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We decided we needed specific software to manage antisocial behaviour cases. The best-value review we did on the issue showed that New Islington & Hackney Housing Association's tenants felt cases were taking too long to resolve. This was compounded by a lack of regular communication informing them how matters were progressing. The database idea was mooted to help us solve these problems.

We chose to develop an in-house database to add to our existing housing management software: the off-the-shelf ones we looked at didn't do what we wanted and were too expensive.

We felt an in-house tool would be customisable, flexible and available relatively quickly: we would have no licensing costs to worry about and would be in control of the design. There would be no extra costs because the software needed to build the system was already available.

The system is born
Project manager Roger Barcroft drafted a broad specification, which stated the database should be able to:

• log and monitor the full details of all nuisance cases, incidents, actions and the people involved
  
• read and review the complainants and correspondents involved in different cases and incidents
  
• automatically generate key dates for action, and flag up missed targets
  
• provide managers with an immediate overview of caseload management and performance, with the facility to "drill down" into increasing levels of detail
  
• record and monitor the costs in each case and across the whole caseload
  
• generate a wide range of performance analysis and monitoring reports for managers, directors and committees.

The model met with some resistance as there was concern about the commitment needed to manage such a sophisticated system. Some staff members feared it would be too difficult to use.

However, a cost benefit analysis and the fact that we could customise the database to our own advantage won through. We also believed our IT staff could be trained to support the system, saving costs and providing staff with on-the-spot guidance.

Bart Meldau, our database analyst, used Barcroft's specification to develop a model using Microsoft Access, designed to be user-friendly.

The system is helping key staff keep on top of the nuisance problem

In total, it took him 60 hours over eight months to build and launch the system, but the final cost in labour hours was just £1000 – the only significant cost.

The only disadvantage was that Meldau had to work from home and, frequently, in his own time: as anyone working on an IT helpdesk will testify, there are far too many distractions at work.

Barcroft trained 15 multi-site tenancy management officers in-house. A settling-in period during training allowed us to identify and deal with last-minute glitches.

Three months on …
The database has now been up and running for three months. Staff at all our sites, connected to the system via virtual private networking, terminal services or fixed links, have been busy entering cases. Our quality and compliance officer, Julie Batten, has sole authority for closing the cases recorded in the database, once authorised by the relevant senior manager.

The advantage of this approach is that it means we can keep tabs on the progress of each case and the action we take to resolve the problems. Prompting staff to act on key dates means that both complainant and respondent are kept informed at regular intervals.

The big test of the system's success will be an increase in resident satisfaction, to be gauged from the detailed results of the three-monthly quality assurance questionnaires analysed and reported from the database. We expect performance to be improved considerably. The system is helping key staff, including our operations director and his team, to keep on top of the problem more effectively than ever before.