2003


Introduction

This is an important document, it contains information on the services that you can expect to receive and methods of improving local services. Please keep in a safe place.

What is a Local Compact?

This document is an agreement setting out clear standards and information on the services that you can expect to receive as a Three Rivers Tenant or Leaseholder in Chorleywood.

Chorleywood Local Compact is a step forward in involving local tenants and leaseholders in the services they receive and the decisions that affect them.

What does this mean for me?

It is important that all tenants and leaseholders are involved in setting and monitoring services and the standards that you receive.

Chorleywood local compact includes a procedure for local residents to use if they are not satisfied with the level of service provided by Three Rivers District Council.

Individual concerns should be addressed to your local Estates Officer. If an issue is ongoing and affects the whole community it should be taken up with your local tenants and leaseholder association who may be able to take action via the group complaints procedure called a Performance Improvement Notice (PIN).

Any queries about the information in this document should be addressed to

Resident Liaison Officer

Three Rivers District Council

Three Rivers House

Northway

Rickmansworth

Herts

WD3 1RL

Chorleywood Local Compact

Terms of Reference

This document will be delivered to every tenant and leaseholder in Chorleywood. For a list of roads covered see appendix 1.

Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholder Association and Three Rivers District Council will work in partnership to develop and improve services provided to local residents.

A master copy of this document is held by Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association and the Resident Liaison Officer at Three Rivers District Council.

Any changes to the information will be given to Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association. An update will be sent annually to all tenants and leaseholders.

The standards in this document will be monitored by Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association.

If residents have a problem with any of the standards in this document, they should contact the officer listed or their Estates Officer.

If services consistently fail to deliver, residents should contact their local Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association to issue a Performance Improvement Notice on the Council.

Three Rivers District Council and local residents will review this document every two years.

Signed Portfolio Holder for Housing

Signed Director of Housing and Health.

Signed Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association.

Date .

Who to contact

Your Local Councillors

Chris BrearleyHarry DaviesMartin Trevett

Chorleywood WestChorleywood WestChorleywood West

Tel: 01923 283848Tel: 01923 283586Tel: 01923 284513

Liberal Democrat Liberal DemocratLiberal Democrat

Malcolm EllisLeonard Spencer

Chorleywood EastChorleywood East

Tel: 01923 772208Tel: 01923 282373

ConservativeConservative

Parish Councillors

A Parish Council operates in the area, the parish Councillors can be contacted via:

The Clerk of the Parish CouncilTelephone: 01923 285594

South LodgeFax: 01923 285633 Chorleywood House

Rickmansworth Road

Chorleywood

Herts, WD3 5SL

Your Local Estates OfficerResident Liaison Officer

Helen Phillips (Woolfenden) Lindsay Jones

01923 776611 01923 727052

Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association

Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association represent local tenants and leaseholders, and work in conjunction with the council to improve local services.

The Association has been working for the residents in Chorleywood for 14 years. During this time some of the achievements have been

  • Managed Bullsland Hall for 4 years.
  • Accompanied officers and Councillors on estate inspections.
  • Held open meetings on specific issues.
  • Represented your interests on the Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Forum.
  • Worked with the Council on local issues.
  • Height restriction barrier at garage site – Copmans Wick, Chorleywood.
  • Obtained notice board and bench – Bullsland Hall, Chorleywood.
  • Purchased two gazebos for the use of members.

For information about joining the Association or their next public meeting contact:

  • Rodney Kipps, Chairman, 21 Capell Road, Chorleywood
  • Alan Purser, Secretary, 22 Capell Road, Chorleywood.

Alternatively call Lindsay Jones Resident Liaison Officer on 01923 776611.

Aims of Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association

  • To develop the association and actively encourage involvement.
  • To give full and frank feedback to the Council on services.
  • To respect the rights, dignity and contribution of every tenant and leaseholder in Chorleywood.
  • To act as a voice for residents in Chorleywood, liasing with Three Rivers District Council to help provide a better service for local residents.

Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Forum.

Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association are invited to nominate four members to sit on the Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ forum. The Forum is part of the Council’s consultation procedure with its secure tenants and leaseholders and as such, considers matters of policy, procedures and services relating to the housing services provided by Three Rivers District Council. The Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Forum considers and endorses action taken by the Council on service issues relating to Best Value and District Wide Tenants’ Compact.

Performance Improvement Notice (PIN)

The Performance Improvement Notice Procedure (PIN) is a means of raising issues of general concern to tenants and leaseholders. It enables Tenant and Leaseholder Associations to take action where services consistently fail to deliver and/or meet standards laid out in the Compact.

The Performance Improvement Notice (PIN) is a three-stage procedure.

Stage One “Expression of Concern”

  • The Association or Forum makes a written “Expression of Concern” to the relevant manager copied to Resident Liaison Officer – Housing Services and local member.
  • Receipt must be confirmed, in writing, within three days.
  • The manager will be responsible for considering the aspects of the service where the targets/standards have not been met.
  • There are then four weeks to put into place arrangements to improve the service to the level agreed. This can be done either by immediately resolving the poor service or in more complex cases offering an improvement plan, which is acceptable to both parties.

Stage Two “Formal PIN”

If there is no response, or the service has not been brought up to an agreed standard within the timescales set out in Stage 1, the group can serve a “Formal PIN”

  • The formal PIN to be addressed to the relevant Head of Service and copied to Resident Liaison Officer and Chair of the Housing and Environment Policy Panel.
  • The service will be required to prepare an ‘Improvement Plan’ with timescales for actions, and send to the group.
  • This stage should not exceed four weeks.
  • If required, the Improvement Plan shall be verbally explained to the Association or Forum at a meeting with a relevant officer.

Stage Three “Final Improvement Notice”

If the actions in Stage Two are not carried out satisfactorily, the group can serve a “Final Improvement Notice”

  • This should be addressed to the Director of Housing and Environment and copied to the Resident Liaison Officer, Portfolio Holder, Leader of the Council and Chief Executive.
  • The Association or Forum are invited to a joint meeting of all parties involved to discuss issues and attempt to resolve them.
  • The meeting is chaired by Portfolio Holder for Housing.

Efforts will always be made to resolve issues locally and informally, and the PIN process will only be adopted where this fails.

Community Safety

Three Rivers District Council are part of a community safety partnership that incorporates the following agencies:

Three Rivers District Council.

Hertfordshire Constabulary.

Hertfordshire Police Authority.

Watford and Three Rivers Primary Care Trust.

Three Rivers Council for Voluntary Service.

Hertfordshire County Council.

Three Rivers have a community strategy that is based on an audit of local crime and disorder and consultation with local people. The strategy focuses on the following areas:

Anti social behaviour and criminal damage.

Domestic violence.

Racial incidents

Burglary

Vehicle crime

Road safety

Drugs and alcohol abuse.

Three Rivers Community Safety partnership bid for projects for Home Office Building Safer Communities funding. To obtain funding for projects from Building Safer Communities (BSC), projects should:

  • Enhance the ability of communities to resist drugs (i.e. information, support, education, health and harm minimisation).
  • Reduce drug-related crime.
  • Disrupt drug markets.

Projects should also contribute to the Strategic Objectives set out in the Three Rivers Community Safety Strategy 2002 to 2005. Which are:

  • Help to develop objectives that are focused on delivering maximum impact on crime reduction interventions.
  • Deliver activities that compliment the Communities Against Drugs (CAD) plan.
  • Build the capacity of the Partnership to deliver the 7 Strategic Objectives and lever in additional funding, to reduce crime and disorder across the district.

The focus of the money should be on crime hotspots, repeat victims and repeat offenders.

To find out more about Community Safety Partnership, contact Sian Caine, Community Safety Co-ordinator on 01923 776611.

Customer Care

Our Customer Care Standards

Three Rivers District Council provides a wide range of services for people who live and work in the area. We have set out below what customer care standards you can expect from us, as your landlord.

When you telephone us.

100% of calls will be answered by Housing Services staff within 15 seconds.

When the call is answered housing services staff will tell you their name and section.

When you come to the Council’s reception

We will ensure that housing displays and leaflets are up to date, adequately stocked and well presented.

If you wish to discuss a sensitive issue we will offer you a private room. If none is available we will offer you an appointment or, if you wish, you may wait until a room becomes available. A home visit can also be arranged.

When we visit your home

Housing officers will:

  • Introduce themselves
  • Show you their identification card
  • Tell you why they are calling to see you

SERVICE STANDARDS FOR HOUSING SERVICES

Residential Services

  • Undertake inspections before transfer within 5working days of request from Allocations.
  • For 90% of all callers to reception at South Oxhey to be seen within 15 minutes.
  • An Estate Officer will attend any meeting of a recognised Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association provided 1week’s notice is given.

Community Services

  • Carry out a visit to all Cat1 and OPD dwellings at a maximum of 8weekly intervals.
  • Repair or replace faulty lifelines within 48hours of fault notification.
  • Carry out the installation of Lifelines (where all criteria has been met) within 10working days of receiving the application.
  1. Undertake an annual satisfaction survey of Sheltered Housing service

users and publish results of surveys.

  1. Maintain daily contact with all tenants on the sheltered schemes by

ensuring that each sheltered scheme is staffed Monday to Friday for a

minimum of 4hrs per day.

Allocations

Standard of Service

1.Respond to Housing applications within 14days.

  1. Pre–allocate void properties within 48hours of receiving the

termination of tenancy.

  1. Respond to Right to Buy application by sending RTB2 form out

granting or denying authorisation to buy a Council property within

4weeks.

  1. Arrange viewing of a void property whilst under repair or within 24hrs

of the keys coming back after works are complete.

5.Process all mutual exchanges requests within 6weeks.

6.Assess applicants with medical needs within 4weeks.

7.Urgent cases within 48hours.

Housing Needs

Standard of Service

  1. Process 91.3% of homelessness applications within 33days of

receiving the form. (as in the Best Value performance indicator)

Customer Care

Standard of Service

  1. We aim to answer 100% of direct calls to Housing staff within 15

seconds.

  1. When Housing Services staff answer the phone you will be advised of

their name and the section. (Monitored by mystery callers each month)

  1. In Council Offices Housing displays will be checked and kept up to date

daily.

  1. If you require privacy for an interview at the Council’s offices, a private

room will be provided unless one is not available in which case a

mutually convenient appointment can be made.

  1. When Housing staff visit your home they will always provide proof of

their identification, introduce themselves and explain the reason for

their visit. (monitored by spot checks – monthly)

6. If you have cause to complain it is our aim to reply in full within 10days.

6a.If it is not possible to respond in full in that time you will receive an

acknowledgement within 5days which will include an estimate of when

the full response will be made.

Our Complaints Policy

Our complaints procedure has 3 steps. At all stages your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days and a full reply sent within 10 working days. If your complaint is complex, and will take longer than 10 days, then we will give you a date when a full reply can be expected.

Step 1

You should contact the officer concerned or the manager of the department that you are dealing with.

Step 2

If you are not happy with your reply, you can contact the relevant director (See appendix 2)

Step 3

If you are unhappy with the director’s response then you can contact the Quality Manager or the Chief Executive who will independently review your complaint.

If your complaint is still unresolved then you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is an independent person appointed by the Government to look into complaints against certain authorities. You can complain directly to the Ombudsman at any time, but in most cases before they can investigate a complaint, the Council must have a chance to put things right first.

Residential Services

Your estates officer would be your point of contact for the following:

  • Conditions of tenancy
  • Permission to carryout alterations to Council owned dwellings
  • Noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour (involving Council tenants or leaseholders).
  • Estate improvements
  • Amendments to tenancy (death, marriage, divorce)
  • Advise on rent arrears and rent queries
  • Garden works scheme for the elderly and disabled
  • Requests for tree works on Council owned land or property

Your Resident Liaison Officer would be your point of contact for the following:

  • Information on tenant and leaseholder associations.
  • Information on local and district wide compacts.

Leaseholders should contact the Resident Liaison Officer for the following:

  • Queries on annual service charges.
  • Permission to carry out alterations and improvements to leasehold properties.
  • Information on major works.

The Council has a small budget for estate improvements, if you have an idea for an improvement in your area, contact your estates officer or Chorleywood Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Association.

More information on Residential Services can be found in the Tenants’ Handbook and the Leasehold Handbook (due to published September/October 2003).

Please note

All tenants have been issued with a Tenants’ Handbook and all leaseholders will be issued with a Leaseholder Handbook shortly. However, if you require a copy please contact the Resident Liaison Officer on 01923 776611.

Community Services

Community Services is a section of the housing department within Three Rivers District Council. The areas of work for the section include:

  • sheltered housing – supported housing designated for the over 60s
  • community visiting and support – carried out to designated properties for the over 60s or disabled in the community
  • installation of lifelines – lifelines are personal alarm systems designed specifically for use by elderly, disabled or other vulnerable residents
  • referrals for aids and adaptations to Council properties – supporting and maintaining tenants’ independence
  • management of a community club for the elderly.

Primarily, the responsibilities of the section relate to the provision of support services for the elderly in the community, both Council tenants and in the private sector as well as people with mental health or physical disabilities.

The aim is to promote and maintain independent living wherever possible through practical and informative support.

Elderly Persons Dwellings (EPDs)

There are a number of EPD properties located within the Chorleywood area. EPDs are Council properties designed specifically for older or disabled tenants.

There are currently 350 of this type of property across the district. They are not generally grouped together in schemes as in sheltered housing and there are no communal facilities. However, The Community Services Section provides a 6 – 8 weekly visiting and support service and actively promotes the uptake of the lifeline service where appropriate. Some of the properties are also fitted with the emergency call system.

For further information regarding applications for this type of property contact the allocations section or community services via the customer call centre on 01923 776611.

Sheltered Housing

There are no sheltered housing schemes in Chorleywood. However, the Council owns and manages 9 sheltered housing schemes located in other areas of the district. All are made up of self contained housing units of either flats, bedsits or bungalows and are located together in a “scheme” with the added benefit of a full time manager on site Monday to Friday. There are a total of 269 dwellings.

For further information regarding applications for sheltered housing contact the Allocations Section or Community Services via the customer call centre on 01923 776611.

Lifelines

Lifelines are available and installed for a small charge for any resident of Three Rivers District who require a means of accessing help in the event of an emergency. This could be an elderly, physically disabled person or, in some cases a person with an unpredictable illness such as epilepsy or asthma. Further information is available – please ask for the leaflet ‘Emergency Help at the Touch of a Button’

Aids and Adaptations – Helping you to stay independent at home.

Applications for Housing Repair Assistance (HRA) can be made to community services for minor works such as grab rails, lever taps etc. Where major works are requested, the application must be made first to Adult Care Services on 01923 471400. An occupational therapist will carry out an assessment of need and make recommendations to Three Rivers District Council. The works may be funded through a disabled facilities grant however, you may be liable to pay for all or part of the works if it is in excess of £5000.