THE ADVISORY AND SCRUTINY PANEL (ASP)

Jean Robinson Chair person, ASPMark ArmstrongHead of Policy & Strategy, WPH

A BIT ABOUT US WPH is a stock transfer organisation on

Wirral which has 12,500 properties There are 8 members of our Advisory &

Scrutiny Panel (ASP), 2 are fairly new members

We are either tenants of WPH or officers of an association in a WPH area.

We were all involved with WPH in some capacity before forming the ASP:

One example was most of us were Customer Inspectors.

A BIT MORE ABOUT US.... We saw that the inspection work we did

resulted in positive changes to services, for example:Changes to reception areas Changes to customer care procedures

following ASB mystery shoppingChanges to improvement works

scheme at New Ferry After this experience, we wanted to get

more involved in influencing WPH

OUR ROLE

Just like the Ronseal advert, we do what it says on the tin!

We..Advise WPH on

services from a tenants’ point of view

Scrutinise WPH services that are important to tenants and communities

WHAT IS SCRUTINY? A definition of advisory is……to inform / offer advice…empowered to make recommendationA definition of scrutiny is……to examine closely / carefully Scrutiny therefore provides a unique

perspective on how well services are being delivered and how they could be improved, from the point of view of those receiving and using those services.

How we fit in...

OUR ROLE

Board & Executive

Team

Scrutiny Panel

Umbrella Groups, TRAs, Street Reps, Lone Voices

Panels and

focus groups

Customer feedback

(eg surveys,

complaints)

Customer Inspectors

OUR JOURNEY

November 2009 – those of us interested in becoming more closely involved received a presentation from Linda Levin Partnership Ltd about the new regulatory framework, in particular scrutiny

Early 2010 – we agreed to become the scrutiny panel and elected a chair and vice chair

OUR JOURNEY...(Con`t) January – April 2010 – we developed:

Aim and objectivesTerms of referencePerson specificationTraining needs assessmentCode of conduct, including an

agreement about how ASP members would treat each other and settle any differences

Partnership agreement between ASP and WPH

OUR JOURNEY...(Con`t)May 2010 – WPH Board formally

endorsed the ASP by signing a ‘Working Together’ Agreement. This agreement was written by ASPSets out guiding principles

underpinning the partnership between ASP and WPH Board

OUR JOURNEY...(Con`t) June 2010 to now

We received training – team building, influencing and negotiating

We received briefings – e.g. governance and the role of the Board

Developed our processes and protocols to guide our reviews and scrutiny work

Decided which service to scrutinise first by looking at WPH Status results – this told us that ASB is a priority issue for WPH tenants

OUR JOURNEY...(Con`t) June 2010 to now...cont’dWe started and have completed our first

review – ASBAdvised WPH about the content and

format of their first annual report to tenants (as required by the TSA)

Held a recruitment process to attract new members for ASP – we developed the process and advertising campaign

As you can see, we have been very busy!

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE ASB review

Our input has resulted in termination of SLA with Wirral Council for provision of ASB services.

The service is now provided entirely by WPH at a greatly reduced cost and we firmly believe this will result in a much more responsive and customer focused service for tenants and community's of WPH

We are working with WPH to ensure cost savings are re-invested wisely

Our other recommendations have been reported to, and accepted by, WPH Board

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE

Annual report to tenants (ASR)We were very closely involved in the

development of the reportWe are proud of the final format and

content of the annual reportIt is an informative and clear

document – focusing on the issues that matter to tenants and communities

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE We are proud of the processes and protocols

we have put in place to underpin our role: Information sharing agreement with WPHAgreement for admin supportProcess for completing a service review –

takes us from start to finish and through to monitoring and evaluating outcomes for tenants

Templates for information requests and making our evidence based recommendations

Communications plan – how we will work with tenants, officers and Board

SUPPORT Support we have received from WPH includes:

Senior officer is our main link Chair of the Board & Chief Executive are very

committed to ensuring that we receive support we need

Offer for ASP chair to attend Board meetingsASP to attend next Board development eventResident Involvement Officer supportTraining received Access to House Mark benchmark data Our own base Mentoring – Linda Levin

WPH PERSPECTIVE Success of Customer Inspectors

coincided with co-regulation & scrutiny principles

Development of ASR and local offers provided an ideal opportunity for working together

The ASP emerged and developed independently – this approach fitted WPH, not necessarily others

Staff & the Board relationship issues need to be recognised

LESSONS LEARNT (WPH)

Developing a customer focussed publication isn't easy (eg ASR)

Staff initially ‘uneasy’ about, (i) scrutiny / true challenge & (ii) information sharing

Board relationships need to be established Scrutiny Panels need to be organised –

solid foundations of training & basic paperwork. Need to focus on the strands & not get sidetracked.

Walk before panel can run (in terms of service area and time)

LESONS LEARNT (ASP)

Team work - it is important to build strong relationships between scrutiny members and with other tenants, officers and Board.

Get organised – develop processes to continually guide your work as a scrutiny panel...otherwise it becomes a free for all!

Get a mentor – for independent advice and guidance

NEXT STEPS? Recommendations made to WPH Board

on ASB – now looking at reinvestment of resulting savings

The big one…the Repairs Service Training for new members Formal liaison with Chair and Board

(inc Governance review) Share our experiences / paperwork

through Co-regulatory Champion process

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

Any questions?

Jean Robinson, ASP

(0776 264 1297)

Mark Armstrong, WPH(0151 666 7001)