Scrutiny Lounge Leicester 29th May 2014

Scrutiny panel members attended the Scrutiny Lounge from the following organisations:

NCHA Accent Nene Jephson Housing Association

Circle Housing Roddons Waterloo Housing Group Leicester City Council

Orbit Heart of England

The Scrutiny Lounge started with an exercise which asked members to look at a number of scrutiny questions/areas listed on cards around the room. Members then voted on the areas of scrutiny they would like to discuss. For each issue, a group wide discussion was held to explore and capture key issues in depth. A summary of the key discussion points is outlined below:

1. How does your Panel publicise recommendations to the wider tenant base?Members suggested that they used the following techniques: Reports on web sites; presentations to other tenant groups; items in tenants’ newsletters. However others stated that they didn’t really feedback and there wasn’t enough done to publicise their recommendations. One Panel had been told it was too expensive to give them their own web page.

TIPS

Tenant Annual Reports should include a section on scrutiny Scrutiny Panels should be given their own web page Should include regular features in tenants newsletters Social media can be a good way of getting scrutiny news out there Talk to other Scrutiny groups- see what they do!

2. Who should set the budget and agree it with the board?Quite a few Panels said they had no designated budget but if they asked the generally got! A lively debate took place as to whether this approach can be relied on particularly if the Panel is seen to be “challenging” too much. It was also felt that if a budget was going to be set this should be done by panel members and officers working together. One panel had an agreed budget of 16k. It was suggested that often Panels that manage their own finances are more cost effective because they work harder to secure value for money.

TIPS Panels should seek to obtain a designated budget for scrutiny as it asserts

independence and protects the Panel over the longer term. Panels should draw up a budget with officers and identify relevant cost headings

3. Do you have any issues with membership recruitment?Many panel members reported that attracting new members could be a challenge particularly the younger tenants. One group explained how they had used targeted texting to recruit younger tenants. This had been a huge success and a number of new members under 30 had come forward to join the Panel. Other said that they had put posters up on estates while others had relied on word of mouth or officers promoting the Panel to tenants while out and about. One group reported that they were not able to recruit and the moment due to an organisational review and this was very frustrating as they were struggling to obtain a quorum. The question was asked about the number of scrutiny panel meetings held per year. This varied from 6 per year to 24.

4. Should members of a Scrutiny Panel be paid?On the whole tenants were not in favour of this as it was felt it may attract the wrong kind of tenant who was only there for the money. However having heard that some Associations particularly in the South of England struggled to attract members, there was more understanding as to why payment might be necessary. However many felt that vouchers rather than cash was a more appropriate way to recognise the hard work and commitment of Panel members. One group were paid £250 in vouchers per year. Concerns were also raised as to how payment might affect benefits. The understanding was that you could earn up to £15 per week if wholly on benefits, before it would be affected.

5. Are there any issues with commitment on the Scrutiny Panels?

Examples of where some members had been difficult were shared. These ranged from people who had joined to just air personal grievances and gripes, to those who were simply not able to work in a team. A good code of conduct was felt to be important when dealing with disruptive members. It was suggested that reviewing the Panel regular to check how it was doing and to pick up on any team issues was important, as was the right recruitment process which made clear what time and commitment was required so potential members knew what to expect. It was also acknowledged that some people were as committed as they could be and that people who were unable to attend meetings because they were “housebound” should be encouraged to get involved through alternative methods. Virtual scruntineers or armchair scruntineers were discussed as possible methods.