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23 Apr 03Poole's Housing Services Win Charter Mark Award
The Borough of Poole’s Housing Services team has once again been awarded a Charter Mark for excellence in delivering public services.
The Charter Mark team assess performance in ten areas which include innovation, improvement, consultation, involvement and openness. This is the third, consecutive, time the Housing team has been awarded Charter Mark status since 1996, each award is valid for three years.
The report praised:
- Good communication with residents and landlords in plain English – ‘jargon free’
- The way people’s views are used to improve services and benefit users
- The way services are provided in a user-friendly manner
- Staff for treating service users sensitively with respect and dignity
- The team for meeting financial targets and staying within budget
Areas for improvement included:
- Providing name badges for staff
- Displaying details of the Housing team in the reception area
- Consulting organisations representing people with special needs to ensure their information needs are met
- Consulting service users to evaluate the success of service improvements
Joe Logan Head of Housing Management Services said: "We will work hard to continually improve our services for residents. This award is a great reflection on the dedication, enthusiasm and commitment of staff from all three units to achieve excellence. We look forward to implementing and adapting our practices to the recommendations of the Charter Mark team as we continue to give service users as high a level of service as possible."
The Housing Services team at Poole is made up of three services; Housing and Community, Housing Management and Revenue and Benefits.
A copy of the assessment feedback report is available from the Charter Mark Helpline on 0845 304 0430 until 30 April. From 1 May call Charter Mark on 020 7276 1755.
The ten criteria that Poole Council and other organisations have to meet in order to qualify for the Charter Mark Award are:
- Set Standards
- Be Open and Provide Full Information *
- Consult and Involve
- Encourage Access and the Promotion of Choice
- Treat All Fairly *
- Put Things Right When They Go Wrong *
- Use Resources Effectively
- Innovate and Improve *
- Work with Other Providers
- Provide User Satisfaction
* Due to the high performance of Poole’s Housing team the assessors could only make suggestions for improvement in four of the ten areas.
Bill Shaw
Directgov