Tenant Assurance Panel (TAP)

Our new TAP panel is now up and running, and the 8 members have met monthly since January. The panel report their findings and recommendations directly to our Board, the first time this has been done in Broadland.

Part of the remit of the TAP is to provide our Board with assurance and challenge on Broadland’s approach to:

Together with Tenants Charter
Ombudsman Complaints Charter
Resident Involvement
Customer Charter
Compliance with RSH Consumer Standards
Tenant Consumer Standards

As part of their induction, TAP have received presentations from our leadership team and senior managers on:

Broadland’s values and future direction - Michael Newey, Chief Executive
financial strategy – Iain Grieve, Executive Finance Director
maintenance of our homes - Justin O’Connor, Assistant Asset Director
repairs and scheduling - Dale Wordley, Assistant Maintenance Director
Complaints handling – Stephani Davis, Assistant Housing Director

Going forward, TAP will look at Broadland’s quarterly Key Performance Indicators and review our communication about the Regulator for Social Housing’s new Tenant Satisfaction Measures. They will also look at the feedback from this survey and suggest how we can make improvements to our services.

Actions so far

In response to TAP requests we have:

suggested how tenants can avoid hard water issues in their home
reminded tenants what repairs they are responsible for
provided the number of repairs reported by Broadland staff

Next focus

The panel will next elect their Chair, and look to recruit new members from Dereham, King’s Lynn, Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and surrounding areas, to ensure all Broadland’s neighbourhoods are represented.

We are also hosting a Communications Bootcamp in June, open to all tenants, focusing on how we can improve our communication on repairs to tenants.

Cost of living support

Food prices and utility costs have risen steeply in recent months. To help tenants, we created a one-stop-shop ‘Cost of living support’ page on our website, with links to local and national resources.

In February we hosted an hour-long live chat on Facebook, when tenants could ask members of our team questions and get advice in real time.

Matthew O’Brien, Welfare Benefits Advisor, talked about how he can help tenants check they are getting the benefits they are entitled to claim and challenge any benefit decisions made against them.

Philip Yates, from our Tenancy Support team, described their services for tenants. This ranges from 1-to-1 support if necessary with money issues or with help to look after their home, to signposting towards free employment training and resources for better health and wellbeing.

Support for older tenants

Over the winter we visited all our sheltered housing schemes, offering tenants a Welfare Benefit Check. Many older people do not realise they can claim for benefits such as attendance allowance, pension credit and housing benefit, or how to apply.

During the visits, members of our income recovery team helped one tenant increase their annual income by over £6,500, and another tenant by £3,500!

We have been filming some short videos for tenants about what to do if they are experiencing rent and income difficulties, which we will be posting on our social media.