Longhurst Group Customer Forum - Annual Review 2023 – 2024
Introduction
As Vice-Chair of the Customer Forum, I present this annual review to the valued customer base, dedicated officers and esteemed board of the Longhurst Group.
The Longhurst Group Customer Forum (LGCF) is an essential component of the business, dedicated to ensuring that the voice of the customer is heard.
The housing sector is seeing a greater emphasis placed by the government and regulatory bodies on making sure that the customers are listened to by their housing provider.
The LGCF are now familiar with the new standards and inspection regime that the RSH has set out to ensure that tenants are protected and improve the service they receive.
We are professional and courteous in our interactions with all parties, while diligently seeking answers to our questions.
We are determined to ensure that the Group are held accountable for their decisions and actions, maintaining transparency and honesty, at all times.
We will challenge any performance that falls below the standards customers expect and ask for an explanation of the steps the Group will take to rectify the situation.
At the heart of the LGCF is a team of dedicated volunteers, each bringing a wide range of skills and experience.
Working together, we can make significant strides in improving the lives of the customers into 2025 and beyond.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all LGCF members for their invaluable contribution and dedicated time.
Jennifer Anderson, Vice-Chair
The Customer Forum
The Longhurst Group Customer Forum support the Group Board by providing customer-based assurance that the consumer standards of the ‘Regulatory Regime for Social Housing in England’ are being met.
As part of a co-regulatory approach, the Customer Forum ensures the Group is fulfilling its strategic vision.

Our achievements as a Forum
The Forum has reflected on its achievements over the last 12 months and revisited its aspirations for 2023 to evaluate the progress made.
We’ve had a watchful eye on the repairs service and, through regular updates and discussions with the Executive Team, we’ve seen the rollout of an Intensive Recovery Plan and the 5 for 25 initiative.
This included the onboarding of tier 2 contractors to support the existing three main contractors. We’ve since seen improvements in the number of works in progress, the volume of active repairs and the reduction of active and overdue complaints. We’ll continue to monitor the situation, until it meets the expected standard.
Early in the year, the Forum met with the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Programme Manager to find out how the Group is ensuring that the target of EPC rating of band C by 2030 is achieved, reducing carbon emissions and lowering bills.
We asked questions about how the Group intend to utilise the fund to upgrade existing homes.
In addition to this session, the Vice Chair of the Customer Forum had an opportunity to find out more in relation to the accreditation of ground source and air source heat pumps and any issues with noise levels. The Forum has a keen interest in how this environmental work is progressing and the results of surveys conducted to gain customer feedback.
The Forum commissioned a piece of work for the Scrutiny Team who are reviewing communication and responsiveness of the Group and its contractors. This review is now complete and a report with actions and recommendations will be presented to colleagues and Forum members imminently. The results will also be shared widely with customers on The Hub and monitored by the Forum.
Customer Engagement was strengthened with the introduction of The Hub - the Group’s online customer community - in addition to the existing panels. We’ve seen more customers get involved and give valuable feedback to help improve services provided by the Group.
During 2023, Forum members met with the co-ordinator for policies. We now meet senior leaders at the beginning of the policy review process to input into the consultation questions and help decide what information will be shared with customers.
The Forum receives performance information, for example repairs numbers, number of empty homes, call handling and complaints handling compared to the target. Forum members met with those responsible for tackling damp and mould and compared the Housing Ombudsman code to the Group’s working practices.
The Forum has called for Customer Scrutiny on two occasions in 2023/24.
We use a matrix to decide on the topics we’ll select for scrutiny and use this framework to prioritise topics for review.
The Scrutiny Team completed a review into the current Grounds Maintenance service and made recommendations that were included in the procurement exercise for a new improved service.
The second review on communication was recently completed and the results will be shared in June 2024.
The Customer Forum welcomes feedback from all Group customers, whether it be on The Hub, through membership on a panel, by completing text, email and telephone surveys or by joining a panel.
The topics covered in meetings were as follows:
February 2023 |
Q3 Performance dashboard Introduction from Jenny Brown, Group Board Chair Customer experience update including satisfaction, customer complaints and customer engagement damp and mould update |
May 2023 |
Q4 Performance dashboard Customer experience update including satisfaction, customer complaints and customer engagement Scrutiny Team: Grounds maintenance project (final report) Customer Scrutiny Review monitoring – Together with Tenants |
August 2022 |
Q1 Performance dashboard Improving Lives Panel Update 5 For 25 Summary Customer experience update including satisfaction, customer complaints and customer engagement Health & Safety Annual Report Annual Asset Compliance Report |
November 2022 |
Q2 Performance dashboard Customer experience update including satisfaction, customer complaints and customer engagement Estates Services procurement update Housing Regulator - proposed consumer standards Customer Insight Report - Estate Services |
Policy reports are presented to Forum members to provide assurance that customers have been consulted prior to the development of the policy and that their recommendations have been considered.
Policies approved during 2023/24:
- Income Management Policy
- Lettings Policy
- Starter Tenancy Policy
- Mutual Exchange Policy
- Transfer Policy
In addition to policies, the Forum provided assurance on customer involvement in the procurement of the new grounds maintenance provision.
- Members attended spotlight sessions on the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM), the disrepair process and the stock condition programme.
- Training was provided on the consumer standards and the New Tenant Satisfaction measures
Opportunity is given to escalate areas of concern to the Board which we haven’t had to do.
Continuous improvement
Members were introduced to a new training portal to complete annual and ad-hoc training relevant to the role.
Members confirmed they wish to continue the subscription to ‘Inside Housing’ magazine to keep up-to-date with housing debates, current affairs and legislation.
Our aspirations for 2024
Membership of the Customer Forum
The Forum is looking for three new members to bring us to our full complement of 12 members.
- We would like to recruit from a diverse range of groups, so we are representing as many customers as possible.
- We have enabled current members to access meetings and information by providing used laptops. We could extend this, where possible, to ensure customers can get involved regardless of their personal situation.