THE BOROUGH OF POOLE
COMMUNITY SUPPORT OVERVIEW GROUP (CSOG)
11TH SEPTEMBER 2007
PHP RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT STRATEGY
1.0Purpose & Policy Context for the Report
1.1The purpose of this report is to seek approval for the Resident Involvement Strategy proposed by Poole Housing Partnership (PHP), the Council’s Arms Length Management Organisation.
2.0Recommendation
2.1Cabinet be recommended to approve the Resident Involvement Strategy which is a 3 year plan for resident involvement, as shown in Appendix A.
3.0Background
3.1Section 105 of the Housing Act 1985 states that landlord authorities must enable secure tenants to be informed and to be able to make their views known in respect of Housing Management matters. The Borough of Poole (BoP) and PHP have worked closely with tenants and leaseholders in making decisions that affect their homes as prescribed by this Act.
3.2Since PHP became an ALMO in 2004 they have redesigned the resident involvement structures to encourage tenant and leaseholder involvement as well as to increase community involvement. Residents have been consulted with through different ways, such as the Housing Strategy Panel (HSP) and Community Housing Action Teams (CHATs).
3.3 The Management Agreement between the BoP and PHP states that ‘the Council has a partnership with its tenants and leaseholders and to further this relationship the organisation will honour its own tenant compact (based on the Council’s existing compact) so as to support and encourage tenant involvement’. It also states that it should be ‘amended from time to time’ and the objectives should ‘be reviewed and consulted upon’.
3.4When PHP became an ALMO they adopted the Council’s Tenant compact which has since been renamed Poole’s Tenant and Leaseholder Partnership Agreement, as shown in appendix B. The proposed strategy will eventually form the new revised tenant compact.
4.0Purpose of the Strategy
4.1The proposed strategy has been aimed at both staff of PHP and tenant representatives. PHP have advised that from this strategy ‘will flow the Resident Involvement Compact’ which will therefore replace the current Poole’s tenant and leaseholder partnership agreement.
4.2The aim of the resident involvement strategy (as shown in appendix A) is to:
- continuously empower residents to shape the services they receive.
- embed resident involvement as part of the culture of PHP.
- ensure high satisfaction for residents with the participation structure.
- Support the wider objective of developing strong communities
- Ensure all sections of the community have their voice heard, especially under-represented groups such as youth.
4.3The strategic objectives of the strategy (as shown in appendix A) are outlined as follows:
- Provide customer focussed, high quality services to residents.
- Make services available an easily accessible to all the community, including ‘hard to reach groups’.
- Work with and involve residents to provide excellence in service delivery.
- Empower and encourage residents to participate in and shape the services they receive.
4.4CSOG are asked to approve the proposed strategy as it will allow more flexible involvement for residents. The strategy illustrates a variety of ways that will encourage resident involvement, e.g. through the At Home magazine, Annual satisfaction survey, mystery shopping programme, new tenancy visits, sheltered housing and leaseholder forums, CHATS and HSP.
4.5The strategy has been devised to also encourage engagement for heard to reach groups, such as youth involvement. It focuses on those priorities that residents have raised through consultation, such as empowerment, communication and routine services. The strategy includes an action plan that illustrates how and when these priorities will be addressed.
4.6The Strategy proposes that PHP will work closely with the BoP and the police, to ensure that any area profiles can be used to further inform work with residents and the community.
4.7A copy of PHP’s report that was presented to their Board of Directors is shown in Appendix C.
5.0Proposal on changes to the Tenant and Leaseholder Partnership Agreement (formerly known as the Tenant Compact).
5.1Poole’s Tenant and Leaseholder Partnership Agreement will be reviewed as part of the Strategy. The agreement was last updated in 2004 and so the strategy will enable a more updated agreement to be devised. Any proposed changes to this agreement will require Council approval as it forms part of Annex 4 of the Management Agreement between PHP and the Borough of Poole (as explained in section 3.3 of this report).
6.0Consultation
6.1The strategy has been developed in full consultation with residents and the Resident Involvement sub committee. The strategy has also been consulted with and approved by the Housing Strategy Panel (HSP) and PHP Board.
7.0Conclusion
7.1The proposed Strategy focuses on improving consultation and involvement for residents in all aspects of service delivery. PHP will continue to work closely with the Council and any developments that arise from the strategy will be reported through existing monitoring arrangements that exist between PHP and the BoP.
7.2It is recommended that CSOG recommend that Cabinet approve the Resident Involvement Strategy.
Appendices:
Appendix APHP Resident Involvement Strategy
Appendix BPoole’s Tenant and Leaseholder Partnership Agreement
Appendix CPHP Report to PHP Board of Directors
Simon Hendey
Head of Housing and community services
Contact Officer:Ravinder Bains - Telephone: 01202 633485
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