Golden Gates Housing chooses Civica for Anti-Social Behaviour management
Anti-social behaviour reporting continues service transformation and opens up multi-agency action for North West housing provider

Golden Gates Housing, a three star Audit Commission-rated social housing provider in Warrington, is planning highly targeted campaigns against anti-social behaviour through a three year investment in Civica’s Public Protection software. The Public Protection system – on which implementation work is due for completion in 2008 – provides scope for co-ordinated multi-agency action on particular issues.

Using the Civica Public Protection platform, Golden Gates’ tenant support teams will be able to record and respond quickly to any anti-social behaviour incidents affecting its 8,900 tenants housed across the borough. The software also enables incident records to be opened to third parties’ computer systems including police, solicitors and housing associations, whether for co-ordinated action on particular cases or as part of a multi-agency shared services delivery model for operational efficiencies.

The new Civica Public Protection platform, which can be integrated with Golden Gates’ existing housing management software and front line customer services, helps local service teams to quickly and accurately log incidents, ranging from egg throwing to more serious occurrences such as damaged windows. The system enables teams to also track and analyse incident ‘hot spots’.

Using the product’s workflow capabilities, the teams have clearer schedules for handling incidents and, through integration with contact management, to improve communication and reassurance to tenants during the incident response process. Golden Gates Housing is also working with the local Community Safety team and its firm of solicitors to share the system and offer a joined up response for tenants.

Golden Gates, which was spun out of Warrington Borough Council in 2004, has earned a strong reputation for customer service following its Business Transformation programme over the last three years, which has improved system efficiency, tenant support and care in their homes and increased mobile working and productivity. Following this phased service transformation, the Audit Commission awarded the social housing provider three stars after its latest inspection.

Already used by over 200 local organisations across the UK, Civica’s Public Protection product provides a robust and proven platform for core regulatory and enforcement functions helping organisations to improve reporting and customer service capabilities. The platform was designed for, and built and tested in consultation with, practitioners.

Peter Fitzhenry, Assistant Director of Housing at Golden Gates Housing, says: “We are striving to transform our service to tenants and Civica Public Protection enables us to record and categorise different incidents for action better than before. The capability for targeted action on any unpleasant incidents is of great reassurance, particularly to older customers.

“Our staff find the system very easy to use and it is flexible enough to be connected with our contact management teams. Most excitingly of all, it can be opened up to end point computers at other nominated bodies, like solicitors and the police.

Tony Hughes, managing director of Civica Public Protection, commented: “Golden Gates Housing is one of the top social housing providers and has got where it is by continually innovating in terms of service and communication with tenants. We’re pleased to be working closely on their latest service innovation. We believe that we have both the deep understanding of their operating environment and the technology integration skills needed to help deliver Golden Gates’ vision of a customer-centric service model with system-based savings.”