Agenda item

Objective: To provide the committee with the 6 month position in relation to tenant satisfaction measures.

The Director of Housing – Customer and Community Services presented the report and explained that an independent company, Acuity, carry out telephone surveys with 250 different tenants every quarter. Key messages are that overall satisfaction has increased by 3% and the council is performing above 80% in six areas. The council is performing below 70% in relation to complaints handling, response to anti-social behaviour, and listening to tenant views and acting upon them. Currently working on these areas and have contacted every dissatisfied customer identified through the survey to try to resolve any issues. This also allows themes to be identified to feed into future plans. In the past this has included the introduction of a text survey for those who have engaged in the complaints process, however this has had a very poor response rate. So the next step is to carry out a scrutiny meeting with those who have made complaints to understand if there are improvements that can be made to the process and to hopefully influence perceptions going forwards.

The Committee’s discussion raised the following points:

-       The TSM for complaints handling is complicated by the fact that regularly only 2 out of 10 people surveyed have actually made a complaint. So most are offering an opinion on a service they have not used. Where a complaint has been made, the outcome can also influence how people feel about the process. The questions are prescribed by the government, so it is not possible to change how this data is collected. This is a sector wide issue and concerns were raised about the TSM during the consultation period but were not acted upon. It is important to continue to seek to make the process better, which is why additional feedback from those who have used the service is being sought.

-       Continuing to develop approach to contractor management and have been considering the process at leadership team. This should include quality testing a percentage of the work by the council to ensure work is being completed to a good standard. Not quite there yet but it is being worked on.

-       The self-reported data shows a third of respondents reporting issues with damp, mould and condensation (DMC), which does not match what has emerged from the stock condition surveys. This is a good example of the importance of the follow-up calls. Around 18 months ago the organisation developed a sophisticated approach to DMC which involves scripts in the contact centre to understand the size and severity of the issue. Issues picked up through the quarterly surveys undergo the same process, so even if the tenant has not reported the problem directly, it will be picked up and remedied through the follow up call.

-       Leaseholders are currently not adequately involved in the feedback process around repairs in communal areas. This is part of the regulatory standard and is an area of development for the council, to ensure that the feedback and communication loops are working well.