‘Ask Elim’ Event feedback: Q&A with Paul Smith CEO of Elim Housing Association

On 11th December we held our first ‘Ask Elim’ event. This was an online Question and Answer session, held via Zoom, open for any Elim customer to ask questions, share their views and to hear more about our services. The evening session was attended by Paul Smith, Elim Chief Executive, and Rachel Pinchin, Deputy Chief Executive. We were joined by four customers.

What we heard during the event:

• Our customers told us that we need to make improvements to our maintenance services. One of the biggest issues was around poor communication and a lack of organisation around the scheduling and attendance of repairs. Some customers are also unhappy about the length of time it is taking to complete some repairs.

• We were asked to discuss our approach to complaints. Some of customers told us that they did not understand why some complaints did not reach a satisfactory conclusion, or why the process seemed to end at a certain point.

• We were asked why the Household Assistance Fund was not promoted more widely to customers who may have been struggling to deal with the cost of living crisis this year.

• We were told that some of our customers in our supported housing schemes were not on the email circulation list for our quarterly newsletter.

• We were asked about two personal requests for outstanding action. One needed to be followed up with our maintenance service and the other with the responsible Housing Officer.

• Paul Smith was also asked how in touch he was with front line colleagues.

What we will do (or have done) as a result of this feedback:

• We agreed that there are currently a number of issues with the performance of our responsive maintenance services. We are already aware of these issues and are working with our new contractor to set out our expectations and a timeframe for improvement. If we do not see the improvement we require early in 2024 we will take further action. We are also looking at other options to improve our maintenance service, including the direct employment of a new maintenance operative in our Bristol area.

• During the Q&A session we discussed our complaints procedure and the role of the Housing Ombudsman in the complaints process. There is more information on our website available here.

• We will share information on the Household Assistance Fund more widely and make sure that there are posts circulated on social media in January. We have also spoken to our Housing Team, and they have been asked to share information on this fund with any customers who may be struggling with their finances.

• We will review our contact list to ensure that our Spring 2024 newsletter reaches as many customers as possible.

• We followed up the two personal requests the day after the Ask Elim session. Both issues have now been sorted.

Thank you to our customers who took the time to join us for this event, we will use the information we received to help us to improve our services and the way we work. We aim to be the best organisation we can possibly be for all of our customers and we are committed to listening and ensuring that our services are shaped by the needs and requirements of our customers. You can read more about how we plan to do this here. 

We want to make sure that everyone has a chance to tell us what they think about Elim, and will be running another ‘Ask Elim’ event in 2024.