Customer scrutiny panel tackle damp, mould and much more

Like any business, feedback from customers is hugely important to Connexus. While listening to customers, through surveys, consultations and other channels, is vital to make sure the organisation stays focused on providing consistent and good quality services to customers, our customer scrutiny panel plays a more active role in improving and shaping these services.

So, who are the Connexus customer scrutiny panel and what do they do?

The panel is made up entirely of Connexus residents and has a crucial scrutiny role, looking in-depth at aspects of Connexus and making recommendations for service improvement. Their general role is to help improve services for tenants, informing the business’ decisions and priorities, while ensuring Connexus is accountable to our customers.

Customer scrutiny in action: tackling damp and mould

In practice, the customer scrutiny panel are called on to review specific areas of Connexus service. The panel – on this occasion consisting of five customers - most recently reviewed how Connexus responds to customer reports of damp and mould in their homes. As with every customer scrutiny review, a customer engagement officer supported the panel, supplying and explaining the information and current policies.

The customer scrutiny group carefully examined the root causes of damp and mould issues in residents’ homes, which are many and varied. A key cause of damp and mould in properties is a lack of ventilation or improper use of ventilation, causing excess condensation and moisture. However, the panel also considered that there may be improvements that can be made to Connexus’ approach to void properties (properties left empty at the end of a tenancy) and improvements that could be made as part of this process.

The panel poured over feedback from a wider selection of customers, giving a truer sense of the concerns around the issue of damp and mould in the home. This identified a general feeling that there was a lack of understanding from Connexus around the impact of damp and mould on the customer.

Customers working with Connexus colleagues

Following these initial meetings, the customer scrutiny group met with relevant colleagues from Connexus to discuss changes in approach and policy. Customers worked with Victoria Tomlinson, Director of Property, and colleagues from Connexus’ repairs and maintenance teams to create a plan and set a timetable for rolling out changes.

The customer scrutiny panel recommended:

• Repairs teams should create a damp and mould checklist for the reporting of these issues. New reports have been created to capture relevant information when a customer reports damp and mould.
• Face-to-face visits for customers reporting damp and mould in their homes. There is now an agreement in place for a contractor to inspect all homes where new issues are reported.
• The importance of clear information for customers about the difference between types of damp, mould and condensation. Working further with the scrutiny group, Connexus has now produced an information factsheet for customers on issues around damp and mould, possible solutions and how to report an issue.

The scrutiny panel will review progress on these recommendations in November 2022.

Connexus needs you!

As you have already read, the work of our customer scrutiny panel to review the Connexus approach to damp and mould has resulted in some very real improvements to related services. Damp and mould is the most recent example, but customers help us review and improve services right across Connexus.  Customer engagement officers help to bridge the gap between this vital customer insight and Connexus colleagues, resulting in practical changes to benefit all customers.