Transparency
As a housing association, transparency is important to us so we're all on the same page
One of our key values is to earn trust through our actions, which means being authentic and transparent is important to us.
By being open and honest with you we allow you to challenge us and we can make sure that our services meet your needs. It’s important to us that you can hold us to account. By seeing how we are doing, you can also be confident that we are listening to what matters to you and making decisions in your best interests whilst keeping Connect running smoothly.
What are we going to do?
- Make sure information is accessible, easy to find, reasonably up to date, accurate and easy to understand.
- Provide information in different ways including our website, resident newsletter, social media and in printed form.
- Make information available about our plans, decision-making, policies, service standards, and performance.
- Provide information about how we are governed, our finances and how we achieve value for money.
- Have a framework in place that enables customers to hold Connect to account (the Customer Voice Group) on service delivery.
- Have a framework in place to scrutinise aspects of service delivery (the Resident Scrutiny Panel).
- The framework will include places on the Board for residents.
- Respond to requests for information that is not routinely published (and not commercially or otherwise sensitive), in a way which is cost effective and proportionate.
- Always act lawfully and comply with any requirements set by our regulators and commissioners.
During 2025 we have worked on making more information available on our website. This includes information on the managers (our Heads of Service) who lead our different service areas, a new page ‘what we’ve achieved together‘ and a summary report on the work of the Customer Experience Working Group (CEWG).
Work in progress includes providing easy to read summary versions of minutes of the CEWG and the Customer Voice Group showing what we are doing to improve outcomes for customers.
You told us…
When we consulted you and developed the Connect Commitments, you told us about the information that is most important to you, the top three things are below:
You are most interested in… | In response we will… |
| How we perform on the maintenance and management of our homes | Publish our self-assessments against the Regulator of Social Housing Consumer Standards, and how we are performing against our main performance targets. |
| What you tell us and how we act on what we hear | Publish information on the feedback we receive about our services, about what you tell us and how we have responded. |
| When planned works are due e.g., kitchen and bathroom upgrades | Publish information on planned works programmes. |
We listened to all of the feedback received, and it is reflected in our transparency framework set out below.
What you can expect from our transparency framework
The following information is routinely accessible on the Connect website. We may also publish some information in the resident newsletter and on social media:
- Connect's Board including members’ declared interests.
- Connect's Leadership team, including who is responsible for health and safety and for compliance with meeting the Regulator of Social Housing’s Consumer Standards.
- Corporate Strategy and annual summaries of progress.
- Composition of the Board, workforce, and customers by key protected characteristics compared to the local population.
- Who we work with – investors, contractors, partners and in which communities.
- Our Vital Statistics – information on how many homes we own, localities, average rents etc.
- Annual Financial Statements, including our annual Value for Money self-assessment.
- Board Members and Leadership team pay.
- How we spend the income we receive from your rental income.
- Summary of decisions made at Board meetings.
- Feedback on what customers have told us and how we have taken views into account in making decisions.
- We will include where we learn from when things have gone wrong.
- Minutes of the Customer Voice Group, our strategic engagement forum.
- Policies that impact on customers e.g., Fire Safety Policy, Tenancy Policy, Lettings Policy, Rent and Service Charge Policy, Privacy Statement.
- Connect's Corporate Annual Report.
- Planned works programmes.
- Performance against our service promises (Connect Commitments).
- Annually, how we are performing against key targets and measures e.g. on customer satisfaction and the Regulator's Tenant Satisfaction Measures.
- Self-assessment of compliance with the Housing Ombudsman Service Code.
- Summary of our customer profile and access to services in the 'Annual Tenant Baseline and Service Provision Report'.
- How we are performing against regulatory standards.
- How we are working in neighbourhoods, including publishing Neighbourhood Plans.
- Environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.
- Fire Risk Assessments of the building the customer is living in.
- Rent account information and rent statements for the tenancy or a former tenancy.
- All personal data that we hold on the customer making the request.
- We will endeavour to provide the information requested within 30 days.
We will comply with the Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) scheme when it comes into effect in October 2026.