Following a visit to Oak Lodge in Hockley some months ago , at which he received numerous complaints from residents about the way in which there facility was being run by managing company,
FirstPort, Mark arranged for the Managing Director of the company, Ms Kully Sandra to attend a meeting recently at Oak Lodge, so that she could hear residents’ complaints for herself. Mark took this action, following similar complaints from residents in another FirstPort managed home, King George’s Court in Rayleigh, where, amongst other things, residents had been without a working lift for some 8 months.
Mark chaired the meeting at Oak Lodge, in which residents took slightly over an hour to put forward their complaints to Firsport about a variety of issues, including increases in management fees, high energy costs and poor garden maintenance. In response, FirstPorts’ Managing Director, Ms Kully Sandra, promised a better service in future, including a regular monthly meeting between the residents and FirstPorts’ new manager at the home to improve communication and as an avenue for residents to raise issues that might be concerning them.
Commenting after the visit, Mark said:
“FirstPort manage some 1500 facilities across the UK, but unfortunately, I have had serious complaints from both King Georges Court in Rayleigh and Oak Lodge in Hockley and so I am grateful to their Managing Director, Ms Kully Sandra, for finding the time to discuss these issues with my constituents face to face. Speaking to some of the residents afterwards they did appear to appreciate the meeting and for their part, FirstPort have promised to increase the quality of their communication in the future. This has clearly been frustrating for the residents, but I do hope that as a result of this meeting, we will now be able to achieve a more positive outcome going forward and I would like to thank the residents for making me and Ms Sandra welcome."
