Hafod Through The Looking Glass Tenant Involvement in Self

Assessment

What is Self Assessment?Self Assessment is looking at what we do and how well we do it:• Service Delivery• Governance• Finance

Listening to Tenants• STAR Tenant

Satisfaction Surveys• Internal Tenant

Satisfaction surveys• Tenant Assessors for

Mystery Shopping• Hafod Connect for

Service Reviews

Working with Tenants to Shape Services

• Committee / Board Reports

• Service Reviews• Hafod Connect• Mystery Shopping• Service Panels• Tenant Scrutiny Panel

New Regulatory Requirements

• The Regulatory Framework For Housing Associations Registered in Wales

• Opportunity tidy up existing processes

• More opportunities for tenants

Putting Tenants at the Heart of Regulation

• Ensuring that housing associations work with their tenants and people who use their services in planning, and assessing the quality of services.

• Providing information that allows tenants and others to compare the performance of their housing association to that of others.

Effective Self Assessment• A strong focus on needs and aspirations.• Clear evidence of involvement.• Owned and driven by Board• Have a strong element of internal and external

challenge• Focus on strategic issues, not the detail of

delivery• Form an integral part of an associations

Business Planning• Be based on clear & solid evidence

Be Prepared• No fear of

Regulation• Opportunity to fine

tune what we were doing

• Introduce tenants into Self Assessment

• More Board ownership

Corporate Plan

Corporate Action Plan

Delivery Outcomes /

Self Assessment

Improvement opportunities

Corporate Plan

reporting

Stakeholder feedback

Staff feedback

Staff feedback

Tenant feedback

Staff feedback

Tenant feedback

Service reviews

Board

Service users

• Service Panels• Tenant Assessors• Tenant Satisfaction Surveys• Youth Panel• Community Partnership (Community

Development)• Hafod Connect (Service Reviews)

Hafod’s Approach to Self Assessment

• Assessment against each Delivery Outcome

• Staff input (all grades)• Explanation of the service• What difference the service makes –

Outcomes• Evidence based• Identifying areas for improvement

Delivery OutcomesSelf assessment should be based on “delivery outcomes” which focus on:• What is being achieved not how it is

being achieved.• The difference that a housing association

is making to its tenants and others who use its services, not its strategies, processes and activities.

Hafod’s Self Assessment Challenge

• External Challenge from stakeholders• Staff Challenge – web based survey• Tenant Challenge – Tenant Scrutiny

Panel• Assessments Collated• Areas for improvement noted• Results fed to board

A Tenants Perspective - Process• Newly formed Tenant Scrutiny Panel• Request to look at Hafod’s Self Assessment• Hafod supplied Nine of the Self Assessment

Delivery Outcomes in advance (Home Ownership dealt with by Home Owners)

• Tenant Scrutiny Panel met with staff, questions & clarifications

• Tenant Scrutiny Panel met alone to make the judgement

A Tenants Perspective - Feelings• Tenant Scrutiny Panel together for less than

six months• Overwhelmed by the amount of information• Scoring definitions supplied to judge against• Tenant judgements were not influenced by

the Association • Tenant Scrutiny Panel listened to -

judgements presented to the Association’s Board

What Happened Next• Board Report on Self Assessment:

– Summary of Service– Performance (including satisfaction survey

results)– Staff Challenge– Stakeholder Challenge– Tenant Challenge

• The Board assessment

Benefits to the Association• Board had full range of Challenges

(opinions) on the services provided by the Association

• Direct feedback from tenants to the Board• The process was honest and open ‘warts

and all’• The Board felt more confident in the Self

Assessment process• The staff felt pride in the services provided

Lessons Learnt on Involving Tenants – Before

• New Tenant Scrutiny Panel• Lack of knowledge• Overwhelmed by the amount of

information supplied• Understanding services takes time, not

instant• More time to explain the work of the

Association

Lessons Learnt on Involving Tenants - After

• (Independent) mentoring for Tenant Scrutiny Panel Members

• Training & guidance provided• Visited another Scrutiny Panel• Suggestions on questions to ask• Site Visits• Meet staff responsible for services• Information supplied ‘bit by bit’• Understanding has grown

Any Questions?