Our Php

Power to the People!

Full of good intentions? Do something to help your neighbourhood . We have a tenant and resident participation structure with a  place for everyone!

We work widely with tenants, residents and other members of the community. We have worked hard to ensure there is a wide range of ways that you can become involved, so that everyone can find one that suits them.

We have tried hard to minimise bureaucracy and paperwork and keep them focussed on achieving positive outcomes for local communities, and putting residents in the driving seat.

 Below is a summary of the different ways you can be involved…

 A Local Community Representative (LCR) represents their street, block or neighbourhood .  They work to improve the quality of life for people in their local community through effective liaison with PHP staff and other appropriate agencies.  LCR’s are appointed by the residents and need to be able to demonstrate local support.

Any tenant or leaseholder is eligible to become an LCR and can put their name forward , and we will explain the very straightforward process form there..

There are a number of  Tenant and Resident Associations which represent all residents in a defined area. Each  Association has a formal constitution with job descriptions for committee members. Tenant Associations meet regularly with formal minutes and elections. This is a great set-up if you wish to apply for funding for community projects, and tackle long term issues faced by your street or area.

This panel, which is made up of resident leaseholders and one non-resident leaseholder, meets about six times per year at different venues around the town to enable and encourage all leaseholders to attend at least one meeting a year in their area.  Members are elected at the annual leaseholder forum.  This forum discusses all issues relating to leaseholders and leasehold management, including service charges, maintenance contracts, improvement works and much more.

This is open to all Lessees and is the main event where elections for the Panel of Leaseholders takes place for the following year. It reviews the part year, considers what has been achieved ,and plans improvement for the year ahead. External speakers are often invited looking at issues such as the Leasehold Law or the Community Strategy.

CHAT meetings are held 4 times per year in different locations. The areas are roughly divided the same as the Councillors Wards.

All tenant and leaseholder representatives are invited, as well as the local Councillors, police community support officers and anyone else by invitation.

Housing officers lead these meetings, which are also attended by a sheltered housing officer and other members of staff.  They are an excellent opportunity to find solutions to local community issues, involving a range of people who can help.

Typical Agenda Items:

·        Anti-social behaviour issues

·        Improvements to the environment

·        Modernisation of Stock

·        Review of Tenant Participation in the area

·        Community Development

·        New policies and procedures requiring comments to be referred to the PHP Board

·        Issues to feedback to local residents

·        Presentations by guest speakers

The Housing Strategy and Policy Panel is the strategic group that goes across Poole and represents all the residents. It is made up of a number of members from other groups:

2 Leaseholder Representatives,

1 Representative from every Councillor Ward

4 representatives from the Sheltered Housing Forum

2 Representatives from the ‘Focus on disability’ panel

2 representatives from Resident Associations

In addition to the above, the Borough of Poole votes for 3 Members and PHP votes for 3 Board Members to serve on the HSPP to take part in debates but who do not have voting rights. Only residents themselves vote on proposals.

The Aims of this group are:

·        To represent Council Tenants and Leaseholders on all matters relating to the strategy, policies and performance of Poole Housing Partnership and the Council on issues affecting existing or future tenants and leaseholders of the borough

·        To consider the impact of changes in legislation affecting services to Tenants and Leaseholders

·        To consider wider issues affecting residents such as Policing, the Community Strategy, Antisocial behaviour, and issues affecting all residents.

The Panel will typically discuss the following issues:

·        Any changes to policies

·        The impact of, and response to, changes in legislation

·        HRA land and other asset disposal

·        Development of the Business Plan and Housing Strategy

·        The annual budget and rent setting

·        Best Value Reviews

·        Annual Service Plans

·        Overall performance reports

·        The Participation Agreement (Also known as the Tenants Compact)

·        The overall budget for Tenant Participation

·        Feedback from and to Community Housing Action Teams and the other participative forums

·        Strategic issues affecting the wider community

The PHP Board of Directors includes the membership of five representatives of tenants and leaseholders and means that residents are directly involved at the centre of the decision making of Poole Housing Partnership. These residents are voted in through a ballot of all tenants and/or leaseholders and one is replaced annually to keep fresh ideas coming in.

A number of focus groups have been held to discuss issues relating to the housing service and these will continue to be held as and when required.   We hold a database of people interested in attending focus groups and this is being expanded all the time.  Focus groups are an ideal opportunity for service users to attend an occasional discussion on an issue that is of interest to them.

Working Groups exist to enable us to consult with residents over a range of issues.  Membership is open to any tenant or leaseholder and is not restricted to Representatives. The minimum number of members is 3 residents and meetings are supported by  members of PHP staff who arrange for records of the meeting to be taken.  There should ideally be between 3 and 10 resident representatives on each working group, depending on the subject. They will often come together, achieve what they set out to do, and then finish.

Below is a summary of some of the groups…

·        Best Value Review Group

This group monitors how the organisation  is performing and ways that it can improve. This includes carrying out detailed reviews of the way we work and finding better ways of doing it. This will often mean doing more but for less money, hence ‘Best Value’

·        Focus on Disability Group

The purpose of this group is to ensure that PHP meet the needs of disabled people as effectively as possible.  The group looks at policies and procedures, design issues, access to services and the adaptations service.

It looks wider than housing and considers the needs of disabled people living in Poole.

·        Re-Investment  Panel

This group examines investment plans, the development of the responsive repairs service and looks at progress against capital programmes. It helps plan the future programmes of improvement work, such as the Decent Homes contract, as well as reviewing standards at work and how we can get more or better work for less money.

·        Contract Groups

There are a number of groups for people who are interested in our contracts, and help in re-tendering them, selecting new contractors as well as setting the specifications for the contracts.

These include:

v     The  Cleaning contract

v     Voids (empty properties)

v     Door  contract

v     Kitchen contract

v     Bathroom contract

v     Central heating contract

·        Communications Group

The Communications Group focuses on the tenant and leaseholder website, the PHP website, the various newsletters (including ‘At Home’) and organises events.  The Reading Group is a subgroup of this, which looks at our written documents and helps us make sure they are clear and in plain English.

Each sheltered housing scheme has a resident association of which residents are automatically a member. Residents can choose how or whether they wish to contribute to activities. Each scheme has a committee to oversee scheme initiatives and organise or facilitate  social events. These include gardening committees, planning future improvements , bidding for grants and much more.

Each sheltered scheme nominates one representative to attend the Sheltered Housing Forum. This meets four times a year. The meetings are attended by the Sheltered Housing Manager and/or Estates Manager, plus Senior House Managers. PHP staff service the meetings, the Senior House Manager coordinates the meetings and minutes are normally taken by PHP staff. The agenda focuses on issues which are common to all sheltered schemes and the housing needs of older people in the borough, for example, housing strategy for older people, policy changes, environmental improvements across schemes, cross borough gardening schemes etc.

This is an annual event which is open to all tenants, leaseholders and other key stakeholders

The Agenda and format is prepared by the Resource Centre Management Team and passed to all the Local Community Representatives.  Focus will normally be on workshops or Information Stands on specific issues, including a workshop on leaseholder issues.

Tenants and Leaseholders have be asked to help organise this event from the new tenant Resource Centre.

Other groups may be set up in the future depending on the needs and interests of residents. If you are interested in joining any of the above, or wish us to set up another group, please contact our Tenant Participation officer, Dorothy Allen, on 01202- 264422. We will be very pleased to hear from you.

©Ray Aggett/PHPLTO 2008