HOUSING ORGANISATION CELEBRATES RECEIVING TOP ACCOLADE
Derby Homes, the company that manages and maintains the Council’s housing stock has again achieved the highest possible rating following a recent inspection by the Government’s Audit Commission.
The Commission inspected Derby Homes during February 2006 and inspected all of the services provided by the organisation. On a scale from zero to three stars the Audit Commission team gave Derby Homes three stars, with excellent prospects for further improvement.
Martin Palmer, Head of Housing for the Audit Commission’s Central region said:
“When we inspected Derby Homes back in 2002 it was found to be an ‘excellent’ service, with ‘excellent prospects for improvement’. I am delighted that it has again received our highest rating for the quality of service it provides. Derby Homes is to be commended for the excellence of its services and the resulting benefits for service users.”
Derby Homes is the only housing organisation to have received this top rating on two separate occasions.
Phil Davies, Chief Executive of Derby Homes said:
“We are thrilled the Audit Commission have given us their top score again. It’s not the only good news story for Derby Homes In March of this year we completed a three year £116m programme of council house improvements on time, in budget and to high levels of customer satisfaction. This has brought all the council houses in Derby up to the Government’s decent homes standard.. We have also recently been awarded the RoSPA Silver Award for our commitment to Health & Safety issues for he second year running.’.
I think the Audit Commission have given us this score because, although we’re not perfect, we do try to deliver high standards of service and to put tenants and leaseholders at the heart of everything we do. The Audit Commission were on site for 7 days and liked what they saw whilst they were with us…our customer care, commitment to diversity, the way we deal with anti social behaviour, and work in partnership with Derby City Council and other agencies.
Although it’s only natural to celebrate we are not resting on our laurels. We are already looking to the future and are keen to build new affordable homes to rent within the City to meet housing needs”.
Councillor Chris Williamson, Leader of Derby City Council said:
“This is excellent news that demonstrates what a high standard of service council tenants are receiving. The Council will continue to work in partnership
with Derby Homes to turn the ‘excellent prospects for improvement’ into tangible results.”
Dennis Rees has been an active tenant volunteer in Derby for over 15 years and is currently the Chair of the Board of Derby Homes. Dennis said:
“I have spoken up and down the country at conferences and have always told people that Derby Homes are the ‘best’, and now this confirms it. This is an excellent achievement and a tribute to all the hard work and dedication of our employees, tenant and leaseholder volunteers, board members and partners who have made Derby Homes what it is. People ask me why I give up so much of my time, without pay, and often without thanks, but this is the reason and I will carry on doing it as long as I feel that I am of benefit to the tenants and leaseholders in Derby”.
Nita Murphy, the Chair of the Derby Association for Customer Partners echoed Dennis’ comments and said:
“Derby Homes main strength is that they work alongside us and listen to what we, the customers have to say. I would like to thank everyone for their hard work, their commitment to delivering good customer service and retaining the three stars. It is fantastic news.”
Read more about our Audit Commission Inspection.![#]()