Hexagon Housing Association is subject to a number of regulation and inspection regimes. We are regulated by the Housing Corporation, our housing services are inspected by the Audit Commission, our care homes are subject to inspection by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, and lastly, our Supported Housing activities are subject to formal review by a number of local authorities.

In July 2006, Hexagon’s housing services were inspected by the Audit Commission. The Audit Commission have assessed Hexagon Housing Association as providing a “fair”, one star service that has “promising prospects” for improvement. This is a score achieved by 38% of Housing Associations in England and is the most common score awarded. For a link to the full report, click here.

The Audit Commission noted a number of positive aspects about Hexagon’s housing services including the investment we have made in resident involvement and training all of our staff in customer care. They also noted that we have made improvements to the repairs and grounds maintenance service, that we have delivered improvements to tenants’ homes, and that we have a customer focused approach to aids and adaptations. They commented positively on the way that the organisation has improved its response to racial harassment and domestic violence. They also noted that we have a focus on debt prevention and early intervention in arrears recovery. They commented positively on tenants being actively involved in estate management initiatives, and they noted that the Association has a clear focus on managing its costs.

They went on to say that Hexagon has “promising prospects” for improving services further because the Association has a track record of making improvements in a range of services that matter most to customers. They say that we have a clear track record of improving value for money over time and they note that we have a clear vision which is underpinned by challenging aims and targets. They have commented positively on our clear Performance Management framework which is supported by an effective Human Resources framework. They note that we have a programme of improving services which is driven by external challenge and Best Value Reviews, our own experience, and customer feedback. Lastly, they note that we use our Information Technology to work more effectively and that we are investing in IT to improve performance.

Against that, the Audit Commission have noted a number of areas for improvement. Much of this was included within our Self-Assessment which we provided to the Audit Commission in May 2007 and adds to our resolve to improve services further. They noted that at the time of the inspection we did not have Service Standards in place for all service areas and that we had not involved customers in setting service standards and establishing measurements for them. They also said that we need to improve the way that we use our complaints to systematically inform learning. They noted that although we had developed tenant profile information, it applied to 80% of our tenants and they want us to establish a target for completing this work, and use this information to systematically shape services. They also noted that we needed to complete our Stock Condition Survey to inform our Asset Management Strategy. They commented that the amount of repair work which we categorised as urgent or emergency is too high and should be reduced. They also said that we needed to improve our performance in respect of servicing gas appliances by increasing the percentage serviced to 100%. They said that we needed to do further work to investigate why we have lower overall satisfaction levels for Black & Minority Ethnic customers. They also commented that we were not following our policy for managing asbestos and that we needed to provide better information to repair operatives and tenants. Lastly, they commented that our void properties were not always completed to consistently high standards.

In assessing our prospects for improving services as “promising”, they also identified three “potential barriers” which they asked us to address. First, they said that although we have a clear focus on managing our costs, our approach to managing ‘value for money’ needs further development by more firmly establishing the relationship with costs and quality.  Second, although they said that we use IT to work more effectively and that we are investing in IT to improve performance, they said some of our IT systems did not provide efficient support in some areas of service. Lastly, as stated above, they said that further improvements in repairs, re-letting homes quickly, and carrying out 100% gas safety checks, were needed. 

The Audit Commission have made five recommendations and in response, Hexagon has developed a detailed action plan to ensure that these are all implemented. For a summary of the action plan which has been produced specifically for Hexagon residents, click here. We will be working closely with the Housing Corporation to ensure that all of these action points are implemented, with a view towards further improving our service delivery for residents.

A copy of Hexagon’s formal response to the Audit Commission report can be obtained by clicking here.