Audit Commission report on Homes for Islington

How good is the service?
London Borough of Islington - Homes for Islington (ALMO) p 13
33 The assessment is based on the Key Lines of Enquiry in Housing Management’
issued by the <strong>Audit</strong> <strong>Commission</strong>’s Housing Inspectorate in July 2004. This
focuses our service inspection into six main headings:
stock investment and asset management;
housing income management;
tenancy and estate management;
allocations and lettings;
resident involvement; and
leasehold management and right to buy.
34 In addition to this core group of functions, we also consider the overarching
issues of:
access (to services) and customer care;
diversity; and
value for money.
Access and customer care
35 In our previous inspection, we found that services were accessible for users
through a variety of formats and access points. Information was generally well
written containing useful information and the area housing offices were of a
reasonable standard. Service standards were established and published for most
services. Complaints about services were well monitored. However, standards of
information in area housing offices were not consistent, and monitoring systems
were not in place. Although consultation had taken place about the removal of
cash payments from area housing offices, the Council had not fully explored the
needs of the tenants who pay this way. The out of hours’ performance had failed
to meet targets during 2003/04 despite a reduction in calls and an increase in
answering time.
36 Current services are accessible and user focused, public offices have been
improved, all key published material has been reviewed. It is written in plain
English and has been republished with the HFI identity. Residents considered
staff were responsive and accountable. Improvements have been made as a
result of resident suggestions and formal complaints. Residents are involved in
the content of the resident newsletters which are highly regarded by residents
and satisfaction levels have increased by 11 per cent. However there is a need
for all service standards called customer commitments (CCs) to have clear
targets and greater resident involvement in developing these; the quality of
responses to complaints and performance against target times for stage two
complaints requires improvement. The standard of temporary accommodation
and facilities in reception centres are poor, although there are clear plans to
address this. Overall this is an area of strength.