Ever eager to learn, ALMO South Tyneside Homes welcomes outside scrutiny. It’s a viewpoint that has paid off but it’s already looking at how it can build on its successes

South Tyneside Homes (STH) is raring to go after the endorsement it received from the Audit Commission in June. The inspectors awarded the ALMO a two star good rating, for its customer-focused services and well maintained estates, with promising prospects for improvement.

“We are obviously delighted,” said chief executive Isobel Riley. “Everybody here worked exceedingly hard for this achievement. It opens up enormous opportunities for us into the future. We won’t be resting on our laurels but trying to move from here onto excellent.”

One of the things the organisation is keen to do is learn - and to that end it welcomes outside scrutiny to provide the fresh eye and reveal aspects where it can do better. Indeed, the current inspection results build on the results of a previous inspection held a year ago.

Taking note of the comments and observations from that, STH worked to address weaknesses and improve itself accordingly - and that didn’t go unnoticed when the inspectors returned this year.

“South Tyneside Homes has focused on improving services for its customers and has acted on recommendations from previous inspections,” said Domini Gunn-Peim, the commission’s lead housing inspector for the North East.

“There is a clear focus on the customers’ needs as a result of their commitment to work closely with tenants in designing and reviewing services. This continues to be a good news story for the new and existing customers.”

The inspectors found that STH was providing services that were easy to access for customers. It also judged that customer satisfaction is high in regard to overall landlord service and most aspects of individual services. There is a strong culture of involving residents in the design and review of services and there is clear commitment to meeting the diverse needs of the community.

STH was also found to be performing well with its responsive repairs, which had improved its performance and is “providing a high quality service to all tenants”. It also has a strong adaptations service.

Partnership working is a key element of the STH approach, as exemplified by its approach to financial inclusion. Naturally, it works with the borough council, but the organisation has fostered close working relationships of its own with the experts - such as the local Credit Union and the CAB.

“There’s a lot of expertise out there that we can take advantage of,” Riley added. “Our approach with financial inclusion is that it benefits nobody if our tenants are getting into difficulty with paying the rent. We don’t see it as an achievement to evict someone for non-payment of rent arrears. People who have those kinds of problems very often have other problems as well, therefore the more help we can direct them towards the better. The key is in the partnership working with agencies that have the experts to help.”

Even when it comes to the processes it is doing well, STH is determined to do them even better. To that end, alongside progressing with the pointers from the Audit Commission where the inspectors deemed they could be doing better, the organisation is looking to further tweak its wellperforming services.

It’ll be a tough process; the organisation has been given some tight deadlines between six and four months - to work on the Audit Commission’s recommended improvement. Yet Riley and her team remain unphased. One of those areas is to extract better value for money out of its services on behalf of tenants.

“That’s something we can all do better on at the end of the day,” Riley said. “All of our funding comes from tenants’ rent so it’s absolutely crucial that we consult further with tenants to make sure we understand their priorities, and if necessary move resources from one area to another rather than just ask for more money. Value for money isn’t about that, so it’s about learning and changing the service we deliver accordingly.”

STH is also looking at better ways of tackling low-level anti-social behaviour, estate management, environmental matters and other aspects of its operations to see how they can be done better, with the above in mind. At the same time, it has launched a review of its governance procedures and structures to see how matters there can be improved for the benefit of tenants. Being two years old now, it is something that the organisation felt was timely.

Beyond that, and with the two stars firmly under its belt, STH is gearing up to push on with its improved Decent Homes programme. Three pilot programmes have recently been completed and the contractors have already been appointed. South Tyneside Homes is ready for action and raring to go.