We’ve been gathering questions from customers about the proposed changes to the concierge service. Read on to find out the answers here….
Do residents have to deal with tailgaters? Residents are asked to have an awareness when leaving or entering the building of who is around and wanting to come into the block but we stress that we are not asking tenants to confront anyone and report tailgates to YHN.
Reasons for change Why are things changing? Why are things changing now? The service as it is now has been in place since 2012, YHN are under transformation and we need to look at the service and improve what we do.
How will anti-social behaviour issues be dealt with out of hours? Service charge and cost
Anti-social behaviour issues will still be responded. It is proposed however the most appropriate agency will attend when a customer makes us aware of a problem out of hours.
Will my service charge change? Will there be an increase in the service charge? At this stage we are consulting customers on potential service delivery options. Once we have a preferred model (or models) we will work with Newcastle City Council to calculate potential service charge costs. Cost is not a driver for change; caretakers are what a lot of tenants are telling us that they want.
So, this might mean a response from the Police, from other external agencies, from a professional witness service or from Newcastle City Council's security team as some examples to consider. The key thing is that we are looking at options and taking on board what people suggest about what a new ‘out of hours service’ will look like.
Weekend service
Will residents be told who their local neighbourhood Police contact is so they know their community contacts?
What will a Sunday service look like? The proposal is that your caretaker won’t be working normal hours on a Sunday. We are however considering options for responding to emergencies, for example, clearing bin chute blockages and spillages. Please let us know your thoughts on this on your questionnaire.
This is a really good question and we will liaise with the Police and our local housing offices about providing this information. Does this review cover the role of the warden? No that is separate job/service offer not under the scope of this review.
Service offer
When will fire safety home visits happen and will they be compulsory?
Will concierge still take meters readings after the review?
We envisage that when a new resident moves into a block they will meet with their designated caretaker for a new meet, greet and welcome to your new home and at this point they will be given the option of a home safety visit.
Yes, they will be able to still do this. What will happen with the keys that you already hold?
So, at this point we don’t envisage it being compulsory more recommended as part of starting a new tenancy.
Keys will be returned to residents and arrangements for this made in due course.
I am concerned about the rubbish. Will bins still get collected?
If you want to get your keys back now please contact the Enquiry Centre on 0191 278 8600 to make arrangements.
Your bins are collected by Newcastle City Council and this will not change. Your caretaker would continue to pull the bins out to the curbside for collection.
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Caretaker role
that is currently going on with the concierge staff at the same time as customers.
What will the new caretaker role mean to residents? We want to give a more personalised service with a more customer focused approach where designated block caretakers will do a bit more such as replacing light bulbs or do home safety checks.
What if I have more questions? If you have any further questions about the review or would like some help with completing your questionnaire, you can pop along to one of our dropin sessions.
Caretakers will get to know the residents more and be better placed to respond if there are any concerns.
The dates, times and locations are listed on our website www/yhn.org/uk/talk-about-concierge. You can also email questions to talkaboutconcierge@yhn.org.uk.
Will the caretaker live in the block? No, there are no plans for the caretaker to be live-in at the blocks and we are not proposing residential caretakers.
Please let us know what you think by Friday 8th June.
Will the cleaning still be done by the caretaker? We want to develop the concierge role and make it more meaningful and valuable and so cleaning is just one element of the job description proposal but yes, the cleaning will continue to be done by the caretaker. Would residents be given a direct phone number to the caretaker? Yes, we would like to be able to provide residents with a direct phone number and will take this into consideration when consulting with staff.
The start of the new service When will the service change and customers see a difference? As part of our proposal to develop the concierge role the new caretaker role will involve training in relation to things such as fire safety, health and safety and safeguarding. Some training will be external, for example, the Fire Service are going to deliver the fire safety training which will be staggered across staff as one and half day training course and so it will take some time. We hope therefore that implementation of the new service will start from September 2018 with full implementation and training completed between December 2018 - March 2019. These provisional timescales are in relation to the time it takes to recruit and train staff in their new roles and taking into account the parallel consultation 2