An update on our service performance
As we continued to respond and adapt to the challenges of the pandemic across 2021, our services to residents have remained at the forefront with increased support for those residents most in need, a dedicated hardship fund to offer immediate financial assistance and regular service updates and frequent communication on matters affecting residents.
Kathryn Harrison
Kathryn is English Rural's Resident Services Director. Kathryn is responsible for making sure we provide an quality service to you, our residents, from the moment you move in, to keeping your home safe and well maintained.
Challenges facing our contractors were regularly reviewed across the year, where necessary ensuring prioritisation of health and safety work, along with sound forward-planning to maintain continued landlord health and safety compliance.
By listening to feedback from residents and monitoring performance it became clear during the year that the staffing structure through which services were being supplied was not operating as effectively as it should.
In response to this, a restructure of the services team was implemented, creating a single Directorate to oversee resident services, employment of more technical skills and creation of a dedicated customer services team. This approach aligned with a review of key processes and complaints handling.
As an early adopter of the National Housing Federation’s 'Together with Tenants' initiative, English Rural has started to shape services in a way that better engages residents and enhances resident voice.
This has included a more prominent role for the Resident Scrutiny Group and formation of an online resident panel. This work played a valuable role as business continuity response was mobilised and communicating with residents effectively became even more essential.
The growth in use of the online resident portal has been a notable success, with over 50% of residents now signed-up.
The first of English Rural's Seven Strategic Ambitions is to Work with Residents and Deliver Services in an Accountable Way.
We have included some headline results from our most recent Resident Satisfaction Survey and information on how we handle complaints.
We know there is always more work to do to improve the service we offer to you, our residents. The restructure of the Resident Services team, together with the appointment of a dedicated Customer Services Manager will ensure the resident voice is heard and positive changes are made.
During 2020 a comprehensive review of our complaints policy and procedure was completed in consultation with the Resident Scrutiny Group. The review resulted in a streamlined complaints handling procedure and coincided with the introduction of the Housing Ombudsman’s own complaint handling code.
Each year English Rural completes and publishes on our website a self assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code, allowing us to evidence how we have responded to complaints across the year and any lessons learnt from these complaints.
