Customer Involvement and Governance
Working together with our customers is extremely important to us and, as you will see through this report with the Customer Voice descriptor on each page, they play an important role at NDH in co-designing and influencing our service.
Any customer who interacts with us - whether at one of our events or in one of our groups - influences everything that happens at Board level.
At North Devon Homes we listen to our customers' views so that, together as a team, we can give customers the voice to improve and co-design your services. Our approach to involve you is very flexible as we know everyone has different time commitments.
We have a range of ways you can take part from filling in online surveys to joining our Customer Board Partnership (CBP), Scrutiny Panel or Customer2Customer groups which you can find more about below. No experience or qualifications are needed: - everyone is welcome, transport (if required) and refreshments available at most of our events.
Why should I get involved?
- Tell us what you think, share your ideas and help us improve services
- Ensure we understand what matters to our customers
- Learn how we work
- Be part of the decision-making process and influence how your rent money is spent
- Make lasting improvements to our services for the benefit of all customers
- Enhance and develop efficiency and effectiveness
- Make a real difference to customer homes and neighbourhoods
- Learn new skills and make new friends
Want to get involved?
Just call our Customer Development Officer on 01271 313384 or simply email [email protected].
The flow chart below shows each of the following levels flow into each other - up, down and sideways:
- NDH Board
- Anchorwood Board; Board Subcommittees; Executive Team and Team NDH; Customer Board Partnership
- Customer2Customer; Customer Complaint Review Group; Customer Health and Safety Partnership; Customer Scrutiny Panel; Customer Energy Champions
- Community Consultations and involvement events; Fresh Ideas
Meeting customers at our Summer Fayre
Each year we host a free event for our customers in the summer holidays – a great chance for an informal day of fun to meet our customers. In 2023 we welcomed over 1,000 people to the event: a mixture of customers, their guests, staff and local councillors.
Here’s some key stats of how the event went:
- 197 households
- Over 1,000 people, 600+ of which were customers
- 36 partners exhibited
Our involved customer volunteers are proud to represent North Devon Homes.
By being involved customers can tell us what they think of our services, share ideas and help us improve the services we offer. They make lasting improvements to our services for the benefit of all customers, making a real difference to customer homes and neighbourhoods.
It also is an opportunity to learn new skills, make new friends, learn how we work behind the scenes and be part of the decision-making processes.
As well as all their hard work, discussions and recommendations at customer meetings they also carry out telephone calls to customers and attend events like the summer fayre, pop up health and safety events, door knocking in communities, support NDH at focus groups and consultation events.
Our Scrutiny Panel is a small, friendly, customer-based panel that reviews service areas of the business. Each review the Panel:
- Reviews policies and strategies;
- Meet and work in partnership with staff / line managers of the service area being reviewed;
- Compares with other housing associations;
- Consults wider customers by telephone surveys, coffee mornings or door knocking.
- Reviews recent complaints on the service area.
They will then make recommendations on things we could change to improve the customer experience. They are keen to make a difference and recommend improvements for staff, the business and all customers.
The co-design of these policies and recommendations is then reviewed by the Customer Board Partnership before sign off and implementation.
These panel reviews by our customers are vital in helping us make decisions across the business.
Empty Homes Review
The Panel have carried out a review of the empty homes/voids process - they identified 20 recommendations. The Panel followed a void from start to finish including viewings, signs ups, behind the scenes, met with the staff, 10 void inspections, reviewed other housing association standards, telephone calls to new customers. The Panel will continue and do void inspections on a 6 month basis to check on standard.
Recommendations: 100% of all properties inspected prior to letting, before and after photos to be taken, fresh ideas to produce moving in and moving out leaflets, restart satisfaction surveys, start initiative schemes for good garden and good neighbour awards, continue to offer paint and support to new customers, ensure properties are ready to decorate and electrical works completed before decorating, post tenancy visits recorded and tracked on internal computer system.
Damp and mould review
The Panel looked at how NDH deals with damp, mould and condensation working with the Senior Surveyor. They raised awareness of condensation causes at the summer fayre consulting with 59 customers.
Recommendations: ensure customers are kept up to date regularly during their damp and mould case, produce a short leaflet for advice for customers, raising awareness on how to manage damp/condensation in homes.
Recharges review
The Panel met staff to review the recharges procedures.
Recommendations: Introducing a checklist, improving tracking recharges. Seeking to reduce number of recharges for solicitors letters on access. Scripting around recharges. Improving internal procedures on recharges. More visibility of recharges. New approach to management on recharges. Improved service for all customers linked to consideration of vulnerabilities – evidenced recharges which withstand appeal.
They are currently doing a review of the anti-social behaviour process.
Along with the reviews the Panel also review voicescape results.
The Scrutiny Panel would like to thank customers who took the time to talk to us during telephone calls and events. All your feedback helps shape the reviews and recommendations of improvement.
Our Fresh Ideas focus group meet regularly, on average once a week and look at a variety of topics, co-design leaflets and look at how we communicate with customers. This is a great starting point for all new involved customers and is a friendly group. You will always receive a warm welcome with refreshments and all feedback is greatly received both positive and negative on how we can improve services.
Recommendations/feedback from the Fresh Ideas meetings are shared with Customer Board Partnership every 8 weeks and actions/recommendations are put on an action tracker to be carried out.
Achievements from Fresh Ideas April 2023 to March 2024:
This year our Fresh Ideas Group have held 27 meetings giving 189.5 hours of their time and achieved:
- Produced leaflets – moving in your new home, moving out, transfer ready, pest control, damp/mould/condensation advice leaflets and a new complainants guide for anti-social behaviour.
- Reviewed Rent Setting leaflet to explain reasons for rent increase and support available.
- Co-designed Annual report content, Independent Living Handbook and Home News.
- Met with Bowdens to discuss new cleaning contract and will be producing a looking after communal guidelines for customers.
- Reviewed Compensation Policy, Noise Policy, Asset Management Strategy and Customer Experience Strategy and reviewed Tenant Satisfaction Measure results.
All customers are welcome to attend so please speak to Tracey or any of the involved customers today if you would like to come along.
Our Customer Board Partnership (CBP) is a limited group of involved customers who meet every 8 weeks with members of the Board and Executive Team. They are joined throughout the day by various members of Team NDH to discuss topics ongoing in the business.
CBP is about putting customers at the heart of the business and giving them sight of everything going on that affects customers.
A typical Customer Board Partnership meeting looks at the following:-
- Policies and service reviews
- Business updates,
- Service performance
- Review all customer involvement activities and consultation results (important front room to Board room messages)
- Communications/marketing,
- Plan Customer Involvement topics for the next 8 weeks.
Key subjects discussed this year include:-
- Detailed discussions on rent setting and separate involved customer meeting to address the impact of a rent increase on customers and they produced an information leaflet on reasons for the increase.
- Workshop session on summer fayre ideas and feedback,
- Tenant Satisfaction Measures results
- Workshop on Customer Experience Strategy and content
- Co-design of the new Corporate Plan. This involved consulting with customers at the Summer Fayre 2023, local conversations and the group asked customers what was really important to them.
- Created customer involvement planner together to link in with Board objectives.
Our involved customers regularly carry out telephone calls to customers to seek feedback on our services. This year they have phoned customers to get their customer experience on our services linked to the Tenant Satisfaction Measures, customers experience of damp/mould/condensation reporting, new home telephone calls and anti-social behaviour complaint handling. They can also support other customers and visit in their homes on a variety of topics to include downsizing advice and support or other tenancy issues.
They also accompany staff out in the neighbourhoods on pop up events, local conversations/doorknocking to chat to customers about what matters to them in their neighbourhoods and the services NDH provide.
This year we have carried out 6 local conversations at South Molton, Forches, Woodville, Heppenstall/Pathfield Lawn/Pilton, Newport and Lynton. More are planned for this year so look out for us in your community. These visits are an opportunity to chat to customers and find out what matters to them.
The Health & Safety Customer Partnership group continue to meet quarterly with the Building Safety Manager to receive updates on Health & Safety to include incidents reported. They also have carried out some coffee mornings and pop up events in the communities in Ilfracombe, Wrafton and Castle Quay and have a planned timetable of events for this year.
During the summer they are planning pop up events in Wrafton, Ilfracombe and Barnstaple areas and will be revisiting the Independent Living Communities to chat about any Health and Safety concerns with customers. Look out for your invite or look on our website for more details. If you would like the group to visit your neighbourhood please contact us.
This year, our Energy Efficiency Champion, Kate has regularly visited East Close, Witheridge and Glebeland Villas, Bishops Nympton to update and keep in contact with customers who are having energy efficient works carried out on their homes (wave 1 energy project). These visits have given customers the opportunity to provide honest feedback on how the project is going both positively and share areas of improvement. Kate has worked closely with the Asset Management Team and shares/actions any feedback to the team and also provides an update to the Customer Board Partnership on how the project is going.
The Customer Complaints Review Group have met every quarter this year. The group look at complaints received (anonymously) and discuss outcomes/learnings from these. They also have the complaints displayed in charts to identify themes in service areas. The Scrutiny Panel can also look at complaints to help with their reviews and make recommendations.
