Big changes in strategic tenant engagement

For just over 12 months now, our Tenant Engagement team has been working closely with the Service Improvement Forum (SIF) to strengthen the strategic engagement structure, so that:

• There is more influence in decision making at Board level
• SIF can escalate issues to the Board
• There is effective two-way communication between Board and SIF
• There is more focus on strategic level matters
• The timings and focus of each meeting align closely with Board agendas

The transformation is a great achievement, and demonstrates our continued commitment to tenant engagement by ensuring residents have even more influence in the governance of Connect.

The latest change was made at the May meeting, where members agreed a new name for the Service Improvement Forum. They will now be referred to as the Customer Voice Group (CVG).

The group wanted to ensure that their name really did reflect the work that was happening at the meetings. The membership has evolved since its formation and the CVG now has a good mix of more experienced residents and some that are completely new. A more creative approach to the meetings also means that everyone has an opportunity to actively participate, and the group is going from strength to strength. The residents have expressed feeling increasingly positive about their contributions, especially as they have been seeing their influence and feedback making a difference.

Currently, there are four vacancies in the CVG for Connect residents from either general needs or supported housing. If you are interested in joining or want to find out more, contact the Tenant & Community Engagement team via gettinginvolved@connecthousing.org.uk.