SUFFOLK HOUSING SOCIETY
Minutes of Tenants Voice Meeting No.19 held at the Society’s offices at Old Mission House at 6.00pm on Thursday 5th July 2012.
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Present:Susan Feary (Chair)
Jan Lister
Paula Bone
Gill Pugh
Andy Balfour
John Campbell
Brian Ball
Pam Edwards
Michelle Symonds
Alan Dagger
Joan Matthewman
In attendance:
Ian WinsletChief Executive
Sue PhilpOperations Director
Jonathan RoutledgeTenant Liaison Officer
Emma LallyCustomer Services Advisor
Alan JonesConsultant
19.01.00CHAIRS WELCOME
Susan Feary welcomed all to the meeting.
19.02.00APOLOGIES
There were no apologies.
19.03.00MINUTES OF MEETING NO.18HELD ON 10th MAY 2012
The minutes, copies of which had been circulated after the previous meeting, were agreed and signed.
19.04.00MATTERS ARISING
19.04.01HouseMark
Gill Pugh advised that she has not received a password to access Housemark but has provided her e-mail address. This will be taken up with the Finance Director.
Grounds Maintenance Champion
Gill Pugh is unable to take on this role. No other members volunteered so the post is still vacant.
Code of Conduct
Jonathan confirmed that signed copies have now been received from members.
Leave it clean
Leaflets were circulated with the rent increase notifications and a couple of claims have been made as a consequence.
Gasway
The Operations Director confirmed that the incident reported at the last meeting at Hall Close had been investigated and Gasway’s response had been good.
Pets Policy.
This will go to the next Board Meeting for approval. There are a few minor amendments to make following observations from the Readers Panel.
STAR survey
These are being distributed now with a copy of a booklet by Stonewall about the Equality and Diversity questions.
19.07.00CHIEF EXECUTIVES UP-DATE
19.07.01This item was moved up the agenda as the Chief Executive had another appointment to go to.
The Chief Executive advised that there were several new items being considered at present. These were as follows:
- New Corporate Plan for the next 3 years – once finalised the TV will receive a summary about what it contains.
- Value for Money Strategy – this will be considered by the Board. It attempts to maintain standards and quality whilst reducing costs.
- Risk Strategy – identifies the risks facing the Society and sets out how they will be dealt with.
- New IT system – the Society has purchased a new comprehensive IT system which will be hosted and managed for us – this will allow more remote working which should improve the service to residents.
- New Logo and Brand – this is more contemporary and will be rolled out over the next couple of months.
19.05.00MATTERS ARISING OPERATIONS COMMITTEE AND BOARD MEETINGS
19.05.01The Operations Director advised that there had been no Board or Operations Committee meetings since the last Tenants Voice meeting.
19.06.00TENANT SCRUTINY
19.06.01Alan Jones – Housing Consultant, gave a presentation about possible options for scrutiny based on what others in the area have done and what might be expected by the Regulator. A copy of the notes from the presentation are appended to these minutes.
There was concern that a separate scrutiny panel might be an extra layer of bureaucracy and that as the Society already had an effective team of Resident Service Inspectors as well as Tenants Voice, the task may be duplicated. This was discussed at some length and it was agreed that it might be possible for the role of the Inspectors to be re-considered and widened to take on a fuller approach to scrutiny.
It was agreed that the Resident Services Inspectors would consider this option as a group and advise the next meeting of Tenants Voice at which the issue will be discussed in detail.
19.08.00CHAIRS REPORT
19.08.01This report was previously circulated with the agenda and several items had already been discussed or were to be raised later on the agenda. Focus was instead given to a suggestion for a tenant involvement workshop or a Tenants Voice roadshow.
It was agreed that a Roadshow would be arranged and that the group should focus on areas that are not currently represented on Tenants Voice. Members were asked to consider this prior to the next meeting when it will be discussed in detail.
19.09.00REPORT BY THE TENANT LIAISON OFFICER
19.09.01
- The menu of involvement recently circulated has resulted in several expressions of interest which were being followed up.
- The DVD was in the process of being edited having been filmed a couple of weeks ago, everyone involved were thanked for their contribution.
- A meeting had taken place for those involved in the production of the Annual Report which will be written entirely by residents this year. It has been agreed to produce the report in the format of a calendar. A note was circulated setting out the key headings.
- .The Readers and Editorial Panel had recently commented on the Pets Policy and scored it 8.5 out of 10 on their scoring scale. They had made several suggestions, some of which would result in slight amendments being made to the final document.
- Jonathan advised the meeting that this was his last meeting as he was leaving the Society on 24th July. The group wished him well and thanked him for his work and achievements since being in post.
19.10.00ITEMS RAISED BY TV MEMBERS OR TENANTS FRIENDS FOR DISCUSSION
19.10.01Jan Lister advised about an initiative from her local church in conjunction with the local authority ( to be confirmed if this is St Edmundsbury or Suffolk county council) whereby money is made available each month for those in need on the estates by the church for works such as gardening or decorating. Details will be passed on to residents living on or close to Oakes Close.
Michelle raised an issue about the external decorations contractor and whether or not it is acceptable for the same operatives to be sent back to a property after a complaint has been made. It was suggested that this might deter people from complaining. It was agreed that this matter would be raised with the Technical Services Team.
19.11.00KEY PERFORMANCE
19.11.01It was advised that the meeting fell between two quarters therefore most of the information provided was the situation as at the end of quarter 1 and which had been reviewed at the last meeting. It was advised that the voids figure for June was the same as the May figure and the Arrears figure has increased very slightly. Full quarter two figures will be available at the next meeting.
19.12.00ANNUAL REPORT
19.12.01This item was covered in the Tenant Liaison Officer’s report at point 19.09.
19.13.00RESIDENT INSPECTORS REPORT
19.13.01Three of the Resident Services Inspectors gave a verbal report advising on progress with the latest inspection on Voids. It was noted that several inspectors had struggled to get a response from residents who they had called and were unsure which time of day would be most appropriate to call. An accompanied visit to a pre-void inspection will be arranged. There was also a query about when English is not the first language. It was advised that the Society has access to translation services which can be accessed by phone if necessary. The Inspectors are to advise if they need to use this service.
19.14.00LOCAL EVENTS UP-DATE
19.14.01A very successful street party had been held at Oakes Close with approximately 50 people attending and enjoying a BBQ and lots of other food.
A BBQ and entertainment was laid on at St Marys and attended by a similar number of people. Photos from both events will be available for Interlink.
19.15.00TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
19.15.01Jan Lister requested computer and social media training – it was confirmed that it is the intention to hold similar training at the Society’s sheltered schemes and other residents could maybe be invited to attend as well.
Jonathan reminded the group of the need to advise him of any training requirements or courses that they wished to attend from the information that he had circulated previously.
19.16.00DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
19.16.01It was agreed that the next meeting will be held on Thursday 23rd August at the Society’s offices at Old Mission House, commencing at 6.00pm.
It was also agreed that the October meeting scheduled for 18th October would be held at 2.00pm for a maximum of 2 hours rather than the usual evening meeting.
19.17.00ANY OTHER BUSINESS
19.17.01There was no other business.
ouainHou
CHAIRMAN …………………………………………………………………………
DATE …………………………………………………………………………………
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