Tenants' Voice - Improving Services Annual Report 2024/25

A warm welcome is given to all our tenants who would like to join the Tenant’s Voice 
– Improving Services group.

No formal qualification, previous experience or training are needed. As a tenant, you will have the only qualification needed – being a tenant.

The Customer Voice Team and your fellow tenants will help you and guide you through the process. We also provide support from independent mentors.

They also help tenants by providing guidance and support to make sure:
• the right questions are asked
• the right information is provided 
• recommendations are reasonable and will make a positive change for tenants and the service

Between April 2024 and March 2025, the Tenants’ Voice – Improving Services group carried out reviews on the following service areas:

• Group communication
• aids and adaptations
• communal areas
• involving tenants in the rent and service charge review

These reviews have made a real difference to the service provided to tenants. 

The reviews made a whopping 28 recommendations.
Here is the report regarding the service area reviews from the tenant members of the Tenants’ Voice – Improving Services group:

We decided to carry out a review of Communication as this is an issue highlighted in most of the reviews we carry out.

We decided to focus our review on;

The guiding principles for good communications

• How tenants have been involved in developing these principles
• How strategies for improving communications will be embedded across the organisation and the timeframe for this
• What measures PHG will use to identify where improvement has been made

To carry out the review we;

• Received a briefing from the Head of Customer Experience and Marketing and Communication Team.
• Reviewed the Customer Access Strategy
• Reviewed the Customer Service Style project
• Reviewed the brand guidelines, including tone of voice and accessibility

We found that the following areas were working well;

• Key communication issues have already been identified and are being addressed by Progress.
• We support the Customer Access Strategy and the Customer Service Style project. We feel that the actions will improve communication with tenants.
• Feedback from tenants via a Tenants Talk has informed the Customer Access Strategy and the Customer Service Style project.

We also made 6 recommendation on how the approach to communication could be improved further.

Since completing the review 1 recommendations have been implemented with 5 being progressed.

We appreciate that due to the nature of the recommendations it is going to take some time to see the benefits of the review.

Neil Bergin-Faragher (Head of Customer Experience) told us why he valued the review carried out by tenants.

“It was such a great opportunity to talk to our Tenants’ Voice group about how we can improve communication with our tenants and customers. It is such a hot topic at the moment as we have heard our tenants tell us via the Tenant Satisfaction Measure surveys, other transactional surveys, complaints and various face to face events and activities, that communication is something we can get better at.

We’re committed to delivering against the 6 recommendations made by the Tenants’ Voice members and have ensured this is reflected in a number of projects and initiative such as RAMP over the coming months.”

We carried out a review of the aids and adaptations service, as this is a key service to help tenants maintain independence, as well as supporting tenants with specific needs.

We decided to focus our review on:
• how tenants are made aware of the service
• the communication methods in place for tenants
• how tenant expectations are managed
• how tenants provide feedback on the service and how this is used to improve it

To carry out the review we:
• received a briefing from colleagues on the aids and adaptations service
• reviewed the policy and procedure with a focus on tenant communication
• reviewed letters that are sent to tenants 
• reviewed the information available on the website 
• reviewed how tenant satisfaction is obtained and used

We found that the following areas were working well:
• the Group is quick to respond and communicate well when colleagues have the information they need
• satisfaction levels are high for the service

We also made nine recommendations on how the service could be improved further. Since completing the review, eight recommendations have been implemented, with one being progressed.

We have been particularly impressed by the proactive way the Aids and Adaptation Team has picked up and actioned the recommendations.

The review has seen changes introduced that have:
• improved communication, making sure clear timescales for works to be carried out are included
• improved communication provided on the Group’s website and leaflets, this includes the first steps to take
• provided a clear step by step guide to the aids and adaptation process for small and larger adaptations
• improved the satisfaction survey, which now includes a question on communication and is sent to all tenants receiving the service
• introduced a visit some weeks after the works are complete, this will check that the works have met the needs of the tenant and could highlight further needs

Carly Mustoe, our Head of Housing Operations at RWP, told us: “Supporting our tenants through tailored aid and adaptations is not just about accessibility, but enabling independence. Having our tenants involved in improving our processes helps us better understand how to best deliver our services.”

We decided to carry out a review of the communal areas as we could see low satisfaction levels in the performance information the Group provides. This showed satisfaction at 66% for Progress Housing Group and 80% for RWP for the question “that communal areas are kept clean and well maintained”.

We decided to focus our review on:
• cleaning and window cleaning services provided
• the service provided to tenants living in general let and independent living homes
• the level of service delivered
• the information given to tenants about the service provided

To carry out the review, we:
• had an initial briefing session with Kirsty Ellis, Head of Operations (Homes and Opportunities), who explained the service and how it is provided to tenants
• looked at performance information in the Tenant Satisfaction Measures for 2023/24
• looked at information telling tenants about the service
• visited three general let blocks and one independent living scheme 
• looked at information provided on the website of three other housing providers
We found that the following areas were working well:
• the detail of what is included in the cleaning service
• the independent living schemes are kept very clean
• sign-off sheets are used to show when the cleaning was done
• posters on communal noticeboards telling tenants about the cleaning service
• information telling tenants about the cleaning service was clear and easy to understand

We also made nine recommendations on how the communal areas could be improved further. Whilst none of the recommendations are complete yet, work is progressing on each of the actions.

Once introduced, these will see improvements to:
• information provided to tenants in different ways, making sure this is clear and easy to understand what service should be provided
• making sure all communal areas have a noticeboard showing details of the cleaning service
• how tenants can report when something has gone wrong with the service
• same cleaning standard across all communal areas
• telling tenants what has happened after an issue has been reported

Kirsty Ellis, Head of Operations (Homes and Opportunities), told us why she valued the review carried out by tenants: “Through working together, this process has allowed us to understand our tenants’ needs better, work towards improving 
satisfaction and ensuring our services are both effective and responsive.”

We carried out a review of the way tenants are involved in the rent and service charge review. This was to make sure tenants have an opportunity to have their voice heard in this important process and build on the success of previous involvement activities.

We decided to focus our review on:
• what information is provided to tenants
• how information is provided to tenants
• how tenants are involved in the review process

To carry out the review we:
• had an initial briefing session with David Roden, Financial Services Director and Sarah Heaton, Finance Business Partner - Rents
• looked at information that had been provided to tenants in last year’s rent and service charge sessions 
• looked at information provided to tenants in the rent and service charge review video
• agreed three questions to be asked to wider groups of tenants 
• looked at information provided on the Group’s website
• looked at information provided on three other housing providers’ websites

We found that the following areas were working well: 
• the information on the website is clear and helpful
• the information in the video is clear and easy to understand

We also made four recommendations on how the involvement process could be improved. Since completing the review, all four recommendations have been implemented leading to the following improvements: 
• clear branding of information sessions
• clear and easy to understand information 
• information telling tenants what their rent and service charges are used to pay for
• a different way of meeting tenants. This included attending community centres and activities to meet tenants and discuss their thoughts on the proposed rent and service charges

Sarah Heaton, Finance Business Partner – Rents, told us why she valued the review carried out by tenants: “It was really beneficial to get tenant feedback to ensure the information that we provide to tenants is relevant and easy to understand. Following the review, we were able to present the information in a different format and reach more tenants as a result.”

Over the next year, we will be carrying out a scrutiny review of our supported living part of the business, RWP’s engagement with tenants.

If you would like to find out more about the work of the Tenants’ Voice – improving services group, including how you can get involved or suggest a service for a scrutiny review please see www.progressgroup.org.uk/scrutiny or contact Diane from the Customer Voice Team at community@progressgroup.org.uk or phone 07870 900991.