakeholders. How Newlon will work towards achieving these objectives is set out in the specific actions within the Business Plan. Resident feedback has been used as the basis for the direction and detail of the Plan. In turn the Business Plan provides the guidance and structure for individual departments to set their own action plans. The Resident Strategy is designed to provide effective opportunities for residents to help achieve the aims and objectives of Newlon. An annual action plan is attached to the strategy as appendix A. This contains specific actions to develop and improve the service during the current year. These actions will be regularly monitored and reported on to ensure they are implemented. The main objectives of the strategy are to: Page 1 of 8

2 1. Improve services to residents or make them more effective, using residents views, feedback and ; and improve customer satisfaction 2. Provide residents with a wide range of opportunities to allow residents the ability to participate at the level and using the method that they prefer; so as to express their views and help shape service design and delivery 3. Enhance scrutiny of Newlon s performance through Resident 4. Ensure opportunities are accessible to all residents, take account of diverse needs, and work to encourage under-represented sections of the community; 5. Provide training and support to ensure that actively involved residents can be effective and become empowered 6. Ensure the approach taken provides good value for money 7. Improve the effectiveness of activities 8. Provide good quality information and feedback about services provided by Newlon and its partners, that is accessible and easily understood Achieving the objectives 1. Resources The strategy for resident involvement cannot be achieved without adequate resources. A budget for this is set annually and currently it covers the following: A Senior Resident, managed by the Quality Team Manager and the Resident, managed by the Housing Contracts Manager; who are dedicated to facilitating and improving Resident. Resident involvement activity is routinely undertaken by resident facing staff such as Housing Management s (HMOs) and is expected to be an aspect of all staff s work where appropriate from the Chief Executive down A budget for support, grants, training and admin costs for formally involved residents Budget for events and local Fundays Budget for publicity for resident involvement. 2. Diversity It is important that opportunities for involvement and participation are open to all residents. Barriers preventing groups of residents becoming involved should be identified and addressed appropriately. Newlon will also aim to identify any particular groups of residents who are over or under-represented in formal involvement activities and work to improve this. Where a specific need is identified, then consideration will be given to setting up targeted consultation and involvement arrangements. This could, for example, apply to Page 2 of 8

3 a certain ethnic group, age group such as young people or those with a particular disability. 3. Developing a good range of opportunities Existing ways for residents to get involved are outlined in the Resident Policy and the Resident leaflet. These opportunities, often referred to as the Menu of, have been developed in consultation with residents and can be added to as and when the need arises. A range of activities are offered that suit differing levels of commitment and style. Some are formal and require considerable commitment, and others are simply about expressing a one-off view on a service. Opportunities include: in Newlon s governance arrangements there are two places on the Board for resident members Membership of resident bodies for consultation and scrutiny such as the Residents Forum and the Scrutiny Panel Membership of local groups or attending local meetings Expressing views on services through surveys, focus groups, the Consumer Panel, by making a complaint and at meetings Mystery shopping Participating in Service Reviews 4. Publicity Publicity takes place in various ways, through: the newsletter the website To residents at fun Days and events leaflets for new and existing tenants surveys information packs for tenants It is also important for staff throughout the organisation to take ownership of this and ensure Residents is embedded in their work. For example, by making sure that residents are asked about their experience of the service and their preferences for future services; and by staff being aware of opportunities for involvement and encouraging residents to take part. To help facilitate this, briefings on involvement will be provided periodically by the Quality Team. 5. Capacity building and empowerment Advice, support and training is made available to formally involved residents such as Mystery Shoppers, Residents Associations, The Residents Forum, Resident Board Members and the Scrutiny Panel. As mentioned above, there are resources available within the budget for this. Training or briefings for specific activities is also available when required; for example when residents are involved in contract tendering. Capacity building can lead to skills and experience that can help people to gain employment as well as influence their housing services and other areas of their. Page 3 of 8

4 Therefore opportunities for training will be also be made known to residents wishing to get more involved. Specific education and training courses are also available from Newlon Fusion which manages Newlon s community regeneration programmes. Opportunities to network with other housing providers and other residents groups should also be considered. 6. Value for money Newlon is committed to ensuring that all its services provide good value for money, so that the best use is made of limited resources. For resident involvement this means making sure that an appropriate amount of money is spent on activity that leads to real change and improvement. Costs and satisfaction with Resident are benchmarked against other housing providers through Housing Quality Network (HQN). The results from which are provided annually in the Resident Impact Assessment. 7. Setting standards Customer service standards and specific Local Offers have been developed in consultation with residents. Estate agreements have also been set showing the levels of service to be expected, the details of the service providers, what residents should expect from Newlon and what Newlon expects from its residents. Standards will continue to be developed and reviewed with residents, as and when appropriate. Resident services operate by the same customer care standards as those for the whole organisation. 8. Performance management making sure objectives are achieved Resident involvement is continually monitored to: Ensure we are adopting the latest good practice; Evaluate performance against plans and targets. Allow residents to comment on our performance and the things they want to see improved or changed; 9. Impact assessment Newlon assesses Resident annually to see how effective the service has been in comparison with its aims and objectives, and that it is accessible and good value for money. The aim is to be able to demonstrate the impact that activities have had on improving Newlon s services for residents. The Assessment will be reported and made available to residents, the Board, and staff. 10. Existing policies This Strategy and the related Policy and Procedure document should be considered as Newlon s Statement on Resident and should be considered alongside the Impact Assessment. 17 Targets Resident activities will work towards helping Newlon achieve the agreed Key Performance Indicator targets. Page 4 of 8

5 It will also work toward increasing resident satisfaction (as measured using Status surveys, routine surveys such as the New Lettings Survey and one-offs) in such areas as: the overall service from Newlon residents satisfaction that their views are being taken into account the repairs service Page 5 of 8

6 APPENDIX A Action plan To make sure that the aims of this strategy are followed through, an action plan is devised each year. Resident Action Plan Action who By when Objective Readers Panel: Continue to use the random 50 residents to increase numbers involved and the diversity of residents participating. Improve the feedback to Panel members to show how they are helping to improve or endorse our written material. Production of the Annual Resident Review: That greater resident involvement is used in its production. Surveys: That the findings from surveys are used to target key areas for improvement that will result in improved services and increased resident satisfaction. Joint Estate Inspections / Estate Agreements / Estate Improvement Budget: Ensure that further Estate Agreements are put in place and all are made available on the Where I Live pages of the website. Ensure Estate Improvement Local Offer is followed through in terms of consulting with residents on estates graded 3 or 4. Focus Groups: That the use of Focus groups is given careful consideration, as to whether they are an appropriate tool for the subject matter. Residents Associations and local meetings: That emphasis is placed on the timely completion of actions and good communication provided. Completion of meetings actions noted on Co-valent will also Resident officers Communications Team / Housing All departments / Quality Team September 13 To ensure quality of written materials To ensure quality of written materials and the performance information provided to residents To improve the services under question Housing To ensure residents receive good quality information on their services All Departments / Quality Team Housing / Senior Resident To ensure that this tool is used effectively for suitable subjects in order to identify areas for improvement To improve the speed of response for actions arising at meetings to improve resident Page 6 of 8

7 be reported routinely to RSC. satisfaction Residents Forum: Every three years Housing Providers are required to consult with residents on the best way of involving residents in the Governance and Scrutiny of their Housing and Management structure - the Forum s views should be included in this process. Continue to recruit new members whilst being mindful of the Forum s diversity. Improve feedback to Forum Members on how they help to shape and improve services. Resident Board Members: To consider the vacant post and be mindful of the diversity of applicants in any recruitment process. To meet regulatory requirements, by consulting with residents on the involvement of Residents in Governance and Scrutiny. Working Groups and Panels: in Contract Tendering: To ensure guidance as to the involvement of residents in the process of drawing up and awarding new contracts is followed. Mystery Shopping: Identify new shopping scenarios and consider how best to use Mystery Shopping in light of the Service Centre taking all calls which impacts on Shoppers remaining anonymous. Continue to recruit new members. Ensure that feedback is given to Shoppers as to how the information gathered is used to improve customer care. Community events: That events are advertised well in advance to maximise potential attendance and that actions arising from the surveys are practical, achievable and handled within good time. Scrutiny Panel: Increase numbers on the Panel and start to look at Board / Residents Services Committee / Senior Resident Board / Resident Services Committee / Senior Resident All Departments Quality Team Resident Senior Resident March 2014 To comply with Regulatory Framework; carry out best practice and ensure appropriate governance structures are in place. Increase attendance at the Forum so as to better reflect Newlon s residents Increase Forum members satisfaction To comply with Regulatory Framework; carry out best practice and ensure appropriate governance structures are in place, whilst being mindful of diversity issues To ensure resident involvement in the tendering process is meaningful and / or effective To improve customer care To increase attendance and use the information gathered to target areas of improvement Improve attendance so as to be more effective Page 7 of 8

8 increasing Panel s independence. and increase independence Diversity: That recruitment is mindful of the gaps identified through the wording of information and advertising and varying the methods of recruitment. That Residents Associations are encouraged and supported to reach out to all sections of their communities. All departments, Senior Resident To ensure diversity is considered in all involvement areas so as to be representative of Newlon s residents Page 8 of 8