Tenant participation strategy: action plan 2023 - 2028

1.1 To continue to produce the Council’s Taking Part newsletter to share information and seek views of tenants and other service users.

Council to produce Taking Part newsletter three times per year. (Annually)

Council and TPWG to annually review the content and format of the Taking Part Newsletter. (Annually)

Housing

TPWG and Housing

1.2 To review methods to measure tenant satisfaction.

Council to coordinate tenant and service user feedback from complaints, surveys and tenant satisfaction surveys and to share results with the TPWG and Scrutineers. (Annually)

TPWG, Scrutineers and Housing

1.3 To review how we analyse and report back the results of consultations to tenants and service users.

Council and TPWG to meet to agree an annual consultation programme and methods to be used to give tenant feedback. (Annually)

To produce a 'you said, we did' section annually and in the Taking Part Newsletter. (Annually)

TPWG and Housing

1.4 To develop the use of social networking such as Twitter, Facebook and use of text messages.

Council to promote the use of text messaging and social networking to update and seek views. (2023 - 2028)

Council to review its website to ensure it meets the needs of tenants and service users. (Annually)

Council to promote access to IT technology and promote digital inclusion through the Council’s Community Hubs. (2023 - 2028)

Housing

1.5 Council to produce an Annual Performance Report to tenants

Council to work with the TPWG and Scrutineers to agree the content and format of the Annual Performance Report to tenants. (August each year)

Council to produce Annual Performance Report. (October each year)

Housing, TPWG and Scrutineers

Housing

1.6 To publicise the successes of Tenant Participation.

To include case studies and examples of the impact that tenant participation and scrutiny activities are making cross East Dunbartonshire in the Taking Part newsletter and on the Council’s website. (Annually)

Housing

1.7 Complaints procedure.

Council to publish information about the Council’s complaints procedure on its website. (2023 - 2028)

Corporate team.

2.1 Council to produce a Calendar of Tenant Participation Events to encourage more involvement by tenants and other service users.

Council to meet annually with the TPWG to agree a calendar of tenant participation events. (Annually)

Calendar to be published each year in the Taking Part newsletter and on the Council’s website. (Annually)

Council to hold Annual Tenants Conference. (Annually)

Housing and TPWG

2.2 Council to further develop its interested tenants.

Council to review the current Interested Tenants list and coordinate a recruitment drive to encourage more involvement. (2023 - 2028)

Council to update on progress with TPWG and Scrutineers. (Annually)

Housing, TPWG and Scrutineers

2.3 To encourage and support tenant involvement in areas where there is little or no activity.

Council to identify areas where there is little tenant involvement. (2023 - 2028)

Develop a strategy to get more tenants involved. (2023 - 2028)

Housing

2.4 Promote the Community Hubs.

Provide information on the Council’s website and Taking Part newsletter about the role of the Community Hubs as part of the Click, Call, Come in service which allows residents to pay for an increasing number of services online while still retaining the option of speaking to a customer service agent on the phone or by appointment at the Hubs. (2023 - 2028)

Housing

2.5 Update Tenant Participation Leaflet.

Council and TPWG to update and supply leaflet to get tenants more involved. (2023 - 2028)

Leaflet to be made available to new tenants, local Community Hubs, to tenants and residents groups/Forums and on Council’s Website. (2023 - 2028)

Housing

2.6 Council will encourage more tenant and service user involvement in reviewing housing services.

Council will agree an annual consultation programme with the TPWG to look at issues such as:

• Rents
• Allocations
• Estate Management
• Performance and the Charter
• Capital Investment programmes
• Repairs

(2023 - 2028)

Housing

3.1 Council and TPWG to review consultation and develop an Action Plan to Involve the harder-to-reach groups. 

Review current methods of consultation with harder-to-reach groups. (Annually)

Update Action Plan. (Annually)

Report progress to TPWG and Scrutineers. (Annually)

Housing

3.2 Develop links with other agencies and projects that work with tenants who are harder to reach.

Create contact database of other key agencies and partners who work with harder to reach. (2023 - 2028)

Link into other events being held. (2023 - 2028)

Publicise this work on the Council’s website and in the Taking Part Newsletter. (2023 - 2028)

Housing

3.3 Deliver more social events to seek the views of younger tenants.

Liaise with Project 101 to develop a plan for this. (2023 - 2028)

Report progress to the TPWG. (2023 - 2028)

Housing

Housing, TPWG

4.1 Council to highlight the work of the Scrutineers and role of tenant scrutiny.

Council will keep staff and Elected Members updated about the work
of the Scrutineers and the Tenant Scrutiny Framework. (2023-2028)

Council will keep tenants updated about the work of the Scrutineers and tenant scrutiny initiatives on the Council’s website and in Taking Part newsletter. (2023-2028)

The Council will agree and develop a protocol and mechanism to feedback to tenants following consultation exercises. (2023-2028)

The Council will develop a more systematic approach to take account of the views of tenants and service users before decisions are taken. (2023-2028)

Housing

4.2 The Council will support the work of the Scrutineers.

The Council will continue to resource and support the Scrutineers. (Annually)

The Scrutineers will develop an annual programme of work and report its findings and recommendations to the Council’s Senior Management Team and Elected Members. (Annually)

The Scrutineers will work closely with the TPWG to deliver and
develop its work programme. (Annually)

The Council will agree its wider tenant scrutiny initiatives with the
Scrutineers. (Annually)

Housing

Scrutineers

Scrutineers and TPWG

Housing and Scrutineers

5.1 Council to ensure that the Tenant Participation Strategy is well understood and implemented.

Staff and Elected Members to be briefed on the strategy and scrutiny framework. (Annually)

TP Strategy to be circulated to all Tenants and Residents Groups,
Forums, Scrutiny Groups etc. (2023 - 2028)

Tenant Participation Strategy to be included on the Council’s website and in the Taking Part Newsletter. (Ongoing)

Housing

5.2 Annually review the Tenant Participation Strategy and update
the Action Plan.

To review Tenant Participation Strategy against outcomes. (Annually)

To review tenant participation budget and identify future budget. (Annually)

To develop the Action Plan annually. (Annually)

Publish results within the Taking Part Newsletter and on the Council
website. (Annually)

Housing and TPWG

5.3 Develop a systematic approach to take account of tenants’ views before policies are reviewed and decisions are taken.

Work with TPWG to build a participation and consultation process on policy development. (Ongoing)

Housing Policy Team

Accountable

Required to justify actions or decisions.

Action plan

List of things a landlord or tenant’s organisation must do in order to achieve an objective.

Aims

Things an organisation wants to achieve.

Allocation

Preparing and offering a house to a prospective tenant.

Antisocial behaviour

A person acting in a manner that causes or is likely to cause alarm or distress.

Budget

An estimate of all income and expenditure over a set period.

Community

Any group of people living or working in cooperation

Consultation

A landlord produces draft proposals, talks and listens to people affected
before taking a decision

Elected member

Councillors that have been elected in local government elections.

Estate walkabout

Estate walkabouts are joint inspections of a local area by tenants and
housing organisation staff to identify issues and find joint solutions.

Focus group

A method of gaining opinion from a group of people that may have an issue in common.

Forum

Tenant representatives joining together to form an organisation that will
promote things of common interest to influence service providers.

Framework

An outline of a process, not including the detail.

Housing (Scotland) Act

A document written in legal language agreed by the Scottish Parliament. It sets out the law regarding specific aspects of future housing.

Housing management

A wide term meaning anything to do with a landlord providing a housing
service.

Landlord

An Individual or organisation who lets a property to someone on the basis of a legal agreement.

Objectives

Targets a landlord or tenants’ organisation wants to achieve.

Performance indicator

A measurement used to show how well a housing service is being delivered, for example, the number of repairs carried out within a set timescale.

Registered Tenants Organisations (RTOs)

RTOs were introduced in Scotland as part of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

A tenants’ organisation can apply to their landlord for registration if it meets certain criteria.

Satisfaction survey

A survey of a number of tenants by the landlord to see what they think of the housing management service.

Scrutineers

East Dunbartonshire’s tenant Scrutiny Group that is responsible for
independently reviewing how well the Council is delivering housing services.

Social housing

Housing at an affordable rent provided by registered social landlords.

Standard

A measure to which a landlord should seek to reach for delivering its service to tenants.

Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR)

The SHR regulated registered social landlords and has the responsibility
to monitor, report and assess how well landlords are doing to achieve the
Charter’s outcomes and standards.

Scottish Social Housing Charter (The Charter)

The Charter took effect in 2012 and sets outcomes and standards which landlords have to meet to be more proactive in self-regulation and to involve tenants in the scrutiny process.

Strategy

An organisation assesses its work and decides how to change this over a period of time. The Strategy is the means of going from the current period to the future desirable position.

Tenant participation

A process providing ongoing opportunities for tenants to influence the
decision taken by their landlords before the decisions are made.

Tenant Participation Strategy

Tenant Participation Strategies promote the influence of tenants in landlords’ services and show how that landlord will obtain and take account of tenants’ views.

Tenant scrutiny

Tenant scrutiny aims to give tenants more power in holding their landlord to account for their decisions, performance and conduct.

Tenants Information Service (TIS)

The leading independent organisation, managed by tenants, that provides information, training, development support and advice to tenants throughout Scotland.