Our service standards

We want to put residents at the heart of all that we do. The services we provide need to be focused on the outcomes residents say they want - that's why we've produced new service standards that will allow us to show that we can deliver.

Top ten service standards

We launched our service standards in October 2010. They were developed in consultation with residents and set out the level of service they can expect from us.

Residents chose their top ten service standards that they want us to report on every month on the website and in local offices and every quarter in Merlin Matters.

You can see our performance data against those standards for February and March 2013 below.

Standard	February 2013	March  2013	What are we doing to improve?
Acknowledge your written enquiry within five working days and respond within ten working days.			We responded to most of your written enquiries in the given time in March. We aim to respond to all of your enquiries on time and will work hard to improve this in the future.
Ensure that all of our communication to you is clear, easy to understand and free of jargon.			We're committed to using plain Englishand all items seen by the Communication Team in March met our plain English standard when they were sent out.
Listen to you and treat you with courtesy and respect at all times and respect your right to confidentiality.	Not reported	Not reported	Unfortunately no calls were monitored in March. A new call recording system is soon to be introduced which will allow more calls to be monitored.
Offer you a repairs appointment when you contact us and keep you informed of any issues that may change this date.			We made appointments for 79% of repairs when you contacted us in March. We will continue to make appointments for as many repairs as possible and keep you informed of any changes.
Complete your repairs within the published timescale, confirmation the priority and the target time for completion when you contact us			We continue to complete most of your repairs in the time we say we will. However in March performance dipped to 91%. Over 2012-13 97% of repairs were completed on time.
Support you through any improvement works to your home, ensure the work meets your needs and give you a choice of fittings/colours where possible.			We work hard to liaise with our residents before, during and after any improvement works giving you as many choices as possible. 100% of residents who responded to the survey in February thought the service received from Asset Management was excellent.
Display local performance information in each area office.			The service standards are displayed on the TV screens in each area office. They are also featured in Merlin Matters.
Invite you to join a walkabout in your neighbourhood at least every three months and advise you of any actions taken following the walkabout.			Neighbourhood walkabouts continue to take place. Walkabouts are being held in Longwell Green, Kingswood, Staple Hill, Chipping Sodbury and Patchway in April and May. Click here to find more information about our walkabout programme.
We will contact you about anti-social behaviour in one working day for urgent cases and five working days for all other cases. We'll agree an action plan and keep you informed.			76% of cases were contacted in time in March. This is an improvement but still not as good as we expect. We will work hard to ensure we contact all complainants within the agreed timescales.
Complete repairs in one visit or make a follow up appointment whist still in your property.			We aim to complete your repairs in one visit but if that’s not possible we will arrange a convenient time to come back. In March we had to go back to six jobs out of 2,039.

Our service standards have been produced in line with the Homes and Communities Agency's standards and in association with our residents. At a well-attended workshop residents revised the standards to produce a smaller number that covered the issues they said really mattered to them.

Copies of our service standards are available here to download or you can contact your area housing office to request them.