Mid Devon District Council

Tenant Involvement Strategy

Policy Number: HSG{number}

{HSG – Housing & Property Services}

April 2018

Version Control Sheet

Title: Tenant Involvement Strategy

Purpose: To set out the Council’s plan for increasing tenant involvement to ensure that service delivery meets the needs of tenants and leaseholders, and to support them in making a difference to the quality of service provided

Owner: Group Manager for Housing Services, Claire Fry

cfry@middevon.gov.uk

Telephone number 01884 234920

Date: April 2018

Version Number: 5

Status: Draft

Review Frequency: Every 4 years or sooner if required and in accordance with legislation and/ or the regulatory framework for social housing

Next review date: April 2022

Consultation This document was sent out for consultation to the following:

Management Team

Cabinet Member for Housing

The Tenants Together Housing Scrutiny Group

Document History

This document obtained the following approvals.

Title	Date	Version Approved
Director of Operations	10 April 2018
Leadership Team
Tenants Together
Homes PDG*
Cabinet*

*- Delete if not applicable

Introduction

This new strategy for 2018-2022 builds on previous tenant involvement strategies.

The purpose of tenant involvement is to identify the priorities of our tenants and this includes leaseholders. The Housing Service is committed to listening to tenant’s views and to ensuring that tenants are able to advise on future service delivery by scrutinising performance and identifying areas for improvement. During 2014, we surveyed tenants asking them how they wanted to engage with us. A further consultation is planned with a view to identifying any issues or themes which may require further investigation.

The main aims and objectives of our strategy are to make sure that tenants:

Can contribute to the debate about how we use the resources available to us in such a way as to deliver services appropriate to their needs

Have opportunities to identify issues relating to service delivery and to advise on service improvement

Feel that they have been listened to and their views considered

Have confidence in the Housing Service and are satisfied with the service which they receive

Scope

This policy applies to all those with an interest in the Housing Service:

Elected members

Tenants, residents and leaseholders of Mid Devon

Mid Devon District Council employees

Organisations working in the community and voluntary sector

Partners and other stakeholders

Related Documents

The Tenant Involvement & Empowerment Standard in the regulatory framework for social housing

The Housing Act 1985

The Council’s suite of tenancy agreements

The Tenant Involvement Policy

The Statutory & Regulatory Framework

The Regulatory Framework for Social Housing operated by the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) contains a National Standard relating to Tenant Involvement and Empowerment. This contains certain expectations and, as a result, registered providers of social housing (RPs) must:

Tailor our services to meet the needs of our tenants

Treat all tenants with respect and fairness

Ensure tenants are given opportunities to be involved in shaping services to reflect local priorities

Give tenants opportunities to identify areas for improvement and delivery

Offer training and support to tenants to help them develop their skills and capacity so that they can make a meaningful contribution

Meaningful Involvement

Our approach is to encourage as many tenants as possible to have their say, to become engaged and to participate in the running of the Housing Service. However, we acknowledge that it is necessary to support involvement activities by working to maximise participation and accountability. We accept that the extent to which tenants wish to get involved will be affected by many factors and, for this reason, a menu of involvement options is used to ensure that they can get involved to the extent and in the way that suits them best.

Tenant involvement can be described as how the Housing Service engages with tenants and other residents, including leaseholders, across the District. That may be through both formal and informal routes, to provide information and to receive feedback on our services. It is to engage tenants in our activities from a strategic level through to a neighbourhood level.

The Housing Service needs to reach as many tenants as possible. To this end, we will promote opportunities for tenant involvement using a variety of media channels, including print, social media, and the web. We will also use our customer knowledge to understand the preferred channels of engagement. We recognise that the way in which people wish to use new technologies, where possible, to increase access to information, and to receive feedback, ideas and information. This will include, but is not limited to, the use of the web, social media, mobile apps, email lists and text SMS.

Menu of Involvement

The menu of involvement for 2018-2022 is set out below, and more detailed information about delivery is contained in Appendix A and B of this strategy.

6.2	Staying Informed

Website

Facebook, Twitter, electronic email and any other forms of social media

Service Business Plan and Performance Information

Annual Report

Letters to individual tenants about their tenancy and work to their home

Housing News 4U

Being Consulted

Facebook, Twitter, electronic email and any other forms of social media

Surveys and web polls

Email group

Neighbourhood Walkabouts

Estate Representatives

Tenants and Residents Groups

Neighbourhood Based events

Participating in Decision Making

Tenants Together (TT)

Attending the Homes Policy Development Group (PDG) meetings

Attending the Housing Performance & Improvement Board meetings

Facebook, Twitter, electronic email and any other forms of social media

Tenants inspectors for Voids

Tenant Inspectors for Planned Maintenance

Short-term Focus/ Working Groups

Editorial Group

Local Tenants and Residents Groups

Scrutiny Arrangements

The Regulatory Framework encourages landlords and tenants to work together to improve the levels of service delivered. We are committed to offering opportunities for tenants to scrutinise the work of the Housing Service and have a well-established scrutiny group, known as Tenants Together. This group’s role is to:

Monitor and check performance

Challenge and improve services

Ensure the Housing Service runs the business well and that it meets the needs of its tenants

Training

We recognise the need for targeted training and development opportunities for tenants and staff. We give new staff a briefing about tenant involvement as part of the induction process. We also encourage and support tenants to access training activities. This enables our tenant representatives to have an understanding of current housing issues. Training has been focused on individuals but group training is also available, if a need is identified.

Increasing Involvement

The Council appreciates that there may be barriers which may limit the involvement of tenants. These may include transport issues or caring responsibilities. In order to encourage greater involvement, the Housing Service operates an expenses scheme in relation to any out of pocket expenses for travel and other reasonable costs. The aim of this scheme is to enable tenants to attend events and to participate in activities, appropriate to their role. The Housing Service has an obligation to deliver value for money and, for this reason, expenditure will be monitored to ensure that only the cost of legitimate expenses is covered.

Supporting Involvement

Any tenant who is interested in working with the Housing Service should seek more information; there is a dedicated email address, tenantinvolvement@middevon.gov.uk or they can telephone the Lead Officer using 01884 255255.

Those engaged in involvement activity will be asked to sign a Code of Conduct.

Those tenants working as part of our Tenants Together Scrutiny Group will be bound by clear guidelines which have been agreed by the Group. This includes the Code of Conduct and terms of reference.

Conclusion

10.1	Performance relating to tenant involvement will be monitored by the Housing Performance & Improvement Board and by the Tenants Together Group. This strategy will be reviewed in 2022.