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Service Standards

Customer Care Service Standard

Diversity and Equality Service Standard

Complaints Procedure Service Standard

Making Your Views Known Service Standard

About Your Tenancy Service Standard

Antisocial Behaviour and Harassment Service S

Rent Collection and Debt Recovery Service Sta

Looking After Your Home and Estate Service St

Right to Buy Service Standards

Moving Home Service Standard

Leaseholder Information Service Standards

Modernising Your Home Service Standard

Repairs - Maintaining Your Home Service Stand

Customer Care Service Standard

These are the general standards of customer care you can expect when you contact us. More detailed advice about our customer care strategy is available in the ‘Residents Information Pack’ and the ‘Customer Care Strategy’.

Be welcoming

We will:

deal with your enquiry sensitively, promptly and effectively
be friendly, polite and keen to help you
wear a visible identity badge, and
promote and provide equality and fair treatment for everyone.

Be accessible

We will:

provide a customer point of contact at our contact centre between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday
answer your phone call within five rings, telling you who we are and asking how we may help you
forward our phone calls to colleagues when we are out of the office
call you back on the same day if you call before 1pm or call you back by 1pm the following day if you call after 1pm
clearly display opening times at our reception sites and on our website
provide access to services and information through our website at www.aschamhomes.org.uk
offer translations or special formats of our main documents and of any letter we send. Translations are available for the most common community languages and our special formats include audio tape, Braille for deaf-blind residents, and large print
communicate through interpreters and British Sign Language (BSL) signers for residents who have specific needs, and
be sensitive about the times and dates of our visits to your home, being considerate of religious and cultural dates in the calendar.

Keep you informed

We will:

give you at least four newsletters each year
reply to all correspondence within seven working days (for further information see ‘Correspondence’)
provide a contact name, office and e-mail addresses, and a direct dial number in all our letters
deal with all complaints within 28 days and learn from them, and
write in plain English.

Keep you involved

We will:

encourage you to attend our board meetings and contract panels
include tenant representatives or estate stakeholders in estate inspections
encourage you to join your local tenants’ and residents’ association (TRA), and
consult you through surveys, focus groups and contract panels, carrying out customer satisfaction surveys of at least 10% of our customers.

We also agree to:

provide your personal details when we pass your enquiry to a specialist, together with the details of your enquiry, so that you do not have to repeat it to another person
keep the appointment that you have made and tell you beforehand if we have to cancel it
keep you informed of how well we are doing in delivering the service, and
do our best to give you information and advice about other local services that we do not provide, including services provided by the council and by other agencies.

Further support

If you have an identifiable community-care need relating to mental health, physical disability, age, serious ill health or learning disabilities and you need housing-related support; our officers will refer you to the Tenant Support Service. A tenant support officer will then visit you within three to five days in an emergency, or within 10 days in normal circumstances.

The tenant support service provides support including benefits advice, help with budgeting, rehousing advice and liaising with other services, for example, social services. They also help you to maintain a safe and secure home.

You can help us by:

treating your home and surroundings and our staff with respect
telling us about any changes in your circumstances so that we can provide you with the best possible service, and
telling us what you think of us.

We will use customer feedback to improve our service. Please tell us if you feel that we have not met any of the service standards. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can make a formal complaint. The leaflet ‘Ascham Homes Complaints Procedure’ gives you information about making a complaint and is available from all of our outlets. Our staff will help you make a complaint if you are not able to do so.

Performance targets

Our aims include:

to answer 90% of all phone calls in 5 rings in 2005/06, 92% in 2006/07, and 94% in 2007/08
to respond to 100% of letters from the public in 7 days
to satisfy 70% of all council tenants (or a representative sample of council tenants) with the overall service provided when surveyed in 2005/06, 72% in 2006/07, and 74% in 2007/08
to satisfy 76% of ethnic minority tenants (excluding white minority tenants) with the overall service provided in 2007/08 (during our next satisfaction survey), and
to satisfy 77% of non-ethnic minority tenants with the overall service provided in 2007/08 (during our next satisfaction survey).

How to contact us

You can access our services in a number of ways.

Telephone Ascham Direct on 020 8496 4197

The lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday for a full service.

If you live in Billericay or Wickford, you can phone Ascham Direct on 0845 3000 363 (charged at the local rate).

You can write to us at:
Ascham Homes
1 Wood Street
Walthamstow
London E17 3JU.

You can e-mail us at:
direct@aschamhomes.org.uk

Please note that although we check this site regularly during the day, you should not use it to report urgent repairs.

You can visit us at:
Ascham Homes
1 Wood Street
Walthamstow
London E17 3JU.
Open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

Ascham Homes (Billericay office)
16 Morris Avenue
Billericay
Essex CM11 2LB.
Open 9am to 11am, Tuesdays and Thursdays

In an emergency outside the normal hours, as mentioned above, contact the joint Ascham Homes and London Borough of Waltham Forest emergency service on:

020 8496 3000

Other useful contacts:

Waltham Forest Direct, 772-776 High Road, Leyton, London E10 6AE

Waltham Forest Direct is the London Borough of Waltham Forest Council’s contact centre.

For all council services, call them on:
020 8496 3000

Leytonstone Citizens Advice Bureau
Greater London House
547 – 551 High Road
Leytonstone
London E11 4PB
Phone: 020 8988 9620
Fax: 020 8558 7911

Walthamstow Citizens Advice Bureau
167 Hoe Street
Walthamstow
London E17 3AL
Phone: 0870 1264 026
Website: www.walthamforestcab.org.uk/wcab

Ascham Homes's publications

You can get copies of our service standards, information leaflets, Decent Homes programme, Tenants Compact and Residents Information Pack from:

Ascham Homes reception at 1 Wood Street
Waltham Forest Direct Shops, and
Social services public reception areas

If you would like us to post a publication to you, please call Ascham Direct on 020 8496 4197.