Housing & Community Care Services
Neighbourhood Services’ StrategyContents
1. Introduction
2. Legislation
3. Consultation
4. Our
Vision
5. Our
Strategy
6.
The customer/landlord relationship
7
Neighbourhood and community
8.
Access to housing and support – Sustaining Tenancies
9.
Access to housing and support – Housing options, access to social housing
and homeless people
10. Getting good value from rents and service charges
11. Other customers – Gypsy Travellers
12
Monitoring, Evaluation and Review
13. Summary and conclusion
Housing & Community Care Services
Neighbourhood Services’ Strategy1) Introduction
The purpose of this strategy is to ensure that neighbourhoods across Perth and Kinross are attractive, well maintained, safe and secure places in which to live. It addresses key tenancy and neighbourhood management issues which play a major role in creating
sustainable communities. The theme of the strategy is working together, putting residents and communities at the heart of what we do.
It is linked to other Council plans and strategies, including • Local Housing Strategy
• Community Safety Strategy • Anti Social Behaviour Strategy • Homelessness Strategy
• Tenant Participation Strategy
• Community care strategies, including Mental Health Strategy and the Alcohol and Drug Partnership Strategy
• Employability Strategy
and to the new Scottish Social Housing Charter outcomes. 2) Legislation
The strategy outlines the ways in which Neighbourhood Services will continue to meet legislative and good practice requirements in managing neighbourhoods. Key legislation includes
• The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, 2006 and 2010 • Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003
• Anti Social Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 • Local Government ( Scotland) Act 2003 • Equality Act 2010
• Human Rights Act 1998
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 introduced the Scottish Secure Tenancy. The Perth & Kinross Scottish Secure Tenancy Agreement sets out the legal responsibilities and rights of the Council as landlord and those of its tenants, and provides the principal legal basis for providing Neighbourhood Services. The Council’s powers under the Civic Government (Scotland Act 1982, Environmental Protection Act 1990, Dangerous Dogs Act 1991,the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act and the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 are also relevant. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 introduced the Scottish Social Housing Charter1 which, although still to be approved by the Scottish Government, will take effect from April
2012. It provides the basis for the Scottish Housing Regulator2 to assess and report on how well landlords are performing. This will enable the Regulator, tenants and other customers, and social landlords to identify areas of strong performance and areas where improvement is needed.
1http://housingcharter.scotland.gov.uk/resources/revised-draft-of-the-charter 2http://newregulator.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/
This strategy incorporates the Charter’s outcomes and reflects the Christie Commission’s requirements to reform the public sector and the Scottish Government’s ‘four pillars’ for public sector reform (prevention, partnerships and local delivery, investing in people who deliver services and improved performance) into consideration.
3) Consultation
In February 2011 a report on Improving Local Neighbourhoods – A Strategy for
Neighbourhood Management3 was approved by the Council’s Housing & Health Committee. It was agreed that a conference would be held in the summer of 2011 to fully develop a
Neighbourhood services Strategy.
Planning for neighbourhoods means getting it right for those who live and work there. In August 2011 tenants from the Council, and other local housing associations, as well as landlord representatives, other Council services and community planning partners, met to discuss priorities for local neighbourhoods.
Participants were able to hear and ask questions about a range of topics, including the new Scottish Social Housing Charter. Representatives from community organisations Letham Climate Challenge and the Healthy Communities Collaborative, spoke about their experiences of taking ownership of issues in their own areas. Workshops facilitated
discussions on what was working well and not so well, priorities for change and ideas on how to improve things for the community around four key areas:
• Involving communities
• Supporting people in their communities • Managing our neighbourhoods and estates • Living in healthier safer communities
These are detailed in the action plan attached to the report. 4) Our vision
Our neighbourhoods are vibrant, successful places where people can enjoy a safe, secure and healthy environment. We will ensure people have access to suitable good quality affordable accommodation with the necessary support to sustain them in their own homes.
The quality of housing and the environment in which people live is very important to them and can have a major impact on their quality of life. A recent Joseph Rowntree study4 emphasised the key role housing plays in providing places where people want to live. The study emphasises the importance of place, of identity, of a sense of belonging. Unpaid activities, such as caring, parenting, volunteering, can instil a sense of purpose,
contributing to the wider community, benefitting the individual and community. These are easy to say but not always easy to achieve. As a landlord we want to support all of this and see the benefits for individuals and communities.
As a landlord we are expected to, and we want to, achieve high standards in terms of efficiently maintaining and improving our housing stock and supporting our tenants, many of whom are increasingly vulnerable and have longer term and additional needs. As a social
3 Housing & Health Committee reference 11/36
landlord our challenge is to focus on all our tenants, providing support, while also meeting the needs of the wider community in our mixed tenure estates. To do this we need to promote self-reliance and responsibility, encourage participation and engagement and a sense of ownership and belonging. This is also in line with the Christie Commission5 on public sector reform which states that radical change is needed to tackle deep rooted social problems that exist in communities. The only way to resolve this is working differently, in partnership and by focusing on prevention and being more responsive to the needs of individuals and communities.
Our vision involves skilled, efficient and caring staff committed to customer care, working in partnership and finding innovative ways to solve seemingly intractable problems. We need to support those who are vulnerable and whose lives and behaviour may be difficult at times. We also need to employ sanctions against those who refuse to be responsible
members of their community, causing distress and difficulties for those around them and the services that try to support them.
Key principles which will guide our services include:
• Based on what people need and want (customer-focused) • Focus on prevention and early intervention
• Sustainability – tenancies and communities • Of a high quality
• Easy to access – information, advice, housing, repairs and improvements • Mobile and flexible staff
• Delivered in partnership with local residents, other agencies and service providers
Our strategy for achieving our vision requires us to:
• Work effectively together with our tenants and residents, empowering local people and build trust and confidence to help them take ownership of their environment and influence decisions
• Respond to local needs and provide a housing service that is efficient, flexible, accountable and fair with services shaped around the residents and communities that use them
• Develop well rounded, well trained and professional staff with an understanding of high quality, value for money services
5) Our Strategy
This strategy is based on the outcomes outlined in the Scottish Social Housing Charter developed to encourage social landlords deliver an efficient and customer-focused housing service, improving the quality and value of services we provide. It is structured around 5 key themes:
The Customer/landlord relationship
• Involving communities (equalities, communication and participation)
• Ensuring we recognise the individual needs of tenants and others so that they are treated fairly and with respect and receive fair access to housing and housing services
5
http://www.scottishthroughcare.org.uk/docs/research/Commission_on_Future_Delivery_of_Public_S ervices_-_Summary_Document.pdf
Neighbourhood and community
• Managing our neighbourhoods and estates
• Ensuring that tenants and others live in well maintained neighbourhoods where they feel safe
• Supporting tenants in a number of ways, including mediation, to reduce anti-social behaviour and avoid disputes
Access to housing and support
• Making sure people looking for housing have appropriate information to make informed choices and decisions
• Offering housing advice and assistance
• Providing information and support to tenants to help them remain in their homes, including financial advice to support them to pay their rent and avoid rent arrears and assist those at risk of losing their homes
This aspect of the Charter also includes support for homeless people: making sure they receive prompt and easy access to help and advice and access to good quality temporary or emergency accommodation. Actions relating to this will be included in this strategy and in the Homeless Strategy.
Getting good value from rents and service charges
• Making sure our tenants, owners and other customers receive services that continually provide value for the rent and the other charges they pay
• Providing a balance between the level of services provided and the cost of the services, and how far current and prospective tenants and service users can afford them
• Providing clear information on how rents and other money is spent Other customers
• The Charter draws particular attention to Gypsies/Travellers
• Making sure that the needs of this community and the sites on which people live are well maintained and managed
• Gypsy/Travellers are also included in the equalities section of the strategy.
The other Charter theme of Housing Quality and Maintenance will be addressed through our Repairs and Improvement Team Business Management & Improvement Plan. It includes:
• Meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standards (SHQS) by April 2015 and continuing to meet them thereafter; ensuring tenants’ homes are well maintained, with repairs and improvements carried out when required, giving tenants reasonable choices about when work is done.
6. THE CUSTOMER/LANDLORD RELATIONSHIP Equalities, communication and participation Scottish Social Housing Charter Outcomes
• Every tenant and other customer has their individual needs recognised, is treated fairly and with respect, and receives fair access to housing and housing services
• Tenants and other customers find it easy to communicate with
Kinross as a landlord, how and why it makes decisions and the services that we provide
• Tenants and other customers find it easy to participate in and influence our decisions at a level they feel comfortable with
6.1 Equalities
Neighbourhood Services help and support people in our communities who are vulnerable and who may experience negative effects of social inequalities. Across Housing & Community Care Services we aim to empower people to promote their own welfare and to develop their own abilities, resources and potential. The equalities agenda is already at the heart our day-to-day business and this is reflected in the Service’s Equalities Action Plan.6
During the past year we have been supporting and engaging with specific groups of tenants, including homeless people, people with a learning disability and our Gypsy Traveller
community. In particular:
• We have developed the Homeless Voice Group, which, in partnership with Skinnergate, CATH, Greyfriars, Rio, Wellbank, Perth College and the NHS, has increased participation opportunities for homeless people in Perth and Kinross. • We have actively engaged with tenants with learning disabilities and have
developed a Learning Disability Housing Forum. This group highlighted key issues they wanted to raise and delivered the first ‘Us and the Housing Conference’ in June 2011 which received very positive feedback from tenants and agencies.
• We actively support the Double Dykes Tenants’ Association and they have taken part in range of activities leading to improvements in the services they receive and positively raising the profile of our Gypsy Traveller Community in the local and wider area.
The development of our Resident Academies, offering informal and accredited learning programmes, is accessible to all tenants. We provide travel and care expenses to support participation and can deliver bespoke support and learning sessions that take into account the needs of particular groups and individuals.
We are concluding our review of Care and Repair Services to make sure that this service provides the right care and support to people with physical disabilities and older people to allow them to remain in their own homes for longer.
6.2 Communication
Effective communication is key to a successful customer/landlord relationship. It is central to successful participation which is a two-way process of sharing information, ideas and power.
We have a range of ways we communicate our plans and performance, but recognise that this is an area that can always be improved. We are particularly pleased with the
development of our text message pilot and the introduction of Digital Screens. We are clear, however, that effective communication at a personal level is central to making sure we meet individual needs and getting it right first time for our tenants and customers.
6.3 Participation
We have a Perth & Kinross Tenant Participation Strategy 2010/13 which aims to: • offer a range of ways tenants can be involved, individually and collectively
• ensure all tenants are encouraged and adequately resourced to fully participate and be involved in decisions that affect them
• continuously develop ways of improving communication and information sharing to meet the needs of all tenants
Our tenant satisfaction survey (2011) asked if tenants were satisfied at being able to participate in the development of services and decision-making. 61% were very or fairly satisfied, while 6% very or fairly dissatisfied.
We asked if people were satisfied that the Council took their views into account when making decisions. 64% were very or fairly satisfied, while 9% very or fairly dissatisfied. A majority of respondents, however, said they did not want to be involved. This leaves a core of tenants willing to be involved in a variety of ways.
6.4 Achievements
Tenants have been involved in a range of activities during the past year, including:
• 8 neighbourhood forum events which were organised to engage with tenants and other customers on services
• 5 tenant network events held to discuss the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan
• Thematic Forums organised for homeless people and people with learning disabilities to hear about their specific issues
• The development of a Residents’ Academy involving non-accredited and accredited learning programmes
• Development of a Quality Panel by graduates of the Residents Academy In addition,
• Our Housing Collaborative with other social landlords has agreed areas we can work together and share resources, including tenant participation
• We continue to produce On the House tenants’ publication to share information. People now have the option of receiving this by email, with numbers growing from 15 in May 2011 to 89 in Jan 2012.
• Digital signage has been installed in area housing offices to provide interactive communication, including about local activities, quickly and efficiently. • We have rolled out PK Info text service to 938 people (Jan 2012) to exchange
information speedily. 6.5 Challenges
Our challenge continues to be to encourage as many tenants and residents to be involved, making it easy, appealing and rewarding.
Our tenant survey in 2011 had a 16% response rate. Of those who responded, 800 (73%) said that they were not interested in being involved in influencing Council decisions on housing and their local neighbourhood.
That said, we have been introducing more modern and innovative ways tenants and
residents can participate and influence developments and services in their communities and we have a range of actions planned for the coming year.
We also want to further develop participation for thematic groups e.g. older people.
6.6 Actions over the next year During 2012/13 we will:
• Implement the Tenant Participation Strategy which will:
- Work with tenants and residents to achieve the outcomes and standards detailed in the Scottish Social Housing Charter
- Support the existing Registered Tenants’ Organisations to become actively involved in improving neighbourhoods and communities
- Work with the Quality Panel to assess neighbourhoods - Include tenants/residents in working groups
- Develop a further thematic forum e.g. Older Person’s forum - Explore ‘participatory’ budgeting for local initiatives
- Expand the use of text messaging • Continue to train staff on equalities
• Work with tenants to update the information on the Neighbourhood Services website
7. NEIGHBOURHOOD AND COMMUNITY
Supporting our communities, working together to address key issues Scottish Social Housing Charter Outcomes
• Neighbourhood Services work in partnership with other services and agencies to ensure that tenants and other customers live in well maintained
neighbourhoods, where they feel safe 7.1 Neighbourhoods
One of the aims of the Council’s Corporate Plan is to provide a safe, secure and healthy environment. Our aim is to have well-maintained safe neighbourhoods where people want to live. We recognise the impact on people’s quality of life of the quality of housing and the environment in which they live. The clear message from the Scottish Social Housing Charter is tenant involvement and involvement from other services users, including those we have previously struggled to engage. This challenges us to think and act differently. 7.2 Challenges
In our recent tenant satisfaction survey of the 1,100 respondents
• 87% were ‘very or fairly satisfied’ with the neighbourhood they lived in; 8% ‘very or fairly dissatisfied’.
• 75% thought their neighbourhood had improved or remained the same in last 3 years • 21% of out Tenant Survey (2011) respondents stated that they thought their
neighbourhood had worsened. The numbers are small, but some people cited problems including
o Dog fouling (n=101 people) o Drugs problems (n=97 people) o Noise from people (n=78)
o Youths loitering (n=72)
• Reluctance of some tenants and residents to take ownership for their area (including gardens and communal areas)
• Garden Maintenance Scheme currently only open to tenants • Caretaking confined to multi storey flats in central Perth
• High level of neighbour and environmental complaints in some areas 7.3 Actions over the next year
We have some core activities we undertake and throughout the year we want to work with tenants and service users to agree ways we can improve.
For example:
• We want to work with tenants to:
o Agree the best ways to make communal areas acceptable and attractive o Review our caretakers’ duties and priorities
o Agree an action plan for environmental works e.g. paths, clearing fly-tipping o Review our Garden Maintenance Service
o Review our garage sites and lock ups (see below)
o Agree regular neighbourhood walkabouts with staff, community representatives, local councillors and partner agencies to identify problem areas and agree solutions
• Improve the percentage of tenants who are very or fairly satisfied with their neighbourhood
• Continue to work with the Environment Service and other partners, such as Tayside Police and Tayside Fire and Rescue Service, to focus on key areas.
7.4 Managing garage sites and lock-ups
Neighbourhood Services manage 62 garage sites across Perth & Kinross which encompasses 597 individual garage plots, of which 496 are currently let. The garages on these sites are owned and maintained solely by tenants of the site, who may or may not be tenants of council houses. We also manage 1,165 lock-ups.
The general condition of garage sites is deteriorating. In many cases the garages are in poor condition, with many of them containing asbestos and some are in a dangerous condition. Since the original leases were signed many of the garages had been sold on, often without notification to the Council. Some have changed hands more than once, which has led to difficulties in identifying the responsible owner/contact.
7.5 Actions over the next year
We will review and make recommendations on the future of garage sites and lock-ups and implement an action plan.
7.6 Anti-social behaviour (including neighbour nuisance and tenancy disputes) We want to resolve neighbourhood problems and disputes at an early stage. We make referrals to the Community Mediation Service to try and achieve an early and permanent resolution to neighbour disputes. In 2011/12 we made 18 referrals and 61% resulted in full agreement or significant improvement. We want to look into the reasons the 40% were not agreed or improved to see what support and action would be required.
Neighbourhood Services work closely with the Safer Communities Team (Community Wardens and the Safe Communities Officers) to tackle more serious cases of anti-social behaviour and provide support to victims and witnesses. The approach is PIER – prevention, (early) intervention, enforcement (where necessary) and rehabilitation. This requires
working across agencies and with individuals and communities. Close working is also required with other support services, including community care teams and alcohol and drugs’ services.
We recently established six ‘tasking and coordinating groups’ across Perth & Kinross as a way of bringing key agencies together to jointly address anti-social behaviour and other community problems that impact on residents’ quality of life. These locality groups involve staff from Tayside Police, Tayside Fire & Rescue, Registered Social Landlords. They aim to better address the concerns and priorities of residents.
7.6 Challenges
• Many of our young tenants do not have skills to look after and maintain their tenancy • We need to be able to coordinate support and action across agencies to support and
deal with complex cases.
• There is an issue of anti social behaviour in some areas due to drug and alcohol abuse and this needs to be addressed with our drug and alcohol services, as well as through the Tasking Groups and Equally Well initiatives
7.7 Actions over next year
• Through the Homeless Voice group we are developing a Tenancy Academy-learning pack that will help people (particularly young people) prepare for their tenancies. • Develop networks of professional staff to target individuals and families with
complex needs (Equally Well model) and work across hot-spot areas • Measure the impact and effectiveness of the Tasking Groups
• Make sure we have tenant input across all the areas in this section 8. ACCESS TO HOUSING AND SUPPORT
Sustaining tenancies
Scottish Social Housing Charter Outcomes
• Tenants get the information they need on how to access support options to help them to remain in their home and can get suitable support including services provided directly by the landlord and by other organisations
8.1 Managing and sustaining tenancies
The Council’s 7,167 secure council tenancies are managed by Neighbourhood Services. In order to support tenants to maintain their tenancy staff undertake a wide range of tasks including:
• Tenancy sign up; settling-in visits to new tenants
• Responding to Neighbour complaints, anti social behaviour • Providing advice and support to tenants to reduce rent arrears
• Offer incentives to tenants to move to smaller properties and leave their homes in a clean and clear condition
• Enforce tenancy conditions
• Process abandonments; termination of tenancy; provide tenancy support and prevent eviction
It is important that good relations are fostered between tenants and housing staff at the start of a tenancy. The focus will be to work with tenants, offering support and making them aware of their tenancy obligations, promoting sustainability. The percentage of mainstream tenants who have maintained a tenancy for at least 12 months was 92% at end December 2011.
8.2 Challenges
• Many of the people that we house have complex support needs
• Being able to balance support for tenants to maintain their tenancy and enforcing tenancy conditions
• Offering support at the earliest stages 8.3 Actions over the next year
• Work with tenants to review the current arrangements to identify areas for improvement
• Review with tenants the literature and information provided to them
• Work with our key partners, including tenants to provide joint support to prevent enforcement actions
• Train staff and tenants on the legislation around managing our tenancies 8.4 Rent Arrears
We want to try and avoid tenants getting into arrears with their rent. It is costly them and could ultimately result in eviction and homelessness. It is also very costly for the Council. Our aim is to establish early contact/prevention with tenants in order to minimise the level of tenant rent arrears. The key aspects of the arrears strategy are:
• Offering and sign-posting tenants to money-advice services and support • Having effective rent collection services, focusing on prevention
• Identifying early people in rent arrears to encourage early intervention and recovery
• Negotiating with tenants to make fair and affordable repayments • Preventing homelessness and using eviction as a measure of last resort
In cases where it has been agreed that eviction is necessary, the Council will continue to liaise with the tenant and other relevant services and agencies, including the tenant’s representatives, in an attempt to recover the rent due and to prevent the eviction from proceeding.
8.5 Challenges
• There has been a steady increase in rent arrears since 2007/08
• Welfare Reform will have a significant impact on future rent collection levels • Other social problems can often accompany debt and staff resources need to be
sufficient to cope with demand
• Non engagement of tenants in arrears is increasingly problematic and staff have to constantly reconsider their methods of engagement
• Movement in and out of Housing Benefit by tenants means that there is a greater potential for arrears to accrue
• The current economic climate is expected to lead to a high volume of people facing financial hardship
8.6 Actions over the next year
•
Implement the rent arrears action and improvement plan•
Move the Rent Arrears team into local neighbourhood teams to work closely with housing staff to support tenants•
Further improve effective signposting to Benefits and Welfare Rights (e.g. getting benefit checks and income maximisation carried out for people who arestruggling)
•
Promote a ‘Payment Culture’ through leaflets/publicity•
Review the remit of the Eviction Prevention Panel 9. ACCESS TO HOUSING AND SUPPORTHousing options, access to social housing and homeless people Scottish Social Housing Charter Outcomes
• People looking for housing get information that helps them make informed choices and decisions about the range of housing options available to them • Tenants and people on housing lists can review their options
• People at risk of losing their homes get advice on preventing homelessness • Homeless people get prompt and easy access to help and advice, are provided
with suitable, good quality temporary or emergency accommodation, when this is needed, and are offered continuing support to help them get and keep a home
• People looking for housing find it easy to apply for the widest choice of social housing available and get the information they need on how the landlord allocates homes and their prospect of being housed
9.1 Housing Options
While Housing Options is led by the Homeless Service, Neighbourhood Services provides a professional housing advice service to support those requiring alternative housing options to social rented housing and to play a key role in preventing homelessness.
In many cases the first point of access for those experiencing housing problems is a local area housing team. Neighbourhood Services contributes to the Homeless Strategy by delivering a housing options service, handling homeless presentations and answering enquiries about housing applications and moves to other areas.
9.2 Access to Social Housing
In April 2010 Housing & Community Care implemented a new housing allocations policy and a housing options service. It sets out the process for applying for social rented housing with any of the partner landlords, how housing need will be assessed, and how empty houses are allocated.
Assessing al homeless and housing applications and matching applicants to properties is done by a centralised team. We need to make sure that teams across the service
communicate and work effectively together to make sure people going through this process are at the heart of it, their needs and requirements recognised. Our reviews across Housing Services will address these during the coming year.
9.3 Challenges
• To put tenants and potential tenants at the heart of this process and fit services and support around them
• To work with tenants and residents to support tenancies and manage issues within neighbourhoods
9.4 Actions over the next year
• Introduce local lettings arrangements within areas of housing stress • Decentralise dispersed tenancy management and deliver from local
neighbourhood offices. Overall responsibility will remain with Homeless service and monitored by small central team at York Place who will also identify and set up temp tenancies, conduct void property inspections and matching
• Complete the review of Housing Options including introduction of the Abritas portal which allows people to self assess their housing situation and view options in conjunction with partner authorities in the Housing Options Hub for Tayside, Fife and Central
• Focus Housing Officers’ work on pre-tenancy visits on areas of greatest demand. These visits will assess the condition of current properties, manage expectations of what can be offered and identify support needs. In turn void costs should be reduced as officers will advise tenants of their responsibilities in relation to repairs.
10. GETTING GOOD VALUE FROM RENTS AND SERVICE CHARGES Value for money, rents and service charges
Scottish Social Housing Charter Outcomes
Perth & Kinross set rents and service charges in consultation with our tenants and other customers so that:
• Tenants, owners and other customers receive services that provide continually improving value for the rent and other charges they pay • A balance is struck between level of services provided, the cost of the
services and how far current and prospective tenants and service users can afford them
• Tenants get clear information on how rents and other money is spent, including details of individual items of expenditure above thresholds agreed between landlords and tenants
10.1 Rents and service charges
The Council is obliged to collect rent from its tenants, using the money to improve the quality and supply of houses and support for people in their communities. The Council recently agreed its rent strategy for the next four years, agreeing to a 5.2% increase for 2012/13. This is the same uplift as for DWP benefits.
To discuss this strategy all Perth and Kinross Council tenants were invited to attend a series of five Tenant Network events which were held throughout Perth and Kinross in November 2011. The purpose was to give tenants an opportunity to talk about their priorities for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and proposed rent increases. However, only a very small number of tenants attended the events or provided feedback on the proposals.
10.2 Challenges
• While rents in Perth & Kinross are still lower than some other local authorities, we need to make sure we support those suffering financial hardship
• We need work with tenants to encourage more involvement in rent setting and discussions about how their rent is spent.
10.2 Actions over the next year
• Through the Tenant Participation Strategy, work with tenants to encourage
participation in rent discussions and review the information available to tenants on the services provided and whether best value and value for money are being achieved 11. OTHER CUSTOMERS
Gypsies/Travellers
Scottish Social Housing Charter Outcomes
• Perth & Kinross will manage their Gypsy Traveller Sites so that they are well maintained and managed
11.1 Gypsies/Travellers
Neighbourhood Services manage a Gypsy Traveller Site at Double Dykes, Perth which provides 20 chalets for settled travellers and 6 chalets at Bobbin Mill, Pitlochry. Double Dykes is managed by a Gypsy Traveller Site Manager who in the near future will also liaise with unauthorised encampments.
Funding has been identified through the Capital budget for Gypsy Traveller transit sites and Neighbourhood Services is working with colleagues in Property and Planning to identify suitable sites.
We have a Gypsy Traveller Liaison Group and Community Engagement Group which work to support and agree priorities and actions.
11.2 Challenges
• We need to balance the need to allocate pitches which meet statutory requirements with the needs of the community
• We have a shortage of pitches for travelling families 11.3 Actions for next year
• Continue to work with Gypsy Travellers and partners to meet their needs • Consider a Local lettings plan for Double Dykes
• Identify a Gypsy Traveller transit site
12. Monitoring Evaluation and Review
This strategy will be monitored by a Neighbourhood Strategy Group which will include tenants and residents and key staff across partner agencies. The group will meet on a quarterly basis and report progress to the Housing & Community Care Service Improvement Board.
13. Summary and conclusion
This strategy sets out the current position, key challenges and actions required over the next year to promote the Neighbourhood Services’ vision - our neighbourhoods are vibrant, successful places where people can enjoy a safe, secure and healthy environment. We will ensure people have access to suitable good quality affordable accommodation with the necessary support to sustain them in their own homes.
The theme of the strategy is working together, putting residents and communities at the heart of what we do.
The strategy is based on the Scottish Social Housing Charter outcomes developed to encourage social landlords deliver an efficient and customer-focused housing service, improving the quality and value of services we provide. It is structured around 5 key themes:
• The Customer/landlord relationship • Neighbourhood and community • Access to housing and support
• Getting good value from rents and service charges • Other customers, including Gypsies/Travellers
The plan in the appendix details the specific actions we will be undertaking over the next year to achieve our priorities and desired outcomes for tenants, residents and communities.
Action Plan
Customer and Landlord Relationship
1. Equalities: Every tenant and other customer has their individual needs recognised, is treated fairly and with respect, and receives fair access to housing and housing services
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
1.1
1.2
Develop thematic forums for groups previously not engaged
Continue staff training on equalities
Homeless Voice Group Learning Disability Housing Forum
Older Tenants’ Forum 59 staff
Performance & Quality Team Leader • Neighbourhood Services • Homeless Service
• Community Care Services • Tenants and Residents Neighbourhood Services Manager
• Performance & Quality Team 2. Communication: Tenants and other customers find it easy to communicate with Neighbourhood Services and get the information they need about Perth & Kinross as a landlord, how and why it makes decisions and the services that we provide
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
2.1
2.2
Expand the use of texting
Work with tenants to update the information on the Neighbourhood Services website
Increase in numbers. Baseline = 983 (189 tenants)
December 2012 then ongoing
Performance & Quality Team Leader • Area Team staff
Neighbourhood Services Manager • Tenants and residents
3. Participation: Tenants and other customers find it easy to participate in and influence our decisions at a level they feel comfortable with
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
3.1 Implement the Tenant Participation Strategy Tenants and Residents are
able to be involved in the decision making process of Housing & Community Care in a range of ways
Neighbourhood Services Manager • Performance & Quality Team
Leader
• Tenants and Residents • RSLs
• Education & Children’s Services • The Environment Service 3.2 Work with tenants and residents to achieve the outcomes and
standards detailed in the Scottish Social Housing Charter
Set up a working group
April 2012
Neighbourhood Services Manager
Tenants/Residents, Housing staff, Safer
Communities Team, Community Care
Teams, The Environment Service,
Education & Children’s Service, RSLs,
Tayside Police and Tayside Fire and
Rescue
3.2 Support the existing Registered Tenants Organisations to become
actively involved in improving neighbourhoods and communities Empowered Communities who take ownership of their area
Neighbourhood Services Manager • Area Teams
• Performance & Quality Team 3.3 Work with the Quality Panel to assess neighbourhoods 1 inspection in each area Neighbourhood Services Manager
• Area Teams
• Performance & Quality Team 3.4 Consider an Older Person’s forum (under 'Equalities) March 2013
Meet the needs and priorities of older people
Performance & Quality Team Leader • Neighbourhood Services • Homeless Service
• Community Care Services • Tenants and Residents 3.5 Explore Participatory Budgeting for Estate Based Initiatives Increase number of
Tenants/Residents involved in improving their
neighbourhood
Neighbourhood Services Manager • Repairs Service
• Performance & Quality Team • Tenants & Residents
3. Participation: Tenants and other customers find it easy to participate in and influence our decisions at a level they feel comfortable with Increased ownership by
residents April 2012
3.6 Expand the use of text messaging (under 'Communication) Increased numbers Baseline = 983 (189 tenants)
Performance & Quality Team Leader • Area Team staff
Neighbourhood and Community
4. Estate Management: Neighbourhood Services works in partnership with other services and agencies to ensure that tenants and other customers live in well maintained neighbourhoods, where they feel safe
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
4.1 Improve the percentage of tenants who are very or fairly satisfied with their neighbourhood through implementing range of initiatives
90% Neighbourhood Services Manager
• Tenants /Residents • Area Teams
• Repairs Service • Safer Communities • RSLs
• The Environment Service • Tayside Police
• Tayside Fire & Rescue Service 4.2 Prepare strategy and improvement plan for caretaking and
garden maintenance functions, ensuring effective liaison with housing management teams and developing caretakers'
relationship with residents
Action plan in place Aug 2012
Improved environment Improved local
participation
Improved ownership for common areas
Neighbourhood Services Operations Manager
• Tenants/residents • Area Teams • Repairs Service
• The Environment Service • RSLs
4. Estate Management: Neighbourhood Services works in partnership with other services and agencies to ensure that tenants and other customers live in well maintained neighbourhoods, where they feel safe
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lea Pd/ artners
4.3 Review garage and lock-up sites and implement action plan July 2012 • Tenants/residents
• Area Teams • Repairs Service
• The Environment Service • RSLs
4.4 Continue to work with the Environment Service and other partners such as Tayside Police and Tayside Fire and Rescue to focus on community hot spots
April 2012 and ongoing Reduced fly tipping, vandalism, fire raising
Neighbourhood Services Manager • Tenants and residents • Area Teams
• The Environment Service • Tayside Fire & Rescue Service • Safer Communities Team 4.5 Through the Homeless Voice group we are developing a Tenancy
Academy-learning pack that will help people (particularly young people) prepare for their tenancies.
Increase in tenancy sustainability
Reduction in neighbour complaints
Performance & Quality Team • Neighbourhood Services • Homeless Service 4.6 Develop networks of professional staff to target individuals and
families with complex needs (Equally Well model) and work across hot-spot areas.
Improved quality of life for individuals and the wider community
Head of Housing & Strategic Commissioning • Housing
• Community Care • NHS Tayside
• Education & Children’s Services • Tayside Police
Access to Housing and Support
5. Tenancy Sustainment: Tenants get the information they need on how to access support options to help them to remain in their home and can get suitable support including services provided directly by the landlord and by other organisations
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
Rent Arrears
5.4 Implement the rent arrears action and improvement plan Reduction in rent arrears – 6%
Neighbourhood Services Operations Manager
• Area Teams
• Business Improvement Team • Welfare Rights
• Housing Benefit Team • Homeless Service 5.5 Move the Rent Arrears team into local neighbourhood teams to
work closely with housing staff to support tenants Improved early intervention and support June 2012
Neighbourhood Services Manager • Arrears staff
• Area Housing Teams 5.6 Further improve effective signposting to Benefits and Welfare
Rights (e.g. getting benefit checks and income maximisation carried out for people who are struggling)
Tenancy Sustainment increased – baseline 92% Income maximisation
Neighbourhood Services Operations Manager
• Area Teams • Welfare Rights
• Housing Benefit Team • Homeless Team 5.7 Promote a ‘Payment Culture’ through leaflets/publicity Increased rental income
April 2012 Neighbourhood Services Operations Manager • Performance & Quality Team • Tenants and Residents 5.8 Work with tenants to review the current arrangements to
identify areas for improvement Increase in tenancy sustainment – baseline 92% Neighbourhood Services Operations Manager • Tenants and Residents • Area Housing Teams
5. Tenancy Sustainment: Tenants get the information they need on how to access support options to help them to remain in their home and can get suitable support including services provided directly by the landlord and by other organisations
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
5.9 Review with tenants the literature and information provided to
them Tenants know how to access support
August 2012
Neighbourhood Services Operations Manager
• Tenants and Residents • Area Housing Teams
• Performance and Quality Team 5.10 Work with our key partners, including tenants to provide joint
support to prevent enforcement actions Increase in tenancy sustainment – baseline 92% Reduction in evictions baseline =5
Neighbourhood Services Operations Manager
• Community Care
• Education & Children’s Services • Homeless Team
• Legal Services 5.11 Train staff and tenants on the legislation around managing our
tenancies 59 staff Increased tenant
satisfaction
Neighbourhood Services Operations Manager
• Tenants and Residents • Area Housing Teams • Legal Services • RSLs
Access to Housing and Support
6. Housing Options, Access to Social Housing and Homeless People
• People looking for housing get information that helps them make informed choices and decisions about the range of housing options available to them
• Tenants and people on housing lists can review their options
• People at risk of losing their homes get advice on preventing homelessness
• Homeless people get prompt and easy access to help and advice, are provided with suitable, good quality temporary or emergency accommodation, when this is needed, and are offered continuing support to help them get and keep a home
• People looking for housing find it easy to apply for the widest choice of social housing available and get the information they need on how the landlord allocates homes and their prospect of being housed
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
6.1 Introduce local lettings arrangements within areas of housing
stress and better meet local demand As required Sustainable Communities Allocations Manager • Neighbourhood Services Manager • Area Housing Managers
6.2 Decentralise dispersed tenancy management and deliver from
local neighbourhood offices. Ownership of tenancy management within one team
Business Improvement Event May 2012
Homelessness Manager
• Neighbourhood Services Manager • Area Housing Managers
6.3 Complete the review of Housing Options including introduction of the Abritas portal which allows people to self assess their housing situation and view options in conjunction with partner authorities in the Housing Options Hub for Tayside, Fife and Central
July 2012
Individuals will be better able to make their own choices and find their own housing solutions
Increased time for Neighbourhood Services staff to address tenancy and estate management issues
Homelessness Manager
• Neighbourhood Services • Angus, Dundee City, Fife,
Clackmannan and Argyll and Bute Councils
Getting good value from rents and service charges
7. Value for Money, Rents and Service Charges:
• Tenants, owners and other customers receive services that provide continually improving value for the rent and other charges they pay • A balance is struck between level of services provided, the cost of the services and how far current and prospective tenants and service
users can afford them
• Tenants get clear information on how rents and other money is spent, including details of individual items of expenditure above thresholds agreed between landlords and tenants
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
7.1 Through the Tenant Participation Strategy, work with tenants to encourage participation in rent discussions and review the information available to tenants on the services provided and whether best value and value for money are being achieved
Commence April 2012 Neighbourhood Services Operations
Manager
• Performance and Quality Team • Tenants and residents
• Area Teams
Other customers
8. Gypsies/Travellers: Perth & Kinross will manage their Gypsy Traveller Sites so that they are well maintained and managed
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
8.1 Continue to work with Gypsy Travellers and partners to meet
their needs Increased satisfaction with site management and
provision
Neighbourhood Services Manager • Gypsy Traveller Site Manager • Area Teams
• Education & Children’s Services • The Environment Service • NHS Tayside
8.2 Consider a Local lettings plan for Double Dykes Balanced approach to pitch
allocation July 2012
Allocations Manager
• Neighbourhood Service Manager • Area Teams
8. Gypsies/Travellers: Perth & Kinross will manage their Gypsy Traveller Sites so that they are well maintained and managed
Ref Key Actions Target/Output Lead/Partners
8.3 Identify a Gypsy Traveller transit site Meet the needs of
travelling families Reduce unauthorised encampments
Planning & Sustainable Development Manager
• Neighbourhood Services Manager • The Environment Service
• Team Leader Planning & Policy 8.4 Measure resident satisfaction in relation to site management Obtain baseline
September 2012
Neighbourhood Services Manager • Gypsy Traveller Site Manager • Area Team
