Gateshead Council share plans for housing service improvements
Gateshead Council is investing £168 million in its housing service over the next five years, to help accelerate improvements identified, in part, by a recent tenant satisfaction survey.
Aimed at enhancing the overall service it provides to its tenants, and the communities in which they live, these improvements include investing in the capacity and capability of its home repairs and maintenance service, a new approach to helping tackle anti-social behaviour, improved maintenance of the green spaces within local neighbourhoods, as well as making it easier for tenants to contact the council regarding any potential housing issues.
Councillor John Adams, Cabinet Member for Housing at Gateshead Council, said:
"As a regulatory requirement, our annual tenant satisfaction survey provides us with valuable insight into what we're doing well, but also highlights areas we need to improve.
"This year's results were disappointing, if not entirely surprising, with only 44% of the near 1,100 tenants who completed the survey satisfied with the service they receive. This reflects a national trend within the social housing sector, according to Housemark, where a number of external factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic, severe storms, and difficulties in staff recruitment and retention, have affected service delivery.
"We take the thoughts and opinions of our tenants very seriously, and we are committed to delivering existing and planned service improvements that I am confident will vastly improve performance and tenant satisfaction."
The results of the satisfaction survey, which was carried out in November 2022, clearly define the issues that matter most to tenants, and as a result, the council is making a series of targeted investments to help modernised its housing service.
This has included a sustained period of recruitment to both customer service and tradespeople roles. This has already significantly improved the capacity within the council's home repairs service, reducing a backlog of repairs from 6250 12 months ago, to less than 400 currently. This includes a number of homes adversely affected by issues relating to damp and mould, which were given priority status. Due to an intense period of staff training and embracing new ways of working, they are now also completing more repairs on time, and on their first visit.
To help improve its customer service, the council have introduced evening appointments, and with enhancements to their online repair reporting system, due to be introduced in June, reporting and tracking progress on repairs will be easier than ever before.
A new Customer Promise, which clearly defines the service standards all tenants can now expect from the council has also been introduced, and regular independent satisfaction surveys on the completion of repairs will make sure these standards are maintained.
To help tackle issues relating to anti-social behaviour, the council led an in-depth review into related services in Gateshead, which included colleagues from their Environmental Health team, as well as external agencies, including Northumbria Police, and previous victims and perpetrators of anti-social behaviour. This informed the design of a new strategy for tackling anti-social behaviour, which includes a single access point for reporting it, regardless of where it is taking place or where the perpetrator lives. This has been successfully trialled for six months, and following further consultation, is expected to be introduced in the Autumn.
Over £2million is being invested in the expansion of the council's environmental services, which will help improve the appearance and cleanliness of local communities. Precisely how these funds will be allocated will be confirmed soon.
The council will also be expanding the scale of existing Estate Walkabouts, where Councillors and council staff meet with tenants and residents, and discuss priorities within their local area.
Finally, the council is also investing in expanding the size of its customer contact centre within its housing service, to reduce wait times, and make sure issues are resolved to the satisfaction of the tenant.
Councillor John Adams added:
"While we recognise the issues that have led to the frustration of some of our tenants, the council has worked incredibly hard to secure the necessary funding and understand which aspects of the service needed investment to help drive performance improvements.
"We have the mechanisms in place to involve our tenants at all levels of our decision making, the annual tenant satisfaction survey being one of them, and we really value their contribution. They have told us where we needed to improve, and we have risen to the challenge.
"Over the next five years we will be significantly improving the condition of our existing housing stock. We will also be building new homes to help regenerate areas of Gateshead. Our ambition is to make Gateshead a place our tenants can be proud to live in, and we can only achieve this with a modern housing service that is adaptive and consistently meets the needs of its customers."
If you are an existing Gateshead Council tenant and want more information on how you can get involved in consultation activities, please email involvement@gateshead.gov.uk.
Gateshead Council is investing £168 million in its housing service over the next five years, to help accelerate improvements identified, in part, by a recent tenant satisfaction survey.
Aimed at enhancing the overall service it provides to its tenants, and the communities in which they live, these improvements include investing in the capacity and capability of its home repairs and maintenance service, a new approach to helping tackle anti-social behaviour, improved maintenance of the green spaces within local neighbourhoods, as well as making it easier for tenants to contact the council regarding any potential housing issues.
Councillor John Adams, Cabinet Member for Housing at Gateshead Council, said:
"As a regulatory requirement, our annual tenant satisfaction survey provides us with valuable insight into what we're doing well, but also highlights areas we need to improve.
"This year's results were disappointing, if not entirely surprising, with only 44% of the near 1,100 tenants who completed the survey satisfied with the service they receive. This reflects a national trend within the social housing sector, according to Housemark, where a number of external factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic, severe storms, and difficulties in staff recruitment and retention, have affected service delivery.
"We take the thoughts and opinions of our tenants very seriously, and we are committed to delivering existing and planned service improvements that I am confident will vastly improve performance and tenant satisfaction."
The results of the satisfaction survey, which was carried out in November 2022, clearly define the issues that matter most to tenants, and as a result, the council is making a series of targeted investments to help modernised its housing service.
This has included a sustained period of recruitment to both customer service and tradespeople roles. This has already significantly improved the capacity within the council's home repairs service, reducing a backlog of repairs from 6250 12 months ago, to less than 400 currently. This includes a number of homes adversely affected by issues relating to damp and mould, which were given priority status. Due to an intense period of staff training and embracing new ways of working, they are now also completing more repairs on time, and on their first visit.
To help improve its customer service, the council have introduced evening appointments, and with enhancements to their online repair reporting system, due to be introduced in June, reporting and tracking progress on repairs will be easier than ever before.
A new Customer Promise, which clearly defines the service standards all tenants can now expect from the council has also been introduced, and regular independent satisfaction surveys on the completion of repairs will make sure these standards are maintained.
To help tackle issues relating to anti-social behaviour, the council led an in-depth review into related services in Gateshead, which included colleagues from their Environmental Health team, as well as external agencies, including Northumbria Police, and previous victims and perpetrators of anti-social behaviour. This informed the design of a new strategy for tackling anti-social behaviour, which includes a single access point for reporting it, regardless of where it is taking place or where the perpetrator lives. This has been successfully trialled for six months, and following further consultation, is expected to be introduced in the Autumn.
Over £2million is being invested in the expansion of the council's environmental services, which will help improve the appearance and cleanliness of local communities. Precisely how these funds will be allocated will be confirmed soon.
The council will also be expanding the scale of existing Estate Walkabouts, where Councillors and council staff meet with tenants and residents, and discuss priorities within their local area.
Finally, the council is also investing in expanding the size of its customer contact centre within its housing service, to reduce wait times, and make sure issues are resolved to the satisfaction of the tenant.
Councillor John Adams added:
"While we recognise the issues that have led to the frustration of some of our tenants, the council has worked incredibly hard to secure the necessary funding and understand which aspects of the service needed investment to help drive performance improvements.
"We have the mechanisms in place to involve our tenants at all levels of our decision making, the annual tenant satisfaction survey being one of them, and we really value their contribution. They have told us where we needed to improve, and we have risen to the challenge.
"Over the next five years we will be significantly improving the condition of our existing housing stock. We will also be building new homes to help regenerate areas of Gateshead. Our ambition is to make Gateshead a place our tenants can be proud to live in, and we can only achieve this with a modern housing service that is adaptive and consistently meets the needs of its customers."
If you are an existing Gateshead Council tenant and want more information on how you can get involved in consultation activities, please email involvement@gateshead.gov.uk.
