Customer & Stakeholder Engagement Plan
This plan sets out how we'll invest in, improve, and maintain our customers’ homes and neighbourhoods over the next 3-5 years.
We recently developed a new Assets Investment Customer & Stakeholder Engagement Plan. This plan sets out how we'll invest in, improve, and maintain our customers’ homes and neighbourhoods over the next 3-5 years. Areas covered include major repairs and replacements (such as roofs, windows, kitchens, bathrooms) and upgrades aimed at sustainability and energy efficiency.
Our Asset Planning Manager wanted to make sure this plan wasn’t just based on data, but also reflected what customers felt was important. To do this, we reached out to customers for their feedback on our proposals.
The Questions We Asked
We wanted to understand how customers felt about the plan itself, and how effectively it communicated our engagement methods and goals. Specifically, we asked:
- Inclusivity and Accessibility: Do customers find the plan inclusive and easy for everyone to understand?
- Effectiveness of Engagement Methods: Do customers feel our methods (like surveys, workshops, and customer panels) effectively gather their feedback?
- Clarity of the Plan: Is the process and purpose of gathering feedback clearly outlined?
- Importance of Feedback: How important is it for customers to see how their feedback influences our decisions?
What People Told Us
Customers gave us clear insights:
- 79% felt the plan was inclusive and accessible to all.
- 89% thought our methods of gathering feedback were effective.
- 89% agreed that the plan clearly explained the process and goals of customer feedback.
- 67% expressed that seeing how their feedback influenced decisions was very important to them.
How We Responded to Feedback
Based directly on customer suggestions, we made important additions to the engagement plan:
Clear Feedback Loop
We introduced a ‘You Said, We Did’ approach. After every engagement, we will share a clear report showing what customers told us and exactly what actions we took in response.
Enhanced Communication
We are committed to improving communication after each consultation, clearly showing customers how their input has shaped our decisions. This helps build transparency and trust.
Annual Reviews for Continuous Improvement
We will carry out a yearly review of our engagement activities, actively using customer and staff feedback. This ensures our methods stay relevant, inclusive, and continuously improve.
Ongoing Opportunities
We added commitments to ongoing involvement, ensuring customers always have opportunities to engage, helping us maintain an open and reciprocal relationship with everyone involved.
Through these actions, we aim to keep customers at the heart of our asset planning, creating better homes and stronger communities together.
