Peer Challenge

External scrutiny has a positive impact on helping improve performance and cost efficiency.

Peer Challenge service

The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC), in partnership with Baildon Dean Consulting (BDC) provides a facilitated peer challenge service, giving you an invaluable and much sought after independent examination of your services in the absence of government lead regulation, now that the Audit Commission inspection regime has come to a close.

What exactly is Peer Challenge?

Peer challenge is a technique that uses a team of housing experts alongside fully trained peer reviewers (operational housing professionals) to assess and scrutinise your services, consider against the relevant government standard(s) and feed back findings to you including recommendations on service improvements and cost efficiencies.

Who are the Peer Challenge expert partners?

The Peer Challenge service provides a formidable combination of the Northern Housing Consortium's broad experience in policy, practice and performance improvement in social housing and the extensive and hands-on service review experience of former Audit Commission Inspectors, Karen Baildon and Janis Dean.

Key Features

• Cost effective and external independent look at your services
• Evaluation from experienced peer reviewers, centred on the Government's Standards and key cross cutting themes
• Immediate feedback at the end of the review - we endeavour to provide findings on the final day (or latest 48hours later!)
• A recommendations report to form an action plan for improvements (also highlighting positive practice nationally)

The Peer Challenge Process

• Assessment on your service area
• Initial findings on strengths and weaknesses
• Start-up meeting to agree approach
• Reality checks on initial findings confirm strengths and weaknesses including interviews with staff/customers/board
• Customer involvement to help shape services
• Findings drawn
• Feedback via discussion session with you
• Full draft report on findings including positive practice learning (within 2 weeks)
• Opportunity to comment on draft findings before amendments and final report

Benefits

• Raising self awareness within your organisation
• Immediate feedback allows quick initiation of action planning
• Gives your organisation a clear baseline position on performance against the Government's Standards
• An effective alternative to the old Audit Commission inspection offering an independent external view
• Demonstrates your commitment to continuous improvement to customers
• Improves personal self assessment skills and techniques - transferable skills

Peer Challenge Training

We can also provide comprehensive two day training prior to undertaking a peer challenge in your business. This enables your staff to be involved in your own review and/or enable them to review other organisations through the NHC/BDC accredited Peer Challenge programme.

Further Information

Please download our Peer Challenge offer here.

If you would like to arrange for a Peer Challenge review in your organisation, or to find out more about how Peer Challenge could help you, please contact Northern Housing Consortium on 0191 566 1000.