Issue - meetings

AGREED that Cabinet:

a)         review and note the responsibilities of the Council (both Members and officers) as a housing authority in relation to consumer regulation;

b)         note the progress and planned engagement with the Tenant Participation Advisory Services (TPAS) on creating a new, strengthened tenant engagement structure;

c)          note how feedback and insight from the tenant engagement survey 2024 will be used alongside Tenant Satisfaction Measures performance and learning from complaints, to inform the workplan for service improvement for next 18 months;

d)         note that the results of the TPAS re-engineering project will be reported to the Policy and Performance Improvement Committee in June 2025 to scrutinise the detailed action plan, proposals for implementation and endorse for approval by the Tenant Engagement Board and Cabinet; and

e)         approve and endorse a bespoke training session for all Members, to be led by the Tenant Engagement team, to raise awareness and understanding of the Council’s obligations regarding tenant engagement and the broader consumer regulations.

The Portfolio Holder – Housing invited the Tenant Engagement Officers to present to the Cabinet progress made in relation to tenant engagement arrangements and new activities in the District, and the ongoing work towards maximum compliance with the social housing consumer regulation regime. The Cabinet welcomed and thanked officers for the informative presentation. 

AGREED     (unanimously) that Cabinet:

a)           review and note the responsibilities of the Council (both Members and officers) as a housing authority in relation to consumer regulation;

b)          note the progress and planned engagement with the Tenant Participation Advisory Services (TPAS) on creating a new, strengthened tenant engagement structure;

c)           note how feedback and insight from the tenant engagement survey 2024 will be used alongside Tenant Satisfaction Measures performance and learning from complaints, to inform the workplan for service improvement for next 18 months;

d)          note that the results of the TPAS re-engineering project will be reported to the Policy and Performance Improvement Committee in June 2025 to scrutinise the detailed action plan, proposals for implementation and endorse for approval by the Tenant Engagement Board and Cabinet; and

e)           approve and endorse a bespoke training session for all Members, to be led by the Tenant Engagement team, to raise awareness and understanding of the Council’s obligations regarding tenant engagement and the broader consumer regulations.

Reasons for Decision:

To keep Members updated on progress towards maximum compliance with the Consumer Standards and to highlight how we are aiming to achieve this within the tenant engagement team.

These recommendations align to objective 2, and 8 of the Community Plan. Specifically:

Objective 2 - Explore further ways to seek out imaginative and effective ways to engage with and involve tenants; Design and implement a ‘New Housing Management System’ for Council owned homes, to provide a modern system and better user experience for both tenants and staff; Embed and evaluate our new ‘Repairs Online’ service.

Objective 8 - Plan and implement arrangements to respond to new regulatory inspections and requirements.

Options Considered:

Continue with current methods and structure – this would impact the ability of the Council to meet the Consumer Standards, as set out in the Regulator of Social Housing’s regime, and potentially result in a worse rating upon inspection.

This option has been discounted since compliance with the standards is a regulatory requirement.