Scrutiny Action Group reviews

Completed: September 2024 - December 2024.

More than 30 actions were requested during the scrutiny activity on Estates Services. The team are busy working through all of the actions requested. Below are updates on some of the actions. Check back here for more updates.

You said: If Curo publish the schedule of our grounds maintenance contractors this is likely to reduce incoming queries from customers chasing visits and updates. This would improve the perception of grounds maintenance if customers also know when visits are planned and can see them happening.

  We did: We've spoken with our contractors, Glendale, who are now looking into how they can publish their summer visit schedule for Curo customers. We're also working on the best place to add this information to our website so it's easily accessible.

You said: We could make better use of our annual rent increase letter and use the empty spaces to include more estates-based information such as name of estate advisor, bin collections, trees, parking permits etc.

  We did: We're working with our Finance & Service Charge teams to explore adding QR codes to letters, space permitting. These codes would direct customers to a landing page with information on their estates advisor, neighbourhood area, our estates mapping service, and estate standards.

You said: New Curo customers need to be given more information about their neighbourhood from day one of their tenancy (linked to increasing customer pride and awareness of their neighbourhood).

  We did: We've reviewed the information new Curo customers receive at the start of their tenancy. Going forward, we'll be making more effort to highlight the Estates Standard booklet and promote our Estates maps.

You said: Customers receive contact from Estates advisors when reporting an issue in the neighbourhood. It would be nice to have a simple link to all the self-service options available.

  We did: We've standardised the email signatures for all Estates Services colleagues. They now include direct links to our mapping system, which displays key elements across our neighbourhoods, such as grass areas, hedges, trees and swept zones. Learn more about our mapping services here.

You said: We need to do more to encourage customers to go on estates visits (linked to sharing local knowledge and improving estates satisfaction scores).

  We did: We'll be discussing this with group members at the next Estates Partnership Board meeting. Customers in the group will provide advice and guidance on the best ways to share this information and boost engagement across our neighbourhoods.

You said: We need to do more to encourage community volunteering opportunities.

  We did: We’re keeping this topic active across all social media platforms and through our resident engagement framework. Customers in these groups will provide advice and guidance on identifying locations and sharing opportunities to maximise the impact of community action days.

You said: We need to conduct a full review of our service charge boundaries to streamline areas for the Estate Advisors.

  We did: Estates Services is undertaking a full review of its model as we continue to bring services in-house. This will result in more local colleagues on the ground, particularly in cleansing, waste management, and green infrastructure.

Completed: October – May

Completed: October 23 – May 2024

Full report and improvement suggestions given to Oversight Group: December 2024

You said: Consider using MyCuro and/or a text system to deliver status updates directly to customers. This will keep customers up to date with the status of repair appointments, compliance cases or complaints updates, for example, and reduce the need for customers to call Curo to chase updates.

We did: This is a key component of the new customer Repairs Service journey mapping we’ve carried out with customers. All directors at Curo are currently working with the Executive Team to agree priorities and set completion dates for delivering a new system.

You said: Consider launching a mystery shopper initiative as part of our Resident Engagement offer, to help Curo gather feedback from customers about the services they receive.

We did: This is something we will look to co-create with our customer Oversight Group in 2025. Once the initiative is ready, we’ll ask for customers who’d like to take part.

You said: Identify communication issues between teams within Curo.

We did: The Organisational Development team are planning a series of workshops with relevant colleagues. These sessions aim to identify issues and solutions which focus on providing a better experience for all Curo customers.

You said: Promote the accessibility services available to support Curo’s customers.

We did: Our Communications team are rerunning an awareness campaign on translations, British Sign Language (BSL), alternative formats and accessibility tools.

You said:  Carry out more training with colleagues, so they better understand the implications of poor customer service on Curo customers.

We did: In 2025 we will be launching a new customer service training programme which will be led by Paul Harris, Chief Customer Officer. This suggestion will form part of the training programme from the outset.

Completed: May-September 2023

Full report and improvement suggestions given to Oversight Group: December 2023.

You said: Create inspection appointments for repairs.

We did: This has been implemented as part of our business-as-usual approach throughout 2024/25 and will continue. The next phase, discussed in our Repairs Review workshops, will take shape as a ‘repairs triage pilot’ launching in summer 2025.

You said: Review if scaffolding could sit within the repairs team, rather than with specialist repairs.

We did: We've recruited new colleagues into scaffolding management posts. Now that scaffolding sits within our repairs team, the right scaffolding is lined up for each job in advance and then pulled down promptly. The result of this change is a significant reduction in rental costs and wastage from scaffolding, with a cost saving of around £116,000 compared with the previous year's costs.

You said: Increase the spot checks on site by repair team leaders.

We did: Two lead operatives are now permanent members of the team at Curo. Their role is to enhance our on-site presence for customers and conduct more quality assurance checks.

You said: Review automated appointment reminders. All communication should contain the repairs reference number.

We did: Automated appointment reminders are now sent for all repair requests. This process was co-created with customers through the Repairs Scrutiny activity and has helped reduce the number of rescheduled jobs in 2024/25.

You said: Customers should be contacted promptly on the day of the repair and it should be rebooked by 10am if the tradesperson is off sick, or by 2.30pm if they are not going to make the last job at the end of the day.

We did: The Scrutiny team identified live monitoring of diaries as a key task for our scheduling team. Throughout 2024/25, we’re more focused on this, with the scheduling team now prioritising the reallocation of work. Cancellations are only made as a last resort. As a result, moved appointments have significantly decreased in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24.

You said: Review how trades can take opportunities to check on customers while in their homes.

We did: Trades colleagues have a series of checking questions to ask at the end of their job. These cover the property, customer and whether they have any concerns around welfare or need support.

We’ve recently added additional questions about damp and mould in the property to track live customer experiences. This allows us to quickly address any identified cases through automated workflows.

Completed: August-December 2022.

Full report and improvement suggestions given to Oversight Group: February 2023.

You said: At the start and end of a tenancy, make expectations of how the home should be kept and returned to Curo very clear.

We did: At the end of every tenancy, we clearly communicate how we expect the condition of the property to be left. This is also provided in writing and given directly to customers.      

You said: All the walls in a room should be painted the same colour when a property becomes empty.

We did:Throughout 2024/25, we have inspected every property individually. When needed, we repaint all rooms the same colour before re-letting. However, since not all customers prefer this, we often provide decorating vouchers as an alternative.

You said: Review all options for decorating a property when it becomes empty.

 We did: We’re now decorating the main living area in one colour if it is not the same and repainting if it’s not in good condition.

You said: Resolve any damp and mould issues before a property is re-let.

 We said: All identified cases of damp and mould are passed to a specialist works team to review and advise on the work required before we re-let a property.

We use thermal imaging equipment to record damp and mould, so we can be confident that there isn't an issue at the point of re-letting.

You said: Review how the customer satisfaction score (CSS) is collected from customers.

 We said: Customers from the scrutiny group have reviewed the questions we ask. We now ask separate questions about the property and the lettings colleagues. As a result, the CSS has increased by 7%

You said: Review the use of decoration vouchers.

 We did: We've reviewed the way we distribute vouchers and have changed the process. We now offer electronic rather than paper vouchers. As a result, we’ve seen a decrease in complaints and calls chasing paper vouchers. We’ve also been able to increase in the speed at which we deliver vouchers to our customers.

You said: Review the working patterns in the team, with a view to increasing opportunities for reflection and learning.

 We did: We have been reviewing working patterns of colleagues and we now have more colleagues who work flexibly. We've also promoted three colleagues. As a result we've had a great response to the latest Best Companies survey, with 100% of Lettings colleagues and 94% of Response and Lettings colleagues responding.

You said: Review how properties are prioritised for re-letting.

 We did:We work on properties as they become available. We constantly review the properties and identify those that we can re-let quickly. These get priority so we can reduce waiting list pressures and financial losses associated with empty homes. In 2024/25 we’re seeing a continued decline in the number of empty homes at any given time.

Completed: March-June 2022

Full report and improvement suggestions given to Oversight Group: October 2022

You said: Reduce the complaints process from 3 stages to 2 stages.

  We did: Following the scrutiny activity we changed our complaints process from 3 stages to 2, with customers in the scrutiny activity helping to design and test the process. A few months later, the Housing Ombudsman's guidance was released, requesting that all complaints processes change from 3 stages (stage 1, stage 2 and management review) to a 2-stage process. We’d already implemented this change as a result of scrutiny activity. Throughout 2024/25, we've successfully cleared our complaints backlog, putting us in a much stronger position to support customers more efficiently, especially with stage 2 complaints. As of December 2024, 85.79% of stage 1 complaints and 72.59% of stage 2 complaints were resolved within the advertised timescales.

You said: Review how complaints are managed and switch to a case management-style approach.

  We did: We’ve moved to a case management approach for all our complaints. Complaints have increased in quantity and end-to-end time since implementing this. However, our new approach allows all information to be saved in one place and specific actions to be allocated to specialist teams as needed.

End-to-end resolution times remain a challenge throughout 2024/25, but we’re making progress in resolving more complaints within Housing Ombudsman timescales, as reflected in our TSM scores. Complaints stay open until all agreed actions are completed to the customer's satisfaction, which can take longer for complex issues requiring multiple contractors. While the average resolution time remains high at 104 days (as of November 2024), we are now closing more complaints in a shorter timeframe.

You said: Introduce reminders for colleagues who manage complaints.

  We did: The Customer Resolutions team and the Chief Property Officer and Property Directors have held weekly meetings over the course of the past year. These meetings are to review outstanding complaints in the Property Services side of the business and discuss what actions can be taken to resolve this. We’ve identified that a high proportion of customer complaints involved the specialist works team. To address this, Director of Customer Contact, Lesley Hodges, has been seconded to run this area, to improve processes, reduce complaints and create a smoother customer journey.          

We’ve also created a new complaints dashboard that automatically flags any complaints approaching deadline to the case manager and their line manager. All managers in the business also have access to the complaints dashboard that can be filtered to show what open complaints their team members have and what stage they are at.

Following each Housing Ombudsman determination where maladministration is identified, we now hold case conferences to review what went wrong. These involve cross-departmental collaboration to refine policies and processes, helping to reduce the risk of repeated issues and improve our service. While AI reporting is still developing, we’ve been manually tracking the reasons behind complaints to better understand where customers feel we’ve fallen short.

You said: Introduce realistic timescales in the new complaints process.

  We did: At the start of 2023/24 we had a backlog of stage 2 complaints. But our Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) scores for April 2024 show that we've responded to 83.1% of stage 1 complaints within the Housing Ombudsman’s guidelines.        

Timescales for complaints are set by the Housing Ombudsman and we’re measured on how we meet these timescales for both stages 1 and 2 of the TSMs.

Throughout 2024/25, we've successfully cleared our complaints backlog, putting us in a much stronger position to support customers more efficiently, especially with stage 2 complaints. As of December 2024, 85.79% of stage 1 complaints and 72.59% of stage 2 complaints were resolved within the advertised timescales.

You said: Review the tone of voice and language used in complaints communications.

  We did: As part of the scrutiny activity, our customers reviewed the letter templates used in the complaints process and we created a new set of templates.

All colleagues in the Customer Resolution team have received refresher training on Curo's 'tone of voice' to improve their letter-writing techniques.

You said: Ensure that timescales are listed more clearly in the new process.

  We did: When we introduced new stages to our complaints process, we also introduced new timescales for dealing with complaints. These are clearly communicated to customers in our communications with them, following Housing Ombudsman guidance.

As we progress through 2024/25, we recognise there’s still work to do to reach our customer satisfaction target. Survey response rates have been slow, with only 20% of customers responding in September and October, and just 2% in November. We understand this time of year can be especially busy, which may be a factor. However, we’ll continue monitoring this and will explore ways to improve response rates, ensuring we gather valuable insights for the future.

You said: Ensure that colleagues are not managing the same complaint at stage 1 and stage 2.

  We did: To comply with Housing Ombudsman recommendations, we now ensure that a different colleague handles the stage 2 investigation of a complaint. Customers can be assured that they have a fresh set of eyes on the case and the issue will be investigated as new.    

You said: Ensure that the complaints self-assessment document is easily accessible for customers.

  We did:  The complaints self-assessment document is available for customers to view on our website, along with our Complaints Annual Report and Complaints Policy.

You said: Ensure that the complaints reference number and the Housing Ombudsman’s contact information is on all outgoing communication to customers.

  We did: All our letters contain the complaints reference number and information on how customers can contact the Housing Ombudsman. There’s a link to the Housing Ombudsman's website on the complaints section of the Curo website.

You said: Ensure Curo publicise how many customers take their cases to the Housing Ombudsman.

  We did: Every year we produce an Annual Complaints Report which contains details of the Housing Ombudsman’s investigations and outcomes for the year. Click here to read the report. 

In addition, to the information above, we now have a new Housing Ombudsman and Complaints Reporting Lead role at Curo. The colleague’s role is to ensure all investigation requests from the Housing Ombudsman are completed in time. They've been working with members of the Executive and Senior Leadership teams to share lessons learnt from these complaints.

Completed: September-December 2021

Full report and improvement suggestions given to Oversight Group: March 2022.

You said: Consider increasing the abandonment rate from 5% to better support colleagues in our Customer Contact Team.

We did: We raised the abandonment rate from 5% to 10% for 23/24. We ended the year with an abandonment rate of 12% which is down 16% on 21/22. There were a few reasons as to why we didn't hit 10%. Some CCT support was diverted to the complaints team and we saw a significance increase in contact through our digital channels (10,902 21/22 up to 35,660 23/24).

You said: Review how the team communicates customers' issues with other teams.

We did: We launched the Property Operations Department (POD) in 2023. This brought together all the admin teams from the property service areas with a view to improve inter-departmental communication and improve customer experience. This has had limited success to date. To improve this further Lesley Hodges, Director of Customer Contact, has moved across to the POD on a secondment to help the team look at processes. They will be looking to improve customer service, reduce customer complaints, improve internal communications and reduce waste into the CCT. John Milone, the Training Manager from the CCT, has also been seconded to the POD  for 6 months to assist in developing their processes and operations.

You said: Review the personal approach to correspondence with customers.

We did: We've listened to feedback and improved the way we personalise communications with customers on social media channels. We've provided training to CCT colleagues on the Curo 'tone of voice' and we're answering customer questions in the public forum where possible and within GDPR guidelines.

You said: Introduce an ongoing training schedule for colleagues.

We did: We've revised the training schedule for all new CCT colleagues. Team Leaders in the CCT are now involved in the training for new starters, supporting the Training Manager. This is especially important when colleagues start taking calls. As mentioned above, the Training Manager has been seconded to the Property Services Hub so in order to continue improvements with training, we've recruited a Training and Recruitment Lead on secondment to support CCT new starters. As well as this, all CCT colleagues have up-to-date development plans, training, shadowing and delegated tasks to support their on-going learning.

You said: Review the shadowing opportunities for colleagues in the Customer Contact Team.

We did: As a result of this suggestion, we reviewed all development plans for colleagues in the CCT. 10 CCT colleagues have already spent time with other departments, shadowing and gaining a better understanding of the wider business. That's 63% of those who have passed their probation period in the Customer Contact Team.

Completed: May-July 2021

Full report and improvement suggestions given to Oversight Group: September 2021.

You said: Could work within the team be broken down into different areas (increasing knowledge between colleagues, contractors and customers).

We did: We’ve realigned the teams and moved to an area-based working approach in line with our in-house repairs teams. Providing accountability, and a golden thread for in-house and contract works. This proved to be a success with customers, increasing our service satisfaction by 2% for the year ending 21/22

You said: Curo need to be more in charge of the customer journey and need to do more to vary contracts for contractors performing well.

We did: We are working with procurement team on defining our wider procurement strategy that is coming up for renewal. We are reviewing contract limits and variations as part of our wider procurement strategy. We’re also exploring a new framework procurement strategy to enable us to have more flexibility within our approved contractors.

Our customers will be invited to the procurement exercises over the summer in 2022.

You said: Avoid duplication for Curo customers - auto send date and time appointment information to your customers.

We did: We’re working with our ICT team to auto-generate and create case files that will include annotations from all jobs with our customers in one place. These conversations happen regularly now as we’re continually looking to evolve our systems. In the interim, our Appointment Booking System has implemented an auto text option to send a text with date & time to customers that have mobile phones. This is live currently on selected work in the team and we are opening this up to the next set of work streams throughout the course of Summer 2022.

You said: More flexibility is needed in specialist repair appointments including narrowing timescales.

We did: We’ve explored the communication element of this as part of auto-text messaging work. We’ve also aligned our inspection appointments and customer appointment timescales in line with our in house repairs service.

You said: Give customers control of the level of contact they receive during a job.

We did: As part of our Communication improvements exercise we’re now asking each customer how they want to be contacted at the start of their job. This started in January 2022. When booking a job Customers now receive an instant appointment via Appointment System, giving clear timeframes to our customers. Customers then receive an auto-text 24 hours prior to appointment to confirm their appointment. This is live currently on selected work in the team and we are opening this up to the next set of work streams throughout the course of Summer 2022. Our workflows are being reviewed as part of the damp and mould project we are completing.

You said: Simplify the actions colleagues have to do so they are clear on the customer journey & can relay this to customers.

We did: We held a series of workshops in October 21 to start developing the systems we use.

We designed a new customer journey and are beginning to review our systems, including the workflows (the actions colleagues have to do)  

Coupled with our new customer journey - Our workflow actions are being reviewed as part of the damp and mould project we are completing.

You said: We need to build trust with customers and Spot Check jobs more frequently.

We did: We post inspect the vast majority of works but we are now exploring how we can get our customers involved in the process.

Our senior managers will be spending time with our surveyors and contractors in the coming months shadowing them – meeting customers and contractors on site.

One senior colleague has said ‘I spend one day every quarter with each of my surveyors on site actively shadowing them in their day to day work. This means I’m out on site just over once a month. We’ve also invited Directors to carry out shadowing with the team to see the work carried out.’

Completed: January-March 2021.

Full report and improvement suggestions given to Oversight Group: April 2021.

You said: Maybe a larger team is needed to assist with cases coming into the service.

  We did: Resourcing (in particular the level of staffing) will now be reviewed monthly by the Tenancy Compliance leadership team. Further reviews will take place following monthly performance meetings.

Resourcing is only part of the way to manage demand. We’re confident that with the changes made, we’ll continue to improve the customer experience.

Our progress is tracked at monthly performance meetings and we continue to review randomly selected cases and undertake regular quality checks.

You said: We need to review the tone and style of our risk assessments. 

  We did: We agree, and we will re-launch a new risk assessment, ensuring the right questions are asked at the right time and in the right way.

We’ll tie this in with the ‘tone of voice’ work that’s happening across the organisation and we’ll consult customers as a part of reviewing our risk assessment. This will start in July 2021.

You said: We need to reduce 'workflows' (computer inputting data) to enable colleagues to have more time with customers. 

  We did: We agree. In response to this scrutiny activity and a review of complaints relating to the service, we’ve designed a new communication process. This will increase contact for victims in all cases to once every two weeks. This change will create more than 20,000 extra customer contact opportunities.

We’ll be monitoring this weekly and monthly to ensure more customers are being contacted more frequently and that cases are being updated.

This should also relieve pressure on the compliance co-ordinators because many of the calls they take are from customers asking for an update.

You said: More/regular contact time is needed for victims of anti-social behaviour. 

  We did: All the language flagged as problematic, for example ‘losing your home’, has been removed from our letters to customers.

We’ll continue to review contact and letters as part of ongoing improvements.

We are looking carefully at our ‘tone of voice’ (how we sound and the impression we give when we communicate) across Curo. This will help us to communicate more fairly and effectively with customers. The Customer Accounts team will be using the information from this work to ensure contact with customers is effective as possible and uses appropriate language.

You said: A Curo police officer (to deal with issue in Curo homes only).

  We did: We agree this would be great and have looked into how this could work.

Right now we can’t fund this without cutting another service, so the proposal is being held in a priority queue until funds allow it to happen.

You said: A new engagement group for tenancy compliance should be created to look at closed anonymised cases, how they were handled and support the Compliance team with changes to come.

  We did: We agree. A new group should be launched. This will form part of our consultation with residents around the housing white paper and will help to bring the team and customer closer together.

We’ll be looking to promote the new group in June 2021 with the group active by September 2021.

You said: We need to develop a victim support officer at Curo.

  We did: We agree that our victim support offer needs further development, and that our offer should be more clearly stated.

We’ll work with the new tenancy compliance engagement group (above) to make this happen and we’ll advertise the new offer to our customers.

Completed: September-December 2020.

Full report and improvement suggestions given to Oversight Group: January 2021.

You said: Our paper statements need to be easily accessible for customers. 

  We did: Paper statements have now been switched to annually (from March 2021). This is more environmentally friendly and helps us save money so we can reinvest this back into providing services to customers.

All new Curo tenants are registered on MyCuro at sign-up, with statements provided digitally by default. We’re also helping those customers who can access the internet to move onto MyCuro and access their statements digitally, saving customers money and reducing the impact on our environment.

Reconciliation statements are sperate to paper rent statement so it is easy for us to make this change, and communication preferences will be used in future.

Customers can still request a paper copy of their statements paper whenever needed.

You said: Our rent statements need to be simpler for customers. 

  We did: We will be reviewing the layout of our statements to ensure they’re simple and easy to understand. This work will be carried out before the end of the 2021/22 financial year.

In addition to the changes outlined above, we are also looking to switch to providing paper statements only if requested. More information will be provided about this towards the end of the year.

You said: Customers would like to hear more from the Customer Accounts team.

  We did: Key messages from the Customer Accounts team are included in Open, our customer newsletter. To get Open, ensure you have told us your email address.

The team provide regular news, information and advice on social media and the Curo website. We are also reviewing how we can ensure inclusivity with residents who don’t use social media or the internet. This is an ongoing piece of work.

The team will be exploring the possibility of a regular Money Matters newsletter. Work on this will start between July and September 2021.

You said: We need to adjust the language used in our arrears letters. 

  We did: All the language flagged as problematic, for example ‘losing your home’, has been removed from our letters to customers.

We’ll continue to review contact and letters as part of ongoing improvements.

We are looking carefully at our ‘tone of voice’ (how we sound and the impression we give when we communicate) across Curo. This will help us to communicate more fairly and effectively with customers. The Customer Accounts team will be using the information from this work to ensure contact with customers is effective as possible and uses appropriate language.

You said: Customers may respond better if they hear directly from those who've experienced the services on offer from the Customer Accounts team.

  We did: The team have recently made some videos talking about how we can help our customers.

We’ll be looking for customers who would like share their experiences as case studies and we will use their stories to raise awareness of our services with other customers.

You said: We need to be available at different times of day and not just 9am - 5pm.

  We did: Here in Customer Accounts we do work flexibly and some of our team are available later at night, although not regularly.

We’ll be looking to introduce a later night once a week. We will need to consult with colleagues in the team about this, but this is something we can do.