STEVENAGE HOMES LTD

Policy and Procedure Manual

Consultation Policy
Stevenage Homes Connecting to the Community
1

Statement of intent

1.1

The policy sets out how, when and why SHL will consult customers. This policy
helps to achieve SHLs mission of Involved with residents and communities

Policy Statement

2.1

Stevenage Homes is committed to carrying out high quality, timely consultation to

inform its decisions and check how satisfied our customers are with our services.
The consultation framework sits alongside the Resident Involvement Strategy and
Communications Strategy and sets out the principles under which we will carry out
consultation and the framework by which we will do it. This framework along with
the associated strategies aims to ensure SHL:
-

has a range of mechanisms in place that reflect different needs and

cultures and allows residents to participate effectively
actively canvasses views of residents concerning all services and consult
and involve them in major decisions
has high level of satisfaction with involvement opportunities and feel
confident that their input will be valued and acted upon
demonstrates how involvement opportunities enable the hard to hear have
an impact on services
has staff focused on community involvement in their work
meets the community cohesion agenda

Implementation

3.1

When SHL carry out consultation with our residents we will ensure that it is:
-

Linked to a decision making process or checking that what we deliver is

acceptable
Of a high standard
Inclusive
Coordinated
That feedback is always given

Linked to decision making

SHL will ensure that all consultation is used in decision making and translates into
action.
SHL will consult residents when there is a clear need for the information and we
are clear about what we will do with the results. When we consult residents we will
Author: Adrian Stones
Policy last reviewed and approved: xx.xx.xx
Due for review: xx.xx.xx

STEVENAGE HOMES LTD

Policy and Procedure Manual
always inform them of the reason why we are consulting and how their views will
affect the service or decision. We will always consult residents in a timely way and
in enough time to influence decisions.
We will consult residents:
-

regularly to see how satisfied they are with the service we provide
on all major decisions
on all new policies, reviews of policies and on amendments to policies

We will always make best use of the information we already have to avoid
consultation fatigue. The resident involvement team will hold a central file of all
consultation that has taken place. Before any consultation outside that on the
corporate framework takes place, this will be consulted to check if we have any
useful information.
SHL and SBC will share with each other the results of their consultation exercises
and ensure that their consultation frameworks are mutually advantageous. This will
ensure that we do not over consult certain sectors and will provide value for money
for both parties.
To avoid consultation fatigue SHL will record on Northgate how many times and for
what reasons an individual household has been consulted. SHL will only contact a
household four times in one year for consultation purposes. However if the
customer has requested that they be on the customer pool for a certain area and
activities these will not be counted as contacts in the year period.
High standard
SHL will ensure that all consultation is of a high standard. All SHL consultation will:
-

be listed on the corporate framework before being carried out

follow the corporate style (appendix b) This will ensure that our residents
will easily identify SHL consultation.
questions will be drawn from the consultation bank of questions (appendix
c). This will ensure that the questions will be meaningful and provide useful
results and that they can easily be benchmarked. Additional questions to
those in the question bank can be asked with prior agreement from the
resident involvement team.
Contain a clear explanation on how residents views will be used and where
and when their views will be considered as part of the decision making
process
Contain information of any limitation that constrains potential decisions
Never raise residents expectations beyond SHLs ability to deliver

Representative

We will ensure that the views we seek are representative of our community. When
we review the results of consultation we will use the information from the customer
census to see if all sectors of the community are represented. Where customers
from a certain sector are under represented, compared to our demographic profile
of residents, appendix x) we will review why this has happened and implement
changes to improve this in the future.
Author: Adrian Stones
Policy last reviewed and approved: xx.xx.xx
Due for review: xx.xx.xx

STEVENAGE HOMES LTD

Policy and Procedure Manual
Participants for wider consultation (outside of the pool) will be selected randomly.
Reports will be run from Northgate to show who can be selected according to the
principles set out above. Selection will be done according to the percentage set out
in the consultation framework (appendix A.)
SHL will use systematic random sampling to select the consultees or if a larger
consultation and a more representative sample is required a stratified quota
sample will be used. (Details of how to do this are included in the Resident
Involvement Toolkit)
The Customer Pool and Resident Involvement

The customer pool is a useful way for our residents to become involved in the
services we provide. It allows them to tell us how, when and about what they would
like to be consulted about. SHL will encourage residents to complete the resident
involvement form and communicate its existence widely.
The resident involvement form will be included in 3 editions of housing for you per
year. It will be included in the lettings pack to all new tenants and be promoted at
the four-week settling in visit by TOs.
RIOs will liaise with TOs over the tenancy audit schedule and provide forms for
those customers not on the pool which the TO can promote. RIOs will provide to
TOs in advance of their tenancy audit visits a list of residents who have been on
the pool for over a year. TOs will check that the customer wishes to remain on the
pool and their areas of interest have not changed. TOs will feedback changes to
the RIOs.
Participants of the pool on sign-up will be sent a letter thanking them for joining
and giving them a contact name and number if they have any questions. They will
also be sent the latest edition of the customer pool newsletter.
Management of the pool

For the pool to be effective we must regularly use it, inform it of how its had an
impact and ensure that it is representative of our residents.
RIOs will use the customer census data to monitor that the pool is representative
of our residents. Where sections of our residents are under represented RIOs will
work with the Equalities and Diversity Manager to target these to improve take up.
SHL will publish a newsletter for the customer pool every six months. This will
include an update on how the pool has been used and what impact it has had. It
will also provide an opportunity to remind residents to keep us up to date of their
preferences in being contacted and their areas of interest
Resident Involvement Toolkit

The RI toolkit sets out various methods of consulting residents and their
advantages and disadvantages. When carrying out consultation SHL will ensure
that it follows the advice set out within in it.
Involving Residents with the framework

Author: Adrian Stones

Policy last reviewed and approved: xx.xx.xx
Due for review: xx.xx.xx

STEVENAGE HOMES LTD

Policy and Procedure Manual
The consultation framework will be reviewed annually with residents to gain
feedback on whether we consult too much, the style of our questions and whether
they feel they are having an impact on our services.
Considering the circumstances of consultees

To encourage a high response rate to consultation exercises SHL will always:

-

Provide a named contact and return address for every consultation

exercise and responding to enquiries
Respect the confidentiality of consultees. Every consultation exercise will
include the statement All of your answers will be treated in the strictest of
confidence and will only be used to monitor Stevenage Homes services.
Anonymised responses may be passed on to key partners to aid
coordinated service provision
Give consultees sufficient time to respond to consultation exercises. For a
written survey the response time should be a minimum of three weeks. The
return date should be clearly printed on the form

Response rates will be monitored by the resident involvement team. Consultation

exercises that are poorly responded to will be reviewed by the RIOs who will make
recommendations on how to improve the return rate.
Inclusive
SHL will ensure that it consults all sections of its residents. Through the customer
census we will build up an accurate profile of our residents and will use this to
check that we are reaching all sections. Where we are not, RIOs will work with our
E&D Manager and Directors to see how we can improve this.
The members of SMT link us to established groups which, with their agreement,
can be used for specific consultation. Directors are responsible for creating links to
new networks and developing contacts with national umbrella organisations to aid
SHL involve all sectors of the community.
SHL will review our consultation methods annually as set out in the RI toolkit and
listed in the framework (appendix A) with different communities to see whether
these are appropriate and whether we can offer any additional channels. We will
update our framework annually with this information.
SHL will follow the advice on consulting hard to hear groups as set out in the RI
toolkit. SHL will use publicity, events and campaigns to raise awareness of
services and value placed on customer feedback. Our programme to do this is
included in our forward plan of key events in the communications strategy.
Where we are aware of the specific needs of our customers (e.g. large print,
alternative languages) we will automatically send them information in this format.
All consultation exercises will include our translation box stating what the
consultation is about and how residents can get written information in an
alternative format.
All written consultation exercises will include the phrase This survey is an
opportunity for you to have your say about Stevenage Homes services. If you
require a copy in large print or have any other requirements please contact (named
person) on (telephone number) or email (email address).
Author: Adrian Stones
Policy last reviewed and approved: xx.xx.xx
Due for review: xx.xx.xx

STEVENAGE HOMES LTD

Policy and Procedure Manual
Coordinated
SHL will ensure that all consultation activities are coordinated. The framework for
consultation which will include all planned consultation for the coming year will be
published annually in June. SHL will ensure that this has been consulted on with
other key partners to see where we can join up consultation activities.
Where consultation needs to take place in addition to that set out in the framework,
the framework will be reviewed by x. Amendments to the published programme will
be reported to Strategic Management Team.
All consultation will follow the SHL template to ensure consistency. All questions
will be drawn from the question bank or agreed with the Resident involvement
team to ensure they will provide meaningful results and can be benchmarked.
Feedback
Giving feedback to residents who have been involved is critical to the ongoing
success of the consultation framework. It makes it more likely that residents will
respond in the future. SHL will always share with the residents involved and the
wider resident body the results of consultation and the action plan of how their
views will impact the service. SHL will always clearly state what we will do and
what we are not doing as a result of the consultation exercises and give clear
reasons for the decision.
Every consultation exercise that is carried out will clearly state on it when residents
can expect to hear feedback and if consulting about a decision when this will be
made.
Following all consultation exercises the officer responsible for the consultation will:
-

complete an action plan (template in RI toolkit)

complete a consultation feedback form (template in RI toolkit)
return these to the Resident Involvement Team who will store them
centrally
feedback the results to the residents involved and a wider audience
include the results of the consultation in any reports that amend policies
and procedures to Board or SMT and include all results in the 6 monthly
progress report to D&I
Review the impact of the event

SHL will always follow the advice given in the RI toolkit on feeding back to
residents the outcomes of consultation exercises and use the most appropriate
method depending upon the audience.
The Resident Involvement Team will be responsible for sharing the results of
consultation with our key partners as appropriate.

Responsibility

Author: Adrian Stones

Policy last reviewed and approved: xx.xx.xx
Due for review: xx.xx.xx

STEVENAGE HOMES LTD

Policy and Procedure Manual
4.1

Directors will ensure this policy is adhered to within their directorate.

Officers carrying out consultation will ensure that they adhere to this policy.
The Research and Projects Officer will take an overview of this policys
implementation
RIOs will take an overview of all consultation within SHL and will coordinate and
promote it effectively.
TOs will promote Resident Involvement at the settling in visit for new tenants, and
at the tenancy audits.

Consultation

5.1

The customer pool, external customer focus group and FOSTA have reviewed the
policy.

Review

6.1

This policy will be reviewed annually with customers to ensure we are not over
consulting and that the consultation is effective.

Author: Adrian Stones

Policy last reviewed and approved: xx.xx.xx
Due for review: xx.xx.xx

STEVENAGE HOMES LTD

Policy and Procedure Manual
7

Delegated Authorities

7.1

Responsible Committee:
Delegation:

Formulation and monitoring of policy and procedures: Board

Amendments to policy: Board
Implementation of policy: Director of Resources
Monitoring of implementation: Delivery and Implementation Committee.

Associated Documents

8.1

Internal: Resident Involvement Toolkit

Author: Adrian Stones

Policy last reviewed and approved: xx.xx.xx
Due for review: xx.xx.xx