Resident Involvement Statement -
Going for Involvement “Gold”
June 2007

1.0 Purpose

1.1 The Resident Involvement Statement is intended to ensure that the objectives of involvement set out in the Resident Involvement strategy are met;

• NCHA’s target for tenants and service user satisfaction with participation is 75% (second quartile) in 2011. The current level of satisfaction is 59% (third quartile).
• NCHA monitor and support involvement opportunities to ensure that there is a diverse representation of residents engaged in the involvement process.
• NCHA will strive to ensure that all targets in the ‘Equalities and Diversities Action Plan’ relating to resident involvement are met.
• NCHA will establish clear standards for resident involvement services and strive to meet or exceed them.
• NCHA will offer residents a range of involvement opportunities which meet their diverse needs and characteristics.
• NCHA will ensure that residents have sufficient information to be able to participate effectively.
• NCHA will ensure that residents are consulted about training which is required and that training opportunities are provided to enable them to participate effectively.
• NCHA will support residents to take action which meets community needs.
• NCHA will provide sufficient resources to ensure that residents are refunded any expenses incurred and that there are funds to resource resident involvement activities.
• NCHA will offer a service which complies with the attributes of an organisation developing an excellent service in resident involvement, as outlined in the Audit Commission Key Lines of Enquiry.
• NCHA will continue to involve residents in the design of new homes.
• NCHA board will contain active residents who will provide a clear customer perspective on the organisation.
• NCHA will ensure that staff have the skills, information and resources they need to implement the Tenant Involvement Statement and Better Lives Strategy.

 

 

2.0 Background

2.1 This Policy was last reviewed in 2005 assisted by the members of the Tenants and Residents Consortium (TRC).

 

2.2 A mechanism to review the Policy was agreed with the TRC in February 2007.

2.3 Consultation with the TRC, the Consultation Panel, Customer Advisory Panels and Tenants and Residents Association took place between March and June 2007.

2.4 The Tenant Participation Advisory Service met with NCHA in June 2007 and confirmed that the review method used was satisfactory.

2.5 The Housing Corporation Policy “People First - Delivering Change through Involvement” May 2007 and the joint publication of the Housing Corporation and the Audit Commission “Housing - Improving Services through Resident Involvement” were used as guidance when writing this policy.

2.6 The Hill report “Ends and Means : The Future of Social Housing in England” February 2007, recommended the need to establish an increased voice for tenants, ensuring they have influence and control over decisions made about the homes they live in.

2.7 The Cave review “Every Tenant Matters: A Review of Social Housing Regulation” May 2007 suggests that there should be a new role for consumer empowerment including a new collective input to change housing management. This report clearly expects landlords to develop a high quality customer lead service.

2.8 The Elton review of Regulatory and Compliance Requirements on RSL’s September 06, recommended that all RSL boards should have at least one resident member. He also recommended an increasing role for resident led inspections.

3.0 References

3.1 Resident Involvement Strategy 2007.
3.2 Business Improvement Plan 07/08 – Customer Involvement.
3.3 People First - Delivering Change through Involvement – Housing Corporation 2007.
3.4 Housing Corporation requirements in relation to resident involvement 2007.
3.5 Housing - Improving Services through resident involvement – Housing Corporation, Audit Commission 2004.
3.6 Hill Report, End & Means – The future of Social Housing.
3.7 Cave Review “Every Tenant Matters : A Review of Social Housing Regulations”.
3.8 Elton Review of Regulatory and Compliance Requirements of RSL’s.

4.0 Risks

The risks resulting from non-compliance with this policy are:

• Resident satisfaction in opportunities for involvement will not increase from 59% in the 2007 and future status surveys.
• Services are not improved to meet residents’ needs and expectations.
• The mix of residents engaged in involvement activities will not reflect that of NCHA’s tenants in general.
• NCHA will not comply with Housing Corporation guidance.
• NCHA will get an unsatisfactory score in the Audit Commission inspection.

 

5.0 The 10 Building Blocks of Involvement

The Housing Corporation “People First - Delivering Change through Involvement” publication lists 10 basic building blocks as a baseline for involvement. They are as follows accompanied by NCHA’s delivery mechanism.

“Ensure that people have equal opportunities to take part in involvement and take active steps to engage with under represented and vulnerable groups.”

NCHA Action:

• Active engagement with BME and hard to reach residents.
• Building positive community relations and assisting those communities to prioritise issues and tackle them.
• The setting of targets for resident’s involvement of hard to reach groups including BME residents, young people and single parent families.
• The monitoring of residents who take part in involvement to ensure that there is a representative mix of residents who are involved.
• Ensuring that activities are in locations and are at times which encourage diverse involvement and that residents who are involved are adequately reimbursed.
• Participation in events such as the Nottingham Carnival and community activities which attract residents who are representative of the community.

“Associations should develop a profile of residents in their homes and make positive effort to develop ‘market intelligence’ on their needs and aspirations.”

NCHA Action:

• BME data for residents is collected and can be reported on down to estate level.
• Contact has been made with BME residents to find out if the current type of resident involvement options on offer meets their needs.
• Resident profiling is used as a tool to concentrate resources in arrears recovery and debt advice to ensure a positive benefit to those groups in most need.
• Vulnerable residents are identified and services are tailored in a way to suit their specific needs.
• The status survey and the yearly focus surveys are used as methods to get information from residents on their needs and aspirations.
• An assessment is being made of the current information which is known about NCHA’s residents, actions will then be agreed (Access and Customer Care Business Improvement Plan).

“Associations should provide accessible information and feedback and take an open approach to providing information that is requested.”

NCHA Action:

• Information is available in any language requested and in a range of formats.
• NCHA provides yearly information on how well it does in managing its homes in the annual calendar, LINK magazine and on the web.
• New residents are given information in the Tenants Handbook. Details of policies, procedures, the Annual Report and the Business Plan, are available.
• NCHA utilises the Business Improvement Process to gather feedback from residents and other sources. This is then analysed and discussed at the Tenant Feedback group, which consists of tenants and staff. Customer Advisory Panels assist in agreeing actions to improve the services on offer.
• Residents are informed in a variety of ways, including LINK and the web of how feedback and other forms of involvement have brought about change.
• LINK is the residents’ magazine, produced 3 times a year by an editorial panel consisting of residents and staff.
• Formal complaints are analysed with residents and recommendations are made on how to improve services.

 

“Develop a range of methods of involvement with active residents and/or communities that allow people to be involved on their terms.”

NCHA Action:
Residents are offered a range of involvement opportunities as follows -

• giving individual feedback
• participating in one off surveys and focus groups
• participating in the 2 yearly status survey and the yearly focus survey

 

Feedback is collected on a regular basis as follows -

• A new tenant survey, 6 months after a resident has moved into a newly developed home.
• A Lettings questionnaire is completed when the tenant signs the Tenancy Agreement.
• A Maintenance satisfaction slip is completed when a repair or improvement is done.
• Maintenance telephone survey.
• Estate inspections carried out quarterly with residents.
• Estate representative surveys.

Results from these exercises are fed back into the Business Improvement Process. Residents and staff sit on the Tenant feedback group, feedback is considered and with the assistance of CAP’s actions are suggested. Residents are kept informed of service improvements resulting from feedback.

• Estate surgeries are held, if requested where residents or staff feel it would benefit the community.
  The Consultation Panel – a group of residents who are contacted by letter or email about proposed changes to services, policies or procedures.
• Tenants and Residents Associations (TRA), NCHA supports formal and informal TRA’s. Constituted groups are required to comply with NCHA’s equalities and diversities guidelines. Funding and financial accountability training is available.
• Customer Advisory Panels (CAP). There are currently 8. 5 are area based dealing with tenant related matters; Ollerton, Nottingham, Leicester, Northampton and Lincolnshire. The Maintenance CAP deals with maintenance issues. The Design CAP’s aim is to work with residents of new schemes to capture feedback, using it to influence future designs.
• Tenants and Residents Consortium (TRC). This is a resident led group with its own funds, Business Plan and constitution. The group consists of representatives from the CAP’s, TRA’s and interested residents.
•  All residents are able to apply for ordinary membership of the Association and therefore are able to attend the AGM and stand for election to the Board of Management.
• One place on the Board of Management is allocated to a resident of NCHA. Tenants are made aware of recruitment using LINK. The TRC assists in the short listing exercise.

 

“Negotiate with residents and/or communities the terms of reference for involvement activities.”

NCHA Action:

• NCHA has consulted with residents in the formulation of this Resident Involvement Statement. The method of consultation was agreed with the TRC. TPAS was consulted upon the consultation exercise.
• NCHA provides draft constitutions for CAP’s and TRA’s.
• NCHA provides financial accountability training for groups which rely on NCHA for funds.
• A Resident Involvement Service Statement is to be agreed with residents following the adoption of the Resident Involvement Statement.

 

“Enable involvement by providing properly resourced capacity building and training for residents, staff and where appropriate, communities.”

NCHA Action:

• Resources are available to constituted groups to allow them to perform their agreed functions.
• Appropriate support is provided to ensure that residents who are involved are not out of pocket.
• NCHA provides a resident involvement budget to fund the resident involvement activities and the costs of the Resident Participation staff.
• Details of resident involvement funding and comparisons with other landlords are available on request and NCHA’s web page.
• All new staff have as part of their induction a resident involvement presentation, given by the TP officer and a resident.
• A training needs analysis has been carried out to identify the training which is required by involved residents.
• A training programme is funded and produced annually.
• Residents training activity is monitored and reported on in the Resident Involvement Impact Assessment.
• NCHA supports the Newark Castle Station estate and the Moorgreen Community Resource Centres, which through community based projects provide support for their communities.

 

“Develop, with residents and/or communities ways to negotiate service targets, influence corporate decision making and hold the association to account.”

NCHA Action:

NCHA will consult with residents as a group or individually over a wide range of matters including:

• changes to policy or practice
• changes to housing management
• demolition schemes
• changes to the terms of tenancy
• improvement projects

 

• NCHA will consult residents, who receive services paid for by a service charge, about those services at least every 2 years.
• NCHA is working with residents to develop a number of service standards to cover the main services offered to residents by NCHA. These will state the level of service to be expected. Residents will then assist in the monitoring of these service standards.
• A resident inspection team is being established. Appropriate training and resources will be allocated. The team will react to issues raised by the Business Improvement Process. The team will use the findings of inspection to influence decision making.
• NCHA will consult residents on changes to policies. Consultation methods are identified in the Housing Services Policy Review Pro-forma and reported to the Board of Management.
• NCHA has a resident Board member.

 

“Develop and sustain mechanisms, which residents and/or communities, which enable influence and designs of affordable homes, and where relevant wider neighbourhood priorities.”

NCHA Action:

• The Design CAP meets at or close to newly handed over schemes as soon as the new residents’ survey has been completed. Feedback from this is assessed and suggested changes to the building specification are passed to the Design team.
• Estate Improvement budgets are allocated to the 3 area offices. Suggestions for spending priorities are requested from residents and the regional CAP’s oversee the prioritisation of the spending plans.
• The Maintenance CAP has an annual budget which can be used to enhance or improve communal areas. Residents and staff can apply to the CAP direct.
• TRA’s and informal groups are assisted and encouraged to form links with service providers, agencies and statutory bodies to ensure that neighbourhood priorities such as crime, traffic are dealt with.

 

“Consider with residents and/or communities the value for money of involvement activities including the added value that involvement creates.”

NCHA Action:

• NCHA with the assistance of residents produce an annual Resident Involvement Impact Assessment. This details all resident involvement activities and considers the added value or impact of the investment.
• NCHA is developing its bench marking of resident involvement costs using Housemark and TPAS. Details are available on NCHA’s web page.
• Residents are encouraged by the Director of Finance to assist in the annual setting of budgetary priorities.
• Residents are given information about costs and specifications to decide how estate services are provided.

 

“Develop with residents and/or communities appropriate neighbourhood level targets and scrutinise where they want this and it is relevant.”

NCHA Action:

• All estates of more than 10 properties are inspected by the Housing Management Officer and residents 4 times per year. Actions are agreed and the residents are kept informed of progress.
• Details of the estate inspections are on NCHA’s web site and are given to the estate resident representative.
• Estate resident representatives are recruited. The Estate Management Focus Group agreed a role description and the method of consultation with the estate representatives. Contractors are given their details and make contact when on site.
• Tenants and Residents Associations and informal groups are assisted to deal with community issues as and when they arise.

 

 

6.0 Business Improvement Plan – Customer Involvement

6.1 NCHA accepts that there are always improvements to be made in order to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction.

6.2 The actions which have been identified to achieve these improvements are contained in the Customer Involvement Business Improvement Plan which has been produced with the assistance of residents.