As we’ve recently relaunched our My Voice framework, we wanted to introduce you to some of our new groups! This week we’re introducing you to…My Assurance.
What is My Assurance?
As a social housing landlord, we have a lot of regulatory responsibilities, this group provides assurance from our tenants’ perspective on how we’re performing against our own standards and those set by external bodies.
We look at how we’re performing in line with legal requirements, i.e. from The Regulator for Social Housing, but also Spotlight Reports from the Housing Ombudsman Service that give us recommendations for best practice.
What do meetings look like?
The meetings are hybrid, so you’re more than welcome to join online or, if you prefer a face-to-face meeting, you have the option to attend in person in one of our offices.
There’s a small amount of preparation required in advance of these meeting, as we ask members to read the evidence pack beforehand, so you arrive prepared and ready to investigate.
Please be assured that it’s not as daunting as it sounds! We’ve recently changed the evidence packs to make them more engaging and smaller.
Is this group right for you?
Each review, we generally look at a specific aspect of housing, for example the group recently completed a review of our compliance with the Housing Ombudsman’s Insight report on Service charges. This means that by the end of the meeting you’ll have a really good oversight of that particular area and how we’re performing against it.
Our panel members recently fed back that they wanted to find out more about the external factors that were affecting social housing landlords today, i.e. Government consultations, so we’ve taken that on board and arranged for them to meet with our External Affairs Manager to ask any questions and find out more information.
What will I gain from it?
This group will give you an insight into our regulatory responsibilities and you’ll also get the opportunity to meet a range of colleagues from across our organisation. We’ll also be looking to gain feedback from this group on relevant government consultations so it’s a really great way to get your voice heard.
If you’re interested in learning more about the social housing sector and understanding how we’re performing in key areas, and where we could improve, then this group is for you. You don’t need any previous experience, just a willingness to get stuck in!
If you’re interested, please contact our Tenant Scrutiny Team on customerscrutiny@midlandheart.org.uk and we’d love to tell you more. You can also visit our My Voice webpage for more information about all the different ways you can get involved.
