Leasehold Panel. Minutes of the meeting of the 9 June 2015

Transcription

1 Leasehold Panel Minutes of the meeting of the 9 June 2015 Subject Page 1. Attendance 2 2. Shaping leaseholder consultation and engagement for the future Mrs Chinyere Ugwu, Community Development Director 3. Key Leaseholder issues Mr Michael Bester, Leasehold Services Manager 4. Report from Strategic Core Group Mrs Anne Goodhew, Chair of Leasehold Panel Minutes of the meeting of the 28 January Page 1 of 7

2 Leasehold Panel Minutes of the meeting, Tuesday the 9 June Attendance: Leaseholders: Mrs Anne Goodhew (Chair of the Leasehold Panel), Mr Lloyd Grandson, Mr Leo Grandson, Ms Sue Brown (Vice-Chair Leasehold Panel), Mr Nicholas Martin-Clark, Mr Peter Gilbert, Ms Barbara Moore, Mr Steven Davies, Mr Abraham Yohannes, Miss Odette Lewis, Mr Dawid Soczek, Mr John Nolan, Ms Ruth Ortiz, Ms Yvonne Campbell, Ms Melanie Perkins, Mr Lincoln Grandson, Ms Grazia Vicinanza, Ms Katarzyna Urbanska, Ms Kate Worley, Ms Anne Gibson, Ms Lukie Hewat, Mr David Kettle, Mrs Rita Batzias, Mr S Sengupta, Ms Bridget Lane, Miss Millie Mboizi, Mr A Akitikori, Ms Lucille Parris, Mr Robert Towerzey, Ms S Mohamed, Miss M Merrick, Mrs S Browne, Mrs Gloria O St John, Mrs L Richards and Mr B Hines (34) Apologies. Mrs Eileen Marshall and Ms Alis Smith Chair: Mrs Anne Goodhew Officers: Mrs Chinyere Ugwu, Community Development Director, Ms Oonah Lacey, Director of Involvis, Mr Nesan Thevanesan, Head of Income & Home Ownership, Mr Michael Bester, Leasehold Services Manager and Mr Bruce Nicholas, Policy Officer who took the minutes. 2. Shaping leaseholder consultation and engagement for the future Chinyere Ugwu, Community Development Director Mrs Ugwu explained to the Panel that she was currently in charge of carrying out a review of Homes for Haringey s Resident Engagement Strategy. She said that the purpose of her presentation was to inform the Panel of the review s progress to date. She wished to hear the Panel s views on the best ways of finding out what leaseholders think and the key questions to ask. Page 2 of 7

3 Mrs Ugwu said that the Resident Engagement Strategy was important because it shaped and informed how Homes for Haringey involved and engaged with its tenants and leaseholders in accordance with the business objectives. The strategy described the different methods of engagement and provided a framework which enabled the appropriate allocation of funding and staff resources As part of the review they were looking at ways of expanding the methods by which residents could feedback their views to HfH to make sure that it represented the full range of resident opinions. The review had achieved good progress to date including: Consultation with involved groups Visits by residents to other social housing providers Consideration of recommendations from Scrutiny Panel reviews Examination of best practice and approaches of other social housing providers Surveys of involved residents to obtain their views on how to raise the level of involvement. This process was ongoing. A number of findings had been indicated as a result of the work they had done so far: There was a core of involved residents who performed a useful role but this was necessarily somewhat limited There was a need to look at why residents more generally were not engaging This required consideration of how technology could be better used to communicate and consult There was some excellent work being carried on locally by residents on estates It was necessary to link community investment with engagement. At present there were a number of panels for involving residents including the Resident Scrutiny Panel and the Leasehold Panel. A core group of residents were also involved in surveys, mystery shopping and service monitoring. The review was examining how the number of those involved could be extended through volunteers on estates, linked in where possible with resident groups. Certain conclusions had become apparent as the review progressed: It was necessary for the measurement of outcomes to be more clearly defined It was essential to ensure that staff and financial resources were used to maximum advantage As part of this process it would be necessary to remove duplication of effort Page 3 of 7

4 It would be necessary to give impact assessment a higher profile and use learning outcomes to shape the future Residents have had an input in improving services and feedback was very important. It was essential to ensure the feedback received from residents was representative and that all departments were getting proper feedback. Homes for Haringey wished to reach beyond the people who attended meetings so as to shape its services as effectively as possible. Mrs Ugwu said that the meeting of the Panel was an important stage in finding out what leaseholders wanted. She said that the aims of the meeting were to: give those present the opportunity to agree the best processes for consultation and feedback ensure that leaseholders had the opportunity to shape the future receive suggestions for the Online Survey for all leaseholders receive nominations for membership of a focus group to contribute suggestions for the survey. Mrs Ugwu explained that Homes for Haringey was going to carry out a survey of leaseholders views using an online questionnaire and that this was being independently managed and organised by Involvis Ltd. She then introduced Ms Oonah Lacey, Director of Involvis in order to explain the process. Ms Lacey described how they were shaping the key questions. She gave a number of examples of the types of questions they were thinking of including in the survey, such as: What types of engagement activities do you get involved in? What level of decision making do you want to get involved in? What types of engagement activities do you get involved in? Knowing about activities taking place? Local activities on estates? Being able to be involved in formal groups? Being consulted from my home possibility of virtual panels Thinking about leaseholder engagement can you tell us what works well and what works less well? How can we do it differently? Ms Lacey asked the Panel for their views and said that anyone who was interested in joining the Focus Group should provide her with their names at the end of the meeting. This group would help to shape the engagement process, to enable the survey to take place as soon as possible. Mr Gilbert expressed doubts as to whether residents would Page 4 of 7

5 understand the purpose of the survey and Ms Lacey replied that some background information would be provided. Mrs Worley said that owners of freehold properties on estates who were liable to pay towards the maintenance of the estate should be included in the consultation. Mr Sengupta felt that better use could be made of information received by the Feedback and Repairs services to identify matters where similar issues recurred so that weaknesses could be ascertained and addressed. Ms Gibson said she felt that consultation via the internet would exclude quite a lot of residents. Mr Gilbert raised the question as to how the resident engagement strategy would be affected if Homes for Haringey was taken in-house in Ms Lacey replied that the requirements for the strategy would be unaffected. Mr Thevanesan confirmed this: the need to consult residents on housing services would continue. Ms Brown complained that the process of setting up the survey was taking place too quickly and requested that the notes of the presentation should be circulated. Action point. It was agreed that the notes for the presentation should be circulated to those present as soon as possible after the meeting. Mr Martin-Clark asked whether the Resident Involvement Agreement was still in force. Ms Goodhew replied that it was and Mrs Ugwu said that it was of no relevance to the current review. The Panel agreed that Panel members who were interested should join the Focus Group (by informing Ms Lacey) to assist in shaping the survey questionnaire. Mrs Goodhew thanked Mrs Ugwu and Ms Lacey for their interesting presentation. 3. Key Leaseholder issues Michael Bester, Leasehold Services Manager Mr Bester informed the Panel that the reports of estate communal repairs carried out in the third quarter had been despatched to key leaseholders recently. Any queries should be raised by homeownershipteam@homesforharingey.org. The final quarter would be sent out shortly. The question was raised as to how a leaseholder could find out whether there was a key leaseholder representative in their building. Page 5 of 7

6 Mr Bester replied that this was also a query that should be raised with the Home Ownership Team. He explained that not all key leaseholders wished to act in a representative capacity. However it was open to any leaseholders to set up a representative group in their building or estate. Mrs Goodhew said that it would be useful if leaseholders could easily find out how many other leaseholders there were in their building. Action point. Mr Bester said he would see if this information could be made available via the website. Mr Thevanesan said that if a group was being formed, the Home Ownership Team could write to other leaseholders in the building/ estate informing them and inviting them to join. In answer to a question Mr Bester explained that key leaseholders also had the opportunity to become involved in the process of undertaking Decent Homes Works on their estate, throughout each stage of the work. Mrs Goodhew thanked Mr Bester for his report. 4. Report from the Strategic Core Group meeting of May 29th Anne Goodhew, Chair Mrs Goodhew reported that following certain delays the current major works schemes were due for completion during the summer and early autumn. In some cases this was later than had been anticipated and the residents involved would be informed about it by letter. She understood that residents involved in the next phase were due to receive letters in June and July about property surveys. There had been problems with the supply chain in respect of scaffolding which in some cases had been in place for longer than necessary. The Group was informed that the overruns would not be recharged to leaseholders. The representative from Mulalley had been challenged about reported communication issues with residents particularly with regard to updates about delays. They had advised that the matter was being addressed. Mrs Goodhew advised the Panel that Homes for Haringey had stated they would welcome suggestions about community projects which contractors could engage with. She said that although the HfH apprenticeship scheme was no longer government funded there were plans to launch a new one through the College of Enfield, Haringey and North East London in Tottenham. Page 6 of 7

7 The Asset Management team responsible for Major Works and Decent Homes had moved from Wood Green to Broadwater Farm. She concluded her report by informing the Panel that a plan had been unveiled at the Core Group for improving communications with leaseholders in respect of major works including: (1) improving consultation meetings so that they were held soon after the Section 20 Notices had been sent out; (2) improving the quality of the information contained in the Section 20 Notices; and (3) offering more opportunities for leaseholders to question the teams delivering the works. Mrs Goodhew noted that Richard Hazard, Interim Delivery Manager, who had recently joined HfH with specific responsibility for delivering Major Works & Decent Homes had indicated that he would be willing to attend a meeting of the Panel. It was agreed to invite him to the next meeting. Ms Brown commented that the cost of scaffolding remaining in place was not the only issue, since it often resulted in security problems for residents. She considered that some contractors left it in place to avoid storage costs. Mrs Goodhew said she understood that Homes for Haringey were endeavouring to put pressure on their contractors to remove scaffolding as quickly as possible. Action point. Mr Thevanesan said he would raise a query with regard to the policy in respect of scaffolding and provide a report to the next meeting. 5. Minutes of the meeting of the 28 January The minutes were agreed as a true record. arising. There were no matters 6. Any other business. There was no other business Page 7 of 7