Our Customer Committee
As a social housing provider, we are accountable to the people who live in our homes and communities.
Our Customer Committee is a committee of our Board of Management made up of customers who live in our homes and communities. It illustrates our commitment to ensuring that customer insight and experience is heard at the highest level of our organisation – strengthening the influence that customers have over how we are run and managed and ensuring we are accountable to them.
Our governance structure
Our Board play an important role in overseeing our work to ensure we are serving customers well and meeting all our legal requirements, including the Consumer Standards, which you can find out more about here.
The Customer Committee of the Board plays an influential part in ensuring we are well managed; listening and responding to customers; and considering them in all we do.
Customer Committee members work on behalf of the Board of Management to oversee how Irwell Valley Homes is delivering its services for customers.
This includes the areas below and any other matters given to it by the Board on an ad hoc basis.
Consumer Standards
Members will help to ensure Irwell Valley Homes’ is meeting the requirements of the Consumer Standards as set by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).
Activities include:
• Developing and reviewing customer-facing strategies.
• Monitoring the delivery of the action plans which support these strategies.
• Reviewing key policies.
Complaints Handling
Members will ensure compliance with the Housing Ombudsman Complaints Handling Code each year. They will also monitor and scrutinise the level of complaints and performance of complaints handling.
Performance
Members will review overall performance of Irwell Valley Homes, including the annual performance report against the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) set by the Regulator of Social Housing.
Members will also review performance against other key measures and feed any recommendations and areas for further focus and attention back to Board.
Scrutiny activity
Members can commission the work of our Resident Scrutiny Panel who take a deep dive into different services and areas of our work. The RSP ensures services are effective and makes recommendations for how we can improve. Committee members then oversee RSP improvement plans to ensure meaningful outcomes are delivered for customers.
Members of the committee provide insight, challenge and recommendations for improvements in relation to the following areas of our work:
- How we serve customers through the delivery of our customer plan.
- How we manage and enhance neighbourhoods – through the delivery of our communities plan.
- How we listen and communicate with customers – through the delivery of our communications plan.
- How we maintain and improve homes – through the delivery of our property plan.
- How we build more homes for people in housing need – through the delivery of our new homes plan.
- How we are performing against the standards we need to meet and how we let customers know about this.
Christie Finnegan, Chair of Customer Committee and Customer Board Member
Christie, who lives in Bury, joined the Customer Committee because of a strong belief in the importance of safe, secure and affordable housing in helping people to build stable and positive lives.
Christie brings a range of experience in scrutiny and community oversight, particularly across education and policing. This has developed strong skills in analysing complex issues, asking constructive questions and supporting fair and balanced discussion. Alongside this, Christie’s lived experience as an Irwell Valley customer provides valuable insight into how services work in practice and where improvements can be made. She is also a customer Board member and the Board champion for complaints. Christie also Chairs the Irwell Valley Foundation panel.
Christie brings knowledge, experience, and leadership to support our customer committee in improving our services for customers.
John McMahon
John has been a customer in Bolton for over 15 years and joined the Customer Committee to bring his lived experience as a tenant to help shape the future of Irwell Valley Homes, ensuring all customers receive a consistently positive experience.
Alongside his long‑term customer insight, John brings 16 years’ experience working in a patient safety role, with expertise in complaints handling, corporate governance, information governance, GDPR, equality and diversity, and mental health awareness. Through this work, he has developed a strong understanding of regulatory expectations and standards.
Lewis Borg
Lewis, a customer who lives in Bolton, joined the Customer Committee because he cares about making a positive difference in his local community and felt strongly the committee was a great opportunity to do this.
Through coaching and mentoring young people, Lewis has developed strong communication skills and an appreciation of engagement, different perspectives and life experiences.
Lewis brings local insight and a community‑focused perspective to committee discussions.
Frances McDermott
Fran has lived in one of our homes in Bury for 18 years and joined the Customer Committee to help build on and strengthen the services that supported her at a time of need.
Fran brings extensive experience as a customer, having seen where services work well and where there are opportunities for improvement. She has also been a member of our Resident Scrutiny Panel for the past three years, reviewing service performance, outcomes, strategies, and contributing to service improvement.
Fran uses her customer insight and scrutiny experience to contribute thoughtfully to committee discussions and service improvement.
Sajda Mohammed
Sajda joined the Customer Committee to learn more about how Irwell Valley Homes is governed and to work with other customers to help influence future decisions.
She has over 24 years’ experience as a housing association tenant, five of which have been with Irwell Valley Homes in Trafford. Sajda has previously worked in customer‑facing roles in supported housing for several housing providers and volunteered in community settings supporting vulnerable people.
As a committee member, Sajda brings a balanced perspective shaped by lived experience, her professional insight within the sector, and community involvement.
Mandy Cleveland
Mandy is one of our customers who lives in Manchester.
Jane Galbraith
Jane, who lives in one of our homes in Salford, joined the Customer Committee because she values the opportunity for customers to have their say on our services and performance.
Jane brings a broad range of lived experience, including experience of homelessness, insecure housing, as well as home ownership. This helps her understand the different challenges customers may face at various points in their lives and housing journeys.
Jane brings lived experience and empathy to the committee, helping ensure a wide range of customer perspectives are considered.
Donald Fish
Don, who lives in one of our homes in Tameside, joined the Customer Committee because he is passionate about customer voices being part of the governance of Irwell Valley Homes.
He brings many years’ experience from people‑facing roles, including teaching in schools and colleges, and has served on several committees, including a college board of governors and the managing board of a care home. Don also works as a tutor and is a union representative.
Don brings experience of representation and engagement, helping ensure tenant views are shared and discussed constructively.
Amelia Mighty
Amelia, a customer in Tameside, joined the Customer Committee to ensure customer voices are heard in a meaningful and authentic way.
She brings a combination of lived experience and professional insight, having previously worked in housing and social care. Amelia is passionate about advocacy and representation and draws on her own health experiences to understand complex customer needs.
Amelia brings strong insight into inclusion and lived experience to support fair and meaningful engagement.