tenant involvement and empowerment

The Tenant Services Authority’s Tenant and Empowerment Standard requires us to apply standards in these areas:

• Providing customers with relevant choices, information and communications about services; and a straightforward approach to handling complaints about standards of service.

• Offering all tenants a wide range of opportunities to be involved in the management of their housing and to influence priorities, housing-related policies and the delivery of services.
• Consulting with tenants and acting reasonably in providing them with opportunities to agree local offers for service delivery.
• Providing tenants with a range of opportunities to influence how providers meet all the TSA's standards, to scrutinise their performance against all standards and to help oversee the development of the annual report.
• Providing support to tenants to build their capacity to be more effectively involved.

• Showing how Aspire understands the different needs of customers, ensuring equal opportunities for all customers, including those with additional support needs.

Aspire provides a wide range of information in a number of different formats which include quarterly newsletters, service guides and information leaflets. Customers have been asked what level of service they expect when they ask for an Aspire service. The new standards have been published and are being put into practice.

A complaints policy is in place and information is regularly provided to customer groups.

We provide a range of ways for customers to contact us. Some key services are offered 24 hours each day. We provide a telephone service through a dedicvated call centre and we provide reception and interview services in our customer service centre in Newcastle town centre. We also provide home visits, web and e-mail enquiry services.

Aspire has also agreed a framework for resident involvement with customers which provides a number of ways to get involved with us.