Corporate Strategy 2016 | Page 11

Great Housing and Services Locality Delivery We want to help deliver sustainable communities, supporting local people to achieve their own goals by working with them. The Accord Group has always had a neighbourhood focus and is a community based set of organisations. We shall further develop our locality models by driving services closer to the customer enabling them to shape what they need from us creating further efficiencies in service delivery. We want to help deliver sustainable communities, supporting local people to achieve their own goals by working with them. We will build on our existing locality approach to housing services, with further devolved locality models to align core housing management services. This will create greater accountability to our customers, more direct access to staff and faster resolution of customer queries whether it be rent enquiries, repairs or complaints. It also addresses business improvements. There is a new and changing relationship with customers where there is a ‘something for something’ approach. We recognise the impact of welfare reforms such as Local Housing Allowance changes and will therefore consider different ways to deliver the same services for example shared tenancies for young people, estate champions, digital champions and increasing the gathering of our customer insight and intelligence to shape services. Our existing skills in providing homes and support services to BME communities was enhanced in 2015 as Gharana Housing joined the Group. Based in Northamptonshire, these schemes will continue to deliver quality services for older people and look to expand that reach. Delivery: n Creation of ‘locality patches’ with dedicated colleague teams delivering all of the services on that patch. By enhancing the responsibility and ownership within the locality patch, we can build closer relationships with our customers and use the information to better shape the services delivered in the patch. We can also develop better knowledge around demographics, political environment, socio-economic issues, stock, customers and their families. n Planned investment in Information Services including the housing system, to achieve real-time performance data n Regular engagement with, and surveys of, our customers n Offering a wider choice in how customers access services and communicate with the Group. Corporate Strategy 2016-2018 9