Acting Upon Your Views

The panel are in the final stages of the Neighbourhood scrutiny review and it is expected that the report, findings and recommendations will be presented at the October 2026 Board meeting for consideration and agreement. A new member has joined so there have been 6 members working on the scrutiny.

Due to other commitments, the Chair of TOWER has recently put forward his resignation and we are currently working to elect a new Chair and Vice-Chair.

The panel has worked alongside BCH to review the Code of Conduct for staff, ensuring that this meets the new Competence and Conduct Standard which came into effect in October 2026. TOWER will be creating an easy-read infographic version to provide tenants with the key points at a glance.

The panel reviewed the 2026/27 Q1 complaint performance report, as well as the Annual Complaint Improvement report, and highlighted areas for further scrutiny at the next meeting.

Following review and feedback from the panel, the online complaint form has been amended, including rewording one question and including a ‘Thank You’ message once the form has been completed and submitted to show it has been sent successfully.

The draft Compensation policy was reviewed and it was agreed for a summary document to be produced.

The Neighbourhood Panel met in August and approved the customer guide to reporting neighbourhood issues which had been updated following discussion at the previous meeting. It was also agreed that a separate document should be produced to provide customers with the standards of communication they should expect when reporting issues. This will be drafted and reviewed at the next meeting in October.

The panel agreed to review the Neighbourhoods section of the website and will be completing a short survey for discussion at the next meeting.

The process for when a case is no longer active was reviewed with agreement that wording in the draft letter be changed to remove "proportionate" which was not clear or easy to understand.

We received 39 scoresheets from our Green Wardens in this period with 92% rating the overall performance of the green space maintenance as an ok or good standard.

As part of the winter works planning, Green Wardens were contacted to provide the opportunity for them to meet with the Environmental Contracts and Projects Officer and staff from partnering contractor, Fylde Council, to identify outstanding areas for grounds maintenance. 12 Green Wardens took part in this and a programme of works is now being compiled and will be completed over the winter months.

Clean Wardens provided 19 scoresheets with 100% rating the overall block cleaning as an ok or good standard. Positive feedback was also received relating to staff from partnering contractor 5-AM, who provide the Block Cleaning service.

Our Reading Panel reviewed the Assisted Gardening Leaflet and the Cannabis Postcard. As result of feedback, changes were made the Assisted Gardening leaflet, to include information on Universal Credit and cost. The layout and fonts used on the Cannabis Postcard were changed and the Neighbourhood Team contact details were added.

10 walkabouts took place within the period across the Central, Layton, Bispham, Mereside and South Shore areas of Blackpool. 12 residents attended with the Neighbourhood Officers to identify areas for improvement and highlight positive contributions.

As a result of one of the walkabouts, a resident has signed up to BCH’s Green Warden scheme to help monitor the grounds maintenance contract.

Across the areas, various issues were highlighted and reported to relevant teams for remedial works/action. Detailed feedback is included on this website - www.bch.co.uk/my-neighbourhood/neighbourhood-services/neighbourhood-walkabouts - and will be provided in the next editions of the Neighbourhood newsletters.

In order to meet the new Competence and Conduct Standard which came into effect in October 2026, as part of BCH’s Code of Conduct review, a short survey was sent to gain resident views on the areas that matter most to customers when it comes to expected standards from staff. The survey was sent to BCH’s involved customer base along with residents living in areas highlighted as least satisfied in relation to fairness and respect detailed in the recent TSM results.

The survey was sent according to communication preference (via email, text message or letter) and a total of 31 (out of 289) customers participated, representing an 11% response rate.

A staff survey was also completed to ensure values were aligned across the company and with customers. The results highlighted strong alignment on the core values that should underpin the BCH Code of Conduct and consistent themes identified: respect and dignity, honesty and transparency and fairness and equality. The results demonstrated strong agreement on the fundamental behaviours expected from BCH employees.

The Code of Conduct and Competency policy has since been revised to reflect customer feedback. TOWER have also been involved in reviewing this and will be assisting in developing quick reference guide for tenants which mirrors the policy.

The New Home Satisfaction Surveys results from Quarter 2 provided the following highlights:

Overall 100% of respondents were satisfied with the Lettings service.

In the quarter, 9 satisfaction surveys were received.

All respondents found the information on MyHomeChoice easy or very easy to understand and all were satisfied with the bidding process. Overall satisfaction with the BCH Lettings Team was also 100%, with eight respondents very satisfied and one satisfied.

One area for improvement relates to awareness of the different ways tenants can pay their rent and service charges. Seven of the nine respondents (77.78%) said they were aware of the different payment methods, while two were not. Given the small number of responses, this doesn’t indicate a major issue, but it provides an opportunity to review and ensure the information that is provided to new tenants is correct and relevant.

One of the two respondents provided their contact details, so we will follow this up with a courtesy call to better understand their experience and identify whether anything could have been communicated more clearly. This will also be raised with the Lettings Team to ensure the different payment methods are fully explained and reinforced as part of the sign-up process. Future survey results will be monitored to establish whether this is an isolated issue or a recurring theme.

The Neighbourhood Satisfaction Surveys results from Quarter 2 provided the following feedback:

Overall, 80% of respondents were satisfied with how their report was resolved.

In the quarter, 10 satisfaction surveys were received.

Customer satisfaction results for this quarter are very positive and demonstrate the team's continued commitment to delivering a responsive and customer-focused service.

Notably, for the first time, the service achieved 100% satisfaction for both keeping customers informed and treating customers with politeness and respect. These results provide strong assurance that customers feel they are being communicated with effectively and are receiving a professional service throughout their engagement with the team.

Unfortunately there has been an error with the system used to collect satisfaction surveys and therefore no data is available for this quarter.

We are working with the system provider to hopefully resolve the issue for quarter 3.

• The overall experience was very accommodating and the Lettings staff were very helpful - New Home Satisfaction Survey
• 10 out 10, the Neighbourhood Officer was amazing and really handled the situation well. There is no more abuse and I am so thankful - Neighbourhoods Satisfaction Survey
• I’ve always been treated fairly, and very professionally and with compassion at times of becoming bereft - Compliment received through online website form
• You can talk to them, they are very helpful and very polite not a problem - Green Warden Survey
• The Housing Officer who did the viewing and sign up was amazing. She explained everything in great detail and is a credit to BCH - New Tenant Satisfaction Survey

• I can’t believe the rapid response to my report and how quickly the rubbish was removed - Neighbourhoods Satisfaction Survey
• The two men were proper gentlemen, 10/10 - Clean Warden survey
• I’ve been wanting to recycle since I moved in 3 years ago so it’s fantastic we do now - Scorton Avenue Bin Store Survey

Following the implementation of the 2026-29 engagement strategy, the following actions have been progressed. There are further actions to be progressed but are not due yet.