West Midlands Learning Exchange, Herefordshire Housing 23rd June 2010

Twenty representatives from organisations from across the West Midlands attended the Learning Exchange at Herefordshire Housing and contributed to an informative and enjoyable day.  Leading on from the tone of the Launch Event, the day was designed to be as interactive as possible, with short presentations introducing each topic followed by group work where attendees shared their experiences of each of the elements and discussed how these had been developed within their organisations.  These contributions were then brought together and fed back to the room so that both good practice, and potential stumbling blocks were shared with those who attended.  Feedback from the day indicated that it was a worthwhile exercise, and thanks are due once again to our hosts at Herefordshire Housing for looking after us so well on the day. If you would like more information on this or future events in the West Midlands, please contact Gavin McAlister on 01538 380 615 or gmcalister@moorlandshousing.co.uk

West Midlands RICS Learning Exchange, Herefordshire Housing 23rd June 2010

Scrutiny Panels

Responsive Feedback

One group used the analogy of formula one team, where the driver provides the most important feedback to the team providing the services required to keep the car on the road performing well.  Customers are in the best position to help their organisations to understand the impact of their services, and Scrutiny Panels give them the forum to express these views, hold the organisation to account, and influence service development.

Reward for membership

Recognition of commitment of Scrutiny Panel members is important as the time and intellectual engagement required is significantly greater than in other methods of resident involvement.   

Conduct of Members

Scrutiny Panel members are expected to act as exemplars to other residents and compliance with the terms of the Tenancy Agreement should be a pre-requisite for membership.

A clear Code of Conduct with explicit sanctions to be applied if breached is necessary to outline the rights and responsibilities of panel members and set the parameters of acceptable behaviour.

Previous Initiatives

While the Scrutiny Panel is a relatively recent initiative, scrutiny has been provided in the past under other names such as Service Review Groups, Resident Inspectors and Mystery Shoppers.  The difference primarily lies in the level of oversight provided by Scrutiny Panels, and the extent to which they can set the agenda of what aspects of the organisation they wish to investigate.

Representation

It is important to make Scrutiny Panels as representative as possible of the tenant population, to encourage a broad range of views.  One way of achieving this is to ask all frontline members of staff to nominate a number of customers who feel would be suitable but aren’t currently involved in other ways.  This also helps to reinforce the message that effective resident involvement is the responsibility of all departments of a housing organisation, rather than purely a function carried out by designated officers.

Role of Tenant Board Members

Different approaches to the potential role of tenant board members on Scrutiny Panels have been taken, with some valuing the experience that these individuals can bring to the panel in its infancy, while others view the potential conflict of interests which may arise as too great to allow dual membership. 

Value for Money

The resources made available for the operation of Scrutiny Panels varied significantly across organisations present at the Learning Exchange, with some working with minimal resources and no defined budget, and others allocated generous budgets to cover training and expenses.  While it is generally accepted that investment is needed to establish an effective panel, ensuring demonstrable Value for Money in the long term is vital.

Impact Assessments

Simplicity

Methods of measuring and recording impact assessments must be designed to be accessible and user-friendly to ensure that staff use them and that the information contained is easily understandable and retrievable.  Precision in terms of every penny of expenditure isn’t as important as clarity and simplicity.

Ends and Means

Effective impact assessment should be a means towards analysing and improving an organisation’s performance, rather than seen merely as an end in itself.  Filling in yet another proforma is only of benefit if the information is properly used to assess past performance, and inform how this can be successfully built upon in future.

Annual Report

Impact assessments should be drawn together into an easily accessible report which documents all of the organisation’s interventions in one place.  This can be stored on the organisation’s website, and signposted from newsletters and

Publication

Key information and figures from impact assessments should be available and accessible to staff, customers and stakeholders on website, in newsletters, etc