Tenant Participation 2016 Review
A voice for everyone and a service that is right for you!
1. Introduction Under our new Corporate Plan 2017- 2021 we set out how we intend to ‘Make Lives Better’ through ‘doing more’ and ‘improving what we do’. Our annual Operational Plan translates this vision and identifies a number of high level outcomes and targets to ensure we continue to deliver service excellence to our customers. In particular, it states our commitment to providing continually improving housing services, and sustainable tenancies, through a customer focus in the design and delivery of our services. We are determined to meet the needs of our existing and prospective tenants by better tailoring our services and providing an efficient and effective service that represents value for money. Our current TP Strategy is titled ‘A Voice for everyone and a service that is right for you!’ A ‘voice for everyone’ requires that we embed and extend our TP structure, encouraging greater involvement, and participation which is more representative of our wider tenant population. ‘A service that is right for you’ recognises the need to better tailor our services, learning from our STAR findings, profiling information, and the needs and preferences of our tenants. Following this approach we will be well placed to deliver our stated outcomes and meet our primary aim:
To continually improve the quality of our housing services and the conditions of our homes, by working in partnership with our tenants to make decisions about those services in an open, honest and accountable way.
Our strategy is underpinned by an annual TP Action Plan which has two key objectives (1) involving tenants (2) improving services. The plan is reviewed annually and focuses on intended outcomes, with evidence drawn from a variety of sources.
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This is our third review and reflects on the work that has been carried out over the last 12 months. A consultation was carried out with the Community Partnership and it was agreed to retain the same review format. It was felt that it was a useful document allowing all the work over the previous year to be captured.
The review also recognises that much of the TP programme is now mainstreamed across the Association and as such all staff at all levels have a role to play. The review seeks to answer the following questions: How much have we done? How well have we done it? Is anyone better off?
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2. Involving Tenants Under this objective we are looking to increase the number of tenants involved with us at all levels and in a way that suits them in order to better improve our services. Our outcomes include: 1.1 More tenants take part in participation activities 1.2 Active tenants are representative of our tenant population 1.3 Tenants are knowledgeable about services and contribute to decision making 1.4 Active tenants are confident using computers and the internet 1.5 Tenants have the necessary confidence/skills to engage 1.6 Tenants/staff have a positive working relationship
These outcomes are designed to ensure that we have the mechanisms in place to not just keep tenants informed but also to consult with them, provide timely feedback, and involve them in decision making processes.
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How much? In 2016 we recorded 20 tenants involved with us via our tenant participation programme. This figure does not include tenants who are solely members of our Tenants Groups or Hafod Connect and neither does it include Smart Reward members, which total 286.
How well? Opportunities to get involved Our 2016 STAR findings have recorded a rise from 78% in 2015 to 79% in 2016 in the number of tenants who are either satisfied / very satisfied with the opportunities to get involved. This is the fourth consecutive annual rise in satisfaction.
Representative of our tenant population An Equality Monitoring Data Analysis was carried out on Resident Involvement in January 2017 by our Service Improvement Team. The data was taken from information stored on the housing database at the end of 2016, involving 20 active tenants from Tenant Assessors Team, Scrutiny Panel, and our Service Panels. We recognise this is a small sample and have reflected on this when outlining the results. The majority of the data from the ‘Active Tenants’, when compared against the 2016 Hafod Tenant Profile, suggests that it does not give a representative reflection of the wider Hafod tenant population. There are areas in which greater representation should be striven for: improved representation of the younger age groups; more involvement from people with minority sexual orientations, religious beliefs and ethnic backgrounds, and with certain types of disability. This will help to ensure that when services are developed, and tenants are consulted for their views, we can develop standards and deliver services that will better meet the needs of our wider tenant population. Sex - The data from our ‘Active Tenants’ indicates that the majority are Female at 75% with Males being represented at 25%. This shows an increase of 10% in female involvement and a decrease of 9% in male involvement over the 2015 figures. 5
Age - the data from the ‘Active Tenants’ in respect of age shows the greatest representation from the 55-64 and 65-74 age groups, 45% and 30% respectively. The above age group categories are significantly overrepresented whilst the younger age group categories are significantly underrepresented. Ethnic origin - The data from the ‘Active Tenants’ profile indicates that representation from ethnic minorities is slightly higher (5%) than that of the general Hafod tenant population (4%). Religion - The data from the ‘Active Tenants’ indicates Christianity, Other and No religion as the main make up of religious beliefs within our ‘Active Tenants’ groups (70%, 20% and 10% respectively). Our overall data shows 31% indicates Christianity, 2% state Other and 43% state None. Sexual orientation - The data from the ‘Active Tenants’ indicates that majority of the tenants identify as being Heterosexual (95%). The rest of the data is either unknown or not answered or other. There is no known representation from gay males/ lesbians or bisexual tenants. This is in line with our wider tenant profile, of which less than 1% of tenants identify as belonging to each of the four minority sexual orientation groups: lesbian, gay male, bisexual or “other”. Impairments - The data from the ‘Active Tenants’ indicate that 25% have a physical impairment and 5% have a hearing impairment , with the remaining having no impairment. There is an over representation of the Physical Impairment category which may reflect the number of older tenants involved with us. Preferred language - The data from the ‘Active Tenants’ indicates that the preferred language of our active tenants is English (100%), this is representative of our wider tenant profile, where 75% state English is their
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preferred language. Less than 1% of Hafod tenants have a preferred language other than English with the remainder being unknown.
Is anyone better off? The feedback received suggests that the majority of respondents feel that they have personally benefited from their involvement, forged positive relationships with staff and are motivated to do more. We will continue to carry out a survey at the end of each year to be able to map any changes and reflect on any required alterations to the Action Plan.
Feedback received in relation to the use of visual minutes has been very positive with tenants commenting that the informal way of recording actions and outcomes will enable tenants whose first language is not English, or who have literacy issues, to participate more fully in meetings.
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Our Tenant Assessors are our eyes and ears helping us to gather information to improve our services.
3. Improving Services (Objective 2)
Under this objective we are looking to improve the quality and efficiency of our services with the involvement of tenants. Our outcomes include:
2.1 Tenants influence service delivery and policy 2.2 Tenants contribute to service standards 2.3 Tenants receive information in a way that suits their preferences 2.4 Tenants take part in decision making 2.5 Landlord services to tenants improve as a result of participation 2.6 Tenants’ problems and complaints are resolved quicker and more effectively 2.7 We are accountable to tenants regarding our performance 2.8 Tenants are involved in our self- assessment
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4. STAR Findings Our annual Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR) provides a guide as to whether or not we are meeting our stated outcomes under the TP Action Plan. Around 500 tenants take part in the survey each year from different areas. Surveys returned in 2013 & 2015 will be from Bridgend, Torfaen, Merthyr and the Vale. Surveys returned in 2014 & 2016 will be from Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Newport. The findings of the 2013-16 surveys are given below and show how satisfied our tenants are with the services they receive.
Bridgend, Torfaen, Merthyr and the Vale
Satisfied with the following % of tenants who think we provide fair/balanced information about our activities % of tenants who say that the information is provided in a timely manner, is helpful and easy to understand % of tenants that are satisfied with the opportunities to make their views known % of tenants who report that Hafod is open about what it does % of tenants who are satisfied that Hafod listens and acts on their views % of tenants reporting ‘overall satisfaction’ with our services % of tenants who are satisfied that we provide an effective/efficient service % of tenants reporting satisfaction with repairs and maintenance % of tenants reporting satisfaction with overall estate services
2013 %
2015 %
86
87
95
87
82
84
81
83
74
78
88
91
81
86
78
84
82
83
Change
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Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Newport
Satisfied with the following % of tenants who think we provide fair/balanced information about our activities % of tenants who say that the information is provided in a timely manner, is helpful and easy to understand % of tenants that are satisfied with the opportunities to make their views known % of tenants who report that Hafod is open about what it does % of tenants who are satisfied that Hafod listens and acts on their views % of tenants reporting ‘overall satisfaction’ with our services % of tenants who are satisfied that we provide an effective/efficient service % of tenants reporting satisfaction with repairs and maintenance % of tenants reporting satisfaction with overall estate services
2014 %
2016 %
85
86
95
86
82
80
79
80
69
69
87
87
79
82
79
79
80
80
Change
The majority of satisfaction measures above show a rise from the previous year, with an increase of 8% of tenants stating they are satisfied that Hafod listens and acts on their views. There has been a drop in satisfaction against the statement ‘information is provided in a timely manner, is helpful and easy to understand’. This will be addressed in the 2016 Operational Plan. Levels remain high compared to other housing providers and it is good to see improvement for maintenance and estate services, the services which tenants tell us are their highest priority.
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5. Community Partnership This Partnership has a specific brief to oversee our TP and Community Investment Strategies and Action Plans. It also provides a tenants’ perspective on new strategies and policies as well as procedural changes.
How much? The Community Partnership met six times in 2016 at our head office in Cardiff. The Partnership benefits from a tenant chair and a membership of 7 active and experienced tenants How well? 4 members have left the partnership through the year, due to ill health or no longer being a Hafod tenant, this has resulted in a drop of attendance from the average of 71% to 50%
Is anyone better off? Members have contributed to our Tenant Participation programme and helped to produce the tenant calendar. Members have received updates on progress against our TP Action Plan and have been involved in setting and monitoring the TP budget. Members have contributed to organising the Tenants Conference. Members have monitored the outcomes of the Service Panels and Smart Rewards expenditure. Members have received updates on the Community Investment Key Projects. Members have contributed to formulating the new TP structure and selection of relevant merchandise. 11
6. Hafod Connect
How much Hafod Connect membership now stands at 86, with an increase of 5 from the previous year. Members assisted us with selecting the 2017 bathroom and kitchen flooring options.
How well? 23 members chose to return the flooring survey of which 7 were interested in attending a further focus group.
Is anyone better off? Members benefited from earning Smart rewards for completing the survey. Members received a feedback flyer outlining the results
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7. Tenant Assessors Team Tenants assessors are our ‘eyes and ears’, helping us to gather information and feedback on the quality of our services. We work in partnership with Rhondda HA, Merthyr Tydfil HA and Cynon Taf Community Housing Group, to deliver an impartial assessment.
The partnership has 16 assessors of which 5 are Hafod, who each play an active role in helping us to shape our services.
How Much? The Tenant Assessors Team met twice at St Hilary Court attended 2 working group meetings with the partners and represented Hafod at a Network event. The team carried out: o 10 phone surveys o 5 Estate Walkabouts o 2 Landscaping spot checks
How well? The team received 19 requests from across the different departments of which they were able to carry out 17. The remaining 2 will be carried out in early 2017. Issues with overgrown ivy were identified through our complaints system and added to the ‘tenants voice’ part of the walkabout programme. The
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information was reported back and as a result the ivy has been removed and the tenants gardening club have now utilised this area. Repairs were identified and carried out on Cartrefi Hafod properties following a phone assessment. Pathways in Fir Tree Drive have been renewed following an Estate Walkabout Following a phone survey on boiler efficiency, tenants have benefitted from advice on monitoring their gas usage and savings.
Is anyone better off? The Tenant Assessors have assisted the Service Improvement Team with gathering tenants views on the services they receive, in particular on how the Common and Choice Based Housing register can be improved from a tenant perspective.
We have strengthened the tenant feedback process to enable tenants to see how their involvement has made a difference. This includes a new feedback flyer to tenants who have taken part in a phone survey, feedback to tenants living where a ‘spot check’ has been carried out and utilised the use of new technologies and visual minutes to record the work carried out.
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8. Recruitment Matters Our Recruitment Matters Panel was set up in early 2015. The panel was formed to enable trained tenants to assist us in recruiting front line staff, like housing & maintenance officers. Members would benefit from receiving HR specific training to enable them to participate fully in the recruitment process.
How Much? 4 Tenants were trained, 3 continued on to join the panel. How well? Tenants were involve in interviews for
Income Officer x 1 Cleaner x 1 Service Contracts Officer x 1 Customer Services x 2 HPS Administrator x1 HPS Plumbing and Heating Operative x 1 Contracts Assistant x 1 SMART Money Advisor x 1
Is anyone better off? Tenants contributed to the best candidate being appointed. One tenant commented that her confidence and knowledge of the recruitment process has helped her in her own job searches.
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Nearly 700 likes!
9. Social Media We are committed to increasing the number of tenants that are involved with us and to providing a number of different ways for tenants to engage with us and ‘have their say’, including the use of a corporate Facebook page.
How Much We have 19 trained social media champions across 8 departments, this is an increase of 3 compared to last year. The champions have scheduled weekly post covering a variety of topics. Posts include ‘top tips’, ‘how to’ and signpost to other agencies where they can seek advice and guidance. We have incorporated an out of office automatic reply for private messages.
How well We have 688 likes, an increase of 201 from the previous year. This is over 15% of our homes. New for 2016 is the ability for tenants to follow us without liking us, we have 670 followers, some of which could also like us; we are unable to separate them out.
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We have a response rate of 100% with an average response time of 1 hour during office hours. For the third year running recruitment posts have the highest reach with some reaching 810 views. Our ‘Give and Gain’ staff video received the highest video reach with 1.5k views. We deleted 2 posts, but did not need to block anyone in 2016.
Is anyone better off? Tenants continue to use the private message facility to discuss personal issues and attach photos. Tenants who may not have credit on their phones but do have internet access have used the private message facility to discuss issues with their income officer. The insights highlight that the ‘peak’ time for usage is Friday to Sunday between 6pm – 10pm when our offices are closed. The social media pages are perfect for tenants to be able to access the information at a time that suits their needs. Tenants have the opportunity to view job vacancies within the group, complete online surveys and view kitchen / flooring options prior to work being carried out.
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10. Smart Rewards
How Much? The membership has increased over the last 6 months, taking our membership to 278 members. Members have benefitted from quarterly updates through post and social media along with quarterly rewards. Members were able to exchange their rewards for a Christmas special digital package.
How well? Members have earned a combined total of 1395 rewards 135 rewards have been redeemed. 1 member gifted her rewards to her community garden.
Is anyone better off? Members have redeemed their reward for items such as a Healthy eating cookbook, Water Butt, Kindle Fire, Healthy food bags, and a digital package. It is too early to map a change in the amount of survey responses, this will be evaluated at the end of 2017.
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11. Tenants 2017 Calendar The Community Partnership rolled up their sleeves again this year to meet with our in-house designer on putting our 2017 tenants’ calendar together. It has a slightly different look this year to match our family of publications and has the thumbs up from RNIB Cymru (Royal National Institute for the Blind) for being suitable for people with sight loss issues.
Each month covers a different topic, has a useful numbers section at the back and is available electronically on our social media pages.
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How did we do?
Complete
Ongoing Not complete 12. Performance Monitoring The performance of our TP programme is reported on a quarterly basis to our Community Partnership as well as the Housing and Community Services Committee. The percentage of tasks completed on time, against the stated action plan, is provided along with an explanation for any tasks that have ‘slipped’ or not been completed.
The table below shows a strong performance throughout 2016. Definition
Complete Ongoing
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2016
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Totals
19
95%
6
67%
7
100%
10
72%
42
1
5%
1
11%
0
0%
2
14%
4
0
0%
2
22%
0
0%
2
14%
4
20
100%
9
78%
7
100%
14
86%
Not complete
Total
50 Tasks
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13. The way forward We consulted with tenants on our Community Partnership to identify the priorities for 2017. The following were agreed and have been incorporated within the 2017 Action Plan:
Focus Days Tenants will be invited to attend four focus days that will take place throughout the year (one per quarter) where they will have the opportunity to help us shape and improve the service they receive. The topics will cover complaints, planned maintenance, customer services, site services, tenant appointments, community safety and service charges. There will also be an opportunity for tenants and staff to choose the 2018 focus areas.
Tenants Conference Community Partnership members felt that there needed to be more of a family fun element to our Tenants Conference, rather than a formal programme. This will enable us to incorporate more fun activities and to reflect the Association’s 50th birthday celebrations. Hopefully this will appeal to tenants who would not normally attend. This will be discussed further through a Task & Finish group in quarters 3- 4.
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Tenant Assessors Team The use of tenant feedback sheets has been recognised as a good means of providing feedback to tenants on the difference their involvement has made. The Community Partnership requested that short videos be used in the recruitment process as well as giving audio visual updates on some of their assessments. The team will continue under their current structure and will be recruiting and training new members in quarter 1.
New Technologies We recognise the importance of enabling tenants to get involved in a way that suits their needs, with this in mind we are exploring the use of visual minutes, short videos, Skype, social media and feedback templates throughout our new structure.
Rebranding The change in direction highlights the need to rebrand the involvement structure to enable tenants to have a clearer vision of how they can get involved. We will be seeking tenant involvement in the following areas and have worked with our in-house design team on a suitable logo and branded material.
Standards
Monitoring
Action
Results
Testing
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