TENANTS HOUSING SCRUTINY PANEL

MILTON KEYNES COUNCIL

TERMS OF REFERENCE

PURPOSE

To work on behalf of Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared owners to improve the Milton Keynes Council Housing service by being an independent, challenging and critical friend.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

  1. To enable and empower the voices and concerns of Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared owners.
  1. To hold Milton Keynes Council to account where performance fails to meettherecognised standards.
  1. Scrutinise service delivery and performance of all elements of the Milton Keynes Council Housing service, although the main focus will be the landlord service.
  1. To take an unbiased view and when needed challenge Milton Keynes Council Housing services.
  1. To make recommendations on how the housing services can/should be improved.
  1. Inform all Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared ownersof what the scrutiny panelis about and encourage more involvement.
  1. Report to all Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared owners on a regular basis in MK@Home, via the Milton Keynes Council Housing services website, open meetings and other appropriate events.

ACHIEVEMENTS

  1. To help drive improvement of the Milton Keynes Council Housing service so that it meets the needs of Milton Keynes Counciltenants, leaseholders and shared owners.
  1. To help improve delivery, efficiency, effectiveness and value for money of the Milton Keynes Council Housing service.
  1. To improve tenant satisfaction with the Milton Keynes Council Housing service.
  1. To help develop better communication and increase tenant involvement with the Milton Keynes Housing Council service.

ACCOUNTABILITY AND POWERS

  1. The Tenant Housing Scrutiny Panel (THSP), herein after called “the Scrutiny Panel” shall form a panel managed by and made up of Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared owners.
  1. “The Scrutiny Panel” shall have the power to:
  2. invitea Milton Keynes Counciltenant, leaseholder or shared owner to fill any vacancy in the panel which may occur,
  3. invite a Milton Keynes Counciltenant, leaseholder or shared owner to sit on a specific scrutiny review(s) due to their skills, knowledge or expertise,
  4. invite a Councillor, Milton Keynes Council Officer and/or a external representative, when necessary, to a meeting or scrutiny review to help or answer questions. Their presence at any meeting or scrutiny review will be a non voting presence.
  5. invite aexternal representative or Milton Keynes Council Officer to provide guidance, expertise or advice as and when “the Scrutiny Panel” or scrutiny review needs. Their presence at any meeting or scrutiny review will be a non voting presence.
  1. All Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders or shared owners sitting on the panel or invitedto take part in a specific scrutiny review shall agree to and sign the Terms of Reference including the Code of Conduct and Data Protection Annexes.
  1. Any Councillor, Milton Keynes Council Officer or external representative invited to help “the Scrutiny Panel” or help with a specific scrutiny review shall sign the Code of Conduct and Data Protection Annexes.
  1. “The Scrutiny Panel” will make decisions by consensus and if not, by a vote. Each member will have one vote. There will be no casting vote. If a decision can not be reached this will be noted and reflected in the relevant documentation.
  1. Milton Keynes Council shall provide “the Scrutiny Panel” with all information and data records relevant to a particular scrutiny review. This could include reviews, strategies, performance information, satisfaction information, complaints, improvement plans, external assessments etc. Information shall be provided within an agreed and reasonable timescale and in appropriate formats.
  1. “The Scrutiny Panel” shall develop an initial programme of scrutiny review workand shall review this each subsequent year. The priority areas shall be decided using feedback from all available information including:
  • Performance indicators
  • Performance reports
  • Policies and procedures linked to specific scrutiny review
  • Satisfaction surveys of services and tenant feedback
  • Requests from other tenant groups/panels reviewing housing services
  • Requests from a group of tenants or from other groups
  • Requests from the Housing Service Management
  • Complaints trends and analysis
  • Annual Audit Programme
  • Financial information, where appropriate
  1. All requests shall be submitted on a “Request for Scrutiny Review” form and “the Scrutiny Panel” shall respond to the originator of the request within 28 days of receipt to confirm if the request has been accepted or if not, what other actions can be taken.
  1. “The Scrutiny Panel” can either elect to carry out the review or set up a sub panel and invite relevant Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders, shared owners, councillors and external representatives to carry out this review. The selected review panel shall prepare a purpose/outcome for each scrutiny review undertaken.
  1. The review panel shall draft an initial report providing written evidence based recommendations and timescales. This shall firstly be submitted to the whole “Scrutiny Panel” for approval prior to being submitted to the Assistant Director of Housing. If the scrutiny review was carried out as a result of a request form, the originator of the request shall be informed of the initial findings for the opportunity to comment prior to submission.
  1. The final report with comments of actions and timescales agreed with the Assistant Director of Housing shall be provided to the Tenants Performance Group and then presented at the next available Milton Keynes Council Tenants Group. It shall also be made available to all Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared owners via various media methods and also via the Housing web pages on the Milton Keynes Council website.
  1. In the event that “the Scrutiny Panel” is dissatisfied with the response from the Assistant Director of Housing, “the Scrutiny Panel” can set out its concerns to the councillor with the portfolio for Housing and Community, the Housing and Communities Select committee (Council Scrutiny), Milton Keynes Cabinet committee and can also discuss with the Council’s Internal Auditors.
  1. “The Scrutiny Panel” shall have its own webpage on the Milton Keynes Council Housing webpages and shall publish its annual programme of work, all of its reports and actions for improvements to ensure transparency.
  1. “The Scrutiny Panel” shall produce an end of year annual report of activity undertaken, showing recommendations and actions taken by the Assistant Director of Housing. This can be used to feed into the Annual report Milton Keynes Council Housing service has to publish by 1 October each year.
  1. “The Scrutiny Panel” shall review its Terms of Reference document annually, consulting with the wider tenant population to ensure it is still meeting all Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared owners needs and requirements, remains open and transparent, is meeting its remit, is accountable and continues to keep up to date with new legislation.

MEMBERSHIP AND CHAIRMANSHIP

  1. Membership of “the scrutiny panel” will be open solely to all Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared owners.
  1. Membership of “the Scrutiny Panel” shall be open to all Milton Keynes Council tenants, leaseholders and shared owners who are:
  • Not in breach of their tenancy agreement.Examples of types of breaches includes:
  • Leaseholders who have a money judgement against them, an application for forfeiture of lease or a determination by a Leaseholder Valuation Tribunal for breach of lease or for service charge arrears or major works arrears
  • Leaseholders who are in dispute regarding service charges and major works charges
  • Be the subject of a Court Order for possession of their tenancy
  • Be the subject of any current Court Order relating to Anti Social Behaviour
  • Have been evicted from any housing tenancy in the last five years due to their own actions
  • Not a Councillor of any Local Authority
  • Have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of six months or more (including a suspended sentence) without the option of a fine, during the three years before the day of appointment.
  1. The Panel should be made up of at least 75% council tenants (with a secure tenancy). There will be one place allocated to a Milton Keynes Council Leaseholder, one place to a Milton Keynes Council Shared Owner and one place to a Milton Keynes Council Sheltered Housing tenant.
  1. Should any of the items under clause two above comeinto effect, the tenant, leaseholder or shared owner shall automatically cease to be a member of this panel.
  1. Should a tenant, leaseholder or shared owner cease to be a tenant, they shall automatically cease to be a member of this panel.
  1. Members shall be unbiased in all their dealings as part of “the Scrutiny Panel” or as part of a specific scrutiny review.
  1. The Chair and the Vice Chair of “the Scrutiny Panelshall be a Milton Keynes tenant, leaseholder or shared owner. Refer to Roles and Responsibilities – Chair and Vice Chair (separate document).
  1. The Chair and Vice chair shall be reviewed every three yearsand will be selected by “the Scrutiny Panel”.
  1. Members of “the Scrutiny Panel” shall serve for three years. At the end of the first three year period, a third of the membership shall be asked to stand down by lottery. Each subsequent year after, one third shall be asked to stand down by lottery. These members can reapply and shall be reconsidered alongside other suitable applicants through the selection and interview process.
  1. If a member wants to step down, they shall be required to put this in writing giving one months notice.
  1. Members must attend a minimum number of eight meetings per year which includes any specific scrutiny review work. If a member is unable to maintain this workload, the Chair shall discuss what action may need to be taken including the possibility of the member standing down.
  1. All members shall be required to undertake induction training and any training and development needs assessed to enable them to carry out their role as a member of “the Scrutiny Panel”.

QUORUM

  1. A maximum of twelve places shall be available for membership.
  1. The quorum for a meeting shall be a minimum of four. If less, decisions will be noted and forwarded for approval at the next meeting with a full quorum.
  1. If there is no Chair or Vice Chair at a meeting, one shall be elected by “the Scrutiny Panel” for the duration of the meeting.

FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS

  1. “The Scrutiny Panel” shall meet monthly or as required and shall hold a minimum of ten meetings a year.
  1. A minimum of four scrutiny reviews shall be carried out each year.
  1. Meetings shall be held at the central council offices and shall be conducted in accordance with the Code of Conduct requirements.

SUPPORT FROM MILTON KEYNES COUNCIL

  1. Milton Keynes Council recognises the value of “the Scrutiny Panel” and appreciates the effort “the Scrutiny Panel” will be making to support the council improve its services.
  1. Milton Keynes Council shall provide financial and administrative support, including training, as necessary.
  1. The Resident Involvement Team shall organise and signpost any training and development required by members of “the Scrutiny Panel”.
  1. Requests resulting in expenditure shall be considered by the Resident Involvement Manager.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

  1. Members of the panel shall be recruited through an interview process.
  1. The selection group for the recruitment of members shall be made up of two members of the group who developed the Scrutiny process and a Milton Keynes Council Officer. A member of HR shall be asked for advice and guidance.
  1. Successful applicants shall be selected from those considered to best meet the role profile and person specification.
  1. The interviews shall be informal.

TRAINING

  1. All new members shall undertake an induction training programme and any training and development needs shall be assessed.
  1. A training programme shall be developed, delivered and regularly reviewed.
  1. If needed, training shall be provided to members of “the Scrutiny Panel” relevant to the review they are undertaking.

CODE OF CONDUCT

  1. All members must sign up to the Code of Conduct and agree to their name and activities as a member of “the Scrutiny Panel” being published on “the Scrutiny Panel” website. See Annex A.
  1. Any participant not signing the Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct can not become a member of “the Scrutiny Panel”.
  1. Transgression of the Data Protection requirements stated in the Code of Conduct shall be recognised as a major breach and shall result in immediate expulsion from “the Scrutiny Panel”.

Drafted: …………………………(Date agreed)

1

Annex A

TENANTS HOUSING SCRUTINY PANEL

MILTON KEYNES COUNCIL

CODE OF CONDUCT

All members shall sign and uphold the Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct. Any breach shall trigger disciplinary proceedings.

HOW THE MEETING IS CONDUCTED

  1. Meetings shall have a stated start and end time and each agenda item shall be allocated an amount of time.
  1. The agenda and minutes from theprevious meeting shallbe supplied to each memberseven to ten days before the next meeting.
  1. The Chairshall welcome all members to the meeting.
  1. Late arrivals shall enter quietly without disrupting the meeting in progress.
  1. Mobile phones shall be switched to ‘silent’ or turned off for the duration of the meeting.
  1. Minutes of the previous meeting shall be read, proposed and seconded as correct and signed and dated by the Chair and/or Vice Chair/nominated chair of the meeting.

ATTENDANCE

  1. Members of “the Scrutiny Panel” shallattend meetings or send an apology in advance if unable to attend.
  1. If a membermisses 3 consecutive meetings without a reasonable cause, the Chair/Vice chair shall contact said member to discuss an appropriate course of action.

POLITICAL AFFILIATION

  1. Members may be members of a political party but shall not represent such in their role as a member of “the Scrutiny Panel”.

CONFIDENTIALITY

  1. Members must respect the confidentially of all residents, staff and the organisation.
  1. Any data provided by the organisation/Council that is of a confidential nature shall not be disclosedto anybody but those present, to allow discussions to take place and decisions to be made.
  1. The business of “the Scrutiny Panel” may involve members dealing with sensitive and controversial mattersor of an individual basis, therefore members shall exercise discretion and care in performing their duties and responsibilities.
  1. Members shall respect all individual residents and Milton Keynes Council staff confidentiality whether present or not and refrain from mentioning specific individual cases which may causeembarrassment or identification of said individual.

DATA PROTECTION

  1. As a member of “the Scrutiny Panel” you are required to abide by the Data Protection Act 1998. The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates the processing of information relating to a living individual. This includes obtaining, holding, using or disclosing such information. It covers manual filing systems and records as well as computerised ones, card indexes and microfiche.
  1. In addition to confidentiality, you are required to process personal data only for the purpose for which it was originally supplied. Where personal data is given to a member(s) to perform a function on behalf of Milton Keynes Council, the member will be regarded as a “Data Controller” as defined in the Act and will be covered in the Council’s Data Protection registration.
  1. Where personal data is obtained directly from the tenant, the member of the panel provided with the data will be defined as the “Data Controller” and accepts the responsibility to ensure the personal data is only processed in accordance with the fair processing statement on the Request for Scrutiny Review form.
  1. In 2 and 3 above, the processing of personal data must be one on a need to know basis and complying with the rights of the tenant supplying their personal information.
  1. The principles and summary of the Data Protection Act 1998 can be found in Annex B.

DISCRIMINATION

  1. No member shall discriminate on any ground against any other member of “the Scrutiny Panel”orpublic.
  1. Discriminatory language shall not be used or tolerated in any discussion.
  1. All those attending meetings have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of:
  2. their age, disability, gender, race, religion, or beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, or
  3. any other matters, which causes people to be treated with injustices.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

  1. A member shall declare any interest, whether personal or in any other activitythey represent, that they consider may affect or influence their approach to a matter under discussion.
  1. Members must not use their position for financial reward, gain or advantage.

PERSONAL CONDUCT AT MEETINGS

All members/attendees shall:

  1. Follow the agenda,respect and listen to others and help to reach effective decisions.
  1. Raise a hand to speak and go through the Chair and shall keep to the subject underdiscussion.
  1. Ensure there is only one person speaking at a time and there shall be no cross-talking.
  1. Speak only once on an issue until others wishing to speak have done so. This shall be at the discretion of the Chair.
  1. Ensure urgent items under “Any other Business” shall be submitted to the Chair before the meeting and at the Chair’s discretion can be discussed at the end of the meeting.
  1. Attend the meetings as an individual but remember that the purpose of the meeting is to benefit residents as a whole and not as specific individuals.
  1. Not expect to receive favourable treatment by Milton Keynes Councilstaff because of their membership of “the Scrutiny Panel”.
  1. Not enter into correspondence in the name of “the Scrutiny Panel” without the prioragreement of the panel.
  1. Keep the meeting(s) jargon free.
  1. Use the normal procedures for reporting repairs, complaints etc. Ensure that individual issues are brought up outsidethe meeting using the appropriate channels.
  1. Try to ensure all attendeesdo not cause any heated discussions. If the meeting gets heated, at the discretion of the Chair, a 5minute time out can be called.
  1. Ensure all attendees do not come to a meeting under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs/substances or cause disruption. This shall result in the attendee being asked to leave (See Breach of Code of Conduct).
  1. If in the opinion of the Chair, a attendeepersistently disregards a ruling of the Chair or behaves irregularly, improperly or offensively, or obstructs the conduct of business, the attendeeshall be asked to leave the meeting. (See Breach of Code of Conduct).
  1. Be responsible in ensuringthey are prepared for the meeting by reading all the relevant papers and bringing all relevant notes and paperwork with them.

BREACH OF CODE OF CONDUCT