The Customer Assurance Panel needs you!

•  Looking at issues that affect customers so that we can improve the customer experience.
•  Working with Plus Dane, our Purpose Committee and Board you will help us look at how we can improve our services for customers to make sure it is the best it can be.
• Working with other Plus Dane customers, you will make sure the views of wider customers are reflected in our work and valued at the highest level within Plus Dane.
• Feeding your recommendations directly into our Board so they can make informed decisions based on the needs and priorities of our customers.

• Holding Plus Dane to account by looking at how satisfied customers are and provide suggestions for improvement.

• Asking for more in-depth service reviews to be carried out so we can understand what is working well and what needs improving.

• Checking that we are meeting our agreed standards

• Looking at how we are learning lessons from complaints so we don’t keep making mistakes.

• Working with us to make sure the views of customers are considered when we are buying new services and appointing contractors.

• CAP is made up of 10 members who are customers of Plus Dane. This includes tenants, leaseholders and shared owners.

• The panel is Chaired by a panel member and the Chair is invited to attend Purpose Committee and Board meetings.

• Only one person from a household can join the CAP.

• Plus Dane colleagues attend the meetings to service them and present reports but they will not be members.

Providing there is no actual or impending court action and you have made an arrangement with Plus Dane that the relevant team are happy with, then you can be considered for the panel. We will discuss your individual circumstances if this is applies to you.

• The meetings will be Chaired by a customer.
• Agendas and any papers to read are prepared with the Chair and sent to all panel members in advance of meetings.

CAP meets every three months and these are digital meetings. We get together at least once a year in person.

As most of the meetings and things like training is done digitally, you must have some digital skills. We can support you and train you to set you up and provide on-going support.

We will provide you with a laptop which will be set up for you to use in your role.

• You need to commit to attending four to six digital meetings and/or one in person meeting a year. The meetings are usually two hours long and start at 6pm.
• CAP meetings are held every three months. There may be additional meetings if required, but this is something that the panel agrees as a group.
• You need to spend time preparing for meetings. This includes reading and digesting information and preparing questions and notes for yourself.

•  For in-person meetings we will provide refreshments and food.
• We will also reimburse you for any reasonable travel expenses you may incur in your role. We can also arrange and pay for transport for you to get to meetings.
• We will also pay a reasonable allowance for childcare or other caring needs if required.
• We will not pay for loss of earnings due to attending meetings.

You can discuss your expenses with the Engagement Team as we understand that everyone’s circumstances are different. We do not want anyone to be financially worse off because they are a member of the CAP.

• There will be an induction programme for you once you have joined the CAP. This will set you up to begin your role. It will be done digitally.
• There will be some training that all members might attend. This will mainly be carried out digitally. It may also include e-learning or webinars which you can complete in your own time.
• Other training opportunities might arise if Plus Dane feels it would be useful to CAP or if members of CAP ask us to provide.
• There are opportunities to attend conferences, networking groups and webinars. These may be in person or digitally. The Engagement Team will send you details of these and invite you to attend. Plus Dane will cover the costs of attending.
• There will be an opportunity to gain formal qualifications such as those offered by the Chartered Institute of Housing.Since everyone’s training needs are different, we will discuss your individual training requirements with you and provide you with the training you need to carry out your role

• The closing dates for applications is February 28. Following this date, applications will be shortlisted and successful applicants will be invited to an informal discussion with the Chair and a colleague from our Engagement Team and our Governance Team.

   

• We have planned for two informal ‘Find out More sessions’ on Zoom to introduce you to Plus Dane and have a chat about what is involved. These will take place on Tuesday, February 11 and Tuesday, February 18 at 6pm. If you are unable to attend, please contact Irene Crone and we can arrange an individual chat.

• New members will be appointed by 31 March 2025 so we will contact you soon after that to let you know if you have been successful.
• We will begin the induction of new members from 1 April 2025.
• We are hoping you will be able to attend your first meeting on 23 April 2025.