Case Studies By Service Area
Evaluation and Research
Strategy to Evaluate Enhancements to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service
“A watertight strategy”: improving the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service.
The scope
In 2006 government agreed on a set of enhancements to facilitate use of the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service, and to reduce the average time taken to resolve a leaky building claim.
MartinJenkins was engaged by the Department of Building and Housing to develop a framework for evaluating the potential effectiveness of these enhancements. This required us to identify a set of key evaluation questions reflecting the policy and operational intent of the enhancements, and to develop an overall methodology and evaluation work programme to answer these questions.
Our Involvement
MartinJenkins consultants Meenakshi Sankar and Nick Davis initiated a series of meetings with key internal stakeholders, to build understanding of the intended impacts of the enhancements. Through consultation we also clarified the intended use of the evaluation. This provided the necessary contextual information for thinking about the structure and focus for the evaluation.
Our development of the evaluation framework involved extensive review of the body of written material, as well as interviews and workshops with key staff.
The Outcome
MartinJenkins’ established reputation and knowledge of the building and housing sector gave us the credibility necessary to undertake this task. The result was an evaluation framework that offered a systematic and robust approach to assessing the effectiveness of enhancements to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service. This has achieved wide acceptance within the Department of Building and Housing.
The Department of Building and Housing subsequently invited MartinJenkins to assist with the initial implementation of the evaluation plan.
The MartinJenkins Difference
The project involved bringing together diverse perspectives and expectations to ensure the relevance and value of the evaluation. Designing an approach that met the needs of both the policy and operational groups was challenging, but MartinJenkins ensured acceptance by working in a collaborative, inquiry-driven way.
