For this month's Your voice, Our action story, we're highlighting how residents are helping shape West Kent services through their involvement in our Scrutiny Panel.
The Scrutiny Panel is a group of residents who independently review our services and make recommendations based on what they find. Their latest review looked at our disabled people's property adaptation services and explored how we can make support more accessible and responsive for residents with disabilities.
This work reflects key areas of our Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) by demonstrating how resident feedback helps inform decisions and shape service improvements.
Reviewing services for disabled residents
Over seven months, panel members gathered feedback, explored residents' experiences and reviewed how the service works.
This helped them identify ways to improve accessibility, communication and the overall customer experience.
What the panel recommended
Following the review, the Scrutiny Panel developed 12 recommendations including:
making information about support and services easier to find on our website
providing more ways for residents with disabilities to contact us
ensuring accessibility and additional needs are considered in future developments and design plans.
The panel has now completed its report, and we've shared the recommendations with teams across West Kent to help inform future improvements.
You can read a summary of the Scrutiny Panel review in our resident-friendly report, or view the full report for more detail.
Residents making a difference
The Scrutiny Panel is one of several ways residents can influence decisions and help improve our services.
We currently support eight resident involvement groups, with plans to expand this to ten through the introduction of a shared owner's group and a vulnerability and inclusion group.
Together, these groups give residents the opportunity to share their views, take part in important discussions and help make sure our services reflect the needs of our communities.
Get involved
Thank you to the Scrutiny Panel and everyone who shared their experiences as part of this review.
Your insight plays an important role in helping us understand what's working well and where we can do better.
If you would like to help shape West Kent services, visit our resident involvement page to find out more about getting involved.