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INDUCTION PACK
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Resident Scrutiny Committee
Contents
Table of contents
Welcome to the Resident Scrutiny Committee Page 3
Who else do I need to know? Page 4
Resident Scrutiny Committee information sheet Page 5
Fact Sheet 1—Where do I fit in? Page 6
Fact Sheet 2— Interpreting performance information Page 7
Fact Sheet 3— Committee meetings Page 8
Fact Sheet 4—Planning a scrutiny Page 11
Fact Sheet 5— Interviews Page 12
Fact Sheet 6—Who is there to help Page 13
Fact Sheet 7— Writing a report Page 14
Fact Sheet 8—Resident Scrutiny Committee Job Description. Page 15
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Welcome to the Resident Scruntiny Committee
VACANT — Chair Johnnie Walker—Vice Chair
Chris Stone— RSC Roy Liverpool —RSC
Gerry Burns —RSC Susan Thomas—RSC
Hazel Egan Performance & Quality Manager
01284 773446
Martin Barnes-Smith
Community Development Manager
01284 715391
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Who Else Do I Need to Know?
Rob Longfoot
Housing Services Manager
Maureen McDonald-Cook
Housing Services Manager
(Sheltered & Supported)
Jeremy Howell
Finance Manager
Wayne Tatlow
Income Manager
Hannah Gardner
Corporate Services Manager
Tracey Chappell
Technical Services Manager
Abbie Jordan—Tenant Liaison Apprentice
01284 715391
Sue Philp
Chief Executive
Justin O'Connor
Operations Director
Karen Moore
Corporate Services Director
Hannah Casbolt
Finance Director
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Resident Scrutiny Committee
Information Sheet
Resident Scrutiny Committee
What is the role?
In simple terms, tenant scrutiny
allows a small group of tenants
to monitor and comment on the services that Suffolk
Housing deliver to our tenants. You will review and
report on how well we are doing and give your rec-
ommendations for improvement. You will also be
able to raise issues and recommendations for im-
provement at RSC Performance Meetings
Why is it important?
Tenant Scrutiny is an independent check on the
standard of service that Suffolk Housing are provid-
ing to tenants. You have the power to hold us to ac-
count.
Your recommendations give us clear and specific
areas to act on and improve.
Your work therefore helps us to improve the stand-
ard of service that we give to tenants as well as
finding out what works well and recognising people
who do a good job.
What do I need to do?
Attend formal and informal meetings.
Request and receive information on the area
being looked at
Read the information given to the panel and
ask questions of staff and residents.
How much time will I need to give?
The panel meets formally
every quarter, and then as
the group agree, dependant on the audit work being
carried out.
You will also do one formal scrutiny exercises a
year. This will involve additional meetings for:
Being briefed on the subject of the scrutiny
and planning it.
Carrying out the scrutiny (including working
with other panels like the Tenant Voice, Resi-
dent Inspectors or mystery shoppers to carry
out exercises as appropriate)
Writing a report
Presenting findings to The Management
Board
What information will I see?
You will see performance and other relevant infor-
mation provided. Some of this information will be of
sensitive and will need to be dealt with sensitively
You will have to sign a confidentiality agreement
and will be bound by regulations relating to data
protection. Any panel member who breaches these
will be removed from the panel immediately and
may leave themselves open to prosecution.
What training and development will I get?
We are keen to support your involvement. If there
are any skills that you need that you don’t have, we
will give you training
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Where Do I Fit In?
Fact sheet
One
How does the Residents Scrutiny Committee
Panel fit into Suffolk Housings’ Tenant Participa-
tion?
Everyone has an equally important role to play in
improving the performance of Suffolk Housing
It is important that members of the panel remain con-
nected to the rest of the ‘tenant body’ but also have
a formal link to our Board of Management. This en-
sures that issues are independently raised by ten-
ants. Any recommendations coming out of an audit
should treated as a learning experience, thus provid-
ing a better relationship with Suffolk Housing, ensur-
ing improvement to services provided.
The diagram below shows how the various active
panels fit together and thereby ensuring a close
working relationship. Resident Scrutiny must remain
independent of Suffolk Housing
How do we influence change in Suffolk Housing?
The various committees representing tenants fit to-
gether, as can be seen. It is important that the issues
coming to the attention of the Resident Scrutiny
Committee are shared and shape the discussions
and decisions made. Each Tenant Voice has a rep-
resentative that updates them regularly at their meet-
ings, especially on reoccurring issues, through the
‘All Chairs’ meeting these must be shared with the
Resident Scrutiny Committee so if needed it can be
looked into.
Question that you need to ask yourself
Who am I representing?
How do I represent
them?
Who has the voice?
Am I listening to it?
So to sum up, Resident Scrutiny is:-
Increasing the influence of tenants through empow-
ering them to independently review, examine, reality
test and challenge their landlord over decisions, per-
formance and service delivery. By effectively chal-
lenging their landlord
through making evidence -
based recommendations,
tenants collaborate with
their housing provider to
drive continuous im-
provement, and hold
their landlord to account.
•Area TV
•Sheltered
•RSC
• RSC – Strategic
• TV / Sheltered –Evidence
• Commission other panels
•SH Performance
•Managers
•Local / National
•Board
•TF
•Repairs
•GM
•Schemes
•ASB
•Complaints Area TV
Sheltered RSC
All Chairs Meeting
Audit of Services
Resident Information
Designated Panel
Editors & Readers
Resident Insp
Training
Suffolk Housings’ Tenants Management Model
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Interpreting
Performance Information
Fact sheet
Two
During your time as a RSC member you will see a
lot of performance data. Please don’t feel over-
whelmed by it. Your role
is to recognise areas
where we perform well
[green] and areas where
we are possible not do-
ing so well [red]. This
data along with infor-
mation raised through
the ‘tenant body’ you will decide what areas to scru-
tinise [scoping].
Performance Data
To monitor whether services that are provided are
working well or not we need some way of measur-
ing performance. Measures are agreed and infor-
mation is collected against these over a period of
time. Suffolk Housing provide an ‘At a Glance
(AAG) document showing their current perfor-
mance, judged against nationally agreed Key Per-
formance indicators [KPI’s]
High Performance
If a service area is preforming well, it is important to
understand how the team is achieving this. This is
as important as finding out which service areas are
not working well.
Acknowledgement that people are working well
helps to motivate them to carry on doing a good job.
It ,may be possible to apply the methods adopted to
other areas of the business, that may not be doing
so well
Poor Performance
It is important that performance is looked at regular-
ly so that a drop in performance or consistently poor
performance can be dealt with at an early stage
It is important that the team has processes in place
for dealing with problems as they happen and that
they can explain how these work.
Targets
These should be demanding. They should be built
on last years performance or the changing expecta-
tions in the business. A plan [Business Plan] should
be in place to show how performance will be im-
proved and how the business objectives will be
achieved.
Consider these points when thinking about whether
performance is actually high or not.
Continuous Improvement
Teams should be continually learning from their per-
formance and looking for ways to deliver services
more efficiently, to a higher standard and for less
money through improvement.
Performance Meetings
Prior to the formal meeting with Suffolk Housing
Managers, performance information will be provid-
ed. This gives you the opportunity to read it and as-
sess the success of the teams. If you require more
information individual managers can be invited to
the meeting to give a verbal explanation. This al-
lows you to better understand the reasons for the
performance and any actions being taken to ad-
dress under performance.
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The Chair’s Role
Before the Meeting
Planning and Preparation
To Chair a meeting well, you need to think about
the meeting before you arrive at it.
This can be done by sitting down with the Secre-
tary to review and agree the agenda. This will help
to draw out why you are having the meeting, what
you want the meeting to achieve, anything that
needs to be done ahead of the meeting, identify
any guest speakers to invite, any information that
needs to go out in advance, etc.
This will include:
Encouraging input by asking people if they
have any agenda items
Assessing the purpose of the agenda items.
There are only three reasons for putting an
item on an agenda:
To inform
To discuss
To decide
Assessing which items are the most important
and prioritise. You may have to go back to
someone and ask if his or her item can wait
until a future meeting
Deciding the order the items should go in to
ensure the best chances of covering the busi-
ness efficiently and effectively, maintaining
interest and scheduling guest speaker to en-
sure they don’t have to sit through the whole
meeting, etc.
Giving each item a proposed time limit. This
will make your meetings more streamlined
and discourage time wasting.
At the Meeting
The ‘how to’ of chairing meetings
The role of the Chair is complex. S/he is responsi-
ble for setting the tone of the meeting, keeping the
discussion on track, and making sure everyone is
heard. The Chair is the one who summarises rele-
vant points and ties things together when the dis-
cussion jumps around between interrelated topics.
Committee meetings
Fact sheet
Three pg.1
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Committee meetings
Fact sheet
· Begin on time
Starting late subtly diminishes your credibility and
the importance of the meeting. It sends the mes-
sage that it is okay to be late, and shows a lack of
respect and appreciation for those who make the
effort to arrive on time.
· Create a Positive Climate
Set or review ground rules and use them to ensure
open, freely flowing discussion. Although invoking
ground rules is a shared responsibility for everyone
in attendance, enforcing them falls first to the meet-
ing leader.
· Use the Agenda
Restate the purpose of the meeting at the begin-
ning, and review the agenda to get agreement on
time allocations. Continually refer back to the agen-
da throughout the meeting to keep discussion fo-
cused on the stated purpose and objective.
· Facilitate the Discussion
Steer the discussion without dominating it.
· Stay on Track
Tactfully discourage digressions and clarify or sum-
marise points as they are made.
· Be forthright
Confront underlying issues that cause conflict. Get
them out in the open and clear them out.
· Control Dominating Individuals
Make sure each person has a fair chance to ex-
press ideas and opinions without allowing any indi-
vidual to dominate the discussion.
· Monitor Nonverbal Signals
Seek input from quiet members who may be shy, or
otherwise reluctant to voice reservations or disa-
greement with the ideas of others.
· Summarise
Conclude the meeting by summarising the discus-
sion, decisions made, and tasks delegated; then
review plans for follow up. Agree date of next meet-
ing.
· End on Time.
Three pg.2
Tips for the Chair
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Be Prepared
Read all the papers thoroughly
(minutes, agenda, and supporting
documents)
Annotate them to highlight key points
so that you can spot them fast during
the meeting
Plan what you need to ask (and how
you will ask it)
Think through how you will input to
the meeting
Make notes to refer to in the meet
ing.
Plan ahead – give the leader a list of
topics you want to discuss far enough
ahead for them to be included on the
agenda
Be on time – if you will be attending
the whole meeting, arrive a few
minutes early
Contribute con-
fidently – meet-
Be Honest – express your views and feelings
openly, honestly and concisely
Get your facts right – be careful to state
facts - factually
Don’t Dominate – take personal responsibility
for making your input without “drowning out” oth-
ers
Be Positive – present your ideas optimistical-
ly. Don’t dwell on past failures or tear down oth-
er people’s ideas
Express Appreciation – let others know
when you are impressed with something they
say or do, or when they have been helpful to
you
Watch Body Language – be alert to nonver-
bal signal from others, and help the facilitator
encourage input from quiet members of the
group
Stay flexible – keep an open mind, purpose
and explore alternate options, and move from
preconceived ideas to collaborative win/win so-
lutions
Committee meetings
Fact sheet
Three pg.3
How to participate effectively
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Planning a Scrutiny
Fact sheet
Four
For each scrutiny you do, you will need to get
evidence to help you decide if:-
The aims of the services being met
They are being met to a good standard
The needs of the tenants are being met
The service is giving value for money
Are the aims of the service being met?
To decide if the aims are being met you need to un-
derstand what those aims are. You would do this by
reading the service standard or any policy or proce-
dures for that area. #these will be provided to you
at the start of the scrutiny.
During your scrutiny you should check that the peo-
ple who deliver the service you are looking at have
a good understanding of the aims and how they
plan to meet these.
You will get performance information which show
how well we are doing. This will give you evidence
about whether we are meeting the targets set
against this particular service
Are the aims of the service being met to a good
standard?
To decide if the service is performing well, you
would look at the performance information you have
been given
To reach and keep up high performance, we need
to look at what we do, how we do it, how we could
do it better and then put changes in place. You will
need to find evidence that Suffolk Housing do.
Are the needs of
the tenant being
met?
To meet the needs
of the tenants we
need to find out
what their needs
are. You will need to know how tenants are involved
and consulted on decisions which affect the ser-
vices they get and how they get them
You will need to check if we have made sure that
the aims of the service that we provide match the
needs of our tenants. Information about tenant satis-
faction will help you to decide how we are doing, as
will commissioning your own survey’s of tenants to
obtain their views.
Is the service provid-
ing Value for Money?
You will get information
about the cost of the
service that you are
looking at, for example
the cost for the whole
service or cost per
household.
You will need to get evidence to decide if the cost is
reasonable and if good value is being provided.
These are two separate areas:-
Reasonable, can be measured by comparing the
same service being provided to other housing pro-
viders. (Tasks and quality)
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Interviews
Fact sheet
Five
The aim of any interview, whether for a job inter-
view or a scrutiny exercise, is to get the infor-
mation you need to help you make good deci-
sions
Planning
During your planning meetings you will have decid-
ed who you want to interview and what questions
you need to ask them. This will help you feel more
comfortable on the day as the interview will be more
conversational rather than needing to read your
questions word for word. It will also help you to be
flexible, e.g. if you need to skip a question which
has already been answered or move away from
your set questions to follow a line of enquiry.
Decide what the most important information is that
you need to get during the interview. This will help
as it will allow you to know which questions you
must ask before you run out of time.
Use open questions,
starting with words
like how, what, when,
where, why (be care-
ful; with why ques-
tions as they can at
times sound critical)
You may need to follow up your question to get
more information so think about what probing ques-
tions to ask. Practice with another member of your
team so that you are confident you can think on
your feet during the interview.
Give yourself plenty of space on the interview ques-
tion sheet for note taking. Make sure you have extra
paper and pens with you just in case
On the day
You need to consider where the interview will take
place, and the lay out of the room. The Community
Development Manager will help you with this. It
helps if there is no barrier between yourself and the
person you are speaking to. You do need to take
notes, it is worth considering if a team member can
be present during the interview to do this. However
this may make the interview too formal prevent
those being interviewed relax.
Listen to the answers to your questions:-
It has been answered
If you have been given extra information
which will change the questions you need to
ask
If the answer has covered other questions you
were going to ask.
If people stray from the subject a little, remind them
what the question was to get them back on track.
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Who is there to help ?
Fact sheet
Six
To carry out a thorough scrutiny exercise is a lot of
work, which is why the Resident Scrutiny Panel are
supported by the other actives panels. Once you
have planned the area that is being looked into you
need to decide the best way to carry out the re-
search and obtain the evidence. It is then you can
decide how this will be carried out. This is generally
known as ‘scoping’.
The table below shows the areas of auditing open to
Resident Scrutiny and the Panels they may wish to
commission to carry out that work.
I
Remember, to carry out a successful scrutiny
exercise involves team work.
It is the responsibility of the RSC to pull together all
the information and write a report, which will be pre-
sented to Suffolk Housing,
[See the fact sheet on writing a report]
Work Area Panel
Desk Top Review RSC
Face to Face
Interview
Tenant Voice
Tenant Friends
Focus Groups Tenant Voice / RSC
Study Visits RSC
Site Inspections Resident Inspectors
Telephone Survey Resident Inspectors
Postal / Email
Survey
Resident Inspectors
Performance Review RSC
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Writing a Report
Fact sheet
Seven
You may have to write up your findings or rec-
ommendations, if you do this will help:-
To write a good report you need to plan it well. Be-
low are some simple tips to help you make sure
your report is clear,
Planning
It is important to plan when the report will be written
and when it will be finished by at the start of the ex-
ercise.
Dates to book:
Planning session – to bring all thoughts and
evidence together
Day to write 1st draft
Date to send 1st draft to ‘Critical Friend’ –
check they are free to read your report when
you need them to and give them at least a
week to give you their feedback
Day to write 2nd draft
Date to send 2nd draft to ‘Critical Friend’ –
check they are free to read your report when
you need them to and give them at least a
week to give you their feedback
Half day for final amendments
Evidence
The most important thing to think about when put-
ting your report together is evidence. Take care not
to make assumptions based on personal feelings. It
is important that your report is objective so that peo-
ple will take it seriously; any comments made
should be backed up by evidence you have ob-
tained from your scrutiny exercise.
Before You Start
Think about:
Who is going to read it?
Why are they going to read it?
What did you do?
What did you find out?
What are your recommendations?
What do you need people to do
next?
Your report could contain the follow-
ing sections
Intention (your purpose and scope)
Outline / Executive summary
Main findings
Main conclusions
Main recommendations
Appendix
The flow chart below may help you organise the
evidence and information you have gathered.
Include it in the
main body
Yes
Will any reader
need to know this?
Do not include it in
the report
Will they need to
know it to follow
the argument in
the main body?
Will it be referred
to several times?
Put it in an
appendix
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
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Job Description
Fact sheet
Eight pg 1
Job Title: Resident Scrutiny Committee Member Position Type: Voluntary
Will Train Applicant(s): Yes – applicants are not expected to have all skills and qualities when they start and lots of training is available.
Time Commitment: 1-2 days per month
Location: East Anglia Travel Required: Yes
Job Description
ROLE:
The Resident Scrutiny Committee (RSC) acts as a critical friend to Suffolk Housing (SH) we challenge SH perfor-mance on the services it provides to residents. The RSC influences change in strategies, policies and services and promotes improvement. Members monitor and review performance. This is usually against a set target or service standard. They provide Suffolk Housing and its board with feedback from residents that helps to shape the way SH works.
RESPONSIBILITIES
All members share the same responsibilities and contribute towards:-
Preparation of an annual work plan
Scrutiny projects and the resulting presentation of findings to the Board where relevant. Involves conduct-
ing research, focus groups, producing reports.
Monitoring performance, reading and considering formal reports on performance (KPI’s)
Proposals for service improvements or new arrangements for service delivery and monitoring.
Signing off tenant facing policies and strategies before they are submitted to the Board
Provision of information and feedback to Suffolk Housing about tenants’ views and priorities in relation to services and performance.
Regular meetings, dependent on the level of work, contributing constructively to discussions and debate. Being fully prepared by reading papers prior to meeting and thinking critically about what the information provided means to SH and residents.
Developing good working relationships with colleagues, staff from Suffolk Housing, the Board, other tenant groups, external parties e.g. contractors or other housing providers
Recruitment of new Resident Scrutiny Committee members and providing them with support.
Promoting equality by treating everyone as equals appreciating and respecting everyone’s differences as well as similarities
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Job Description
Fact sheet
Eight pg 2
GENERAL:
Always act in the best interests of SH and residents and maintain absolute confidentiality.
Keep up to date with developments in social housing.
Participate in annual reviews of the Scrutiny committee performance and effectiveness in order to inform a training and development plan.
Undertake training as needed.
If relevant
You must not be currently engaged in legal proceedings with Suffolk Housing.
You must be abiding by the terms of a court order, for rent arrears.
You must not have been served with a Notice of Seeking Possession in regards to anti-social behavior by your-self, visitors to or members of your household.
Preferred Skills
You should have:-
An understanding of the needs of the residents of Suffolk Housing
The ability to research, understand and analyse complex financial, statistical and service information and communicate it in an accessible form to a diverse range of audiences. (Housing training will be provided).
The ability to question information and willingness to build up skills to be able to challenge and scrutinise information effectively
Experience of committee meetings and the ability to use own experience in an objective and neutral way to be effective as a RSC member
The skill to prepare reports as requested and contribute to the preparation of agendas and minutes
The ability to work creatively, identifying imaginative and innovative approaches
Experience in working constructively and cooperatively with others. Showing respect and consideration; speaking to different officers, colleagues, and colleagues as they would like to be spoken to, working effec-tively, diplomatically and confidentially
Commitment to supporting team decisions, keeping people informed and up to date.
The ability to communicate, in a clear, fluent and concise manner with all levels and to act as an advocate for the scrutiny function.
Excellent organisational and time management skills combined with the ability and self-motivation to work to achieve agreed goals
The ability to attend frequent meetings and other activities that may occur outside standard working hours
The ability to make effective use of standard office IT systems