Covering the five-year period up to 2028, the strategy has been developed in consultation with tenants, residents and other stakeholders with the aim of involving them in housing issues which matter most to them.

Councillor Tony Gurney, cabinet member for green environment and economy, said: “Since the introduction of our first strategy 20 years ago, we have made enormous strides towards developing a service which puts our tenants at the heart of our decision-making process.

“We are continuing to build on the excellent work which has already been delivered, and this has been driven by listening to our tenants.

“In 2022, we received two gold accreditations for embracing the Scottish Social Housing Charter commitment and our approach to customer involvement and scrutiny – hallmarks of ensuring our tenants’ voices are heard.

“While we are delighted that our commitment to our tenants has been recognised, we are not complacent and will continue to challenge ourselves and encourage our customers to challenge us, so that we can continue to improve performance and service delivery.”

The Customer Participation Strategy 2023-28 aims to shape tenant participation work around three main priorities:

• Engage and inform – ensuring two-way communication with our tenants and customers, and providing opportunities for customers to take part in ways that meet their needs
• Empower and influence – developing the skills and confidence of our tenants to shape the services we provide, and
• Evolve and innovate – continually improving our services to meet the needs of our customers.

The strategy aims to ensure that all tenants are given a voice, including those who are often under-represented in community involvement – such as young people, those who are care experienced, refugees, ethnic minorities, and people with accessibility needs.

In recent years, methods of engagement have diversified significantly to include online tenants’ panels and social media in addition to more traditional methods such as newsletters.

The strategy seeks to continue to develop new ways to reach and engage with tenants through the development of digital services which people are increasingly comfortable using.