Have you signed up to Respect?

Hopefully most readers will know that the Respect – ASB Charter for Housing, which has replaced the Respect Agenda, was launched at the recent CIH Annual Conference in Harrogate.

As of today (17th August) over 100 social housing landlords had signed up to the Charter which is a good start. However I urge you not be complacent. The new Charter is sufficiently different to the old Standard that it merits signing up without delay. The Charter continues to be voluntary, and is a key part of the new, co-regulatory approach within housing. It should be noted that the Charter is not intended to be a wider community safety charter – it is about landlords’ ASB services. However, the importance of partnership working in improving outcomes for service users is acknowledged throughout the Charter.

Go to http://www.cih.org/respectcharter for more information and to sign up.

by Mike Blomer

Related articles

• The new “Respect – ASB Charter for Housing” (reactasb.wordpress.com)

2011 HouseMark Benchmarking

Another year has gone by, another set of figures submitted, collated and analyzed, all thanks to your efforts in benchmarking on your ASB statistics and to the work of HouseMark bringing these figures together to produce the annual report.

As you all know HouseMark ASB Benchmarking is the only cross-sector wide tool for social landlords to measure ASB across the UK. Now with over 200 members HouseMark are able to capture the success of housing professionals and their associations through individuals submitted and uploading PI’s throughout the year.

It is always interesting to see the trends that occur and appear over the years; this year is the fourth report to be issued with more uploads than ever. Social landlords are recording more cases each month than last year, with increasingly large caseloads, we are sure that this will continue to grow with greater emphasis on reporting and evidencing work.

Having said that, ReACT are really pleased that we gathered additional data from 22 of our customers as well as the uploads, which allowed HouseMark, for the first time ever, to record results on early interventions and evaluate what actions taken are more successful at that stage – thank you once again to all those whose data was used to collate these useful results.

We hope that we can continue to collate the success of early interventions from our customers and perhaps a whole range ReACT fields in the future to enable more effective benchmarking across the country. We will be working with HouseMark to develop this over the coming months and of course we will keep you all updated.

ReACT’s Early Intervention Statistics

ReACT users now represent the largest group of HouseMark members that use a specific ASB case management system. This allowed a realistic comparison between providers on the case details below.

Early intervention actions were:

• interview (39%),
• letters (31%),
• case monitoring (20%)
• face-to-face contact (9%)

On average, ReACT users logged 5 actions over 9 days to resolve a case, with very little variance in the dataset. This indicated that ReACT users are likely to following tried and tested actions, allowing them to rapidly close the case. Further analysis showed that early interventions, followed by mediation and police referrals proved to be the most successful options to resolve the complaint.

It is worth noting that the resolution rate for different types of ASB varied considerably, from 65% for prostitution to 99% for litter. As a rule of thumb, environmental types of ASB had much higher resolution rates than personal ASB, with an overall average of 89%.

Back to a brief look over the entire report which is available to download here.  Having looked at early intervention and its success, we can’t dismiss the outcomes of the growing number of cases practitioners are handling; the number of cases being resolved has risen around 10% since last year.

With an increasing emphasis on value for money, members can gain a realistic idea of what ASB costs (currently £331,000 per organisation) and ways to bring it down. The benchmarking service also ties in with the new Respect Charter, allowing housing providers to demonstrate their commitment to service and gaining value for money.

 

ReACT remains the only software provider to offer the Benchmarking automated Upload link and as you know, we will be working on developing a wider range of fields to report on through ReACT to get an even better snapshot of what is being done across the UK when dealing with ASB.

Recent Government announcements this year have already indicated that the use of ASB data will grow, with the arrival of the NSIR vulnerability definitions and the Risk Assessment Matrix, which both have been adopted and developed in ReACT’s latest version. Alongside the increase in reporting, social landlords are also expected to share more information (at a faster rate) with other agencies such as the police and social services – we want to work with our customers to ensure that the multi agency work is being reflected and evidenced for these future reports – multiple companies can be set up to allow for joint working and reporting. Speak to one of our team at 0121 384 2513 for more information

Watch the video

ReACT also hosted a webinar with HouseMark two weeks ago, looking at the benchmarking results and discussing future changes to the report. You can view it for free at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/438575966

By Kate Hill

What are the advantages of the ‘ReACT HouseMark Consultancy Day’?

ReACT consists of a wealth of Configuration and Administration settings, that for the most part, remains behind the scenes.

You will most likely have set the Configuration up so that it reflects the way your organisation works and any policies and procedures you adhere to. At the end of each quarter you calculate what data is going to be sent over to HouseMark.

What you need to ask yourself is the following, are you getting the most out of ReACT for automated Benchmarking to HouseMark?

If you didn’t already know, ReACT has an automatic upload option to the HouseMark Website, direct from within ReACT. This means no more manual counting of figures over several hours, instead, you just need to run a report and then click a single button – a couple of minutes work!

For the Automatic upload to work at its best, there are several parts of the configuration that need to be “mapped” to the HouseMark reporting codes that we use “behind the scenes”. What this means for you, is that you get to have the system set up for your business needs, but behind the scenes, the benchmarking upload knows exactly what parts of your configuration to use for the different indicators. Configuration options include items such as Case Stages, Case Types Case Costs, etc…

What we can offer is a dedicated day, where our ReACT HouseMark Consultant will sit down with you to look at your ReACT Configuration and advise how best to use ReACT for reporting to HouseMark. On the day, all relevant Configuration and Administration options are addressed with a clear road plan of what needs to be amended or added to, to fully report to HouseMark automatically. We even show you ‘how’ to run the Automatic Upload and how you get to see and verify the figures before they are sent out from your ReACT.

The ReACT HouseMark Consultancy Day is ideal for both new customers and existing sites, even if you haven’t touched your configuration for a while.

New customer base will want to set up ReACT the best they can for both the automatic upload and also the business requirements.

Existing customers may have configuration from a period before ReACT could perform the automatic upload, so there will be plenty of new configuration items to be made and what better way to do it than have a representative from ReACT on-site with you!

If the ReACT HouseMark Consultancy Day is something you would be interested in finding more out about it, please get in touch with your Account Manager or ReACT Support and we will be happy to help.

ASB Management Day for just £275

The seminar day will be taking place at the Studio

As you may be aware, ReACT and ReSOLVE hold free webinars to support and guide users through certain aspects of the software. We have had a lot of interest and questions about our next webinar “Benchmarking and Best Practice” – more than we can cover in 45 minutes. Therefore, we are holding a joint open seminar with HouseMark, for everyone who wants to know about benchmarking, reports and best practice.

We also know budgets are tight, so we decided to keep the price as low as possible and keep your finance directors smiling.

Register now to secure your place.

Everything you wanted to know about ASB Management (but are too busy to ask)

It’s a dedicated day away from the office, allowing you to focus on ASB practices and reporting. You will have the undivided attention of two top experts in their field: Paul Johns (ReACT) and John Wickenden (HouseMark).

Topics include:

• Categories of ASB & Incidents (ASB Measure 02 & 05)                    
• Actions Taken to Tackle ASB & ReACT Stages (ASB Measure 03)
• ReACT Stages (Actions, Instructions & Reviews)                                               
• Case Outcomes & Case Closure (ASB Measure 04 & 06)                  
• Satisfaction Surveys (ASB Measure 07)                                                                  
• HouseMark Preview Report & Upload                                                                    
• HouseMark ASB Benchmarking Overview            

There’s also an extensive question and answer session allowing you to explore specific problems or areas with the consultants. 

Rooftop location, close to New Street station

We have booked The Studio in Birmingham. It’s  – literally – two minutes walk away from New Street station and within easy reach of car parks (if you are feeling brave enough to drive into Birmingham).

We also suspect the Studio is a retired TARDIS from Dr Who – you see a tiny internet café on the ground floor, hiding the large meeting rooms, restaurant and rooftop gardens on the top. There’s lots of natural light, comfortable breakout areas and a bar if you fancy networking afterwards.

No soggy sandwiches

You get muffins on arrival, unlimited tea and coffee and a two-course buffet lunch made from seasonal, local food. You will also be served cookies, fruit and water throughout the day – just to keep your energy levels up through the Q&A session!

One-time offer

Hiring Paul and John together at their standard day rates costs over £1,500. So a seminar place of £275 is a fantastic bargain. Both consultants are in demand and we won’t be able to run this seminar again for some time to come  – especially at that price.

Register now to secure your place.  

Diary Summary

Subject: ASB Management Day (ReACT & HouseMark)              Date: Wednesday 6th October; 10am – 4pm
Location: The Studio, Birmingham
Cost: £275 per delegate, inclusive of training materials, lunch and refreshments

ReSOLVE Summer Development Progress update

 You may recall from my earlier blog post on  24^th May that I talked about the planned development changes in the ReSOLVE application, to include reports that provide the data required for HouseMark Complaints benchmarking.

As it happens the rota for my blog date has fallen within the same week as the next phase of development for the changes.

The work scheduled for this week is to develop the database and the changes required behind the scenes to include the relevant data for reporting and integrate it into the ReSOLVE application.

Following this week’s work we will then be running various internal tests to make sure that the application is ready to be installed on customer sites.

We expect that the update to be ready for installation from week commencing 9^th August.

Following on from the ReSOLVE release, HouseMark will be activating an automatic upload facility in autumn so that you can upload your benchmarking statistics directly into their website, rather than spend time inputting the figures manually.

For details of costs and to schedule your upgrade please contact the ReACT and ReSOLVE team on 0121 384 2513 and select option 4.

HouseMark ASB Benchmarking Conference 2010

Many of you may have attended the HouseMark Anti Social Behaviour Benchmarking Conference last week where Peter Jackson, SLCNG chaired the day; we heard from the new ASB Action Team, Year-end results from the HouseMark Team, amongst good practice examples and news on the HouseMark/SLCNG ASB accreditation scheme.

I spoke about the new ASB Action Team that has been set up by the CIH and funded by CLG a couple of weeks ago, after listening to their update, it looks like they are making rapid progress in meeting their objectives to share good practice and shout about innovative ideas to tackle ASB. They have visited a number of customers already and have had positive feedback, to arrange your session with the new team, visit the website http://www.cih.org/asbactionteam/.

HouseMark year-end figures highlight and reflect the huge amount of great work housing associations and social landlords are doing across the UK to case manage ASB complaints; we can see a rise in the number of people benchmarking year on year, bringing it to the fourth year  in operation. A few comments here for you; however, if you would like to view the report and see the detailed figures, take a look at www.housemark.co.uk

• 94% of benchmarking social landlords are engaged in partnership work with external agencies to reduce ASB
• Landlords are becoming more advanced at recording ASB, two thirds now use specialist ASB systems like ReACT
• Noise still remains the main cause of ASB – showing a year on year increase in most quarters
• ASB differs between regions – the North has the biggest proportion of garden nuisance whereas London has the largest share of loiterers

It was a great day at Coventry; as you know, it’s always good to hear of others highlights and working methods in this field. Liz Ellis, ASB & Caretaking Services Manager from Stockport Homes spoke about how Stockport Homes strived to achieve, yet again a three star ASB Service.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts and comments about the results, the conference, the new ASB Action Team or good practice that is being shared; you can contact us here via the blog or email me kateh@e-b-s.co.uk.

What’s really being done to tackle anti-social behaviour?

Do you ever wonder how much is being done to tackle ASB? As you know, registered providers (RPs) hold a key part in delivering a balanced approach to taking action against ASB as well as preventive measures. According to a recent online survey carried out in partnership by the TSA and CIH, where RPs and local authorities were allowed to take part; priorities and innovative ideas were seen to be key in making a difference, these findings will be used to shape the work of the newly formed ASB Action Team. This team has been created to identify good practice and share those innovative ideas in taking action towards ASB. Over 300 ALMO’s, housing associations, voluntary housing agency, large housing groups and local authorities took part in the survey, reflecting the importance in sharing ideas, working with communities and tenants to overcome the challenges we face in society today.

At the CIH Housing Conference at Harrogate last week, I saw two brilliant examples of the effective and innovative work being carried out already – Glasgow Housing Association Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), which helps tackle gang violence/knife crime in Glasgow’s East End, targeting 55 gangs and over 700 young men. and the Cobalt’s initiative ‘Making Waves’ aims to help turn the tide of crime and antisocial behaviour in the Croxteth area of Liverpool. Both share very strong messages and have tracked the successes of their programmes, for further information http://www.vicinity.org.uk and www.gha.org.uk

As we know, there are a wealth of ideas currently working to help tackle ASB and many more that will follow suit with the new ASB action team in place and multi-agency thinking; by working together, sharing ideas and embracing change to overcome challenges, I’m sure we will continue to see positive changes.  

For further information about the new ASB team visit www.cih.org/asbactionteam

What constitutes a good complaints system?

An informal flexible approach to managing complaints is recommended before moving on to your complaints process.

The procedure should be easy to follow and have as few stages as possible, aiming at completing the internal consideration of the complaint within weeks not months. It is, therefore, imperative that a complaint be escalated through the procedure promptly.

Ordinarily, the complaint should be first considered by a person responsible for the service against which the complaint is made, and whose responsibility is to investigate the claim and give a complete response.

If the complaint is not resolved, the complainant should be asked to give reasons.

Generally, the next stage should involve a manager or person with no functional responsibilities directly relevant to the service that is the subject of the complaint. The job at this stage is to check how the complaint was handled at first stage in the light of the reasons given by the complainant, and to see whether the matter could have been handled better – and, if so, whether the outcome should be different.

If the complaint remains unresolved, it should be considered by an independent panel as soon as possible within the organisation. Ideally, the panel should not be totally or mostly formed by salaried staff. The role of the panel is to review that:

• The procedure was followed,
• The complaint was dealt with as formulated by the complainant (or her/his authorised representative), and
• If a remedy was offered or actioned, it was proportional to the complainant.

Take a positive approach to complaints

You may want to encourage your tenants to give you feedback about the services you provide. Compliments are nice, but complaints can offer an invaluable early warning signal. They can alert you to problems before they get much worse and can also help you demonstrate that even when things go wrong you are able to act proactively. They can give you a good opportunity to build trust and understanding with your tenants. Even when complaints are not justified, they can still offer you the chance to manage the expectations and perceptions of your tenants more effectively.

Keep good records

There is no need to document every single item of information in the course of dealing with a complaint. What is important is to leave a comprehensive and clear trail of the key decisions and who made them, a good chronology, and adequate references to documents and evidence used to inform the case.

A well administered case file will help you, your colleagues who might have to review the case after you, the Ombudsman if he gets involved – and, above all, the complainant.

(All extracts were taken from the HouseMark Complaints guide produced in partnership with the Housing Ombudsman Service, January 2010)

ReSOLVE has been designed exclusively for social housing landlords who need a cost-effective, easy way to record and manage general complaints.

For more information on ReSOLVE please visit www.resolve-complaints.co.uk

CIH Event – Landlords Tools and Powers to Tackle ASB

 Held at the new CIH meeting, training and conference facility in Grays Inn Road London the event was sold out with some 50 delegates hearing from SLCNG, TSA, Audit Commission, HouseMark and presentations from West Mercia Police, Buckles Solicitors, Poplar HARCA and New Charter Housing.

We are all waiting to learn what our new Government has in store in respect of ASB but in the meantime it’s business as usual. TSA is actively promoting the ASB Action Squad and Local Partnerships, whilst the Audit Commission covered the new inspection framework and hot topics such as the impact of recession, tenancy fraud, the respect standard, dangerous dogs and policing.

For me the highlight was the presentation from a senior officer of West Mercia Police, beginning with an admission that the police service nationally has failed to give the attention to ASB that it deserves and requires. It was heartening to hear that ACPO and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary are now majoring on the problem of definition, the context of ASB and vulnerability within modern policing and recognising the challenges.

West Mercia is taking a lead in protecting vulnerable people with a pilot scheme running in their North Worcestershire Division and working with local landlord Community Housing Group. This includes trialing the Risk Assessment Matrix currently being promoted by the Home Office.  In due course, this could become a recommended national standard with a requirement that information is shared between all partners.

Lets us hope that it happens and the initiative is not lost in Government cost saving measures.

ReSOLVE summer development

It’s not all about anti-social behaviour here in ReACT towers; we also have the ReSOLVE application which offers a way in which organisations can log and monitor general complaints about the service provided.

My current project in the product management aspects of my role is to analyse the HouseMark General Complaints Benchmarking Guidance manual and translate that into the required changes for the ReSOLVE application.

Incorporating these changes will not only keep ReSOLVE at the forefront of logging complaints and the related procedures within the housing world but it will also mean that any users reporting to HouseMark General Complaints benchmarking system will have a report providing all of the relevant data fully labelled ready to be inputted into the HouseMark website.

Things won’t be staying there, oh no sirree, during the following phase we will integrate a short routine which will import your benchmarking statistics directly into the HouseMark website.

So what amendments to the software will we be introducing to meet these requirements?

These are the following key development changes…

1. A “Service request” flag per complaint will be available so that an organisation can segregate between complaints and requests for service.
2. Cases can be categorised and reported upon based on resolution types such as “Upheld”, “Not Upheld”, and “Partially Upheld”.
3. A fully configurable “Service area” list will be available so that an organisation can analyse and report upon complaints within key service areas of the business such as “Allocation”, “Repairs and Maintenance”, and “Housing Support Services”.
4. A “HouseMark General Complaints Benchmarking Preview Report” will be available within the ReSOLVE application so that each and every one of the performance indicators within the guidance manual can be reported upon by any date range so not only is it useful for HouseMark benchmarking it is also perfect for internal KPI reporting.
5. A “HouseMark General Complaints Benchmarking Upload” facility will allow all indicators to be uploaded directly from within the ReSOLVE application to prevent vast volumes of work in terms of collecting the data and then entering it into the HouseMark website.

As well as the changes introduced to tie in with HouseMark Benchmarking we also introducing some changes to greatly improve the efficiency of logging complaints and escalating complaints to closure to give staff more time to deal with complaints and less time spent logging the complaints.  These changes include the following…

1. A rapid case entry screen which allows complaints to be logged from within one screen, and straightforward “Expressions of dissatisfaction” / “Service requests” / “Compliments” can be logged and closed within the same screen.
2. An “Escalate” button will be available within the action page so that if a complaint needs to escalate to the next stage it can be escalated and the subsequent actions will automatically be created from a single button click.

The next release of ReSOLVE will incorporate the above features and is currently in the design and specification stage.  Development and testing will take place over the summer months. We will be publicizing the release date on the blog and letting customers know, via their account manager.

To find out more about ReSOLVE, please visit our product page, or request a brochure.