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1 Tenant Participation Strategy

2 2 Seacliff Beach, East Lothian East Lothian Council can provide information in user friendly versions in other formats, for example, braille, large print, audiotape. We can also provide signers and interpreters for council business. Phone for more information. Chinese Punjabi Urdu Polish Bosnian Albanian Samorząd Regionu East Lothian dysponuje informacjami w Twoim własnym języku. W razie potrzeby zapewniamy również pomoc tłumaczy. Więcej informacji pod numerem: ˆ ˆ Vijece za podrucje East Lothian-a ˆ ˆ u mogucnosti je pruziti Vam informacije na Vasem jeziku u pristupacnom ˆ i jednostavnom formatu. Osiguravamo usluge prevodioca za zdravstvo, ˆ skolstvo, socijalni rad, i ostale vladine i lokalne sluzbe. Za informacije molimo Vas obratite se na telefon: Keshilli i East Lothian ju ofron informata ne gjuhen e juaj ne nje version te afert. Ne gjithashtu ofrojme perkthyes per punet e keshillit. Per informata me te shumta, ju lutem kontaktoni :

3 Contents 3 Foreword Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 Section 5 Section 6 Section 7 Section 8 Section 9 Section 10 Section 11 Section 12 Introduction Legislation and principles Links to other strategies and policies Aims for tenant participation How tenant participation works in East Lothian How we will help to build knowledge and skills Consultation, participation and information How will the strategy be monitored and reviewed? Register of Tenant Organisations Resourcing tenant participation Partnership working Promoting tenant participation Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Legislation Register of Tenant Organisations List of tenant participation indicators Tenant Participation Action Plan

4 4 1 1 ELTRP Review Day 2 Inspiring Volunteering Awards Inspiring Volunteering Awards Inspiring Volunteering Awards Ashfield Residents & Tenants Association

5 Foreword 5 East Lothian Council is delighted to present our third Tenant Participation Strategy. Tenant participation is central to the way the Council works and we are fully committed to ensuring that tenants can actively influence the services we deliver. The tenants movement in East Lothian is continuing to develop further in partnership with East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel. Tenants representatives are well informed, highly skilled and committed to making a real difference to local communities and Council services. We have achieved many successes since our first strategy was written and we will offer tenants a menu of options for involvement to make sure that they can get involved in a way that suits them. We continue to set our sights high for the next three years and hope this reflects how much more we want to achieve by involving tenants and giving them the opportunity to influence our services. Joyce Stewart Chairperson East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel Monica Patterson Executive Director Services for Communities Councillor Willie Innes Leader of the Council and Cabinet Spokesperson for Housing and Community Planning

6 6 Section 1- Introduction 1.1 Statement of intent East Lothian Council (ELC) supports tenant participation. We will continue to work with East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel (ELTRP) and its Executive Committee, local tenants and residents groups, and individual tenants to make sure that they can take part in influencing decisions about housing policies and conditions. The Council provides many services to tenants and we realise that tenants may have a different perspective. We recognise the value that this brings and remain committed to involving tenants in any major decision affecting the management of housing and the provision of related services. We will not decide on any major changes about housing policies, housing conditions and housing and related services before first consulting with our tenants. 1.2 Definition of tenant participation Tenant participation (TP) is about tenants taking part in the decision making process and influencing decisions about: housing policies housing conditions housing and related services. It is a two-way process, which involves the sharing of information, ideas and power. Its aim is to improve the standard of housing conditions and services How was the Strategy developed and who was involved? The review of the Strategy started in March The TP Strategy Group (TPSG) (which includes tenants, East Lothian Council staff and Tenants Information Service Project staff) agreed on the approach to review the Strategy, and the following actions were carried out: the TPSG carried out an internal review which identified strengths and weaknesses and made suggestions for improvement a Tenants Survey was sent out in the Summer edition of Homefront, East Lothian Council s tenants newsletter a Tenants Open Day was held in November 2010, which asked tenants for their views on tenant participation and provided information on housing services TPSG reviewed certain sections of the Strategy and other sections were informed by consultation with tenants. All of the feedback received through these actions were considered by the TP Strategy Group and informed this Strategy. 1.4 Successes and challenges A lot of good work is being done on tenant participation in East Lothian. Some of the successes achieved since our first Strategy include: tenants are actively influencing service delivery in Community Housing and Property Management and have informed policy reviews on Repairs, Allocations, Estate Inspections, Voids and Tenant Participation 1 Partners in Participation, A National Strategy for Tenant Participation, Scottish Executive, 1999

7 7 good joint working and relationship building between East Lothian Council staff and members of ELTRP a wide range of local tenants and residents groups creating vibrant grassroots links and promoting tenant participation a commitment within East Lothian Council to resourcing tenant participation the delivery of TP Awareness Training to ELC staff within Community Housing and Property Maintenance a TP Awareness Session delivered to staff in other departments Housing Awareness Sessions delivered to Councillors recognition given to tenant volunteers and tenants groups through the Inspiring Volunteering Awards Scottish Government recognition (Case Study - How our TP Strategy was developed and newsletter article on TP in Sheltered Housing in East Lothian) ELTRP presented evidence to the Scottish Parliament (Local Government and Communities Committee on Stage 1 of the Housing (Scotland) Bill (April 2010)) involvement of ELTRP members in the Borders, Edinburgh, East and Midlothian (BEEM) Regional Network ELTRP volunteers involved in the Tenants Regulation Advisory Group that advises the Scottish Housing Regulator on their regulation and inspection procedures growth in the number of Tenants and Residents Groups from 11 in 2003 to 24 groups in 2012 Local Housing Partnerships resulting in some successful partnership working on local initiative project performance improvement as a result of tenant participation. The challenges are: to form a link between strategic and local issues, and ensuring that ELTRP and local tenants and residents group priorities are aligned continue to prioritise equal opportunities in our tenant participation activity and engage with under-represented groups and individuals to improve the links with staff in other Council departments, staff in other Registered Social Landlords who operate in East Lothian and link into the Community Planning Partnership to ensure tenant participation activity links into and supports wider community engagement and services users (particular in housing e.g. homeless) to improve our monitoring and evaluation of tenant participation activity so that we can demonstrate the success of tenant participation to continue to develop links with: local tenants and residents groups, community councils, and the umbrella organisations of ELTRP and the Association of Community Councils in East Lothian to have regular dialogue with other service users (e.g. housing list and homeless applicants) to investigate and signpost other possible sources of funding budget cuts leading to a reduction in the administrative and development support project.

8 8 Section 2 Legislation and principles 2.1 Legislation Tenant Participation legislation was introduced by the Scottish Government in the Housing (Scotland) Act This g ave tenants rights and placed a number of duties on landlords (Councils and Registered Social Landlords). Further details including a list of all these rights and duties are shown in Appendix One. 2.2 Principles of tenant participation For tenant participation to be effective, tenants and landlords must agree on and share certain key principles. These are: Trust, respect and partnership Tenants, Councillors and Council staff should trust and respect each other. They should work together in partnership to improve housing conditions and housing services Sharing information, ideas and power Everyone involved in tenant participation must make sure that they share information and ideas all the time. We must have a shared understanding of problems, which will allow us to make decisions by consensus Setting the agenda Everyone must be able to contribute. This means that we must all make sure that everyone has all the information they need to consider issues properly. We must make sure that all information is clear, easy to understand and available in a variety of formats Time to consider issues properly We should share information in a way that allows everyone enough time to make an informed decision. Tenants should have enough time to work out a common view before they meet Council representatives Making decisions East Lothian Council must make sure that we make decisions in a way that is open and clear. We must understand that we are accountable for these decisions Recognition for tenants organisations Councillors and Council staff must recognise that tenants organisations are independent bodies Good working relationships We must make sure that we build good working relationships, which may take some time. We have to make sure that these relationships are flexible so that they meet local circumstances Resources for tenants organisations We must make sure that tenants organisations have the resources, training and support they need to operate effectively Involving tenants in rural areas We must make sure that tenants in rural areas are involved in ways that meet their local needs and circumstances

9 9 Equal Opportunities We must make sure that we take account of equal opportunities law. For tenant participation to work well, we must make sure that we do not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of their: age sex culture disability ethnicity gender geographic location language marital status particular needs race religion personal beliefs or opinions sexual orientation. East Lothian Council and East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel fully endorse these principles, and work hard to make sure they are reflected into our working practices. Tranent s Muirpark Development, 2012, East Lothian

10 10 Section 3 - Links to other strategies and policies It is important that the Tenant Participation Strategy links in to and informs other Council plans and policies. The Council works through a Cabinet system and has a Cabinet made up of the Provost, Depute Provost, Leader, Depute Leader and Cabinet Members with responsibility for defined service areas. The full Council, made up of all 23 councillors, is the main decision-making body of the Council. Meetings of the Council and most other committees are held in public. The Council's most senior paid official is the Chief Executive, who also heads up the Council's Board of Directors. In addition to the Chief Executive, the Board comprises of three Executive Directors, each of them heading up one of the Council's three key service areas which are: It is also important it feeds in to other practice and developments like: How Good is Our Council Performance Management Framework Social Housing Charter Housing Communications Strategy. It is important that the benefits of tenant participation are recognised corporately and that tenant participation practice is rolled-out across Council practice. People Communities Support Services. The Strategies and Plans that the Tenant Participation Strategy should link to and inform are: East Lothian Council (ELC) Corporate Plan ELC Corporate Consultation & Engagement Strategy ELC Local Housing Strategy ELC Community Housing Business Plan ELC Equal Opportunities Plan East Lothian Local Plan East Lothian Community Planning Partnership (ELCPP) - Single Outcome Agreement ELCPP Community Engagement Strategy ELTRP Business Plan.

11 Section 4 Aims for tenant participation 11 The strategic aim of the East Lothian Tenant Participation Strategy is to improve Council services by fully involving tenants in developing and influencing how these services are provided. To achieve this, we have a number of aims: agree the tenant participation agenda make tenant participation accessible and inclusive actively promote tenant participation encourage engagement and build confidence resource tenant participation put tenant participation in to practice. We have produced an Action Plan (shown in Appendix 4) which details the work that needs to be done to ensure we work towards full tenant participation in East Lothian. ELTRP Training Day ELC Tenants Open Day

12 12 Section 5 How tenant participation works in East Lothian We will ensure that tenants have an opportunity to be involved in tenant participation in a way that suits them. We recognise that a range of options need to be available to help tenants become involved and list below different methods to achieve this. It is up to individuals to choose the ways they would like to get involved and also what level of involvement they want. We value all forms of tenant participation equally and will make sure that support is available to encourage participation. We value the contribution made by volunteers in the tenant movement. We have carried out an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) of this Strategy to ensure that we do not discriminate and, where possible, take opportunities to promote equality and good relations between under-represented groups. The Assessment identified that some of the following groups may be regarded as under-represented and, therefore, we may need to make a special effort to encourage their involvement with us: young tenants tenants living in rural areas in East Lothian tenants with particular needs. This may include: meeting tenants at a time and in a place that suits them ensuring buildings are accessible providing crèche facilities for public meetings providing transport for public meetings paying child care costs for public meetings engaging in others ways and providing information in other formats (e.g. in other community languages, pictorial versions etc.) providing an individual response where a need is identified providing access to a loop system at public meetings offer a range of food options at public meetings providing quiet space for all day public events holding a social event, where appropriate. We recognise that we may need to provide support and training to help everyone in the community to become involved and participate with us. This will ensure that tenants feel comfortable and confident about getting involved (see section 6 for more information). We recognise that there may be barriers to participation and we aim to remove any obstacles that will prevent tenants from becoming involved. We will do this by ensuring that tenants have access to the services and resources that they need to allow them to become fully involved.

13 Individual tenants Individuals can become involved in shaping the services we deliver in a variety of ways. These include: responding to surveys in our tenants newsletter, Homefront completing the repairs customer satisfaction form responding to consultation questionnaires giving us feedback through the Council s feedback system telephone letter in person at our local housing offices attending consultation events or tenants open days involvement in estate inspections. We also have a Register of Interested Tenants where individuals can directly feedback on specific issues that interest them. We plan to promote and develop this further as another form of consultation and participation. 5.2 Tenants and Residents Groups Local tenants and residents groups or associations are democratically elected organisations that work to influence change in their local area. There is a growing network of tenants and residents groups in East Lothian who work collectively to influence our services. responding to consultations through estate inspections attending the Housing Forum, Focus Groups and other meetings getting involved in local community planning providing feedback to our staff. Tenants and residents groups can play a vital part in our estate inspections, through identifying and establishing priorities for potential local initiatives and local lettings plans. 5.3 East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel is the umbrella organisation for the tenants and residents groups in East Lothian. ELTRP is a key partner for East Lothian Council and is at the heart of developing and influencing policies and procedures that affect tenants. ELTRP is run by an Executive Committee of volunteers from tenants and residents groups who are elected annually. ELTRP works to influence housing and related services on behalf of tenants and residents in East Lothian, help tenants and residents groups to network and support the development of tenant participation activity. All local groups are encouraged to get involved with ELTRP and attend ELTRP meetings and events. Tenants and residents groups have opportunities to be involved in developing our services in the following ways:

14 14 Ashfield RTA ELTRP and local groups in East Lothian Prestoungrange & Cuthill TRG Shore & Harbour Neighbourhood Group Ravensheugh TRA Windsor Park TRA Wingate TRA Whitehill Area TRA Tranent East TRA Law Residents Group Tranent West TRA Stoneybank Gardens TRA Mansfield Court Tenants Group Goosegreen TRA Nungate TRA Eskview TRA Wimpey Community Association Muirpark TRA The Trees TRA Ormiston West TRA Lime Grove TRA Well Wynd Tenants Group Cockenzie West Tenants & Residents Group Brunton Court Tenants Group Osborne/Winton Court Tenants Group Local tenants and residents groups and individuals can attend and get involved in ELTRP in lots of different ways, for example by: being on the ELTRP mailing list going along to ELTRP meetings being in touch with the ELTRP office going along to ELTRP Information Sessions giving ELTRP feedback being a member of ELTRP getting involved in ELTRP Sub-Groups becoming an ELTRP buddy being a volunteer in the ELTRP office becoming a member of the Executive Committee.

15 Forums We will support ELTRP and our tenants in the development and promotion of groups or forums that work on wider issues. ELTRP may develop area-wide or other forums in the future. 5.5 Community Planning Community Planning sees organisations and communities working together to plan services which truly meet the needs of their users. It is important therefore, that tenant participation links in to the community planning structures. ELTRP is a partner of the ELCPP and has signed up to the Single Outcome Agreement. ELTRP is a member of the Strong Vibrant Communities Theme Group. It is also important that tenants and tenants groups have the opportunity to be involved in local community planning in their areas so that they can influence and participate in the planning of services for their community. The current structure of the East Lothian Community Planning Partnership is shown below: Community Planning Board Community Planning Forum SOA Theme Groups Community Planning Working Group Community Engagement Group Health and Social Care Enterprise & Skills Community Safety Tackling Poverty Environment, Housing & Places Getting it Right for Every child and Young Person Strong Vibrant Communities Local Area Forums* (LAF) Musselburgh Area North Berwick Coastal Dunbar & District *LAF s to be established across all areas as resources allow

16 Including all sections of the community We will make sure that we remove any barriers to participation and are as inclusive as possible so that all members of the community are given the opportunity to participate with us. Tenants in the following groups may be under-represented: disabled people older people young tenants tenants with children single parents tenants with special needs black and minority ethnic groups tenants of other registered social landlords. 5.7 Social Housing Charter The introduction of the Social Housing Charter on 1 April 2012 offers tenants a new way to get involved and participate with us. The Charter sets the standards and outcomes that all social landlords should aim to achieve when performing their housing activities. These outcomes will be assessed by the Scottish Housing Regulator who will report on how well landlords are performing. How this will be reported to tenants and possible ways that tenants can be involved in the self assessment of their landlord needs to be developed and agreed at a local level. Some methods which are currently used in other Councils include: Mystery Shopping, Tenant-Led Inspections, and Tenant Scrutiny Panel. The Charter will apply for five years and Scottish Ministers will review it in consultation with stakeholders. In order to encourage all groups to participate, we recognise that informal methods of engagement may be needed. We will therefore support informal and innovative methods of involvement. We will investigate appropriate methods and be proactive in involving under-represented groups and may use some of the following ways: village voice approach/street representative informal discussions specialised events specifically run for under-represented groups partnership working with other agencies using audiovisual methods and other information technology develop our website to encourage feedback. Well Wynd Tenants Group

17 Section 6 How we will help to build knowledge and skills 17 We want communities to develop and build skills and to do this we will provide encouragement and support. This encouragement and support is sometimes called capacity building. Capacity building can take place in a number of ways, for example through informal learning, discussions and experience. Informal learning aims to improve the understanding, knowledge and skills of individuals or groups to increase their capacity to influence, and can be delivered on a one-to-one basis, or to a group. We want to help people in the community to develop their skills and confidence to a level that makes them feel comfortable and confident about getting involved. We want to make sure that we provide support to everyone in the community and give them the opportunity to fully participate in and influence decision-making. In March 2001, ELC employed the Tenants Information Service (TIS) to develop the tenants movement. The TIS Project has four main aims: support and assist ELTRP and its Executive Committee to run as an organisation enable ELTRP to effectively influence local and national housing policies strengthen established tenants and residents groups set up new tenants and residents groups. The project employs three members of staff who are all based in the ELTRP office: a Development Officer, an Outreach Officer and an Administrative Officer. ELTRP and local tenants and residents groups set the work priorities for the project team. To make sure these priorities are being delivered the project is monitored on a quarterly basis by ELTRP, TIS and ELC. The staff in the project use a community development approach to their work and capacity building is a key aspect of the project s aims. The project provides informal training sessions to members of ELTRP, tenants and residents groups and individual tenants who may be trying to set up a group. Some of the topics in these sessions include committee skills, getting people involved, leadership skills and developing action plans. The project also provides support and informal learning opportunities to local tenants groups and to individuals on a one-to-one basis. The Council can also provide support in a number of different ways through a number of teams. The Community Housing Service Development Team can offer tenants and local tenant groups lots of support and assistance, for example we can: help groups to apply for grants or other funding support groups to arrange meetings (make room bookings, organise paperwork for meetings etc.) help groups to communicate with their members (photocopy flyers and newsletters, send letters out to all tenants in the area) assist tenants groups to get involved in and respond to consultations access other support available within the Council signpost groups and tenants to other departments within the Council or to external agencies.

18 18 The Community Learning and Development Service work with local people and groups to help them improve the quality of life within their community. They can support the development of organisations and help them towards achieving their goals by providing: support for voluntary management committees and community groups training opportunities advice on where to look for funding.

19 Section 7 Consultation, participation and information 19 Consultation is when tenants are given the opportunity to comment on services, policies and procedures before they are finally agreed. Proposals for tenants to consider will have been developed before reaching this stage. Participation involves working in partnership with individual tenants, tenants and residents groups and ELTRP representatives as equal partners in improving Council services. Within Community Housing we will encourage our tenants to participate with us as early in the process as possible. We will provide tenants with information about proposed policy changes before they happen or as they come into effect (as appropriate). Timescales for providing information will be agreed in advance with ELTRP. The information we provide will be clear, understandable and relevant to tenants. It will be about housing and housing related policies, service standards and the Tenant Participation Strategy. It will say if there will be any changes and when they will be effective from. 7.1 Consultation We are committed to giving tenants enough time to respond as they wish, taking into account and listening to their views and then explaining the reasons for a decision. Consultations have to be flexible and depend on the subject matter. Timescales for consultations will all be agreed in advance with ELTRP. We will consult in a number of ways and we may choose one, or a combination of the following; Homefront, our tenants newsletter Panel News (ELTRP newsletter) focus groups surveys (postal, phone and door-to-door) conferences road shows through our register of interested tenants visual displays telephone special events. When we are consulting and holding an event, we may consider including a social element. We will investigate using more innovative methods for consulting with tenants such as using information technology to get tenants feedback, for example through web polls and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. We have recently consulted with tenants on a number of issues: annual rent increase rent arrears policy tenants survey (which asked tenants how they would like to get involved) Serious Tenancy Breaches Local Housing Strategy Social Housing Charter. letter information leaflet

20 Participation Tenants can participate in a number of different ways and it is up to individuals to choose how they want to get involved. Participation brings many benefits not only to individual tenants, but to tenants groups and members of ELTRP too. Some of the benefits can be: having a chance to influence decisions that affect your local community, getting collective support from other tenants about local issues. We will continue to work closely with ELTRP and invite them to nominate tenant representatives to be members of issue-based sub-groups that will develop or review our services, policies and procedures. It is important that we do this and reflect tenants needs when developing our services. We may also develop new ways for tenants to participate through the introduction of the Social Housing Charter. The priorities for the topics that will be discussed will have been agreed in advance and will be identified through the Council s and ELTRP s Business Plans. range of ways and will do this to promote and encourage the inclusion of all our tenants. These include: Letters newsletters and information leaflets Homefront tenants handbook open days, conferences, specific meetings East Lothian Council website . We also asked tenants if they would like to receive information in different formats and based on this feedback, we will provide, on request, information in a range of alternative formats, including: large print audio community languages Braille Moon Information Where tenants and tenants and residents representatives are being asked to comment on changes in policy they will be provided with information in good time to allow them to make informed decisions. Timescales for providing information will be agreed in advance with ELTRP. We asked tenants how they would like to receive information from us about our housing services in our 2010 Tenants Survey. We will use these results to provide information in a We will also, on request, provide signers and interpreters for Council business and we may also consider providing information in other ways, for example by: text message DVD format formats suitable for people who cannot read other formats (e.g. use of pictorial versions of documents) home visits (where a need is identified) visits to sheltered housing complexes.

21 Giving tenants feedback We recognise the importance of giving tenants and tenants and residents groups feedback after a consultation. All the feedback that we receive from tenants will be considered. We will explain how tenants views and opinions will be used to help inform and change policy or service delivery. Where it has not, we will explain the reasons for this. The Council will use a range of methods to do this including: letter information leaflets Homefront, our tenants newsletter or other special edition newsletters open meetings tenants & residents group meetings ELTRP our website. Homefront

22 22 Section 8 How will the Strategy be monitored & reviewed To make sure that our tenant participation activity is working well and having a positive impact on our tenants and tenants groups we will monitor it. We have produced a list of indicators (shown in Appendix 3) which will help us record the quantitative measures. As well as this, we will also occasionally carry out other evaluations by way of self assessment or by some other means to check the qualitative measures. We will carry out our formal evaluation on an annual basis and will produce a report which will be available to tenants and tenants groups so that we can show what we are achieving through our tenant participation work. Section 9 Register of Tenant Organisations A Registered Tenant Organisation (RTO) is an independent organisation which is set up to represent tenants interests on housing and related issues. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 gives tenants groups a statutory right to register with their landlord as a registered tenant organisation. The Council and housing associations have a duty to set up and maintain a register of tenants organisations. East Lothian Council on behalf of the Council, East Lothian Housing Association (ELHA) and Homes for Life Housing Partnership (HfLHP) is responsible for managing the Register. The Register is a public document that is on display and available on request from any of the participating landlords. There are already a number of registered tenants organisations in East Lothian and more information about registration, including what the benefits are, can be found in Appendix One.

23 Section 10 Resourcing tenant participation 23 East Lothian Council recognises that tenants need time and proper resources to consider proposals and to fully participate to influence and develop services. ELC and ELTRP will work together to assess the required resources for tenant participation to make sure that it is a central part of day-to-day work for staff. The Council can provide the following resources and support for tenants and tenants and residents groups: grants for tenants groups development, outreach and administrative support provided by TIS for ELTRP and local tenants and residents groups an independent office base for ELTRP delegated budget for ELTRP (to cover things like administration costs, office equipment, training etc.) IT equipment and direct support to ELTRP free access to Council venues for meetings payment of TIS Annual Membership for tenants and residents groups reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenses training for tenants and residents groups access to local office facilities (for photocopying and stationery supplies) child care expenses to enable tenants with children to attend meetings provision of refreshments for tenants and residents groups annual general meetings a dedicated Council Officer with responsibility for tenant participation. How people can access these resources is detailed in our Tenant Participation Guidance Manual. The manual explains the structures for tenant participation in East Lothian. It gives procedural guidance for tenants and residents groups and for ELC staff on tenant participation 2. East Lothian Council also provides indirect resources through: housing staff time other departments staff time joint training access to independent advice help to organise events. The total Tenant Participation Budget for the financial year 2010/11 was 226, This equates to approximately per tenancy per year. A summary of some of the main items of expenditure during that year is shown overleaf. 2 Tenant Participation Guidance Manual, East Lothian Council, 2007

24 /11 Tenants Information Service Contract 105, Delegated ELTRP Budget 25, Annual Grants 1, ELTRP Office rent and rates 11, Water rates IT equipment and support (notional) 1, TIS Annual Membership Venue hire and crèche costs Production of tenants newsletter 20, Miscellaneous (office cleaning etc.) Staffing costs (Service Development Team - budgeted costs) 41, The Council s budget for tenant participation is monitored quarterly with ELTRP through Budget Monitoring Meetings. These also monitor the ELTRP delegated budget. Financial restrictions mean that the Council s resources are constrained, but it still remains fully committed to ensuring that tenant participation is properly financed and providing adequate resources. Limited resources provide a challenge to deliver this. We will continue to review direct and indirect costs to make sure that Best Value is achieved, that adequate resources are provided and that we are continuing to receive value for money. This means getting the maximum benefit with the resources available. It should be noted that the financial commitment by the Council is matched by the commitment of tenants volunteers, who freely give their own time and effort to ensure tenant participation works. The voluntary contributions made by tenant volunteers that are created through tenant participation make a valuable contribution to community life in East Lothian. The work and efforts of volunteers through local groups and ELTRP creates many active connections among people. A level of trust, respect, mutual understanding and shared values develops through working with ELC and other agencies. This benefits working relationships and increases the possibility of successful cooperative action through tenant participation. This is called Social Capital and the Council recognises that this is an invaluable return on financial investment.

25 Section 11 Partnership Working 25 It is important that we work in partnership with other agencies that provide and deliver services which affect the communities our tenants live in. We will continue to work with our partners, improve closer working relationships and have an influence on the services they provide. We will also network with other Councils, agencies and tenant participation workers to promote tenant participation, learn from their experiences and share good practice. We will encourage and support tenants and residents groups and ELTRP to network with other tenants locally and nationally. Tranent s Muirpark Development, 2012, East Lothian

26 26 Section 12 - Promoting Tenant Participation One of the aims of this strategy is to continue to actively promote tenant participation. We will ensure therefore that we continue to raise awareness, increase an understanding and provide information about how tenant participation works in East Lothian. We will do this in the following ways by: providing information about tenant participation activity in East Lothian involving key members of staff (for example local Community Housing Officers) in tenant participation activities raising awareness and increasing an understanding of tenant participation within our own area and other Council directorates providing training (which could be joint training with tenants and other landlords) on tenant participation. We will provide information and support for tenants and tenants groups. Some of the benefits of this may be that tenants and members of tenants and residents groups: become well informed have an increased understanding engage with other tenants or members of tenants groups become more confident. The development of tenant participation will be ongoing and will be tailored to suit the needs of the individual tenant or tenants group.

27 Appendix Legislation Tenant Participation The Scottish Government introduced legislation about tenant participation in the Housing (Scotland) Act This gave tenants rights in tenant participation and consultation, and placed certain duties on Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). Tenants have the right to: form independent representative associations and apply for registration from their landlord access information about policies regarding housing and related services be consulted on issues that affect their homes and locality participate in decisions that affect the services they receive and have enough time to consider draft proposals and put forward their views. Councils and housing associations (RSLs) have duties to consult with individual tenants and tenants groups and they must: prepare a tenant participation strategy. It has to include an assessment of the resources needed to make sure there is effective tenant participation. It must also provide a statement of the resources being made available. The strategy also needs to show how the views of tenants will be taken into account, what tenants are likely to be consulted about, and the information to be provided to tenants set up a register of tenants organisations, in line with guidance from the Scottish Government inform individual tenants and registered tenant organisations (RTOs) about proposals for housing management, standards of service and the tenant participation strategy itself ensure that their tenant participation strategy complies with equal opportunity requirements take into account representations made by individual tenants or tenants groups Equal opportunities East Lothian Council has adopted (in the Single Equality Scheme) the definition of equal opportunities presented in the 2007 UK Equalities Review. The definition presents the concept of an equal society seeks equality in the freedoms that people have to lead a fulfilling life. An equal society protects and promotes equal, real freedom and substantive opportunity to live in the ways people value and would choose, so that everyone can flourish. An equal society recognises people s different needs, situations and goals and removes the barriers that limit what people can do and be. UK Equalities Review 2007 This definition of equality captures three aspects of equality: Opportunity whether everyone really has the same substantive freedom to flourish Agency what degree of choice and control an individual has in achieving the valued activity Process whether discrimination (or some barrier or process) causes or contributes to a particular inequality

28 28 Under the Housing (Scotland) 2001 Act, the Council has a duty to meet equal opportunity requirements when carrying out housing functions. As a local authority, East Lothian Council is also required to implement the Public Sector Equality Duty in the Equality Act 2010 to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. We consider that the development of this Tenant Participation Strategy is an important development to ensure that all tenants have the opportunity to be involved. In line with East Lothian Council s positive approach to achieving equal opportunities, a full Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA) was carried out on this Policy on 14th June We also firmly believe in the principles of tenant participation and carrying out this assessment helps us to make sure that our tenant participation practice is as inclusive as possible. The purpose of an EQIA is to help ensure that the Council promotes equality and good relations between groups. The assessment looked at how the Tenant Participation Strategy may impact, either positively or negatively, on different sections of the community in East Lothian. For a copy of this assessment please tenantconsultation@eastlothian.gov.uk

29 Appendix 2 29 Register of Tenant Organisations The Council is required under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to maintain a register of tenants organisations 3. Registered Tenants Organisations (RTOs) are independent groups, set up mainly to represent tenants interests in relation to housing and related services. Registration aims to give tenants groups a recognised role in tenant participation, and to give them the opportunity to show that they are open, democratic and accountable. Registration will give tenants groups rights to be properly recognised by their landlord and should ensure that the landlord asks for, and pays attention to, the view of tenants groups, especially in relation to housing policies, housing conditions and housing and related services. The benefits of registration include that landlords must: ask RTOs what issues they want to be consulted on make arrangements for obtaining and considering the views of RTOs notify RTOs of their intention to make proposals or changes in relation to housing management give RTOs information about proposals under consideration allow RTOs time to consider draft proposals and put forward their views. To be accepted on to the register, the tenants organisation must demonstrate certain requirements, including: have an appropriate constitution have an elected committee of at least three people who may co-opt other members on to the group identify the area that the group represents have a membership policy that shows the group is open to all the tenants in the defined area over 16 years old show that the groups finances are used appropriately, recorded, reported and accounted for each year show that the group has open meetings, consults with the wider membership and acts on the views of the tenants it represents. The Registration Policy 4 sets out the procedures for appeals against an organisation not accepted for registration, being removed from the register, or not being removed from the register. Representatives from RTOs can also become involved with the Regional Networks, which were set up in 2008 to help RTOs engage with the Scottish Government on issues of national policy. Networks cover a number of local authority areas and are supported by the Government s Tenant Participation Team. There are currently nine regional networks. The BEEM network covers the Borders, Edinburgh, East Lothian and Midlothian. 3 Register of Registered Tenant Organisations 2009, East Lothian Council 4 Joint Policy on Registering Tenant Organisations, ELC/ELHA/HfL, 2009

30 30 Appendix 3 List of tenant participation indicators Indicator Output Tenants and Residents Groups No. of Tenants and Residents Groups No. of Registered Tenant Organisations % of Tenants and Residents Groups that are registered No. of new groups formed in last 12 months No. of groups that have dissolved in last 12 months No. of Groups receiving development support through the TIS Project ELTRP Local Group Register ELC RTO Register TP Strategy Report TIS Project Annual Report TP Training and Awareness Sessions No. of ELTRP Information Sessions provided through the TIS Project No. of TP Awareness sessions delivered TIS Project Annual Report TP Strategy Group Report Level of Tenant Influence Issues that ELTRP has actively influenced in 12 months Issues that local Groups have actively influenced in last 12 months % of estate inspections with tenant representation ELTRP Annual Report ELTRP Annual Report TP Strategy Group Report Budgets % of spend per tenant on Tenant Participation in last financial year Actual amount (in s) budgeted for tenant participation in last financial year Actual amount spent (in s) in tenant participation activity in last financial year TP Strategy Group Report

31 31 Indicator Output What consultations and methods of participation took place Number of consultations carried out in last 12 months Different methods used to consult with tenants (e.g. meetings, visual displays focus groups etc.) Facilities on offer to encourage participation and maximise accessibility No. of consultations with RTOs in last 12 months (specific meetings with RTOs) Other methods used to encourage participation of tenants in hard to reach groups No. of tenants surveys carried out in last 12 months Response rate for each survey How the results of the surveys were fed back to tenants No. of TP Strategy Group Meetings in last 12 months No. of tenants newsletters produced in the last 12 months No. of Tenants Open Days held ELC Consultation Reports Survey Reports Homefront Minutes of Meetings Homefront

32 32 Appendix 4 - Tenant Participation Action Plan Agree the tenant participation agenda between Community Housing and East Lothian Tenants & Residents Panel. How we will do this Timescales Who is responsible? Ensure that tenants continue to be involved in setting policies, objectives and standards as part of the Scottish Social Housing Charter. Their involvement will also extend to the implementation of decisions, assessment and scrutiny of performance Ensure that tenants strategic priorities feed into and are responded to in all appropriate Business Plans through regular ELC/ELTRP Business Plan Meetings ELC/ELTRP Make tenant participation accessible and inclusive How we will do this Timescales Who is responsible? Implement TP Strategy Review TP Guidance Manual Produce new Tenants Handbook Produce regular Homefront newsletters Investigate and implement innovative methods of communication and consultation Develop through the TIS Project innovative ways to engage with under-represented groups Ongoing ELC/ELTRP ELC/ELTRP ELC ELC ELC/ELTRP ELC/ELTRP/TIS

33 33 Actively promote tenant participation How we will do this Timescales Who is responsible? Cascade the Tenant Participation (TP) Strategy to ELC staff Promote and inform of tenant participation(tp) activity through circulation of Homefront and Panel News to all ELC staff and elected members Ensure that ELTRP and local tenants and residents groups are involved in community planning Identify and support TP activities Include staff in any consultations with tenants Review the Register of Tenants Organisations Include tp in all managers Performance Review and Development Meetings within Community Housing Provide awareness sessions on tenant participation to staff within Community Housing and corporately where required or requested Hold annual Tenants Open Days Ongoing Annually ELC/ELTRP ELC/ELTRP ELC/ELTRP/TIS ELC/ELTRP ELC ELC/ELTRP ELC ELC/ELTRP ELC

34 34 Encourage engagement and build confidence How we will do this Timescales Who is responsible? Provide independent development support, information, advice and training to ELTRP and local groups through TIS Development Support Project Monitor and evaluate TIS Project Review TIS Development Support Project Contract Provide ELTRP with a delegated budget to fund tenant participation activities Provide training opportunities for ELTRP members to access ELC training TIS Project Training Programme for tenants and tenants and residents groups Develop and monitor the TIS Project Outreach Programme to encourage growth in the tenants movement Encourage local community housing office staff to take an active role in promoting and supporting of tenant participation activities Quarterly/Annually 2013 Annually Ongoing Quarterly Ongoing ELC/ELTRP/TIS ELC/ELTRP/TIS ELC/ELTRP ELC/ELTRP/ELC TIS ELC/ELTRP/TIS ELC Resource tenant participation How we will do this Timescales Who is responsible? Agree ELTRP Delegated Budget Agree ELTRP Business Plan Ensure ELTRP are provided with permanent development support Provide a full-time dedicated Council Officer with responsibility for tenant participation Review direct and indirect costs associated with tenant participation Review tenants organisations grants procedure Annually 2012 Ongoing Quarterly ELC/ELTRP ELC/ELTRP/TIS ELC ELC ELC/ELTRP ELC/ELTRP