Scotland Housing Awards winner 2023

Excellence in tenant scrutiny

Argyll Community Housing Association Limited (ACHA) was incorporated on 27th May 2005. ACHA is a registered social landlord which provides a range of housing for rent in primarily general needs accommodation, sheltered housing and two gypsy/traveller sites across Argyll and Bute. The area covered is 691,000 hectares making it the second largest local authority area in Scotland. ACHA has 5,165 homes across 11 islands and in every major settlement in Argyll and Bute.  There are 286 people employed by ACHA.

In planning for the Scottish Social Housing Charter, ACHA and our tenants identified the need to develop a group which would undertake scrutiny activities of ACHA services. A number of volunteers came forward to join the scrutiny group and training sessions were provided. The Your Voice Group (YVG) was established on 15th August 2015.

The YVG and ACHA have worked together since 2015 to embed scrutiny within the organisations strategic approach. The YVG’s aim is to identify areas of service that could be delivered differently, leading to increased tenant and customer satisfaction, and delivering more value for money to both ACHA and tenants alike. Their work is based on the following core values:

• Being accountable to tenants and service users
• Being transparent
• Reflecting the needs and aspirations of tenants and service users
• Respecting the decision making role of the Board
• Making recommendations based on robust evidence and consideration of financial impact of these.

The YVG are an independent group who are supported by the Tenant Information Service. ACHA’s community development officer acts as a link between the YVG and ACHA. There are currently six members who live across the Argyll and Bute area which varies from very urban, to very rural, to island communities. The YVG face the challenge of meeting regularly as a group due to the wide geographical area and reliance on ferry transport. Frequent meetings are held online where the group carry out scrutiny activities and share ideas.

The YVG use a range of information when deciding on subjects to be scrutinised. The group use performance information as a starting point for in depth service scrutiny alongside feedback from service users. Priority areas are determined using a range of information including Annual Return on the Charter reports, performance reports, satisfaction surveys, compliments and complaints data. A work plan is then developed to focus activities and identify tasks which range from desktop reviews, comparing ACHA’s performance to peers, testing systems, study visits, gathering tenant and staff opinions, mystery shopping and tenant led inspections. Conclusions are then drawn up based on the hard evidence and reports are prepared for ACHA’s board of management detailing their findings and includes recommendations for service improvements. ACHA respond to this by agreeing which measures can be implemented and, where they can’t be, explain fully why not. We regularly have joint discussions to monitor actions by ACHA as a result of the YVG recommendations and measure the impact on our tenants.

There are many positive outcomes achieved as a result of our partnership. Six scrutiny exercises have been completed to date with 81 out of 87 recommendations being approved by ACHA’s board of management. The scrutiny projects undertaken are ‘voids’, ‘repairs’, ‘estates’ and ‘planned maintenance communications’. Two scrutiny projects were delayed due to the impact of COVID-19 and were submitted to ACHA’s board of management in 2023. These projects are ‘delivering new homes’ and ‘ACHA’s lettable standard’. The YVG are now scrutinising ACHA’s Tenant Participation Strategy.

Some of the recommendations which have made a real difference to the lives of tenants are shown below:

1. Develop a system which allows ACHA to accurately assess how long calls are waiting before answered.
   Impact: New call management system allows staff to monitor the volume of calls which diverts quickly to available staff to improve the customer experience.
2. Make better use of close noticeboards to include an estate management checklist which details the actions being taken in each close.
   Impact: Notice boards are in every close where an ACHA property is present to ensure customers are kept fully up to date. 
3. Provide a ‘point of contact’ during and after planned maintenance works and identifying households that might require extra support.
   Impact: Resident Liaison Officers were introduced to improve customer service, identify tenants who require extra support and improve relationships between tenants and owners.
4. Extend close cleaning to cover all closes that are in sole ACHA ownership.
   Impact: All new build properties now have close cleaning services. Work ongoing to identify where ACHA could introduce this further for all customers.
5. ACHA to think creatively about the community benefits they require from a contractor as part of the procurement process, working with local communities to gather their thoughts and views. It should be clear at the outset who would be responsible for ongoing maintenance of any projects delivered.
   Action: ACHA are developing a Community Benefits Policy with community consultation events on specific projects.

ACHA have provided training sessions to the YVG on the Scottish Social Housing Charter and the regulatory requirements, the role of tenants in the self-assessment of housing services, the role and remit of a tenant scrutiny group and how tenants are involved in tenant scrutiny in Scotland and the wider UK. The YVG attend conferences to network, observe good practice and widen their knowledge and skills. Each scrutiny exercise builds on the skills developed, allowing members to grow their knowledge and expertise in a wide variety of scrutiny activities that can be used to assess service quality.

As a result of tenant scrutiny work there is an increased self-awareness within ACHA at all levels. The YVG challenge staff by questioning the way services operate and provide hard evidence to the governing body on where improvements can be made. This compels staff to objectively evaluate service standards and provides a valuable reality check in relation to the quality of services provided to tenants.

The YVG recognise the challenges of delivering housing services across such diverse communities within Argyll and Bute. Their skills, knowledge and dedication have transformed ACHA’s culture and overall housing services delivered to our tenants.