tenant participation strategy sept 2011

Tenants leading the way toimprove Housing Services

A Strategy for Tenant Involvement 2010 – 2012

Contents

Page Number

Our Vision for tenant involvement 3

Introduction 4

Aims 5

What has tenant involvement already achieved in Tamworth 6

Why do we involve tenants and what are the benefits 7

Tenant involvement documents 8

Tenant involvement structure 9

Formal opportunities for tenant involvement 10

Informal opportunities for tenant involvement 10

How we plan tenant involvement activities 12

Our ten pledges when consulting with you 13

Equality and diversity 14

Resources for tenant involvement 15

Monitoring and measuring performance 16

Complaints 17

Getting in touch 17

The future 18

Action Plan 2010 - 2011 19

Glossary 22

Thank you 23

Tenant Participation Strategy 2010 - 2012

Our vision for tenant involvement

To put our tenants in the driving seatin making improvements to their

housing service, homes and communities.

We know that to do this as successfully as possible, it is vital that our tenants and leaseholders are atthe heart of everything we do, the decisions that we make and the plans we put in place forimproving services.

We want to work with tenants as part of our commitment to improve services and ensure that ourhousing estates are places where people choose to live now and in the future and can contribute totheir community. Our aim is to do this in partnership by speaking honestly, listening to each other’sviews and enabling tenants to influence decisions about their homes and the services they receive.

To achieve this vision, tenants and Tamworth Borough Council will:

l Share values

l Be honest and open

l Be welcoming and accessible to every customer

l Consult widely and listen to feedback

l Work together to deliver change and improvement

Tenant Participation Strategy 2010 - 20122 3

Faith ShellChair of the TenantConsultative Group

Rob BarnesDeputy Director

Housing and Health

Councillor Mary OatesPortfolio holderQuality of life


Aims

The aims of the Tenant Involvement Strategy are:

l To provide a wide range of involvement opportunities (both formal and informal) ensuringtenants are at the heart of everything that we do.

l To encourage and expand tenant involvement in all services and ensure that tenants influence theservices we deliver.

l To make sure all staff promote the widest possible level of involvement.

l To involve all sections of the community and develop ways to attract groups that are traditionallyunder-represented (such as young single people and families, disabled people and people fromblack and minority ethnic groups).

l To demonstrate our commitment to consultation and involvement by continuing to providetraining, resources and support and seek out good housing practice.

l To provide information to support, raise awareness and encourage participation and providegood quality information that enables tenants to get involved in a meaningful way.

l To provide two-way feedback between tenants and Tamworth Borough Council.

l To regularly monitor and review all tenant involvement activities in terms of costs, impact andeffectiveness.

l To involve tenants from the outset in creating and reviewing existing policies.

5Tenant Participation Strategy 2010 - 2012

Introduction

We believe that tenant involvement should be positive and active. Consulting and involving tenantsin the services we provide is at the heart of everything that we do. To be successful, tenantinvolvement relies on effective communication between tenants and Tamworth Borough Council andtheir involvement in the decision-making process. Tenants have played a key role in shaping andmonitoring housing services for many years and we acknowledge the importance of tenantinvolvement and consultation to ensure continuous improvement and tenant satisfaction.

We recognise that tenants should be able to get involved at a level that suits them and in issues theyare interested in. We want to offer tenants involvement opportunities that are convenient to themand that give them a personal as well as a collective say.

The Tenant Participation Strategy also compliments Tamworth Borough Council’s strategic priorities.These focus on working with local people and partners to make communities safer, more confidentand better places to live as well as widening housing choice, addressing housing needs and overallimproving the quality of life for the people of Tamworth.

We have looked beyond government expectations to provide greater choice, more incentives,training and development opportunities and increased flexibility in our approach to involvingtenants.

We have also developed this strategy by looking at best practise from other organisations and byinvolving our tenants in the process.

This document has been put together by the ‘Tenant Involvement Group’ the Tenant InvolvementTeam and other housing staff at Tamworth Borough Council. The Tenant Involvement Team andtenant volunteers attended a number of events to talk to tenants about how they would like to seetenant involvement develop over the next two years. This strategy has been developed based on theresponses to the questionnaires, and other forms of consultation undertaken.

4


Why do we involve tenants and what are thebenefits

Tamworth Borough Council is committed to working in partnership with tenants to ensure theyhave the opportunity to influence decisions about the way their home and area where they live aremanaged. Tenants can make a real difference to their housing service and make certain thatservices they receive achieve value for money.

There are many good reasons why tenants should be able to give their inputand have a strong voice regarding their Housing Service. These include:

l To empower tenants to have a real say in their housing service and the way it is delivered

l To achieve a more responsive and improved housing service

l To ensure that the services provided reflect peoples’ needs

l To make sure we provide high quality services

l To help make homes and neighbourhoods, better places to live free from crime and anti-socialbehaviour

l Better communication between staff and tenants

l Informed and knowledgeable tenants who have the skills and confidence to influence decisions

l Staff and tenants being more aware of each other’s perspectives and organisational andfinancial limitations

l Building mutual respect and understanding

l Increased tenant satisfaction with their home and neighbourhood

Simple changes can often make a significant difference to people’s lives. We aim to make sure thatwhen we undertake consultation with tenants about a particular topic or service, we listen to theinformation you tell us and do something about it. Where this might not be possible, for example,due to lack of funding, we will endeavour to work with tenants to look at other alternatives.


What tenant involvement has alreadyachieved in Tamworth?

Tenant involvement at Tamworth Borough Council has evolved since the launch of the last TenantParticipation Strategy produced in 2005/2006. The Council has developed pro-active involvementarrangements with its tenants, holding a series of estate based community events, fun days,telephone surveys, door-to-door surveys, mystery shopping, local consultation roadshows, interactiveworkshops and discussion groups on a variety of housing service areas.

Some of the key successes over the last 12 months include:

l Development of a more customer friendly Tenant Involvement Strategy 2010-2012

l Developed Tamworth Borough Council’s first Tenant Involvement annual impact assessment

l Produced ‘Local Offers’ as part of the new regulatory framework.

l Produced a comprehensive ‘Condensation Advice’ leaflet for tenants

l The Tenant Consultative Group Constitution was reviewed to reflect consultation on any policychange prior to a decision being made by Cabinet

l Tenant inspectors recruited and trained to audit service delivery around estate cleaning andcustomer access arrangements

l Revised service standards for Repairs and Maintenance

l Tenants gained a greater understanding of the appointment system, void (empty properties)procedures and call handling following a visit to Morrion’s depot

l Produced Landlord Services Annual Report and summary document 2009-2010

l TCG members had a direct input into the selection of the window contractor

l A number of tenant related policies were revised/approved by the TCG

l Letters across the housing service were given to TCG members to review. This contributedtowards recognition of the ‘Crystal Mark’ accreditation of housing letters.

l Recommendations put forward for the review of Landlord Services Tenancy Agreement

l Tenant Involvement web pages have been reviewed with tenants and developed to be moreinformative, up-to-date whilst advertising a wide variety of opportunities for involvement

l Development of an annual customer satisfaction calendar to undertake more regular andconsistent customer satisfaction monitoring to determine satisfaction levels and improve servicesaccordingly

l Increase on the tenant involvement database of 102 new customers through the completion of aSounding Board registration form or a ‘Young Tenants’ leaflet

l Another successful recruitment drive for Tenant Involvement

l Two ‘Wish Upon a Star’ projects were carried out which is an initiative aimed at encouraging andpromoting local community activity for tenants of Tamworth Borough Council

6

Tenant Participation Strategy 2010 - 2012 9Tenant Participation Strategy 2010 - 2012

Tenant involvement documents

Everything you need to know about getting involved:

l A guide to tenant involvement

l A guide to claiming expenses

l A guide to training

l A guide to the Wish upon a Star initiative

l A guide to equality and diversity

l A guide to confidentiality

l A guide to code of conduct

l A guide to conflict resolution

l Registration form for the Housing Sounding Board

l Tenant Involvement Impact Assessment 2010 - 2011

l A Strategy for Tenant Involvement 2010 - 2012

8

Structure for tenant involvement

Tenants Voice /NewslettersMeets every 8 weeks

Seniors UnitedMeets every 8 weeks

Performance ChambersMeets quarterly

Focus GroupsAs and when needed

ConsultationAs and when needed

Staffordshire Tenants ForumMeets every 4 weeks

Tenant Involvement GroupMeets 6 times per year

'Wish Upon a Star' At least 1 project undertaken

per year

Estate Walkabouts4 times per year

Training and developmentopportunities

Offered throughout the year

Informal

Tamworth Borough Council Website

Formal

Tenant Consultative GroupChair/ Vice-Chair/ Tenants and Leaseholders

Tenant Inspectors Meets every 4 weeks

Complaints Review PanelMeets quarterly


l Performance Chambers Performance Chambers are set up to look atperformance across housing related services. This is anopportunity for tenants to raise questions on the servicesthey receive, hold Tamworth Borough Council to accountand make suggestions for improvements.

l Focus Groups These are one off sessions designed to gatherinformation on a particular topic or service area.

l Estate Walkabouts The aim of an estate walkabout is to give residents,Tamworth Borough Council staff and partner agenciesthe chance to work together to make sure estates arebetter places for people to live now and in the future.Estate walkabouts pick up issues such as litter, carparking problems, communal areas, graffiti etc.

l Surveys Postal, telephone and face-to-face surveys are used togather views and ideas on a range of services.

l 'Tell Us' formMake a complaint, compliment or comment about a serviceTamworth Borough Council has provided. ‘Tell us’ formsare available online or from Marmion House reception

l Community Events/Open DaysCommunity events and open days are held to providemore information about the housing service, promotetenant involvement and the benefits to getting involvedall carried out in a fun and friendly environment

l Training and development opportunitiesA wide range of training sessions are offered to tenantsto enable them to increase their skills, knowledgeand understanding in their involvement of housingrelated issues.

l Database of tenant involvementThe tenant involvement database is a list of tenants andleaseholders who have specified that they would like toget involved in tenant involvement at TamworthBorough Council.

l Mystery Shopping Tenants can carry out mystery shopping exercises fromthe comfort of their own home to test whether servicesmeet the necessary standards.


Formal opportunities forinvolvement

l Tenant Consultative GroupThe Tenant Consultative Group provides a united voice fortenants and leaseholders across the borough. This groupdiscusses a range of issues and is involved in the decisionmaking process to improve housing services for all.

l Tenant Involvement GroupThe Tenant Involvement Group oversees the implementationof actions and performance targets set out in the TenantInvolvement Strategy and Action Plan.

Informal opportunities forinvolvement

l Tenants Voice / Editorial Panel This group meets on a regular basis with the tenantinvolvement team to plan, design and contribute to thequarterly edition of the tenant newsletter ‘Open House’ andLandlord Services Annual Report.

l Seniors United A forum for sheltered housing tenants to get together, shareideas and experiences and discuss issues relevant to theirneeds with the support of the tenant involvement team andindependent living managers.

l Staffordshire Tenants ForumThis group consists of tenant representatives from TamworthBorough Council, Trent and Dove (Burton upon Trent) andBromford group (Lichfield). The group shares ideas and goodpractice across Staffordshire and the Midlands in relation totenant involvement.

l Wish Upon a Star 'Wish Upon a Star' is a scheme aimed at encouraging andpromoting local community activity for residents ofTamworth Borough Council. Communities are encouragedto develop their own solutions to local issues. All tenantsand residents can submit an idea for a local communityproject in their area. The best ideas will be short listed by ajudging panel and subject to approval by the widercommunity, the project will be developed.

10

How we will plan tenant involvementactivities


Our ten pledges when consulting with you

Tamworth Borough Council’s housing service has made the following pledges when consulting withtenants and other stakeholders. We will always:

1. Be clear about our objectives for the consultation, telling people at the outset who will bemaking the final decision and when they can expect this decision to be made.

2. Provide information in plain language and, where appropriate, community languages.

3. Provide a name and contact details in case of a query.

4. Explain all the options available and outline both the positive and negative consequences ofchoosing any one of these options.

5. Encourage people to put their own ideas forward.

6. Allow people reasonable time to consider their response.

7. Listen carefully to what people have to say and keep a record of their responses.

8. Report on the responses received to the Council, Tenant Consultative Group or whoever isresponsible for making the final decision.

9. Give feedback on the final outcome within six weeks of the decision being made to all thoseinvolved in the consultation process

10. Tell people when they can expect changes to be implemented


Identifytimescales

Decide how to consultwith stakeholders

Plan meetingsand events

Examine findingsand make

recommendations

Feedback and reporton the outcomes

Identify support /training needs

Identify what information is needed

Clarify the matter to be considered

and agreeexpected outcomes

Identify the topicor issue to be

examined by tenantsor the landlordWho will represent

Tamworth Borough Council in the process?

Who will represent tenants in

the process?

l Tenant InspectorsTenant Inspectors meet with the tenant involvement team on a monthly basis to audit servicedelivery around communal estate cleaning

l Complaints Review Panel The Complaints Review Panel meets quarterly with the Tenant Involvement Manager. The panelwill not have access to any personal details but will review the number, nature, type and servicearea of all compliments, complaints and service requests received and the Panel will makesuggestions for future service delivery/improvement.

There is no blueprint for planningtenant involvement. Different wayssuit different people and theircircumstances. Approaches shouldbe flexible to suit individual needs.When agreeing the best tenantinvolvement approach for particularissues, there are a number of keysteps to consider. The flow chartbelow outlines the key stepsTamworth Borough Council willconsider when planning tenantinvolvement activities.


Resources for tenant involvement

Tamworth Borough Council is committed to providing the resources needed to support the TenantInvolvement Strategy and the involvement activities it describes.

l Specific budget and staff to lead on tenant involvement

l Invitations, posters, flyers for meetings and events

l Payment for room hire if necessary

l Financial support for initiatives and consultation material

l Training for active tenants and those wishing to become more involved

l Advice and support

l Communication material

l Reimbursement of ‘out of pocket’ expenses (e.g. transport, childcare and carer’s costs)

l Payment for specialist services (e.g. signers for British Sign Language)

Staff support will be provided by attending meetings, providing up-to-date information, guidance,advice and sharing good practice with tenants. We have a Tenant Involvement Team which willcontinue to put forward the views of tenants, co-ordinate the strategy, promote tenant involvement,develop new initiatives to involve tenants and provide support to both staff and tenant groups.Tailored training will also be developed to meet the needs of tenant representatives or groups aswell as staff to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge.


Equality and Diversity

Tamworth is made up of diverse groups and individuals of different backgrounds, abilities andinterests. Recognising diversity is the first step in delivering services that are accessible andappropriate for all.

It is important for Tamworth Borough Council to address equalities and diversity issues and tocomply with current legislation and good practice. We recognise the need to build good links withcommunities in the local area and to respond in a flexible and sensitive way to local needs andissues.

The Council has a Diversity and Equality Scheme that outlines how we will promote diversity andequality in the delivery of our services provided both directly by ourselves and in conjunction withour partners.

The Diversity and Equality Scheme is a document which sets out the Council’s commitments to embedequality and diversity across everything we do.

Taking into account UK legislation the scheme clearly addresses our duties andresponsibilities in relation to:

l Race

l Gender

l Disability

l Sexual Orientation

l Religion or Belief

l Age

During all stages of the development, delivery and review of the Tenant Involvement Strategy,equality and diversity will be at the forefront of everything we do, to ensure that all tenants have anequal opportunity to participate and have a say about their Housing Service.

14


Complaints

If tenants are not happy with the contents of this strategy or if you believe Tamworth BoroughCouncil has failed to address a significant part of tenant involvement, please contact the TenantInvolvement Team on freephone 0800 183 0454, in writing to the Tenant Involvement Team,Tamworth Borough Council, Marmion House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 7BZ oremail us at [email protected].

This strategy will continually be reviewed in line with best practice or legislation and a new actionplan will be formed annually. All tenants comments regarding this strategy will be taken intoaccount in this process.

Getting in touch


Monitoring and measuring performance

The Tenant Involvement Group consists of tenant representatives and the Tenant Involvement Team.This group has contributed to the development of the Tenant Involvement Strategy and will beresponsible for making sure the action plan is delivered. The group will meet on a regular basis toreview progress and develop the action plan further so that the Strategy continues to reflect whattenants want. The action plan will continue to encourage the creation of opportunities for greatertenant involvement.

To ensure that the actions within the Action Plan are delivered, a structured and comprehensivemonitoring and review process has been put in place.

The strategy will be monitored by:

l Review on a quarterly basis by the Tenant Involvement Group, which includes tenantrepresentatives’ and officers.

l Regular updates by the Tenant Involvement Group about the progress of the strategy will begiven to the Tenant Consultative Group and at senior management meetings

l Community estate based events/fun days will be held to assess tenant opinion / feedback aboutthe strategy and progress made

l Completing an annual impact assessment

l Seeking independent advice and review from the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) andTenant and Residents Organisations of England (TAROE)

l Key local performance indicators, otherwise know as ‘the things that will be monitored’ will bereported and updated regularly on the customer dashboard on the Council’s website.

16

Tenant Involvement Contact Details

Telephone: 01827 709448 Freephone: 0800 183 0454

Tenant Involvement Team, Tamworth Borough Council,Marmion House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 7BZ

Email: [email protected]


The future

Predicting the future can be challenging, however we are committed to continually seeking outgood housing practice and applying it to Tamworth Borough Council where possible.

We want to ensure that we consult our tenants and empower them in order that they are able toinfluence decisions. We want to ensure that we involve all sections of the community and ifsomething is missing from our tenant involvement structure we want our tenants to help us developa way to put this right

What’s next?

l Set up a Young Tenants Panel to ensure community engagement is inclusive and promotes equalopportunities in all young people. Need to explore if young people are facing barriers to theirparticipation as a ‘one size fits all’ approach to engaging people will not work

l Look at ways to engage with other groups that are traditionally less likely to engage e.g. blackand minority ethnic groups, families, disabled etc.

l Develop a number of mystery shopping exercises to effectively ‘shop’ services and test servicestandards following the Mystery Shopping/Tenant InspectorTraining undertaken in May.

l Extend methods of obtaining customer feedback andsatisfaction to include telephone surveys, focus groups,social networking sites, consultation on-line etc

l Set up a Complaints Review Panel.

l Continue to raise awareness and promote the benefits oftenant involvement through a number of different waysand as widely as possible

18

Action plan 2011 – 2012Objective Action Target date Responsibility

Produce ‘OpenHouse’, tenantsnewsletter on aquarterly basis

Produce aninformative AnnualReport to tenants

Develop andpublicise training ontopics of interestwhich will helptenants to effectivelyparticipate in tenantinvolvement

Increase membershipon the tenantinvolvementdatabase through anannual ‘RecruitmentDrive’

Promote TenantInvolvement on thewebsite

Publish four editions of ‘OpenHouse’ a year containing reportsand information on the Council’sLandlord Services, news, updatesand future plans.Mini performance supplement tobe included in the June edition of‘Open House’.Carry out an annual survey toensure customer satisfaction withthe content and usefulness of‘Open House’.Tenants to have increased editorialcontrol to ensure a customerfocused newsletter.

Produce a comprehensive report onlandlord service performance overthe year, focusing on those servicesof most interest to tenants.Publish the results againstTamworth’s ‘Local Offers’ andNational Standards.

Speak to tenant group members toidentify training needs andrequirements.Publish training available throughthe web and in the tenantsquarterly newsletter.Evaluate satisfaction andeffectiveness of training throughpost questionnaires.

Promote tenant involvement andthe benefits of tenants gettinginvolved to help shape theirhousing service.Promote opportunities forinvolvement at all housingconsultation and community basedevents/initiatives.Promote and use the database ofinvolvement.Annual report on the database oftenant involvement.

Increase communication andawareness about opportunities toget involved.Promote new initiatives andactivities.Undertake online consultationwhere appropriate.Tenant Involvement Group toreview content and accessibility toinformation annually.

March, June,September,December eachyear

June 2011/12

March 2012

October 2011

Annual

March 2012

March 2012

Ongoing

Dec 2011

Tenant Involvement Team

Tenants Voice


Tenant Involvement Group

Tenants Voice





Tenant Involvement Groups


Objective Action Target date Responsibility Objective Action Target date Responsibility

Continue to developinnovative methodsof involving tenants

Estate walkabouts

Continue to supportand develop theTenant ConsultativeGroup

Ensure that all tenantsand leaseholders (andother residents whereappropriate) receivefeedback on how wetook account of theirviews ( from bothinformal/formalprocesses) whenmaking decisions

Develop TenantInspectors andMystery Shopping totest housing services

Promote tenantinvolvement to allnew tenants

Establish new ways of involvingtenants.Consider text, social networking,explore ‘tuts and grumbles’ lineand further use of the website.Develop arm-chair involvementopportunities to increaseinvolvement without the need toattend meetings.

Develop with residents aprogramme of 4 estate walkaboutsand give feedback on outcomesthrough the web and ‘Open House’as part of the ‘You said, We did’campaign.

The TCG will:Be fully involved and consulted inservice and policy reviews and allmajor work plans at an early stage.Receive performance informationacross landlord services.Be responsible for the effectivedelivery of tenant involvement andconsultation activities, to ensurethe views of the wider tenantpopulation are represented.

Publish the outcomes ofconsultation/engagement ondecisions made about housingservices in the tenants’ quarterlynewsletter ‘Open House’, on theweb and in the reception area ofMarmion House.Publish results ofconsultation/engagement and howit has been used in service delivery.

Increase Mystery Shopper/tenantinspector uptake.Refresher training to be organisedas appropriate.Tenant Inspectors to audit servicedelivery/improvement aroundestate cleaning, void lettablestandards and customer accessarrangements.

Send out a tenant involvementintroductory letter andinvolvement leaflet to all newtenants following three monthsfrom the start of their tenancy.Record any new membership andcommunication as a result of theintroductory letter.

Ongoing

October 2011

Monthly

Monthly

Ongoing for2011/2012

March 2012

Monthly

Monthly

Ongoing



Caretaking Team

Housing Officers

Key partners/agencies asappropriate

Tenant InvolvementTeam

Housing Managers

Head of HousingOperations

Others as appropriate



Tenant Representatives

Service Managers


Hold annual estatebased events aroundthe borough

Continue to develop,promote andpublicise the ‘WishUpon a Star’ scheme

Produce an annualComplaints Reporton learning andoutcomes

Carry out an annualTenant InvolvementImpact Assessment

Continue to supportand develop currenttenant working/issuebased groups

Review TenantInvolvement StrategyAction Plan2011/2012

Undertake regularsatisfaction surveysand other targetedmethods ofestablishing tenantfeedback

Promote tenant involvement andall aspects of the housing service.Encourage tenants to get involvedwho we recognise as traditionally‘hard to reach’.

Undertake regular promotionaldrives in the local community anduse ‘Open House’ to inform peopleabout the ‘Wish Upon a Star’scheme.At least 1 community project willbe undertaken subject to approvalby the judging panel and widercommunity.

Set up a Complaints Review Panel.Meet quarterly with theComplaints Review Panel to reviewcomplaints/compliments/servicerequests and all other customerfeedback/satisfaction.

Carry out an annual ImpactAssessment of all tenantinvolvement activities/initiatives.Review effectiveness and outcomesacross landlord services.Outcomes from the ImpactAssessment to feed into the reviewof the Tenant Involvement StrategyAction Plan 2011 – 2012.

Work with groups to establishwhat support they require andwhat they would like to do andachieve.Ensure tenants are involved in allservice and policy reviews at anearly stage.Increase number andrepresentation of existing groups.

Monitor and evaluate progressagainst the Action Plan quarterly.Tenant involvement will beeffectively recorded and publicisedthrough the Landlord ServicesAnnual Report to tenants.

Develop an annual customersatisfaction calendar to undertakemore regular/consistent satisfactionmonitoring to determinesatisfaction levels and improveservices accordingly.Manage, monitor and compare andpublicise the results from the 2011status survey.

March 2012

March 2012

March 2012

August 2011

Quarterly

March 2012

April 2012

Ongoing

Quarterly

October 2011

April 2011

March 2012


Tenant groups

Caretaking Team

Estate Management Team


Housing Officers

Morrison’s

Others as appropriate




Tenant Consultative Group





Service Managers/Teams

Tenant Involvement Groups


TPAS TPAS (Tenant Participatory Advisory Service) is the leading nationaltenant participation organisation working to promote tenantempowerment.

Tenant Services Authority The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) is the new independentregulator for affordable housing in England.

Thank you

Thank you to the Tenant Involvement Working Group and all the tenant and leaseholder volunteerswho have given us their views about getting involved in tenant involvement at Tamworth BoroughCouncil. Without your help this document would not have been produced.


Glossary

Action Plan Summary of action to be taken – should be SMART – specific,measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-bound

Best Practice looks for examples of positive practice and innovation, creativeways of overcoming barriers and resistance to change, and ways ofmaking better use of resources

Impact Assessment An Impact Assessment will measure and evaluate the effect tenantinvolvement has had and the difference it has make to servicesprovided by the Council. The report will identify what has changedas a result of customers getting involved

Key Lines of Enquiry Also known as KLOEs – the Audit Commission publishes sets ofquestions and statements about services to help them judge theeffectiveness and efficiency of housing (and other public) services

Leaseholder An individual(s) who has purchased the lease of a former councildwelling (usually a flat)

Mystery shopping A method of testing the quality of services whereby an individual(for example, an existing customer, or an independent person) willask for information, or test out the process of reporting a repair orvisit estates to examine caretaking standards – to see how wellservices are being delivered

'Open House' Newsletter published by Housing Services together with an EditorialPanel of tenants - distributed to all tenants

Performance Plan Document outlining performance standards to be achieved by theCouncil (published annually)

Performance Dashboard The Customer performance dashboard is where tenants can viewhousing service performance on Repairs, Rents, Housing Advice,Supported Housing, Tenant Participation and Empty PropertyManagement. The dashboard can be monitored on-line onTamworth Borough Council’s website

Service Standards Tamworth Borough Council aims to provide services that are of ahigh quality, represent value for money and are tailored to meetour customers’ needs

Sheltered Housing Housing provided specifically for those with special needs becauseof age or disability

Stakeholder Individual or organisation with an interest in a particular service(e.g. tenants, contractors, staff, councillors)

TAROE TAROE (Tenants’ and Residents’ organisations of England) is amembership organisation representing the interests of over 4million tenants, strengthening the collective voice of tenants acrossEngland

'Tell Us’ If you would like to give the Council feedback or make a commentor complaint about Council services then you can complete a ‘Tellus’ form. This can be completed either on-line or by requesting aform from Marmion House reception

Tenant Involvement Strategy Agreement between the Council and its tenants describing howtenants will be involved in the decision-making processes affectingthe delivery of the housing service

22

If you would like this document in a different language or format, for example

audio cassette, large print or Braille, please contact the Tenant Involvement team

Tenant Involvement Contact Details

Telephone: 01827 709448

Freephone: 0800 183 0454

Tenant Involvement Team, Tamworth Borough Council

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

Email: [email protected]

Designed and produced by Tamworth Borough Council (09/11)1179

tenant participation strategy sept 2011

Documents

tenant involvement strategy

tenant involvement activities

tenant involvement structure

tenant involvement documents

tenant involvementto

tenants influence theservices

disabled people

people fromblack