The Council are looking at how it can improve and develop the services you receive from the Council as your landlord. You may have seen some information on this in our tenant newsletter which came out before Christmas.
The Council is looking to enter into a partnership with the Norse Group, who are a subsidiary of Norfolk County Council and have expertise of modernising and improving services with many other local authorities across the country by providing skills and expertise to Councils. The joint venture arrangement will be called "Alliance Norse Limited".
You may see some changes in that our vans will undergo a re-brand, as will the uniforms of the repairs staff. Other staff that work on the properties will also transfer into the new company, such as the supervisors, surveyors, project and contract managers. The company will still be based in High Peak and will use local suppliers and contractors where possible.
Alliance Norse will provide you "one stop shop", taking your calls, web forms and comments and will manage the job through to completion, where they will ask for your feedback on the service you have received.
The Core functions of the Alliance Norse will be:
Capital Programme | Repairs Service | Housing Voids | Planned Maintenance | Cleaning and Caretaking |
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In the short to medium term, Alliance Norse will still use many of the specialist contractors that the Council currently use, such as Liberty Gas to undertake your regular gas service, but these contracts may change in the longer term as Alliance Norse and the Council look to improve the service. Many of our staff will transfer into the new company and will continue to engage with you.
Alliance Norse will be investing in new systems which will allow you, as the customer to engage digitally with us, including receiving text messages when you have repairs appointments. The new system will also allow us to keep better records and manage the performance of the company closely.
Alliance Norse will be part owned by the Council and is NOT a private company. The Council will remain at the heart of agreeing the way the services are delivered. The Council will continue to manage the lettings process and the Neighbourhoods Team will remain employees of the Council. The Council will set the budgets and the strategy and make the major decisions, which Alliance Norse will then deliver to you. We are expecting that improvements will take some time to implement , but could include;
- Quicker repair reaction times
- Ensuring all homes are safe and compliance with legislation
- Homes have a good standard of decency and energy efficiency
- Homes are turned around quickly when they become vacant but are checked and re-let and a decent standard
- Customers can access the services easily and quickly, utilising digital or traditional platforms and including the options of morning and afternoon appointments.
- Feedback is received and reviewed fairly in line with Council complaints policy.
- Tenants are involved and engaged in shaping the services provided.
Read more on the summary of the service in the
Summary of Services [144KB]
document.
