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Section 1 Introduction

1.01 Focus and purpose of the guidance

This guidance is to assist registered social landlords (RSLs) and local authorities (LAs) to use service user feedback, research and consultation to develop and improve their services. It is designed to be used by both large and small social housing providers working in both urban and rural contexts. It establishes a number of key principles of quality in research and promotes a strategic and inclusive approach to customer research and consultation. It highlights a number of key practical issues and provides specific guidance on the use of some techniques and tools to gather service user feedback. It also provides signposts to other related guidance and resources.

The guidance is designed to provide clear and practical advice for staff within social landlord organisations that do not have specialist research knowledge. It is designed to encourage all approaches to service user feedback to be as inclusive as possible. The tools and techniques referred to can be used to assess service quality within both general needs and supported housing.

A number of perspectives have informed the development of this guidance. These include research undertaken with a range of landlords in Scotland, tenants’ views and a review of existing guidance. It also reflects the views of Communities Scotland based on initial experience of the inspection process. A number of case studies are used within the guidance to illustrate real practice dilemmas and solutions adopted by social landlords in Scotland.

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