Feedback from the Voice of the Resident Panel – March 2024
The most recent voice of the resident panel took place in early March.
The panel is made up of residents who work closely with settle colleagues and Board members, to discuss, shape and improve our services.
During the latest meeting the panel received a copy of the latest reporting pack on the tenant satisfaction measures results.
They were reminded about the regulatory requirement around the tenant satisfaction measures and how they fit with the regulator’s overall requirement.
Panel members were updated about the progress made on repairs with confirmation around the reduction in number of jobs we have live on our system at any one time.
Demand for jobs increased significantly in January and February 2024. This was due to unprecedented weather including storms, high winds and heavy rain which caused considerable damage to homes and therefore demand. Throughout the year we have been working on improvements to help us complete repairs more quickly. We also confirmed that we have a supply chain of contractors in place that we use to support the service in high volume months.
The panel made suggestions on other matters that they would like raised at our quarterly Operations Committees, including:
- The importance of controls on scheduled repairs, ensuring that residents are kept updated when jobs are changed.
- Further consideration to how we can respond faster to repairs and works that can be resolved more quickly.
The panel would also like early engagement with the rent and service charge letters next year, to ensure they do not feel generic for residents.
Complaint handling code
Following this meeting, we asked the panel for their feedback on the information that we’ve put together for residents on ways they can raise a complaint. We want to ensure that this is as clear as possible in line with an update on the Complaint Handling Code which came into practice on 1 April.
The panel helped us complete the complaint handling code self-assessment and gave us feedback and support in producing a complaints leaflet and poster.
Panel members suggested updates on How we handle complaints content to ensure it’s clear, easy to understand and has a positive message that you can raise your complaint with anyone at settle. The panel also suggested explaining the timelines around complaint handling in more detail. They also suggested it would be valuable learning to reflect on case studies of how complaints were handled by settle at future panel meetings.
May 2024
Following recent recruitment, we have increased the number of panel members to 14. The first meeting of the new group took place in May. The panel revisited their purpose, measures of success and what they’re expectations of settle. We look forward to working with the panel to continue driving better outcomes for all settle residents.
