During the year, our Tenants' Voice - Improving Services group looked at the electrical testing process.  Here is what they had to say about their review:

Electrical testing involves an inspection every five years to ensure the wiring and electrical systems in a tenant’s home are safe and working properly.

We decided to look specifically at the following areas of the service:

  • How easy is it for a tenant to have an electrical test completed
  • How easy is it for a tenant to get information about the service
  • How tenant expectations of the service are managed

The review started with an information session with a Compliance Team colleague telling us how the electrical tests are completed. We then looked at the information available to tenants from Progress Housing Group and other organisations. We also looked at an electrical test case study and how tenant satisfaction with the service is measured.

We found tenants can easily book an appointment at a time that suits their needs. We also made nine recommendations as to how we would improve the service.

Since the review, Progress Housing Group:

  • introduced a satisfaction survey for the service
  • reviewed the letters that were sent to tenants
  • added more information about the electrical test on our website so tenants know what to expect.

Graham Coleman, Compliance Manager – M&E, told us how the service benefited from the review carried out by our volunteer tenants.

The scrutiny review came up with some good suggestions for the electrical testing programme, and off the back of this process, we have now made some improvements that should benefit our tenants. “We have added an electrical safety page to the website, which has now started the ball rolling for us to add other areas of compliance. This will allow our tenants to access important information about the checks required in their homes. “We have also improved the booking process, especially around follow-on works after the initial inspection. This will help make the process feel much smoother for tenants and keep them informed at all times of what is happening. “Having never been involved with the Tenants’ Voice – Improving Services group before, it was an interesting project. Giving tenants a chance to be directly involved in improving our processes is valuable to everybody involved. Graham Coleman, Compliance Manager