Voice of the Resident Panel meeting update – January and March 2025
The Voice of the Resident (VoR) Panel met in January and March this year. The panel is made up of residents who work with Settle colleagues and Board members to help shape and improve our services. Here is a summary of what was discussed during the meetings.
Update from January
Joe Williams, Executive Director of Customer Services, shared a summary of the anti-social behaviour (ASB) summary report from 2022-2024.
He explained how Settle manages these cases, what steps are taken from the point of reporting, and how we’re working with local partners to respond quickly and improve support in the community. There was an opportunity for the panel to ask questions about various aspects of Settle’s approach to managing ASB.
The panel heard about:
- Common nuisance and ASB enquiries, such as noise and neighbour disputes.
- How hate crime and domestic abuse are managed differently and that a new policy for hate crime is under development.
- Legal action that Settle have taken when necessary to address more serious cases of ASB
- How Settle are tackling repeat occurrences of ASB, including earlier support for new tenants and training of the tenancy support team in areas such as counselling and vulnerability -helping to manage complex behaviours and prevent evictions through early intervention.
- How Settle is improving services and continuing to prioritise the resident voice – through transactional survey feedback given at the close of ASB cases and results of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs).
Panel suggestions
The panel shared ideas about how we can make communication clearer for residents when they report ASB. They expressed that quicker responses and personal contact were priorities. They also asked if it would be possible to report ASB through resident online accounts – My Settle Portal and will discuss it further with the Settle digital experience partner at the next meeting.
Specific opportunities for the involvement of panel members at future community reassurance events will be explored to help support resident engagement, and they also agreed to help test the ASB section of our website to see where it can be improved.
They welcomed the partnership work already happening with local organisations in North Hertfordshire and how it’s helping to improve community wellbeing and respond more quickly to urgent issues. Panel members felt this was a strong example of good practice that should be developed further in areas where Settle has fewer homes.
A short survey will go out to residents in February to hear more views on how we handle ASB and the results will be published on Settle Connect and reviewed by the panel at a future meeting.
March meeting
My Settle Portal
As part of our commitment to making things easier digitally for residents, we recently asked residents to complete a survey to find out what matters most when using our online portal, My Settle Portal. You told us the most important areas were:
• Making it simpler to report issues and self-serve
• Improving communication with email confirmations
• Making it easier to report general issues and anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Settle’s digital experience partner updated the panel on the current features of the portal and the panel shared feedback, especially about the digital ease of reporting ASB and making it clear to residents what behaviours would be considered anti-social.
ASB is deliberate acts that cause fear, alarm or distress to another person or community. This includes excessive noise, vandalism, drug use, threats, violence, and hate crime. Residents can find more details about anti-social behaviour and reporting options on our website.
Panel suggestions
The panel suggested improvements to the portal, including:
- Making it easier to report complaints and ASB online.
- Providing clearer guidance on what is ASB, how this is different from a complaint, and other ways to report issues that don’t fit these categories.
- Improving confirmation messages and emails, with clear information on what happens next.
Settle will work with the panel to develop a reporting form in the portal for ASB, as well as review and redesign the confirmation pages and emails to provide clearer response times and next steps. Longer term improvements are being explored, including a live status tracker, a chat function and ways to give more feedback.
Noise disturbance
Natalie, a panel member, gave an update on the practical uses of noise monitoring equipment after meeting with Joe Williams, Executive Director of Customer Services, following the last panel meeting. She said she would like to stay involved and offer feedback on the potential investment in one or two pieces of kit as plans progress.
…I think it’s a brilliant move for Settle and can really support tenancy management!
– Natalie, a resident and panel member
Looking ahead
The Vice Chair, Annette, acknowledged the panel’s productivity since Christmas, and members shared their appreciation for how the meetings have gained momentum in recent months. The next meeting in April will focus on the proposed partnership with Paradigm and updates from the Housing Ombudsman linked to ASB and complaints.
