Completed reviews


	Completed Reviews
	...Britains largest fully mutual Housing Co-operative

Below are details of outcomes of policies we have put out for consultation over the past 2 years. Please note that you can see the policy documents in our 'Our Polices' section by clicking here.

We would like to thank all those who took the time to respond. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Tenant Panel or want to know more about tenant participation or consultation please contact Eleanor McEwen, Community Development Manager on 01224 628436.

Some of the documents referred to are in Adobe Acrobat® format. Please contact us if you require any of the documents in an alternative format or language.

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Restricted Contact Policy - Outcome of Consultation (Apr 2008)

Throughout March 2008 we carried out a consultation exercise to get the views of staff, members (via the Tenants Tribune Newsletter and the website) and Resident Tenant Organisations on the Restricted Contact Policy. We did this by sending out questionnaires to everyone and asking them to comment on the document. One hundred and twenty-six replies were received representing a 10% response.

From the responses the following conclusions were drawn:-

	The vast majority of respondents agreed with all aspects of the Policy aims
	The vast majority of respondents agreed with the inclusion of the Key Elements
	All respondents were happy with the Policy’s statement on Equal Opportunities
	All respondents agreed with how the Policy will be monitored and reported on
	All respondents agreed that the Policy should be reviewed every three years
	The vast majority thought the Policy was clearly set out; easy to read; easy to understand and free from jargon and technical terms.

The Restricted Contact Policy was approved by the Housing Management Sub Committee on 22 May 2008 and will be ratified by the Committee of Management in July 2008.

The full report on the consultation exercise can be seen by downloading the document by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat format, 126.09 Kb) or contact Cearda McGregor or Pat Cahill on 628418 between 10.00a.m. or 4.00p.m. and we will be happy to issue you with a copy.

Anti Social Behaviour And Harassment Policy Review – Outcome Of Consultation (Apr 2008)

The Antisocial Behaviour and Harassment Policy was reviewed at the beginning of the year. Throughout January and February 2008 we carried out a consultation exercise to get the views of staff, members, Resident Tenant Organisations, Tenant Management Boards and Stakeholder agencies and we did this by sending out questionnaires to everyone, asking them to comment on the document.

55 people replied representing a 17% response. The replies were analysed and showed a very positive response to the document, its content, presentation and clarity. As a result of the consultation exercise, a number of areas of the Policy document were altered to promote a clearer understanding of the ways in which your Co-operative tackles antisocial behaviour and harassment.

The full report on the consultation exercise can be seen by downloading the document by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat format, 164.43 Kb) or contact Cearda McGregor or Pat Cahill, Housing Managers on 628418 between 10.00 a.m. or 4.00p.m. and we will be happy to issue you with a copy.

Housing Management Customer Feedback Strategy - Outcome of Consultation (Mar 2008)

The Housing Management Section of the Co-operative has developed a Customer Feedback Strategy to show how it will involve members and other customers in influencing the delivery of its services. Throughout February we consulted with the members who participate on the above Sub Committees to see what they thought of the Strategy.

The responses were very favourable and The Strategy was formally approved by the Housing Management Sub Committee on the 26th of March 2008.

The Housing Management Customer Feedback Strategy covers the following:

	What areas of our service we will ask customers for feedback on
	What methods we will use to get feedback
	How we will report to members on the outcome of feedback and how that feedback has made a difference to the way services are delivered

The full report on the consultation exercise can be seen by downloading the document by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat format, 67.25 Kb) or contact Pat Cahill or Cearda McGregor on 01224 628418 between 10.00a.m. or 4.00p.m. and we will be happy to issue you with a copy.

Rent Arrears Policy Review – Outcome of Consultation (Mar 2008)

The review of the Rent Arrears Policy was commenced in February this year. The key changes made were as follows:

The Layout

The layout of the document was changed to reflect the Co-operatives standard policy layout.

Emphasis on homeless prevention and support for members

The wording describing how we want to support and help members who are in rent arrears was strengthened. We also included information on the Co-operatives involvement in two support projects (ASSIST and SMART) that can help our members in arrears.

Monitoring, reporting and target setting

This information was updated to reflect current reporting and target setting practices.

We then carried out a consultation exercise to get the views of members. We did this by sending out the draft document, a letter and a questionnaire to 75 members on the Tenant Panel and to all members of 6 Registered Tenant Organisations. A total of 26 replies were received as follows:

	13 Members of the Tenant Panel responded
	13 Members of Registered Tenant Organisations responded (at least 5 of the 6 organisations were represented in the responses)

The replies were analysed and the vast majority agreed with the content, layout, presentation and clarity of this Policy. As a result of the consultation exercise, one area of the policy document was altered to promote a clearer understanding of the term ‘violent profits’.

The full report on the consultation exercise can be seen by downloading the document by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat format, 99.88 Kb) or contact Pat Cahill or Cearda McGregor on 01224 628418 between 10.00a.m. or 4.00p.m. and we will be happy to issue you with a copy.

Abandonment Policy - Outcome of Consultation (Feb 2008)

Abandonment Policy review – outcome of consultation with Tenant Panel Members of the Co-operative.

The Abandonment Policy was reviewed at the end of last year. During December 2007 we carried out a consultation exercise to get the views of members. We did this by sending out questionnaires to 65 Tenant Panel members and six Residents Tenants Organisations (RTOs) and asked them to comment on the document.

A total of fourteen Tenant Panel and RTO members replied. The replies were analysed and showed a very positive response to the document, its content, presentation and clarity. As a result of the consultation the policy document no changes required to be made to the Abandonment Policy.

The full report on the consultation exercise can be seen by downloading the document by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat format, 109.38 Kb) or contact Pat Cahill or Cearda McGregor on 01224 628418 between 10.00a.m. or 4.00p.m. and we will be happy to issue you with a copy.

Housing Management Service Standards Charter - Outcome of Consultation (Feb 2008)

The Housing Management Section of the Co-operative has developed Service Standards as a statement to members and customers what kind of service they should expect to receive from us and how they will know that we are delivering what we promise. Throughout February we consulted with the members who participate on the Customer Relations and Housing Management Sub Committees to see what they thought of the Service Standards and how these would be monitored.

The responses were very favourable with relevant suggestions being added to the Charter. The Charter was formally approved by the Housing Management Sub Committee on the 26^th of March 2008.

The Housing Management Service Standards Charter covers the following subjects:

	Management of Applications for Housing
	Information and advice service on applications for Housing
	Voids
	Allocations
	Estate Management – the Environment
	Managing antisocial behaviour and harassment
	Maximising income, management of rent arrears and providing support to members in financial difficulty

The Housing Management Service Standards Charter will be available to you in the following ways:

	In our offices in Aberdeen and Peterhead
	By telephone – if you want a copy just phone 01224 628400 or 01779 474282
	On our website, please click here to download a copy (Adobe Acrobat format, 44.61 Kb)
	Ask any member of staff that you have contact with and they will get a copy to you

The full report on the consultation exercise can be seen by downloading the document by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat format, 56.48 Kb) or contact Pat Cahill or Cearda McGregor on 01224 628418 between 10.00a.m. or 4.00p.m. and we will be happy to issue you with a copy.

Rent Policy - Outcome of Consultation (Nov 2007)

In November 2007 we carried out a consultation exercise to get the views of our members on the Rent Policy. We did this by sending out a questionnaire and a fact sheet to 1,154 members of the Co-operative. 156 replies were received by the deadline date representing a 13% response rate.

From the responses the following key conclusions and actions were drawn:

The vast majority of respondents agreed with the principles of the rent policy

In terms of attributes the majority of respondents agreed with these and a very small percentage disagreed with them. However, there were fairly high levels of ‘no answer’ for a number of the attributes. It was difficult to ascertain the reasons for this but may reflect uncertainty in completion of the form or that applicants were unsure or unclear about the features suggested.

Comments relating to the attributes section suggest that respondents disagreed most with or did not understand bed spaces, gardens, facilities in community, demand and commuting. Although overall these represented a relatively low percentage of objections. It is not felt that any of the objections should result in the alteration of the features suggested in the policy document. It is felt that the existing attributes provides a balance of features to calculate rent levels.

In the Rent differential section the vast majority of respondents were happy with the explanation on how increases and decreases would be approached and agreed that it was fair that these should be implemented gradually.

In terms of understanding the vast majority of respondents found the policy clearly set out, easy to read, easy to understand and free from jargon.

The final comments section reflected that some respondents did find the questionnaire difficult to complete.

Overall there were some concerns about the potential affordability of the policy and several respondents felt that information on what their rents would actually be should have been included in the consultation and may have affected their answers.

The Rent Policy was approved by the Committee of Management on 3^rd December 2007.

The full report on the consultation exercise can be seen by downloading the document by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat format, 97.16 Kb) or contact Pat Cahill or Cearda McGregor on 01224 628418 between 10.00a.m. or 4.00p.m. and we will be happy to issue you with a copy.