Resident Scrutiny Team help PCH staff to keep communities safe

Thursday 26th of January 2017

The Resident Scrutiny Team (RST) recommended to us that Housing Management staff should further their development by taking part in accredited training to gain a BTEC Level 2 in ASB and Neighbourhood Nuisance.

Following the residents’ recommendations, we called in accredited trainers the Community Safety Professionals (CSP) to roll out training to all of our Housing Officers.

The CSP ran through a wide range of subjects over a two day period including managing ASB investigations and legal injunctions – the trainers were knowledgeable ex-Police Officers who had experience of dealing with major ASB cases in London.

The qualification enabled staff to formalise their skills and ensure that our Housing staff approach ASB consistently, and with the same positive attitude.

Assistant Housing Officer Natalie Samuels said: “Our Housing Management staff are fully trained in all aspects of ASB and it was felt that further training would be useful to keep us up to date with regularly changing legislation. It’s really positive that our residents were able to recommend this course, and they are safe in the knowledge that we took those recommendations on board and delivered the course.”

CSP were pleased with the way staff took the training on with an open mind, and commented that they were extremely impressed how staff were already taking positive and proactive action on ASB cases and this training helped to reinforce that message.

Steve Ford, Head of Neighbourhoods said: “It was great to have such positive feedback from the CSP. It was fantastic that staff were praised for their commitment and that our policies and procedures are robust and customer focussed and this was recognised by such accredited training professionals.”

The RST presented PCH with a series of recommendations following their Scrutiny Review on ASB which involved analysing our policies and procedures, interviewing staff and carrying out mystery shopping.

RST Chair Joanne Bowden said: “Being a member of the Resident Scrutiny Team has taught me that it can be challenging and very rewarding. For our first review we choose to tackle ASB.

“It’s nice to see that one of our recommendations for staff to receive BTEC training was met with positive enthusiasm by all. This shows that residents can help to make a difference.”

The Resident Scrutiny Team are currently recruiting members for their next Scrutiny review. If you would like to find out more about the Resident Scrutiny Team or find out how to apply please call us on 0800 230 6500 and ask for the Governance Team.