Group Scrutiny Panel

The panel looks closely at how Loretto Housing and other parts of Wheatley Group performs.

Male housing officer using an iPad sitting with a female customer

Our Group Scrutiny Panel is another way customers can get involved; ‘scrutiny’ is all about reviewing performance, through a partnership approach, and working with officers to identify improvements for services.

We enhanced our approach to our Group Scrutiny Panel, which includes Customer Voices from across the four social landlords that make up Wheatley Group.

We rotate meetings around our offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dumfries. This gives the Panel the opportunity to hear directly from and engage with staff.

The Panel met four times in the last financial year; in May , August, November and February. The Panel had the year-end performance meeting in May 2024 and the next meeting is August 2024.

The Panel scrutinise our Group performance quarterly against Scottish Social Housing Charter indicators, choosing the performance priorities they wish to focus on. The Panel are currently focusing on:

  • Anti-social behaviour resolved
  • Repairs timescales and satisfaction
  • Complaints timescales
  • Lettable houses that become void, average days to re-let, and tenancy sustainment

The Panel also receives a spotlight focus at each meeting; at it's last meeting, the Panel looked at complaints and welcomed our Business Improvement Lead to present an overview of the process. The Panel discussed this and some recent progress, insight and learning and improvement work underway.  In February 2024, the Panel's spotlight session focussed on environmental services.

The Panel may be supported by Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) to help enable them to exercise their scrutiny role effectively, such as through additional training sessions.

In addition to quarterly performance meetings, members of the Panel can also undertake thematic reviews, which is a deeper dive into specific service areas. Members of the thematic group identified repairs communication as an area for review and commenced its work in July 2023, with an initial planning meeting taking place and then a visit to the Customer First Centre in August 2023.

Following the review, the repairs thematic group worked with TPAS to develop a report with recommendations.  The group then met with staff to discuss their report and its findings, co-creating solutions to the recommendations.  Members of the group have attended Board meetings to discuss their experience with Board members.  The group will support monitoring progress and will meet with staff in June 2024 to review improvements made and underway.

Find a summary of the report here or read the full report here.

You can also hear what customers had to say by watching the video below.

In February 2024, members of the Panel met with staff and kicked off planning for their next thematic review.  Customers have decided to focus on our Neighbourhood Environmental Team (NETs) Service and Waste Management.

The Panel is not currently recruiting new members, however for further information, contact Morgan English by email at morgan.english@wheatley-group.com