Tamworth's 'Local Offers'Our customer promise to you

Landlord Services

“Every tenant matters” (mission statement 2012)

We have tough processes in place which looks at our financial viability and regulations.

We also work closely with the Tenant Consultative Group (TCG) and ensure we consult with them onany policy change, prior to a decision being made by the borough Council’s Cabinet.

In addition to this, a group will meet every three months to look at important areas. This will alsoinclude representatives from our active tenant database, independent critical friends along withnominated representatives from the council’s scrutiny committee.

The reason we do this? It helps us to continue to improve and develop our services. The QuarterlyLandlord Services Project Board, which is chaired by the Portfolio Holder for Quality of Life, alsogives you every opportunity to scrutinise performance and raise questions.

This is also supported by an external and independent critical friend who advises the group. Thisensures services are provided in the best way possible. There is also a wide range of informalopportunities for tenants and leaseholders to be involved in housing management.

National standardsThe new standards simplify how social housing isregulated. The six clear standards are focused onresults, rather than the way things are done.

We have worked with you to come up with thewording to make sure we deliver our services in theway that you want them.

l Tenant empowerment

l Home

l Tenancy

l Neighbourhood and community

l Value for money

l Governance and financial viability*

*This does not apply to local authorities

'Local offers'We want to provide you with the best possible service. We hope that you have taken thisopportunity to have your say.

As a result, we have developed ‘local offers’ - our customer promise to you. These have been inresponse to you telling us what is important and us making a commitment to deliver these promisesto an agreed standard.

Over the past 12 months, more than 800 tenants took part, which helps us to make sure we knowwhat you want to see in our promises to you.

A number of events were held across the borough, targeting the community hubs – or ARCHes - inBelgrave, Amington, Stoneydelph and Glascote Heath.

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Performance Chamber (Tripartite RegulationDiary informed by tenants/scrutiny)

Cabinet

Landlord Project Board/HRA & BusinessPlanning Project Board(s)

Staffordshire Tenants Forum sharedideas and best Practice across Midlands

Tenant Consultative Group (Umbrellagroup with a report from below)

Tenant Involvement Group (Scrutiny Panel)

Seniors United Tenants Voice

Introduction

By working closely with our tenants, we have developed a number of ‘customer promises’.

These promises – or ‘Local Offers’ – set out how we will work with you. It means we candeliver and tailor our services, in line with what you have told us is important.

We have a number of national standards we have to meet, which are set out by theregulator Tenant Services Authority. The TSA is an independent national organisationwhich aims to ensure access to good quality housing, while improving standards.

Our ‘Local offers’ will help us to become more flexible, while addressing local issues in away to suit you. We will measure how we perform against these standards and let youknow. This means that you can see how well we are doing.

We are aiming to make sure our promises to you exceed the TSA’s National Standards by 2011.

‘Working together’

Tamworth Landlord Services shall support co-regulation with their tenants.

In simple terms ‘co-regulation’ means working together. Instead of being inspected every three yearsby the regulator, we now regulate ourselves with the help of tenants and others such as otherhousing providers. Tenant scrutiny and short notice inspections will help us to identify where we needto improve.

The structure below shows what arrangements are in place for you to get involved, influence andscrutinise our policy and services.

Surveys were also posted to everyone on our involvement database and our young tenant database.We also advertised online.

Further consultation was done in the reception area of Marmion House, on Tamworth market,through the formal tenant involvement groups, across the sheltered housing schemes and in ourquarterly newsletter, ‘Open House’.

The overwhelming message was that local should mean ‘borough level’, while standards should bethe same in all areas. You also told us there should be some priority projects in Belgrave, Amington,Stoneydelph and Glascote Heath.

You told us we needed to respond to people’s different needs and we should tailor services ratherthan tailor our areas. Recognising that more than 40% of our tenants are over 60 years old has ledus to develop a ‘golden ticket’ for the repairs service. Sheltered tenants will receive an enhancedrepairs service if they are over 75 years old and in receipt of disability benefits

Priority projects for the four locality areas

Involvement and empowerment We will:

l complete an Annual Impact Assessment ofall tenant involvement activities

l undertake an annual review of the TenantParticipation Strategy action plan

l keep a register of tenants who want to beinvolved and the ways in which they wishto do so

l give information to all new tenants onhow they can become involved withhousing issues

l regularly communicate how involvementand empowerment is influencing servicesthrough ‘Open House’ and the website.

l continue to provide both a formal andinformal framework that sets out a widerange of opportunities on how tenants canget involved in the management of theirhomes

Customer service and choice We will:

l provide information in a range of formats

l see customers within 15 minutes of arrivalat Marmion House

l offer a private room to discuss confidentialissues

Equalities and Diversity We will:

l treat you with respect and courtesy

l give you enough information to enableyou to make informed choices

l not discriminate unlawfully against anyone

l assist customers when completing forms orwhen receiving information from staffwhose first language is not English

Understanding and responding to the diverse needs of tenants We will:

l continue to collect and analyseinformation about our current and futurecustomers through our ‘Getting to knowyou’ form

l seek to involve a diverse range ofcustomers to ensure that tenants who donot engage with us reflect the diversity ofthe communities in which we work

ComplaintsWe will:

l accept complaints in a way which suits youbest; e.g. in person, in writing, by phone,by email or by using the online complaintform ’Tell us’

l respond to complaints within 21 days

l learn from complaints and reportoutcomes through ‘Open House’, on theweb and through our formal tenantinvolvement groups

Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard

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Tamworth's 'local offers'

AmingtonContribute to proposals to

regenerate the Kerria Centre

Develop partnership working withother registered providers managing

private rented stock in Amington

BelgraveReview garage sites and agree future

options

Develop a local lettings plan forTinkers Green and contribute to the

wider regeneration of that area

Promote welfare benefit take-up andreduce illegal lending

GlascotePromote welfare benefit take-up and

reduce illegal lending

Review garage sites and agree futureoptions

StonydelphDevelop local lettings and support

arrangements for Eringden

Offer housing surgeries at the localhub to offer advice and support on

issues concerning anti-social behaviour

Identify options to improveenvironmental and car parking issues

Home Standard Tenancy Standard

Repairs and maintenanceWe will:

l provide a 24-hour, 365 day emergencyrepair service and respond to all emergencyrepairs within 24 hours

l respond to all urgent repairs within 6working days and routine repairs within 26working days

l Make a morning or afternoonappointment for completion of urgent androutine repairs and complete 90% of jobswith an appointment

l aim to complete all repairs as a singlecontinuous task

l complete 90% of jobs right first time

l consult with tenants on the introduction ofa handyperson service during 2011/2012

l undertake an annual service and inspectionof all landlord owned gas appliances

l ensure that all health and safety works arefully completed and the property meetsour lettable standard when you move intocouncil accommodation

l continue to improve repairs satisfactionwith response and planned works andproduce the results through ‘Open House’and on the website

Quality of accommodationWe will:

l advertise our capital investment plansannually, publishing how we are meetingour Decent Homes Standard

l continue to survey our homes on anongoing basis and plan our investment toensure that we meet the Decent HomeStandard as a minimum in the future

AdaptationsWe will:

l provide an assessment through a homevisit for major adaptations

l notify you in writing of our decision on ourpriority waiting list

l discuss your housing options in relation toyour disability

l ensure all work is carried out to a goodstandard

l ensure your assessment is carried out by anoccupational therapist within 21 days

l ensure all minor adaptations are carriedout within 26 days of the referral beingreceived

AllocationsWe will:

l provide a choice based lettings service‘Finding a Home’ including all registeredand social landlords to maximise housingoptions

l provide online help, guidance and supportin accessing the ‘Finding a Home’ website

l provide assistance to vulnerable people byensuring our information is accessible,assist in completing application forms andplacing expressions of interest on yourbehalf

l advertise homes weekly on the website, inMarmion House reception and at otherlocal places

l contact you within 4 working days of theadvertisement being closed if you aresuccessful

l publish information about the homes thatwe let, including the band that thesuccessful applicant was in and how longthey had waited

l undertake and publish an independentannual impact statement on lettings

l publish an annual lettings plan that looksat empty property turnaround anddevelops local lettings plans to ensurecommunity cohesion and stability

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TenureWe will:

l support tenants as far as possible to helpthem sustain their tenancy and avoid rentarrears and evictions

l aim for no more than 5% of our tenanciesto fail within the first 12 months. Wherethey do fail we will analyse data tounderstand the reasons why and adapt ourservices to meet identified needs

l provide supported housing for at least 15(tenancies) for up to 2 years

l carry out 100% of new tenancy visitswithin the first 6 weeks

Rent We will:

l provide you with a variety of ways on howand where to pay your rent

l notify you in writing at least four weeksahead of any rent increase

l ensure all new tenants receive an accuratewelfare benefits check at the start of theirtenancy and advice on debt managementwhere appropriate

l contact tenants who fall in to arrearswithin seven working days and ensure thatevery effort is made to assist you beforethe debt becomes unmanageable

l ensure we visit you within six weeks of thestart of your tenancy to establish if youhave any problems, including rentpayments

l signpost customers to other agencies thatcan maximise their income, whether theyare in arrears or not

l provide advice and assistance on debtmanagement

l provide you with a rent statement on aquarterly basis and send out copies uponrequest

l recover all debts using a variety of recoverymethods including payment arrangements,deductions from income and pursuing legalaction to repossess homes

Tenancy Standard (continued) Neighbourhood and Community Standard

Neighbourhood and EstatemanagementWe will:

l carry out 3 annual estate inspections

l carry out 4 annual estate walkabouts withpartners and publish ‘you said, we did’outcomes

l remove 100% of offensive graffiti within48 hours

l remove 100% of fly tipping on housingland within 3 days after investigation

l carry out 2 surveys a year to determinecustomer satisfaction with internalcommunal cleaning achieving at least 80%satisfaction

l recruit tenant inspectors to audit areas inaccordance with the cleaning servicestandards already published and agreed byour tenants

Local area co-operationWe will:

l work in partnership with local agenciesand, where appropriate, invite them tomeet with customers so we work togetherto deal with social, environmental andeconomic issues in the areas where weprovide housing

l review each year the outcomes we haveachieved through local area co-operationand its value for money

Anti-social behaviourWe will:

l acknowledge all ASB reports within 24hours

l agree a customer action plan within 10working days

l arrange a mutually acceptable time forinterview with a complainant, within 10working days

l contact you within one working day forserious allegations such as hate crimes orphysical assault

l keep in contact with the complainant onan individually agreed basis

l keep the identity of victims/witnessesconfidential when requested

l work with the Police, Tamworth BoroughCouncil Community Safety Team and othersupport agencies to reduce nuisance withinthe borough

l offer a range of solutions to help solveyour complaint (eg. advice and support,mediation or legal action)

l be accredited with the Respect Standard2012/13 reflecting our commitment topreventing, enforcing and educatingagainst anti-social behaviour

l offer and publicise surgeries in the ARCHesto discuss solutions to anti-social behaviour

l support the corporate community safetyhub to offer an integrated approach toresolving anti-social behaviour issues

l carry out an annual telephone satisfactionsurvey achieving at least 80% satisfaction

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Value for moneyWe will:

l provide an annual account and value formoney summary showing how tenants havebenefited from investment decisionsthroughout the year

l look at ways of improving how we work withour suppliers so we achieve greater value formoney for the benefits of our tenants

l introduce service charges by 2012 to maximiseresources available to the rest of our tenants

l produce an annual customer satisfactioncalendar and produce the results from allsurveys through ‘Open House’ and thewebsite

Tenant Participation Team

Call: 0800 183 0454

Email: tenantparticipation@tamworth.gov.uk

Write to: Tenant Participation, Tamworth Borough Council,Marmion House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 7BZ

From April 2011 we will:

l Publish our performance against the ‘local offers’ through the LandlordServices Annual Report

l Publish the results from all customer satisfaction surveys for services weprovide through our tenant involvement groups, in Open House and onthe website

l Publish how we have used customer information we gather to improveservices, increase customer satisfaction and increase the opportunitiesavailable to customers to have their say

l Keep you informed about performance through articles in ‘Open House’and by making reports and action plans available on our website and onrequest from your Tenant Participation Team

l Continue to develop and advertise the customerdashboard, where tenants have selectedperformance they would most like to see inhousing

l Publish performance and related outcomesthrough a programme of customer auditswhich will be determined by the scrutiny panel

l Ensure performance is scrutinised by ourestablished tenant groups who will monitorthe progress of all the ‘local offers’. TheScrutiny Panel will independently assesswhether we are meeting the commitments wehave made

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Tamworth’s ‘local offers’

Involving you

The new regulation requires us to work withtenants. We already do this through our tenantinvolvement groups, Tenant Consultative Group,through surveys, Open House and the web. Wewill continue to review and develop new ways ofworking together to make sure we reach asmany customers as possible. We also respond tothe diverse needs of our tenants by organisingestate-based events and going out to theARCHes around the borough.

If you would like more information aboutanything in this document or would like to knowhow you can get involved please contact us.

Contact us

How we will monitor

Designed and produced byTamworth Borough Council,

Marmion House, Lichfield Street,Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 7BZ

www.tamworth.gov.uk

If you would like this document in a different language or format,for example audio cassette, large print or Braille, please contact

the Tenant Participation team on 0800 1830454.