Agenda item

To receive a report on the 2024/25 Tenant Satisfaction Measure Report.

The Tenant Engagement Manager and the Tenant Representative presented the report on the Council’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) performance for 2024/25.

The TSM’s were reportable to the Regulator of Social Housing and allowed the Council to check its performance but more importantly it enabled tenants to review the Council’s performance and hold the Council to account.  Specifically, the tenant perception survey had improved from the previous year and the safety and compliance internal measures was good.    This was a recognition of the hard work that Officers had put into the housing services.  Those measures also highlighted and offered opportunities for continuous improvement, particularly focussing on repairs, maintenance and complaints where it was recognised that improvements were needed.  Tenants had stated that this accountability was key enabling them to influence the service.  The increase in complaints should not be shied away from and showed the work which had been undertaken to make sure that tenants trusted the Council to be able to submit a complaint.

A member raised concern that those in the 25 to 34 years age bracket were the most dissatisfied tenants and questioned how officers ensure that they engage with the right people.  In response, it was confirmed that the key was ensuing officers were visible and accessible, by visiting the estates and Hubs, alongside a well-established Tenant Group, which kept Officers informed.  Coffee and conversation days were being created, along with community days, which were all advertised, along with formal and informal estate walkabouts.  This built trust with the tenants.

A specific question was raised on dissatisfaction with mould or damp and the Panel was pleased to see a large feature in the winter edition of Home Talk, on its prevention.  In response, it was confirmed a large piece of work was being undertaken on resident engagement and explaining how tenants could prevent mould or damp in their homes.

The Panel questioned the reasons for the 4% drop in well maintained homes.  It was confirmed that there could be a number of reasons for this including damp and mould being a common theme.  There was more work that could be undertaken around this as well as analysing repair timescale, etc.

The Tenant Representative felt that the route to engagement with younger tenants was via direct contact through walkabouts on estates and an example was provided of a recent event at Hounsdown.  Two tenants who had attended the event had recently become involved further.  If tenants saw the Council in action, wanting to make improvements which tenants could respond to, then they would get involved.  Members also needed to remember that there were a lot of satisfied residents and often they would not engage in matters. 

It was confirmed that once work had been undertaken there was a process to check that the work had been completed and had resolved the issue.  

Every complaint was handled in the same way, through the complaints process, with a defined timescale when a resident would be contacted.

The rise in anti-social behaviour complaints was noted to be due, in part, to the way reports were now robustly captured compared with last year.

It was confirmed that the terminology used in surveys was in a prescribed government format.

RESOLVED:

That the Panel reviewed this year’s Tenant Satisfaction Measure results, to enable effective scrutiny of the housing service’s performance and views of tenants in relation to the services they received.