15 March meeting… corporate strategy, customer service, communal areas pilots, community fund, financial crisis support fund

Next engagement panel meeting: Wednesday 13 April 5pm-6.30pm

Corporate strategy

Anna Klimczak, Chief Exec, gave a further update on the corporate strategy that she presented in January. We were shown a visual roadmap of the five-year plan, to be shared with all residents in the spring newsletter. Anna said the plan was ambitious, but that we can deliver over the time period. Despite the many challenges we continue to face, we are in a better position now that residents have valuable input and the merger is complete.

Customer service

Claudia Cobban, customer service director, gave an overview of the Customer Services strategy. Claudia said we want to do a good job as a landlord, and was glad the panel is part of the solution. There are lots of areas that are not performing as well as expected and Claudia shared a visual aid of key measures which showed how we hope the journey to progress over the next five years; this included customer satisfaction, repairs and maintenance and void turnaround time. Claudia also said that not all new systems were in place, and that this would take time for the full alignment to happen, and some phases are split into two, over a number of years. Claudia closed by saying that satisfaction will increase over time and when trust is rebuilt with residents.

Communal areas

Scott Jacobs-Lange, resident and community engagement manager, gave a further update on two communal pilot projects. A lot has been done, and works began this week at Fedden Buildings.  Scott touched on the residents’ priorities and the feedback reports, which covered which priorities Brighter Places would be going ahead with at each scheme, including flooring, internal communal decoration and new buggy/bike stores at Fedden.  There were a number of Panel members who would like to visit these schemes and be a part of the before and after projects going forward.

Scott continued with an update on the Community & Resident Engagement policy. An interim policy has been drafted to guide engagement work until a full resident engagement audit is carried out by TPAS (tenant engagement experts) over the coming months.  Scott highlighted that the policy touches on our close work with colleagues in Tenancy Impact to help tenants in financial stress and anyone experiencing digital poverty. This policy has been circulated for the panel to feedback on over the next two weeks before it is sent for board approval.

Community fund

Danielle Jones, resident engagement officer updated the panel on a new community fund available for local community groups where our residents have homes. This funding is available over the platinum jubilee weekend. Both panel chairs will support the engagement team with processing applications and awarding grants.  Panel members were encouraged to share this with any community connections they have, as this rare opportunity of an extended bank holiday allows us to have community celebrations.

Financial crisis support fund

Claudia finished the meeting with the final criteria and allocation approach of the support fund.  Panel members were asked to comment and challenge the criteria before it is launched.  All panel members agreed that the criteria would enable a high percentage of residents in financial crisis to access immediate support.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 13 April 5pm, and we would welcome any observers. Contact: engagement@brighterplaces.co.uk

Mike Sheppard, Panel Member