The Big Conversation - You said, we did...
We want to deliver our services to you as efficiently as possible. Our costs have increased significantly over the past year meaning we need to make some savings. To ensure we are delivering value for money for all tenants, we set about talking to as many of you as possible about the services which you highly valued and those where we could scale back or stop delivering altogether.
Late last year, in October and November, we held ‘The Big Conversation’ where we gathered over 1,200 views from 618 tenants. The feedback you provided clearly told us that delivering an excellent customer service is really important to you. We will make improvements to our services and how you access them. We will aim to make it easier for you to deal with us. As a result of your feedback we have made the following changes:
Customer Service |
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| You said | We did / we will do |
| We don’t need a full-time reception area. It should be open at certain times that are well advertised. | Our reception is now open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday. Our phone lines are open from 8am-5pm for repairs, and 9am-5pm for general enquiries. You can contact us 24 hours a day for repairs that require emergency assistance - so you can still speak to us when you need. |
| You would be happy with an automated telephone service that allows you to speak directly to the team you need. | We have introduced an automated telephone service, which will connect you directly with the team you need to speak to, so your queries can be resolved quicker. |
| You would be happy for us to visit your home to carry out repairs between 8am-6pm. | We are considering whether we can change the working patterns of our operatives, to provide a greater choice of repairs appointment times. |
Investing in Homes and Neighbourhoods |
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| You said | We did / we will do |
| Text reminders are useful for repairs appointments. | We have introduced a text messaging reminder service to help minimise costly missed appointments. |
| Investing in existing homes is a real priority for you and you do not want a reduced standard. | We will continue to invest in our home improvement programme and maintain our high standards. There will be no reduction in quality, timescales or our level of investment. |
| Projects that improve the appearance of your neighbourhood are important to you. | We will continue to invest in regeneration projects to improve neighbourhoods. |
Tenancy Support |
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| You said | We did / we will do |
| Our Purple Pantry social supermarket is highly valued by lots of tenants. | We will continue to subsidise this valued service. |
| Our employment and skills service, whilst valuable for some, only benefits a very small number of tenants | We will reduce the employment and skills support we deliver ourselves and signpost those in need to our partners. |
Tenant Involvement |
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| You said | We did / we will do |
| Tenant involvement was highly valued by you where it focussed on shaping services. | We will continue to ensure that tenants voices are heard across the organisation and they influence how we deliver our services. |
| It is important to you that we offer online opportunities to get involved, using text messages and email surveys. | We will continue to offer digital engagement opportunities alongside our traditional face to face activities. |
Housing Services |
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| You said | We did / we will do |
| We often deal with low level neighbourhood concerns which you do not see as a priority, or are the responsibility of other agencies, such as criminal activity. | We will focus on dealing with anti-social behaviour issues which are our responsibility. We will provide clear information on what should be reported where. |
Communications and Marketing |
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| You said | We did / we will do |
| You want to receive information in a clear and simple format. You want to be kept up to date on our services, your home and neighbourhood. | We will stop printing glossy leaflets and booklets and provide simpler factsheets with the key information you want to know about. |
| 77% of you read Gateway News but you would be happy with fewer editions each year. There was a lot of interest in a digital newsletter. | You will now receive Gateway News twice a year. You have the option to sign up for our digital newsletter to receive more regular updates. Sign up by registering at www. gateway2engagement.co.uk |
| At least half of our tenants use the website to find out information. | We will continue to ensure the website is kept up to date with useful information. |