We continue to promote and support resident engagement across all our housing, care services and retirement villages. In 2009 we:
- established a residents’ committee and association at Hartfields in Hartlepool;
- further developed groups who monitor services in our sheltered housing schemes;
- began 'customer profiling' work to find out more about our customers' needs, particularly in relation to communication;
- established a group that looks at policies, procedures and services from the perspective of residents with a disability; and
- revised our complaints procedures and improved how we record and monitor complaints, compliments and comments about our services.
We are also looking at ways of engaging more effectively with people who use our care services, including people with dementia.
Residents' Voice, a federation of residents' groups, has played an active role in the Tenant Services Authority’s (TSA) consultation on future standards for social housing landlords. The TSA has established six core national standards, for which each housing association must develop a 'local offer', in consultation with residents, by October 2010. Our local offer will set out how we address residents' priorities and concerns.
Other changes in 2010 will include:
- the appointment of Resident Inspectors,who will inspect our services and information and get other residents' feedback on these, working with staff to determine what needs to improve and how, and to monitor the impact our services and information have;
- starting annual tenancy visits, giving residents the chance to tell us face to face what they think about our services and to allow us to identify any outstanding repairs and/or service improvements;
- recruiting three additional residents as JRHT Board members.
The film below highlights how residents have been involved in shaping the services they want in the way that they want them.
