Leeds Tenants Federation

Service Plan 2003/04

	Uniting tenants
	Involving tenants
	Supporting tenants
	Enabling tenants

Leeds Tenants Federation Service Plan 2003/04

This service plan sets out the Leeds Tenants Federation’s plans for the coming year.

The aims of the Leeds Tenants Federation are to:

· Unite the tenants of Leeds in one representative and effective voice

· Involve tenants in decisions about their homes and communities

· Support tenants to build a housing service that meets their needs and aspirations

· Enable tenants to participate at a level that suits them

Our services can be summarised under the following headings:

Services to individual and hard to reach tenants

Producing the Home @ Leeds newsletter and developing feedback mechanisms

Holding a major Question Time event to enable individual tenants to quiz service managers

Services to tenants groups

Challenge event to initiate tenant-led strategy

Quarterly meetings with tenants groups

Bi-monthly information report

Providing registration and funding services

Services to Tenant Board members

Assist tenant board members represent the views of tenants

Provide independent advice and support to tenant board members

Services to Leeds Tenants Federation members

Personal development and training

Promotions and publicity

Manage the transition to the new Federation

This year we launch some new initiatives:

Tenant Challenge Day

We intend to hold an annual Challenge Day event to help tenants representatives formulate ideas for the development of housing strategy.

Question Time event

We intend to organise an event to enable individual tenants and those in hard to reach groups to influence housing policy and performance. We are proposing to hold this event jointly with the tenants of Registered Social Landlords, involving all Leeds Homes agencies. This will be a high profile event at a large public venue and that tenants submit questions in advance to be answered by Senior Management from Housing Services, the ALMOs and RSLs. In the longer term we would aim to include representatives from other council services and statutory agencies.

Tenant Talkback Panel

To explore the feasibility of developing a panel of individual tenants who will undertake to answer three satisfaction surveys a year on specific subjects of importance to tenants. Promotion of the panel to be undertaken through mailings to tenants on a representative basis.

How this plan was produced

This Service Plan was developed by the Leeds Tenants Federation during an away-day at Gotts Park in February 2003. We consulted on an initial draft in March and this final edition of the Service Plan will be adopted at the Annual General Meeting in April 2003.

Objectives	Actions
1. Developing tenant involvement strategy
1.1 To represent tenants views in the development of neighbourhood and housing strategy	· Involvement in Leeds Housing Partnership and the Local Strategic Partnerships · Develop links with tenants groups from Registered Social Landlords · Develop tenant involvement in a wider range of neighbourhood services · Regular meetings with Strategic Housing and ALMO Management teams · Collate and represent responses from tenant groups and individual tenants
1.2 To initiate policy development in the field of tenant participation	· Hold Tenant Challenge day event for tenants to formulate neighbourhood and housing strategy · Review and consult on changes to registration & funding criteria & support services to Registered Tenants Groups
1.3 To represent the views of Leeds tenants in regional and national policy	§ Active involvement in the Yorkshire and Humber Tenants & Residents Federation § Membership of the Tenants & Residents Organisation of England
1.4 To support the local delivery of tenant involvement	· Agree indicators with ALMO senior management and monitor through regular reviews · Hold regular meetings with Tenant Involvement Officers · Quarterly reviews with Tenant Board Members · Carry out annual RTG survey & TIC survey · Liaison with Strategic Landlord section
1.5 To monitor tenant satisfaction with service delivery and ensure equality of access across the city	· Input into city-wide satisfaction survey · Input into Mystery Shopping exercise · Collate and analyse feedback via Home @Leeds and tenant group survey
2. Developing the Leeds Tenants Federation
2.1 To ensure that TIC members have the skills, knowledge and confidence to fulfil their role	· Agree competencies for TIC representatives · Personal Development Plans for all TIC members · Signpost to and fund training · Investigate need for specialist in-house training for RTGs
2.2 To ensure TIC and its successor organisation remain a representative and credible force	· Design and produce a range of publications, leaflets, posters · Develop and maintain TIC website · Production and editorial of Home @ Leeds newsletter · Develop TIC display stands
2.3 To manage the transition to the new Federation	· Negotiate TIC budget · Develop and consult on new constitution · Special general meeting Sept 03 · Launch event for new Federation
3. Supporting tenant involvement in arms-length management
3.1 To provide independent advice and support to tenant board members	· Promote role of TIC nominee on boards · Make series of presentations to Boards and Committees on TIC’s role · Include Tenant Board members in mailings · Quarterly meetings with Board members
3.2 To assist Board Members to fully represent the views of tenants	· Facilitate consultation meetings between tenants and Board members
4. Supporting Tenants Groups
4.1 To register groups on behalf of the council and enable them to access funding	· Administer registration service and manage RTG grants · Develop and maintain Registered Tenants Group database · Develop and distribute information on funding sources
4.2 To ensure two-way communication between tenants groups and TIC	· Quarterly meetings with tenants groups · Bi-monthly report and regular information mailings to tenants groups · TIC visits to tenants meetings
4.3 To research and provide information to empower tenants groups to achieve their goals	· Develop library and IT facilities in Resource Room and promote use by tenants
5. Enabling individual tenants to participate
5.1 To provide “hard to reach” and individual tenants with relevant information on housing and tenant participation issues	· Production and editorial of Home @ Leeds in partnership with Leeds city council · Develop feedback mechanisms from Home @ Leeds · Provide information in community languages, audio tape and Braille
5.2 To develop ways that “hard to reach” and individual tenants can influence housing policy	· Question Time event for individual tenants held in partnership with Leeds Homes agencies · Investigate feasibility of establishing “Tenant Talkback” survey panel to receive structured feedback from a representative group of tenants on key issues

Evaluation of services
We will record and publish annually:
	§ Number of tenants groups registered and funded § Total amount of funding § Satisfaction with registration process § Satisfaction with level of funding (both measured in annual survey)
	§ Numbers of training courses attended by TIC members § Numbers of Personal Development Plans carried out § TIC members’ satisfaction with ability to influence change
	§ Number attending TIC general meetings § Analysis of feedback from Home @ Leeds § Equality profile of Question Time and Talkback Panel participants § Equality profile of tenants groups (measured in annual survey)

Leeds Tenants Federation Room 0, Westminster Buildings. 31 New York Street Leeds lS2 7DT Tel (0113) 2145330