Involving our Customers How you can get involved

Leaflet No. IOC01
Involving our Customers
How you can get involved
Reader Group approved
If you would like this leaflet in any other
format please contact the Customer
Service Team on 01484 435715
How you can get involved
A guide to Resident Involvement at Sadeh Lok Housing
Why your views are important to us
We believe that we should not only be
accountable to our
customers for the policies we follow, the standard of services we
deliver and the decisions we make but also ensure we listen to
your views and allow these to shape the services we deliver to
you. Our commitment to this is set out in Our Charter for
Involvement and in the Involving our
Customers Service
Standards.
How can I get involved?
Sadeh Lok has developed a number of ways that residents can
get involved in shaping our services in a level that suits
individual residents.
Throughout this leaflet we will use the following symbols to rate
the level of influence a resident will have on the decision
making process and time an activity will take
; Influence - the more ; the greater the influence
 Time - the more  the greater the time commitment
Board Membership ;;;;
The Sadeh Lok Housing Board makes decisions about policies
and plans for Sadeh Lok Housing, sets wider aims and
objectives and ensures that staff are meeting standards and
targets.
The Housing Board includes people with a range of professional
skills. Sadeh Lok believes that it is important to include local
people on the Board to help shape the Housing Service.
Tenant Board members are equal to other Board members and
have the same powers to make decisions as part of the Board.
Sadeh Lok Housing Group are keen to recruit more tenants to
both the divisional Housing and Group Sadeh Lok Boards.
Residents’ Panel ;;;
Membership of the Residents’ Panel is open to all Sadeh Lok
Housing residents with the exception of those we have
commenced legal proceedings against for anti-social behaviour.
The Residents’ Panel meets with Officers and Senior Managers
of Sadeh Lok Housing on a regular basis to consult on and
explain policies and procedures and report on performance.
The Residents’ Panel work to a code of conduct to ensure they
respect
diversity, confidentiality and ensure that everyone
has a chance to have their say and contribute to the meetings.
Service Review Groups ;;;
Service review groups are formed for the purpose of reviewing
individual service areas or parts of service areas. Sadeh Lok
Housing aims to include residents on all these groups along with
officers, Directors, Board Members and other stakeholders
where appropriate.
This is to ensure that all our
recommendations and decisions remain resident focused.
Resident Scrutiny Inspections ;;;
Resident Scrutiny Inspectors carry out checks to ensure that
Sadeh Lok Housing have worked to agreed procedures and
taken appropriate action.
This may involve for example
checking the standard of empty properties before we re-let
them, checking files to ensure appropriate action has been
taken for example in dealing with an anti-social behaviour case,
when letting our properties or when dealing with problems on a
scheme.
Mystery Shopping ;;
Mystery shopping of different service areas is another way of
checking the standard of the service provided by Sadeh Lok
Housing.
Residents can do this either by telephone or by
calling in person to the office. The feedback from Mystery
Shoppers is very valuable as it is used to identify service
improvements and training needs.
All Mystery Shoppers are required to attend an initial briefing to
understand the area they are testing. They will then be given a
scenario to test or be asked to carry out a real time mystery
shop by assessing the service as they actually use it.
Scheme Monitors ;;
Scheme Monitors are residents who report back to Sadeh Lok
Housing on the standard of services provided on the scheme
they live on. They also act as our eyes and ears on the scheme
and report any problems such as fly tipping or graffiti when they
spot them. The Scheme Monitors complete a simple checklist
on a monthly basis.
Where Scheme Monitors are not happy that an issue is being
progressed satisfactorily by Sadeh Lok they can refer the issue
to the Residents’ Panel for further investigation.
Scheme Walkabouts ;
Scheme walkabouts are carried out every three months on all
schemes by the Neighbourhood Officer. The aim is to ensure
that schemes look clean and tidy. Residents are invited to
attend these walkabouts to identify any issues on the scheme
and check that issues are being dealt with.
SOS days – Staff on Scheme Days ;;
During the spring and summer months SLH staff spend one
day each month out on site visiting schemes and talking to
residents. We do this to find out more about how residents feel
about the scheme they live on, the neighbourhood and the
services we provide.
The Neighbourhood Officer attends with the Housing Services
Manager, the Service Improvement Officer and members of
Sadeh Lok’s Customer Service Team. Residents are informed
before each SOS day of the date and time that staff will be on
their scheme.
Easy Reader Group ;;
The Easy Reader Group checks documents and leaflets before
Sadeh Lok publishes them to ensure they are easy to
understand, well laid out and informative. Any Sadeh Lok
resident can join the Easy Reader Group. Documents are sent
to the members who read them at home in their own time and
then complete a short questionnaire to give their views.
Taking part in Surveys ;
A large number of residents don’t want to attend meetings but
are happy to give their views by completing surveys and
questionnaires. We keep a record of all residents who have told
us they are happy to be involved in this way so we can ask their
views before we make decisions.
Tenant and Resident Groups (TRA) ;;
Residents on a scheme or in an area can join together to form a
Tenant and Resident Group. Sadeh Lok Housing supports the
set up and running of Residents Groups and offers practical
help and funding opportunities to assist residents establishing
groups.
This includes start up grants, annual grants, help with
photocopying and minute taking and, where possible, use of
Sadeh Lok’s facilities to hold meetings.
TRAs have an elected committee with key positions to run the
group such as a Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. Sadeh
Lok offer assistance to these people to ensure that the group is
run properly.
TRAs should work to an agreed set of rules known as a
constitution, hold a public Annual General Meeting, work to an
agreed code of conduct and keep their members updated
through meetings, flyers and newsletters.
Community Events
SLH contributes to community events as a way of providing
information to residents and the greater community as well as
using community events as a means of gathering our residents’
views to inform the decisions that we make.
Recent examples include the Pink Picnic, Red Doles Fun day,
Sadeh Lok Housing ‘Where I Live’ consultation week and St
James’ Park Community Event
We will support you to get involved by:• Paying reasonable travel expenses for travel to involvement
• Paying other reasonable expenses such as childcare to help
residents get involved
• Holding resident involvement meetings and events in
accessible venues and find other ways to overcome
obstacles that may prevent residents from getting involved
• Provide training where necessary to develop residents skills
and knowledge to help them to get involved
• Providing support and a start up and annual grant to formal
residents’ groups
• Giving incentives to reward and say thank you to residents
who get involved.
Interested?
If you would like more information contact Jane Ashcroft,
Service Improvement Officer on 01484 435715 or return the
form enclosed with this leaflet
You can make a complaint, comment or compliment about the
services provided by Sadeh Lok by speaking to a member of staff
either face to face or over the telephone, by sending a letter, e-mail
or fax or by completing a customer feedback form.
Sadeh Lok Housing
Trafford House
11 Halifax Road
Huddersfield, HD3 3AN
Tel: 01484 435715
Fax: 01484 432645
E-Mail: customerservices@sadehlok.co.uk
www.sadehlok.co.uk
Office Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Sadeh Lok offices at Trafford House may not be accessible to you
if you have mobility difficulties.
If you do have mobility difficulties and you would like to speak to a
member of our staff in person, please contact Sadeh Lok’s
Customer Service Team on 01484 435715 who will be happy to
arrange either a home visit or an appointment to meet you at
another suitable location