We’re listening

• Business and service updates. included school uniform vouchers and customer scholarships, updates on Arhag becoming part of Hyde, work to reduce missed appointments and improvements to the decant service.
• Performance and customer satisfaction. Members discussed how Hyde measures and improves performance. They asked how complaints are assessed and explored whether the focus should move from complaint numbers to how quickly issues are resolved. They discussed repairs performance, including completion times, communication and appointment scheduling. Members asked for clearer performance measures, to better understand the difference between making contact and taking action.
• Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs): Members reviewed progress against the TSMs. The final action plan to support ongoing improvement will be shared with the group.
• Anti-social behaviour spotlight: Communication and managing expectations were identified as key areas for improvement. Members challenged Hyde to improve responses, identify hotspots, strengthen partnership working and keep customers better informed.
• Hearing from more customers: Members discussed ways to hear from more customers and better understand their views. Ideas included short surveys, newsletters and using digital channels which will be developed with the support of Hyde colleagues.
• Customer feedback influencing services: Members shared feedback from recent involvement activities, including suggested improvements to the MyAccount app, such as translation features and accessibility.
• Looking ahead: Members agreed future priorities, including a scrutiny review into anti-social behaviour and future spotlight topics such as complaints.

• We will conduct a case study about the mortgage process to investigate where the service may fall short, particularly around lost conveyancer emails
• Questions about shared ownership rent affordability and annual rent increases have been passed to the rent team for a formal response
• We’re considering putting an article in a future newsletter explaining how rent review figures are calculated for shared owners, addressing affordability concerns. Other suggestions around communication will feed into future newsletter content
• A new booklet with more detailed explanations about service charges is being developed for homeowners.

Hyde’s regeneration team area looking at the feedback and are using it to decide next steps. This will include:

• which play areas need the most work, and so how to share the available budget
• what facilities residents want to see and use in their local play areas
• what demographic groups we prioritise.

Once they have some proposed plans, the team will be going out to consult with residents again to make sure that we get it right when redeveloping the play areas

The feedback and questions helped us to provide more reassuring information, including:

• how the Resident Liaison Officer (RLO) will support booking appointments and improve confidence
• helping residents understand new energy billing and how to contact suppliers where needed
• advance notice of works, timelines and power interruptions through different communication methods, with translation options available. This helped residents manage expectations and reduced uncertainty
• residents will receive regular updates through a dedicated webpage and electronic noticeboards, with a named RLO as a point of contact, improving communication and trust.

We’ve listened to the feedback and are making changes to improve how we support customers with additional needs. As a result, you should find it easier to tell us what support you need, get the right help more quickly, and receive services that are clearer, more accessible, and better tailored to you.

How the feedback findings are being used:

• We made the definition of ‘vulnerability’ clearer, added examples, and included hidden needs, neurodiversity, and LGBTQ+ customers so customers feel more included and recognised.
• We’re improving how we identify needs, reviewing information more regularly, and working on letting you update your details through MyAccount so more customers are identified and offered support earlier, leading to more tailored services.
• We introduced a clearer approach to reasonable adjustments and are improving how we prioritise and manage services like repairs and adaptations so customers receive more timely and appropriate support, reducing delays and unmet needs.
• We’re making our communications easier to understand, offering more ways to contact us, and tailoring how we communicate to your needs so customers can access information more easily and communicate with Hyde in a way that works for them.
• We’re improving transparency about how your data is used and working towards letting you view and update your details so customers have increased trust and confidence and can understand and manage their own information.
• We’ve strengthened staff training and improved how teams share information, so customers experience a more consistent and coordinated service across different teams.

Residents want regular, local communication about their neighbourhood, so patch-level newsletters are now being sent out across selected areas to provide consistent local updates. Content will focus on local, practical information.

Clear information on what Hyde is doing about local issues. We’ll include updates on estate inspections, reports and actions taken. Neighbourhood Officers will lead on the content for each newsletter, and encourage service leads to share relevant information on repairs and other services.

Communication needs to be easy to understand – we’re using plain language for these communications, with the Comms team ensuring consistency and quality.

Newsletters should be accessible and reach everyone. We’ll test a mixed delivery approach, including email and printed copies. We’ll use any data that can help us be more accessible (e.g. preferred language).

Updates on raised issues. Where possible, we’ll include “you said, we did” updates to show progress and outcomes.

There were no objections to the idea, so the area has now been improved with wildflower and shrub planting that makes the area brighter, more visually appealing and to provide habitat for local insects and birds.