Agenda item

The Business Manager for Community Partnerships provided an overview of the Social Housing White Paper, and explained that it had been introduced by the Government to improve regulation around consumer

standards.  This White Paper was part of the government’s ongoing

response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the Hackett review.

The white paper set out seven key promises to tenants in Social

Housing:-

·      To be safe in your home

·      To know how your landlord is performing and hold it to account

·      To have your complaints dealt with promptly and fairly

·      To be treated with respect

·      To have your voice heard by your landlord

·      To have a good quality home and neighbourhood to live in

·      To be supported to take a first step to ownership

The Business Manager for Community Partnerships outlined the current structures and commissioned services to support tenants’ voice, including the Tenants Complaints Panel, Sandwell Community Information & Participation Services (SCIPS) and the Tenant Review Panel (TRP).  The TRP was made up of 9 tenants and 1 leaseholder but currently had 4 vacancies; this had been the case for some considerable time.

A summary of the activity that had taken place to date was provided, following the initial review which was bought to this Scrutiny Board on 30 January 2020.  The following was outlined:

·      Initial discussions took place with the Cabinet Member for Homes, the Scrutiny Board and the TRP

·      Established a working group to explore and codesign different

models and structures

·      Consultation with existing engagement & participation structures

·      The Tpas, a national organisation specialising in tenant engagement, had been engaged as a Critical Friend

·      Feedback to Working Group on Consultation and presentation

from Tpas on good practice models

·      Following above discussions draft Terms of Reference and

Engagement Model were presented to the Working Group

·      Update provided to Cabinet Member for Homes and TRP

·      A Cabinet workshop took place on 10 March 2021

·      Cabinet considered and approved the proposals on 24 May 2021

Following approval by Cabinet, the TRP was disbanded and the new Tenant & Leaseholder Scrutiny Group had been established.  A new Tenant Involvement model had been created and the Councillor Representative of the Group had been confirmed as the Chair of the Safer Neighbourhoods and Active Communities Scrutiny Board.  The Tenant Engagement and Participation Working Group had set up an Implementation Group.  This group has undertaken the recruitment and selection process to recruit to the Tenant and Leaseholder Scrutiny Group.

The recruitment process had been codesigned with tenants and leaseholders.  The recruitment and selection panel was made up of the Housing Service Manager, Nigel Collumbell, the Chair of SCIPs and a representative from Tpas. A key aim of the process has been to recruit a broad range of representation, a varied approach to the communications on the application process was undertaken to attract the right applicants.

The deadline for applications was 29 October 2021 with interviews scheduled for 1 December 2021.  53 applications had been received in total from across all six towns in the borough.

From the comments and questions raised by members of the

Scrutiny Board, the following responses were made, and issues

highlighted:

-       The Tenant & Leaseholder Scrutiny Group was to be an outside body of the Council.  At present, it was unclear how the Group and this Scrutiny board would work together, and it was down to the Chairs to establish how both bodies could work together.  The Housing team had worked with Democratic Services to ensure that duplication of work would be avoided.  It was envisioned that both bodies could work together and provide members with the opportunity to hear tenants’ views directly.

-       The Tenant & Leaseholder Scrutiny Group would be public and whatever was to be discussed in meeting would be made available to other residents.  The publishing and availability of documents and minutes of each meeting had not yet been in covered in the terms of reference for the Group but it was hoped that new technologies could be used to get the communications strategy right from the offset.  An annual report would also be reintroduced to provide an overview of the work of the Group in the previous year.

-       Officers had tried to ensure that the panel was as diverse as possible by working with faith partners and other voluntary organisations during the advertising stages of recruitment.

-       Regarding the recent media coverage on the Council’s new Tenancy Agreement, it was confirmed that the item would be brought to the next meeting of this Scrutiny Board.  The Service Manager for Housing Management stated that what had been represented did not reflect the Council’s intention and hoped that what had been outlined in the meeting had demonstrated that complaints and comments were welcomed by the Council.

Resolved: that the Chair of the Safer Neighbourhoods and Active Communities Scrutiny Board represent the Board on the Tenant & Leaseholder Scrutiny Group.