Annual Report 2022-23
Our customers are at the heart of what we do and feedback from involved customers, customer surveys and complaints helps us to do better and continually improve our services.
This year customers have shared their views with us and helped make a positive difference to a range of service areas including Voids standards, Neighbourhoods, Neighbourhood Care services and our Contact Centre. They have shaped our approach to sustainability work; equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI); tackling damp and mould and much more. Telling us what you think is so important for challenging us to improve how we deliver our services and helping us respond to and learn from complaints. It drives improvements for everyone who lives in an FCHO home and local communities, and helps us as we strive to be an excellent landlord.
Here a snapshot of our performance...
Customer involvement
Customer Voice Panel (CVP) members
Customer engagement activities held
Customer Voids Inspectors
Properties inspected by our Customer Voids Inspectors
Rounds of Voids inspections carried out
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Working Group members recruited
Customer Sustainability group members recruited
Inspections carried out by our Neighbourhood Champions
Customer groups active this year:
You said, we did
Here are some of the ways our involved customers influenced our work in 2022/23.
You said
Our Customer Void inspectors told us they think improving the standard of decoration in void properties should be a priority.
What we did
In response to this we implemented an enhanced voids standard, designed to improve the quality that you can expect when you move into an FCHO home.
You said
Our Customer Voids inspectors gave us feedback that holding inspections at weekends may increase availability of customers to take part.
What we did
We took this onboard and now schedule inspections on Saturdays which has led to increased membership in our cohort of Customer Voids Inspectors.
You said
Customers told us they wanted to be more involved in selecting calls used in our ‘Quality Call Listening group’ (where customers get the opportunity to listen to pre-recorded calls from the contact centre, rating the advisors and call overall.)
What we did
We've listened and revised the process to allow customers to select calls at random during the group meeting. This enables customers to review a variety of call types, supporting our Contact Centre to review the way advisors interact with customers and helping drive improvements to our services.
You said
Members of our Customer Complaints Working Group told us that they wanted to review current/open complaints rather than historical complaints. This was so they could understand the actions that our team take and they wanted to influence the complaint resolution where possible and, if they felt how we were responding wasn’t adequate, they could make suggestions and potentially influence the outcome.
What we did
Our Head of Customer Services took this feedback on board and brought current complaints to the group for review at the next session.
You said
Customer Sustainability Champions told us they wanted to see retrofitted homes and products up and running, rather than discuss them in a meeting.
What we did
We facilitated a field trip to MSV’s Cosy Home in Manchester, which enabled the group to explore a retrofitted home for themselves. This led to valuable discussion among group members and fostered ideas about how we could support customers to take advantage of energy efficiency improvement work at their home.
You said
Customer Voice Panel (CVP) members who attend our Performance Challenge Meetings said that they would like to see performance reporting made clearer and to include more information about targets, to give context.
What we did
Our Head of Transformation took the feedback on board and has worked on a new format for presenting performance data, which the CVP has found clearer and more engaging.
Complaints
Complaints received (stage 1)
Complaints received (stage 2)
Stage 1 complaints responded to within target of 7 days
Stage 2 complaints responded to within target of 15 days
Complaint satisfaction (% customers satisfied with complaint handling)
Spotlight on our Customer Complaints Working Group
Tracy Dixon Customer Complaints Working Group member
As part of our pledge to listen to our customers and use your feedback to shape and improve our work, we have a Customer Complaints Working Group made up of customers, senior managers and colleagues from across our organisation.
The group’s purpose is to use feedback and intelligence from complaints to help us continuously enhance our services to you and helps ensure our complaints process is robust and fit for purpose.
Here’s what Customer Complaints Working Group member, Tracy has to say about her role.
“I feel very strongly about ensuring people are represented and improving lives, and I’m passionate about bringing my perspective as an FCHO customer to the complaints process and providing a balanced viewpoint.
“I am one of 12 customers who review complaints and how they’ve been handled by the FCHO team and look at complaints performance, with a view to suggesting improvements where appropriate.
“The process is very open and transparent. We have the opportunity to question the Complaints team in depth about why particular courses of action have been taken to manage complaints and provide our feedback.
“There have been a lot of changes made through those open discussions around the table. We’ve had the opportunity to impact how things could be better for customers and it’s also given us insight into the parameters that FCHO has to work within, which is very interesting.
“On damp and mould complaints for example, our feedback that waiting times for work to tackle damp and mould could cause customers’ anxiety led to a process review. Now customers’ homes are inspected within ten days of an issue being reported and from there a plan about how to tackle the problem is made, which is a very positive step. Other areas we’ve helped to influence are complaint response timescales and the process for customers to get call backs.
“As a customer I understand that First Choice Homes Oldham wants to continually improve what it delivers, and it’s clear the team wants to listen and learn from complaints. It’s not a faceless organisation and the team is passionate about what they do.
“I would definitely encourage other customers to get involved in the Customer Complaints Working Group. The more diversity we have round that table, the more impact we can have and the more we can improve things for other customers.”
You said, we did
Here are some of the ways customer complaints have influenced our work in 2022/23.
You said
The waiting time for damp and mould works to be completed was too long and the presence of mould in a home can cause customers anxiety that it might impact their health.
What we did
We have appointed a specialist contractor to carry out a rapid response mould eradication treatment within ten days from the time customers report an issue, if required. From there we can make a plan about how to tackle the issue – including whether repairs are needed.
What we learned
It is important to proactively remove mould from a customer’s home and investigate the cause while planning the necessary repairs to ensure customers' safety in their homes.
You said
Sometimes, following major works at their home, customers had to call us back as the issues had not been fully resolved or had reoccurred.
What we did
We now book a post-inspection appointment within six weeks of major work being completed at customers’ homes. This enables us to identify if any work is outstanding and to check that the works have been completed to the correct standard.
What we learned
It’s important that we proactively inspect a property after major works have been completed, to avoid issues from reoccurring and to ensure that our customers are satisfied with work we’ve completed at their home.
You said
Customers who had had their property re-wired were unhappy that the disturbance allowance was paid to their rent account rather than direct to them to allow them to carry out re-decoration following the works.
What we did
We reviewed our process and agreed that we would pay the disturbance allowance direct to the customer so that they could carry out re-decoration.
What we learned
It’s important that we listen to the concerns of our customer and change our process so that they can carry out re-decoration when programmed works are carried out.
Get involved
If you are a customer and would like to get involved in any of our customer engagement groups, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our Stronger Communities team.
Telephone: 0161 393 7117
Email: ci@fcho.co.uk