Introduction
Aims & objectives
Annual agreement 2003 - 2004
Customer Involvement service
standards
Our commitment to BATRA
Bolton at Home
Customer Involvement improvement plan
Contact us
This is our annual customer involvement agreement and has been produced by
Bolton at Home and Bolton Affiliation of Tenants and Residents Associations
(BATRA).
It sets out our aims and objectives for customer involvement. It also explains
how you can become involved.
It includes our customer involvement service standards and our customer
involvement improvement plan, and shows exactly what we want to achieve in
2003/04.
It also includes our commitment to BATRA.
Bolton at Home aims to ensure that all our customers have opportunities to
influence the services we provide and to play an active role in their
community.
Our objectives are:
- To ensure that Bolton at Home listens to, acts upon and responds to
customers views.
- To ensure that Bolton at Home demonstrates its commitment to customer
involvement at all times and shows customers how they have successfully
influenced services.
- To ensure that the customer involvement opportunities provided by Bolton
at Home are relevant and responsive to customers needs.
- To ensure that customers of Bolton at Home have the confidence, skills
and desire to influence the services we provide.
Bolton at Home and BATRA have worked in partnership to agree our joint
priorities for 2003/2004. The priorities are:
- Develop and implement a marketing strategy for customer involvement,
including Black and Ethnic Minority communities.
- Develop and implement a new communication strategy for Bolton at Home.
- introduce a new performance management system including the development
of service standards, performance indicators and benchmarking programmes.
- Develop mechanisms for involving 'hard to reach' groups.
- Introduce Neighbourhood Planning.
Bolton at Home and BATRA will work closely together to review our progress
on these priorities.
Bolton at Home has set the following service standards to achieve the
above objectives. Bolton at Home will:
- include 5 tenant representatives on Bolton at Home's Group Board
- include 7 customer representatives on Bolton at Home's North and South
Area Boards
- give every customer the opportunity to get involved in the decision
making structures for their area via local Neighbourhood Panels
- provide an agreed level of funding and support for all customer groups
- provide an agreed level of training for all customers who wish to take
an active role in their community or within Bolton at Home's decision making
structures
- provide a customer involvement fact pack for all new customer groups and
support them for the initial three months to ensure they have the confidence
to operate as a customer group
- sign a local agreement with all informal groups outlining the level of
services provided by Bolton at Home
- provide 3 customer newsletters every year which will be delivered to all
tenants and leaseholders.
- provide an information leaflet to all new tenants and private sector
renewal customers explaining how they can get involved in their community
and influence the services we provide
- publicise customer involvement opportunities on our website, in our
newsletter and on our monthly calendar which is displayed in all housing
offices
- carry out an annual customer satisfaction survey that asks tenants how
satisfied they are with their opportunities to participate in decision
making
- carry out an annual health check with all formally recognised resident
associations
- provide an agreed level of funding and support for BATRA
- produce an annual customer involvement agreement in partnership with
BATRA
Bolton at Home is fully committed to the further development of BATRA as
an independent organisation, and provides BATRA with financial support.
In February 2003, Bolton at Home and BATRA asked an independent company to
carry out a review of BATRA. Over the next few months, we will be negotiating
a service level agreement with BATRA that sets out:
- BATRA's role
- Future funding for BATRA
- BATRA's staffing structure
- Relationship between BATRA & Bolton at Home
A clear way forward for BATRA will be agreed and approved by June 2003.
This will include the practical arrangements for the provision of support for
new and existing customer groups by BATRA. It will also include an agreed
level of funding determined by the Service Level Agreement.
Bolton at Home has developed an improvement plan to ensure that customers
have opportunities to influence the services we provide and to play an active
role in their community.
We want to achieve the following:
- Better customer awareness of Bolton at Home structures, activities and
opportunities for involvement
- Improved customer involvement across the organisation
- Introduce customer involvement elements of the new Bolton at Home
governance structure
- BATRA development and increased customer access to information and
Communication Technology
- The development of a staff training programme for customer involvement
- The introduction of a performance management system and reporting of
performance.
If you would like more information about Customer Involvement contact:-
The Customer Involvement Team
1-3 The Courtyard
Calvin Street
The Valley
Bolton
BL1 8PB
Tel: (01204) 335779
Email: citeam@boltonathome.org.uk
Text Message us on 07766726490
(Please note that the messages are charged at the standard rate of your
service provider)
Bolton at Home is developing a customer involvement register. By joining the
register you will have the opportunity to find out about our consultation
events, seminars and surveys.
