ARCH Tenants Conference 2018 #archtc18 Welcome to the ARCH - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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ARCH Tenants Conference 2018 #archtc18 Welcome to the ARCH - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

ARCH Tenants Conference 2018 #archtc18 Welcome to the ARCH Tenants Conference 2018 Jenny Hill ARCH Tenants Group Chair #archtc18 Mayors address Councillor James Burton, Mayor of the Borough of Kettering #archtc18 Opening plenary:


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ARCH Tenants Conference 2018

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Welcome to the ARCH Tenants Conference 2018

Jenny Hill ARCH Tenants’ Group Chair

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Mayor’s address

Councillor James Burton, Mayor of the Borough of Kettering

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Opening plenary: Tenants and the green paper

Jane Everton, Deputy Director Social Housing, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Brian Reilly, Director of Housing and Regeneration, London Borough of Wandsworth

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ARCH Tenants Conference 2018

Jane Everton, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

A new deal for social housing

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Why the Green Paper?

  • Around 3.9 million households,

approximately 9 million people, live in the social rented sector in England, just under a fifth of all households.

  • Tragic Fire at Grenfell shone a spotlight on

social housing and its residents.

  • Clear in the aftermath that the voices of

social housing residents across the country have too often gone unheard. “It is a reaffirmation of that idea of housing as our first social service. It outlines our desire to rebalance the relationship between residents and landlords, to tackle stigma and ensure social housing can be both a safety net and a springboard to home ownership.”

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Changing our approach to policy making

14 events

nearly 1,000 residents from 190 organisations

10 roundtable events 7,000 responses to our online survey

We visited:

  • York
  • Birmingham
  • Newmarket
  • Sittingbourne
  • Bridgwater
  • London
  • Preston
  • Nottingham
  • Oxford
  • Basingstoke
  • Two Grenfell events
  • Two BAME events
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The Social Housing Green Paper A new deal for social housing

Chapter one: Ensuring homes are safe and decent Chapter two: Effective resolution of complaints Chapter three: Empowering residents and strengthening the Regulator Chapter four: Tackling stigma and celebrating thriving communities Chapter five: Expanding supply and supporting homeownership A safe and decent home which is fundamental to a sense of security and our ability to get on in life Swift and effective resolution so that when residents have concerns about the safety or standard of their home, they get swift and effective action Empowering residents and ensuring their voices are heard so that landlords are held to account Tackling stigma and celebrating thriving communities, challenging the stereotypes that exist about residents and their communities Building the social homes that we need and ensuring that those homes can act as a springboard to home

  • wnership
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Chapter one – Ensuring homes are safe and decent

Ensuring resident safety

  • Linked to Hackitt Review
  • Residents should be proactively given

information about building safety – what their rights and responsibilities are

Reviewing the Decent Homes Standard

  • Decent homes standard requires social homes

to be free of hazards that pose a risk to residents, to be in a reasonable state of repair and to have reasonably modern facilities and services.

  • Are there any changes we need to include in

the Decent Homes Standard?

“Fire safety concerns me most because a lot of young families reside in these blocks. This can be improved by educating residents.” Non-decent homes made up 13%

  • f all social housing in 2016, down

from 20% in 2010 Decent Homes Standard has not been revised since 2006

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Removing barriers to redress

  • Dispute resolution and strengthening mediation
  • Reform democratic filter

Supporting residents to raise complaints

  • Awareness of options for escalation
  • Advice and support when making a complaint

Speeding up the complaints process

  • Ensuring process is fast and effective
  • Handling safety concerns swiftly and effectively

Chapter two – Effective resolution

  • f complaints

“Organisations expect to wear you down. I wish it was easier for me.” “In general the building is in good upkeep. However when things go wrong e.g. there is a leak, the housing association does not act appropriately.” “No one is the right person and residents are passed along, frequently, it takes a long time, causes a lot of stress and issues remain unresolved.”

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Chapter three – Empowering residents and strengthening the Regulator

Arming residents with information on landlord performance

  • KPIs
  • Complaint handling

Rewarding good performance

  • Incentivising best practice and deterring the worst

Ensuring residents’ voices are heard

  • Resident engagement and representation

Strengthening choice over services

  • Choice, quality and value for money

Value for money for leaseholders

  • Service charges and transparency

A stronger Regulator

  • What does good service look like?

“We informed the housing association that we didn’t want the services of the present cleaners, which we pay for in the service charge, but we were told we had no choice in the matter.” “Their performance needs to be monitored by an independent authority so there is help when they don’t do these things.” “They do not issue their performance data, so nobody knows if they are or are not meeting KPI’s.”

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Call for Evidence – Closes 6 November 2018 Ensuring regulation remains fit-for purpose

Do we have the right overarching approach to regulation? How effective is the current approach to economic regulation?

  • It is eight years since the last review of social housing regulation –

significant changes to the sector since then. How do we retain a coherent regime going forward? What are the risks and opportunities

  • f the Hackitt review on the

regulation of social housing?

Objectives

1) Rebalance the relationship between social landlords and tenants. 2) Ensure private registered providers are well governed and financially viable. 3) Make sure that the Regulator has powers to deliver the first two objectives and has clear lines of accountability to Parliament.

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Chapter four – Tackling stigma and celebrating thriving communities

Tenant engagement was critical to our understanding of stigma Celebrating thriving communities Embedding good customer and neighbourhood management Promoting good design in the social sector

72% of the

public over- estimate the number of people in social housing who are unemployed

“[My main concern is] the perception of council tenants as benefit scroungers when there are many tenants who are hardworking, honest people.” “They encourage and support community involvement. They take into account the ‘all round’ wellbeing of all tenants and their properties.”

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Chapter five – Expanding supply and supporting home ownership

Support local authorities to build more

  • Balance between grant and HRA
  • Reforming Right to Buy receipts
  • Not implementing Higher Value Assets

Community-led housing

  • Overcoming barriers

Helping housing associations and others develop homes

  • Long term certainty
  • Guarantees
  • Strong regulatory environment

Using existing social housing efficiently for those who need it most

  • Evidence collection on allocation of social housing
  • Not proceeding with mandatory fixed term tenancy provisions for local authorities at

this time

Ensuring social housing is a springboard to homeownership

  • Voluntary Right to Buy
  • Shared Ownership

“I feel privileged and lucky to be a housing association tenant, having an affordable, secure and quality home means everything.”

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Government action already being taken about Supply

  • Since 2010 we have delivered over 378,000 affordable homes

including over 273,000 affordable homes for rent.

  • The Government is committed to increasing the supply of social

housing and has made £9bn available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver 250,000 new affordable homes

  • f a wide range of tenures, including social rent.

“This Green Paper will provide a further boost to the number of council houses. But it goes further still, renewing and deepening our commitment not just to the fabric of social homes, but also to the people who live in them”

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Right To Buy Consultation – Closes 6 October 2018

  • Government wants to support local authorities to build more

affordable homes

  • Consultation invites views on options to change the rules

governing the money raised from Right to Buy sales to make it easier for councils to build more homes.

  • Also seeks views on whether the commitment that every additional

home sold is replaced on a one-for-one basis nationally should be retained, or reformed to focus on the wider supply of social and affordable housing.

  • Keen to hear from local authorities as well as residents and other

stakeholders

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Links across Government

  • DCMS– Civil Society Strategy, Loneliness Strategy
  • DWP – Universal Credit
  • Cabinet Office – Race Disparity Audit
  • Housing White Paper
  • The Hackitt Report
  • Rough Sleeping Strategy
  • Supported Housing
  • Integrated Communities Strategy
  • Right to Buy Receipts Consultation
  • Review of Social Housing Regulation – Call For Evidence
  • Spending Review
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Next Steps for The Social Housing Green Paper

  • Consultation is open until 9 November 2018.
  • 8 Landlord and Tenant Engagement Events – Manchester,

Camden, Norwich, Newcastle, Hastings, Birmingham, Bristol.

  • These events will inform the consultation and take forward the

proposals outlined in the Social Housing Green Paper.

  • Once the consultation closes we will consider all the information

we have heard and received and set out our response and how we will take action.

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The ARCH response to the Social Housing Green Paper

Brian Reilly Director of Housing & Regeneration Richmond & Wandsworth Councils & ARCH Executive Board member

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Formulating an ARCH response to the Green Paper

  • ARCH is consulting all ARCH member councils to inform the ARCH response to the Social

Housing Green Paper, which must be submitted by 6 November.

  • ARCH Executive Board discussed the Green Paper at its meeting on 10 September and has

arranged a special meeting at the end of October to agree a formal response.

  • ARCH Tenant Group received an initial briefing on the Green Paper at its meeting on 3

September and has arranged a special meeting on 15 October. The Tenant Group’s views and comments will be reported to the ARCH Executive to inform the ARCH response.

  • This year’s ARCH Tenants Conference has been deliberately focussed on the Green Paper

and we want to hear your views and comments at this conference to help ensure that the ARCH response to the Green Paper reflects tenants’ views.

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My presentation

  • Jane has outlined the main provisions in the Social Housing Green Paper in her

presentation

  • I can’t give you a definitive response from ARCH to the Green Paper at this conference

today

  • We need to consult with ARCH member councils and take their views into account
  • Also essential that we hear what tenants & residents think about the Green Paper and I’m

looking forward to hearing what you have to say in this session and others today.

  • But……I will give you an initial reaction from the ARCH Board to some of the key proposals

and ideas in the Green Paper

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Overview

Jane has taken you through the main provisions in the Green Paper. There are a number of themes which link most of the detailed proposals and the 48 specific questions posed in the Green Paper which the ARCH response will address. These are:

  • The need for more investment in the existing stock and to increase the supply of new

council and housing association homes;

  • Proposals to improve arrangements for handling residents’ complaints;
  • Proposals to introduce housing management performance indicators and publish them in

league tables, alongside an enhanced role for the Social Housing Regulator;

  • Proposals to tackle the stigma experienced by residents in social housing.
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Investing in council housing

  • The commitments made in the Green Paper to support councils to build more council

housing are very welcome.

  • In particular, the decision not to impose the planned Higher Value Asset Levy and to repeal

the relevant provisions of the Housing & Planning Act 2016 are warmly welcomed.

  • This will mean that, for the first time in many years, councils will be able to prepare longer

term Housing Revenue Account Business Plans without the threat of imposition of the Levy and the sale of so called higher value council housing and the consequent loss of vital future rental income.

  • For tenants this will mean that councils will not be forced to sell “higher value” council

housing when they become empty and such properties will continue to be available for re- let to tenants and applicants on council housing waiting lists.

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Investing in council housing

  • The proposals for reform of the ways in which councils will be able to use receipts from the

sale of council houses under the statutory Right to Buy, issued alongside the Green Paper, are also to be welcomed.

  • ….as is the recently announced increase in the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap “in

areas of high affordability pressures” by up to £1billion over the 3 years from April 2019.

But……

  • Even when combined, these measures alone may not be sufficient to create a new

generation of council housing; and

  • Although very welcome, we think are unlikely to do little more than enable councils to

move closer to achieving the target of replacing homes sold under the Right to Buy on a

  • ne-for-one basis.
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Ensuring homes are safe & decent

  • The Green Paper asks if there any changes to what constitutes a Decent Homes that the

Government should consider?

  • We say yes – but it is important that we take into account tenant views
  • The present Decent Homes Standard says little or nothing about the standards for

communal areas or neighbourhoods

  • Improvements in the energy efficiency of social housing would be welcome but will

need substantial funding. Figures from the Energy Saving Trust suggest only 55% of social rented homes currently meet EPC Band C or above.

  • We will want to respond to this question with a considered view after consultation

with our members.

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Arrangements for handling complaints

  • Some of the ideas in the Green Paper to improve arrangements for handling residents’

complaints are welcome.

  • We agree that the current use of the “Designated Person” role in the complaints procedure

is little understood and underused and does not work.

  • We believe the current 8 week wait before a tenant can refer a complaint to the Housing

Ombudsman following a final decision on the outcome from a landlords complaints system should be reduced.

  • The Green Paper asks if this should be reduced to 4 weeks? We see no reason why the

complainant should not be entitled to refer their complaint to the Ombudsman immediately

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Performance indicators & league tables

  • A strengthening of the social housing regulators role is what most tenants would expect to

see following the Grenfell tragedy and we believe it is right and proper that landlords should account to their tenants for their performance

  • ARCH has held preliminary discussions with the National Federation of Almos, The Councils

With Almos Group and HouseMark to bring forward a potential suite of performance indicators that tenants might find useful in comparing their landlords performance.

  • We have some concerns that “league tables” may oversimplify matters and not give the full

picture and look forward to further dialogue with the Housing Ministry and the Social Housing Regulator on the performance indicators proposed.

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Tackling stigma

  • We welcome the decision to abandon the idea of mandatory fixed term tenancies, leaving

this to the discretion of each local authority in consultation with their tenants.

  • The Green Paper proposals to tackle stigma seem primarily concerned with landlord

attitudes and behavior towards social housing residents and say very little about the role of

  • ther Government departments and agencies and public services all of which contribute to

varying extent to the feelings of stigma experienced by social housing residents in general and council tenants in particular.

  • The Green Paper does not seem to propose action to tackle media attitudes, which play a

major role. ARCH has supported the tenant led “Benefit to Society Campaign” (now renamed “See the Person”) and we would like to see the Government pro-actively support and fund this campaign.

  • We would have expected the Green Paper to have supported Dame Judith Hackitt’s

recommendation that Government should provide funding for organisations working at local and national level to provide advice, guidance & support on effective resident involvement & engagement

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Finally

  • The Green Paper asks whether the right balance is currently being struck between providing

grant funding for housing associations and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing for local authorities.

  • The last time the country was building anywhere near 300,000 new homes a year was in the

late 1960’s when council housing made up almost half of the total supply but it should not be a case of one arm of the social housing sector losing out against the other and overall more investment is urgently needed in social housing provided by both housing associations and councils.

  • Welcome as they are, if the government is to deliver its promise of a new generation of council

housing and potential improvements to the Decent Homes Standard, it needs to go further than a £1bn increase in HRA borrowing for councils in areas of high affordability pressures, the abandoning the Higher Value Asset Levy and introducing greater flexibilities in the use of RTB receipts

  • We would like to see the Government agree a general raising of HRA debt caps for all stock

retained councils, allowing individual authorities to set their own HRA borrowing and financing limits within the context of a long-term sustainable HRA business plan and in line with the operation of the Local Government Prudential Code.”

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Now let’s hear your views

  • n the Green Paper
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Q&A Session

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Community Champion Award…

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Nominations…

Terry Adkin - nominated by Norwich City Council Les King - nominated by Norwich City Council Graham Cridland – nominated by Crawley Borough Council Guy Pile Grey – nominated by Croydon Borough Council

And the winners are…

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WINNER Ella Webster

Nominated by Rotherham Borough Council

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WINNER The Arndale Youth Club

Nominated by Wandsworth Borough Council

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Networking lunch

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Workshop 1: Consumer redress

Emma Foxall, Deputy Ombudsman, Housing Ombudsman Service

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The Housing Ombudsman Service

Emma Foxall Deputy Ombudsman

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S51 Housing Act 1996 (amended by Localism Act 2011) and the scheme approved by the Secretary of State ►Enables the investigation of complaints against landlords by tenants ►2,368 member landlords, primarily housing associations and local housing authorities (required membership) but also some voluntary members (charities & private sector landlords) ►Complaints can be brought not just by tenants but also leaseholders, shared owners, licensees or their representatives, and applicants for housing with a member landlord. Core of our remit is the landlord and tenant function

The Housing Ombudsman Scheme

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Housing Matters: Fairness Matters Our vision

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The role of the Ombudsman

is to: ►resolve disputes involving members of the Scheme, including making awards of compensation or other remedies when appropriate, as well as to ►support effective landlord-tenant dispute resolution by

  • thers.
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Our Dispute Resolution Process

Enquiry

Local resolution Early resolution Investigation jurisdiction

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Escalation War De-escalation Violence Conflict Dispute Problem Disagreement Differences

Conflict escalation ladder

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►Be fair - treat people fairly and follow fair processes ►Put things right ►Learn from outcomes

Dispute resolution principles

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What are residents contacting the Ombudsman about?

31% 9% 27% 4% 5% 4% 4% 2% 2% 2% 5% 2% 3%

Categories of Enquiries & Complaints closed (2017-18) *

Responsive repairs Tenants Behaviour Customer Advice Moving to a Property Charges Estate Management Complaints Handling Governance Occupancy Rights Staff Property Condition Home Ownership Issues Compensation

*Complaints can have multiple categories

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Wh What do we inves estig igate?

29% 11% 4% 8% 7% 13% 2% 3% 3% 9% 4% 7% 0%

Categories of determinations (2017-18)*

Responsive repairs Tenants Behaviour Moving to a Property Charges Estate Management Complaints Handling Governance Occupancy Rights Staff Property Condition Home Ownership Issues Compensation Health & Safety

*Complaints can have multiple categories

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Outcomes

Determination

Cases

No % Maladministration 494 29% Partial Maladministration 144 8% No Maladministration 638 37% Early resolution 90 5% Redress – where a landlord ‘s actions have put right any maladministration 130 8% Withdrawn 27 2% Total determinations excluding outside jurisdiction 1,523 89% Outside jurisdiction 189 11% Total determinations 1,712 100%

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Reducing comp mplai aints

  • Understand issue from customer point of view
  • Empower staff to deliver excellent customer service and outcomes
  • Remember CAT (Communication; actions & timeliness) and DRPs (be

fair; put things right, learn from outcomes)

  • Ask for feedback and use it to develop/improve
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Key points for comp mplai aints process

  • Easy to follow
  • Allow for informal & formal responses
  • Proactive escalation
  • Written responses – audit trail of decision making
  • Reasonable timescales
  • Flexibility to deal with vulnerable residents
  • Final letter – clear, concise, stand alone – reference to Ombudsman

included.

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Contact us

Housing Ombudsman Service Telephone – 0300 111 3000 Email – info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk Follow us: @HousingOmbuds Housing Ombudsman

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Workshop 2: Benefit to Society

Leslie Channon, Non Executive Director, Tpas and Yaw Boateng, ARCH Tenants’ Group Member, Croydon

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Benefit to Society

Leslie Channon MA, CIHCM Non Executive Director, Tpas Yaw John Boateng ARCH

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Is there a problem?

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So what?

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  • 30+ organisations sponsoring the campaign
  • Steering group – tenants and staff
  • Strategy developed following tenant

discussions Aims to tackle negative stereotypes of people living in social housing

What is Benefit to Society?

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Media

  • Fair Press for Tenants Guide
  • Launched Sept 17
  • NUJ conference
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A Picture speaks a 1000 words

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A picture speaks 1000 words

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Social Media

The Films!

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Research

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Launch event

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What you can do…

  • Sign up to help!

benefittosociety.co.uk facebook.com/benefittosociety

  • Like / follow the campaign on twitter /

Facebook and share it

  • Challenge negative portrayals when

you hear them

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“Someone asked me to explain my views on racism this morning and I just sent them this picture. Pretty plain and simple ”...

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Who Lives In A House Like This?

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Can You Pick Out The Social Housing Tenant?

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  • FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE
  • BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO BE
  • CHALLENGE IT WHEN YOU HEAR/SEE IT
  • DON’T BE A SNIOP or a HIAB

“Susceptible to the Negative Influence Of other People”

  • Zig Ziglar

Heard It All Before

A Call to Action

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A Call to Action….

Parity of Esteem Parity of esteem is the principle by which mental health must be given equal priority to physical health. It was enshrined in law by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The government requires NHS England (the body which commissions primary care along with other key services) to work for parity of esteem to mental and physical health through the NHS Mandate.

There has to be ‘Parity of Esteem’ for Social Housing Tenants

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SEE THE PERSON

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The Plan

Media Landlords Politicians General public

Change the narrative

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SOCIAL HOUSING GREEN PAPER

We want to know your thoughts and ideas….

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What next?

  • New look – ‘See the Person’
  • Housing sector ?
  • Other ideas?
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Get in touch!

www.benefittosociety.co.uk Twitter: @2BenefitSociety Facebook: /BenefitToSociety

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Please make your way back to the main room

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Feedback from workshops

Stella Parkin ARCH Tenants’ Group Member Chris Gould ARCH Tenants’ Group Member

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Closing plenary: Knowing the standards expected from your council

Leona Mantle, Tenancy Services Manager, Kettering Borough Council and Martyn Lund, ARCH Tenants’ Group Member, Kettering

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Empowering Residents Tenant Involvement and the Green Paper

Martyn Lund, ARCH Tenants’ Group Leona Mantle, Tenancy Services Manager

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  • The Green Paper on Empowerment
  • How does KBC engage with tenants?
  • What will need to change in the light of the green paper?
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Empowerment and the Green Paper

  • Empowering Residents and Strengthening the Regulator
  • ‘making sure their voices are heard. This will drive better

services and ensure residents have more choice and control’

Brokenshire

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The Proposals

  • 1. Transparency on key performance indicators
  • Presented in a clear, regular and consistent format and should cover issues

such as:

  • keeping properties in good repair;
  • maintaining the safety of buildings;
  • handling of complaints;
  • engagement with residents; and,
  • neighbourhood management, including anti-social behaviour.
  • This data would be provided by landlords to the Regulator of Social

Housing who would then publish league tables of landlord performance.

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The Proposals

  • 2. Rewarding Good Performance
  • Linking league tables with financial incentives
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The Proposals

  • 3. Ensuring residents’ voices are heard
  • Genuine engagement
  • Use feedback to shape services
  • Local and national voice
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The Proposals

  • 4. Choice
  • the Government also wants to offer residents an opportunity

to exercise more choice over their day-today services

  • Stock Transfer
  • Trailblazer Projects – to test new structures
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Engagement in Kettering

Tenants Forum Tenants Overview and Scrutiny Panel Environmental Improvement Panel Tenant Representatives Estate Inspections

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Engagement in Kettering

Tenant Inspectors Editorial Panel of Newsletter Involvement in Procurement of goods and services Contract monitoring Focus Groups, Working Groups and Meet & Greet

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Involvement and Impact at Kettering

  • Introducing the Tenants Overview and

Scrutiny Panel

  • 2 scrutiny examples to share

– The set-up of the Panel – A bit about the process of the scrutiny – A summary of the recommendations and impact

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Tenants Overview and Scrutiny Panel

  • Established in 2012
  • Members recruited
  • Work with Code of Conduct and Terms of Reference
  • Tenant led
  • Lead officer: Tenancy Services Manager
  • Monthly overview and monitoring meetings
  • Scrutiny

The set-up

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Tenants Overview and Scrutiny Panel

  • Officers invited to present performance

information

  • and are asked to clarify / respond to queries
  • Receive updates on related topics

Monthly

  • verview

meetings

  • Carry out one scrutiny at a time
  • but will also be monitoring closely action plans

from previous scrutiny projects.

Scrutiny

Summary of how we work

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Scrutiny Topic The Decision

  • Overview
  • Tenants Forum
  • Officers
  • Reactive

Scrutiny Topic Agreed by Tenants Forum Chair of TOSP assigns roles and agrees workplan The Scrutiny… Research Interview Data Action Plan Monitor Assess Impact

The Scrutiny Process

Recommendations agreed by Tenants Forum The Scrutiny Process

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The Introductory Tenancy Scrutiny Process – what we did…

Desktop Review Information Review Interviewed Officers Interviewed Introductory Tenants Shadowing Mystery Shop Benchmark

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The Introductory Tenancy Scrutiny Recommendations

  • 1. Sign-ups for new tenants to be carried out in a more private area
  • 2. More Neighbourhood Manager Involvement pre-tenancy
  • 3. Applicants to have access to tenancy information before sign-up and opportunity to ask questions
  • 4. Improve joint working of officers managing Introductory Tenancies
  • 5. More effective monitoring systems to be in place
  • 6. Information on tenant involvement to be included in tenants handbook
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Our latest scrutiny…

  • The Tenants Forum approved the scrutiny of Tenant

Involvement and Communications, the main reasons being:

  • It is of fundamental importance that tenants have their say and that our

views are heard.

  • It is important that tenants are effectively and clearly communicated with

by their landlord.

  • Many areas of the Borough are currently under-represented.
  • In the latest Survey of Tenants and Residents, only 69% of respondents

felt that the Council listens to tenants and acts upon their views.

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The Process

Interviews

  • Neighbourhood

Managers

  • Tenant Engagement

Officer

  • Customer Contact

Manager

  • Senior Housing Team
  • Customer Service

Officers

  • Receptionist

Desktop Analysis

  • All information

currently provided to tenants requesting information on getting involved.

  • Tenants handbook
  • Periodic Tenancy Visit

booklet Research

  • Review of Connect
  • Plasma Screen

Content in Customer Service Centre

  • Website Review
  • Mystery Shopping
  • Focus Group
  • Good practice

research

  • Benchmarking
  • Survey of 165 tenants
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Findings and Conclusions

Frontline staff unaware of opportunities for tenant participation No easily accessible literature providing information on involvement Information difficult to find on the website Tenants did not know about the opportunities to participate Tenants felt that communication from the Council could be improved Some tenants felt they are not listened to

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SLIDE 96

Agreed Outcomes

To give basic training to all frontline staff regarding the variety of ways tenants can get involved To improve the information regarding tenant participation To make participation more attractive To improve communication to tenants from participating tenants

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SLIDE 97

Responding to the Green Paper

  • Consultation exercise with our tenants Forum

– Critical for us all to respond to the proposals

  • Prepare for Transparency in Performance Reporting

Annual Report/ TOSP reporting – league tables Enabling understanding

  • Continue with Improvements to Engagement Offer
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SLIDE 98

Martyn Lund ARCH Tenants Group, Chair of TOSP Leona Mantle Tenancy Services Manager

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SLIDE 99

Chair’s closing comments

Jenny Hill ARCH Tenants’ Group Chair

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SLIDE 100

Please leave completed feedback forms and your name badge on the tables for collection

Thank you & have a safe journey home…

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