A ‘right first time’ service is being drawn up for council tenants following a ‘mystery shopper’ exercise that has identified areas for improvement in Brighton & Hove City Council’s housing service.
 
A number of residents were trained as ‘mystery shoppers’, including elected tenant representatives and members of the Housing Management Consultative Committee.  Shoppers focused on service standards, waiting times and staff knowledge.
 
They first investigated the quality of service given by the council’s Repairs Helpdesk last September. Training was provided to tackle customer service gaps.
 
The second exercise took place last November and reviewed the service provided by housing office receptions. The findings of the group have led to changes being implemented to the service, for example improved information packs to help officers answer enquiries.
 
The review has highlighted a need to re-organise housing management and resources to improve customer service that at the same time would save money.
 
The findings were split into broad principles as a basis to improve the service to ensure customers enquiries are resolved ‘right first time’.

A range of measures that have been proposed include:
 
Housing officers should be given a greater focus on their neighbourhoods through measures such as reduced paperwork that would enable them to get to know residents better. This would allow them to intervene in problems at an earlier stage.
 
It should be easier for residents to contact the service and get through to the correct team to resolve enquiries.
 
Duplication should be cut and the efficiency of some administrative processes improved.
 
The range of ways residents contact the council, for example online, texting and email, should be widened. At the same time face to face meetings should be limited for appointments rather than relying on an underused drop in service.
 
Councillor Maria Caulfield, Cabinet Member for Housing, said:
“Our mystery shoppers have helped identify changes that really improve levels of customer service.  For example, if drop in sessions are underused by residents lets make better use of e-mail and texting.

“By ensuring our housing officers focus on their neighbourhoods and spend less time on paperwork, we can tackle problems at an earlier stage and ensure they don’t have a negative impact on neighbours.”
 
The proposals have been drawn up in conjunction with the Housing Management Consultative Committee and the next steps will be considered by Cllr Maria Caulfield. The next steps include a detailed analysis of the end to end tenancy management process starting with the letting of properties.

For more information about Brighton and Hove Council view:
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk