Mystery Shopping Kieran Towler

8/2/2019 Mystery Shopping Kieran Towler

1/17

Mystery ShoppingWhat should I buythat for?


2/17

Overview

What is mystery shopping? Does it work?

What do the people get out of it?

What does the organisation get from it? Would we do it again?

What did we learn?

Was it value for resources?

The Homelessness Networks view?


3/17

Background

The Local Authority Homelessness Network received fundingfrom the Welsh Assembly Government to develop ourunderstanding of how it feels to be homeless.

In order to improve our understanding it was agreed toundertake a mystery shopping exercise. To make it valuable weshould work with people who had previously experiencedhomelessness to undertake the exercise.

The network approached United Welsh HA, who successfullysecured volunteers who were willing to work with us and visitlocal authorities from across Wales.


4/17

Time Banking

To give the exercise value we used theUnited Welsh time Banking scheme

What is time banking?

How did it work practically?

Why did we do this?

Did it aid the exercise?


5/17

The Aim

This project sought to assess the quality of service that people

presenting as homeless experience when they approach localauthorities.

The housing offices that were visited were assessed in thefollowing areas:

Staff attitude and sensitivity are staff members friendly,

encouraging and supportive? Do they give their name and jobtitle?

Decision-making are mystery shoppers told about decisionsthat are made, and are they offered good advice and support forwhat they need to do next?

Help and advice are mystery shoppers given advice in asensitive manner that ensures they understood all of it?


6/17

The Aim

General care and support needs do mystery shoppers receivefriendly and encouraging support and assistance?

Emergency accommodation are mystery shoppers offeredemergency temporary accommodation (especially when this ismost appropriate, such as in cases of domestic violence)?

Returning home do staff members explore the possibility ofmystery shoppers returning home?

Mystery shoppers also recorded the time they had to wait to seea member of staff and gave feedback on their generalimpressions of the service they received.


7/17

The Outsiders

Who are they? Where did they come from?

What did they do?

How involved where they? Did they buy into it?

Did they need training?

Did it help them?


8/17


9/17

The Case Studies

3 Rent arrears eviction, female:A 23 year old woman who has been evicted from her council flat. This was herfirst tenancy and she got confused and behind with the rent. Although she isstaying with a friend she cannot stay there much longer because it is toocrowded. She is a care leaver and has nowhere else to go. No addictions orhealth issues.

4 Young person, female:An 18 year old who had moved abroad with her parents but her mothers partnerwas violent and she had to leave and returned to Wales. Has been staying witha friend but cannot stay there forever. No addictions or health issues.

5 Domestic violence male:A 20 year old man who is fleeing domestic violence from a gay partner and

cannot return home. No addictions or health issues.


10/17

The visits

11 Local Authorities All of Wales Covered

12 days given up

Support Workers on Hand

Good hotels and meals provided Splitting Visits


11/17

The respect that was built!

Having to re-visit a previous experience in your life and one that would not have

happy memories cannot be easy. The young people we worked with, not onlydid this, but did it on a number of occasions across Wales. They dedicated two days to being trained so they knew what to expect and how

to handle things if things went wrong. This may not sound that hard, but whenyou have methadone scripts to pick up and Job Centre interviews to rearrange itshows a real commitment

They then visited twelve LAs across Wales. Bravely entering an office whenthey knew they may be found out. They acted professionally. Went through the

interviewing process. Fed back to support workers who were waiting for themoutside and discussed their experiences in depth with the person who has takentheir findings and written the report.

The report has been launched and the findings and recommendations containedin it have had a genuine impact on how homelessness services are delivered inthe future. This is due to the hard work and commitment of these young people.

They discussed their experiences with the managers of services. This, onceagain, shows a real commitment to changing how things are delivered. It is only

sometimes through hearing these stories, rather than simply reading a report,that people are compelled to act.


12/17

The News Headlines

50% of visits did not fully meet the persons needs

Inconsistent responses

Four members of staff unfriendly and sympathetic

50% of people told about decisions

40% thought the service was poor

Sex of interviewer not discussed with those feeling domesticviolence

That it was not always about accommodation

Moving back home hardly ever discussed

That one shopper attended the homelessness network


13/17

The changes

Through a series of regional seminars, engaged all LA's to

develop an action plan on how they are going to improve anddevelope their services for young homeless people (aged 16 -17) in partnership with Social Services

2 consultants will be spending 2 days with 6 local authorities tohelp implement their plans and ensure that outcomes for

homeless young people are met. Neighbouring authorities will also be able to access part of thistraining to share good practice and in turn help driveimprovement in all LAs in Wales.

Chris Price and Kelly Davies (WAG) will also be working withthe LA's that are not receiving the direct 2 day support to ensure

they are progressing with their action plans.


14/17

The Changes

We have also been working with Jan Pickles (WAGCommunity Safety) to improve our response to those fleeing DA

Domestic abuse coordinators will be delivering training to frontline housing options/homelessness staff across Wales, inrelation to domestic abuse, MARAC and the DASH toolkit. Thiswill help improve the front line response.

This training is already being set up in Gwent and North Walesand will be cascaded to other areas in due course.

WAG are also considering, with the help of S180 fundingavailable from April, other projects / training that could bedeveloped to help improve our services.

And all of this by the time the report was released


15/17

The Value/ Cost

For the people

For the L/A

For United Welsh

For future Services

For the people

For the L/A

For United Welsh

For future services


16/17

The Pit Falls

Aim high with starting numbers

Be entirely clear on what you want to achieve

Set times when visiting places

Offer support outside of the visits

Expect high resources to be used for a short period


17/17

The Final Note

For all the good and bad experiences that I had onthis trip, I really enjoyed myself. Its not only about

assessing a service and making it better, its about

meeting new people, enjoying the experiences youhave together, talking freely and making friends. So

on behalf of the Mystery shopper team I would like tothank the people who let me have this opportunityand the team leaders for supporting us all the waythank you,

Gabby Mystery Shopper

Mystery Shopping Kieran Towler

Documents

Transcript of Mystery Shopping Kieran Towler