RoundUp Newsletter | Issue 3

About our members for our members

Welcometo your latest issue of

Featuring:The TPAS Workers Conference 2013

/tpasengland

@tpasengland

P11

Inside RoundUp:

• Stronger Together P3

• Top Tips from the Experts! P7

• Members Stories P11/12

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P13

Please pass this newsletter on to a colleagueafter reading!

In this issue of RoundUp

Stronger TogetherPage 3

Top TipsPage 7

TrainingPage 14

Member StoryPage 12

Workers ConferencePage 13

MembershipPage 5

Get On-Line!Page 6

Member StoryPage 11

Business CasePage 9

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Welcometo your latest issue of

Michelle Reid Chief Executive Steve Meakin MBE Chair

Welcome to your latest edition of RoundUp and thanks for allthe great feedback you’ve given us on the new look magazine.

This month we were saddened to hear about Stephanie Botterill, a tenant and mother who was so desperate about her situation following welfare benefit changes that she decided her only option was to end her life.

On a brighter note you can also read about some great examples of scrutiny work and youth involvementfrom TPAS members, feedback from our TP Workers Conference, and a round-up of other news and issues of interest to our members.

We hope you enjoy this edition, and as always, please let us know what you think!

We urge everyone affected by welfare reform to speak to your landlord, GP, Citizen’s Advice, neighbour, family, or anyone else who can make sure you get the best advice and support available.

In this edition you can read about howCoast & Country Housing tenants and staff are working together to dojust that. We’ve also featured top tips on managing the impact of benefitchanges from a range of experts.

Find out more at: www.tpas.org.uk...click the links on the home page tofollow us on: &

Want to know more? If you want more information about Community Cashback and the starter grant,or know of groups who may be interested please contact:NFTMO Direct Line 01704 227053 NFTMO Email cashback@nftmo.com

For more information about the Tenant Central training programme please contact:TPAS Freephone 0800 035 6351 TPAS Email info@tenantcentral.org.uk

Community CashbaCk

Starter Grants and support for an exciting new initiative

Introduction

What is Community CashbaCk?Tenants living in council or housing association homes can sometimes run a local service better or more cheaply than their landlord, using local knowledge and skills. Community Cashback helps make this happen, and rewards tenants and communities who make savings as a result.

For Community Cashback projects to be successful the landlord needs to provide practical support and advice although there may be things that the tenants group needs that the landlord is unable to provide. In that case the group can apply for a small grant to pay for those items that are essential to get the Community Cashback scheme set up.

Community Cashback is managed by TPAS under the banner of Tenant Central and in partnership with the National Federation of Tenant Management Organisations (NFTMO) who offer specialist technical support and advice.

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Email us at: welfare@tpas.org.ukto tell us how you’re Stronger Together in your area.Visit: www.facebook.com/StrongerTogetherTPAS

stronger together - Tackling change in partnership.

www.facebook.com/strongertogethertPas

Although we could argue that the additional charges are unfair, it is ourtenants who made our case more hard-hitting. Their stories have givenpeople an insight into the real results of the tax and how it has affected real people, their families and feelings. They have helped others to see those affected as people, rather than faceless numbers on a page.

Paul Wilson – Coast &Country tenant and member of the Tenants Panel

how have you worked with Coast & Country to oppose the bedroom tax?

We have put in time and effort to get this cause the attention it deserves by taking a number of actions to get our voices heard.

We all met at a summit and felt that it was very important to stay in touch and work together to keep momentum going.

We’ve gathered what was said atthe summit and have started to work on some of the actions, including making a petition, starting a Facebook page and contacting our local MPs.

With help from Coast & Country staff, we have created an e-petition against bedroom tax and if we get 100,000 signatures we can go to parliament! We also have a paper version for people who don’t have access to the internet.

Another idea from the summit was to create a Facebook page so we’ve done that too! It’s another great wayfor us all to stay in touch with eachother and Coast & Country, shareinformation, and let others know what we are doing. We are encouraging as many people as possible to ‘like’ us and share the page with their friends.

We’ve begun writing letters to local MPs to get them to support our cause and voice the views of the community.

We decided it is much more powerful to write in our own words, telling our representative about our own beliefs and experiences. We have also contacted local celebrities in the hope that they will help to promote our petition!

We expressed our feelings in a rational and respectful way rather than being too harsh and critical, and explained the devastating effect of welfare reform in our communities.

It’s great that Coast & Country are helping us and looking out for our best interests, as many landlords might leave us to fight the tax by ourselves. It’s nice to know that they care about the people in their properties and have been fantastic in helping us get our point across to the community, media and local MPs.

All we can do now is keep working together in the hope that the Government will pay attention and abolish the unwanted tax before too many people suffer under the financial strain.

Stronger Together celebratesTPAS tenant and landlordmembers who are facing upto the challenges of thewelfare reforms in partnership.Bringing real tenants andlandlords from around thecountry to share theirinteresting stories of success.see how they’re stronger together.

L: C&C Chief Executive iain simR: C&C Tenant & Panel MemberPaul Wilson

Iain Sim – Chief Executive at Coast & Country

Why do you think it is important to work with tenants?

We want to help our tenants in thebattle against bedroom tax becausethey are at the heart of everything we do and their wellbeing is our toppriority.

It is important that tenants and landlords join forces to oppose the tax so that the people are given a louder voice and their thoughts a greater chance of being heard.

Coast & Country and tenants have worked together to campaign against the bedroom tax, and it is our aim to ensure that no one is forced tostruggle or be faced with undue hardship as a result of welfare reform.

“...work together to keep momentum going.”

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Government Welfare Reform - Universal Credit (UC)

Get on-line to manageyour money

Universal Credit (UC) ispart of the Government’s welfare reforms that willcombine and replace various benefits includinghousing benefit, jobseekersallowance (JSA) and more. The Government expects everyone to be receiving UC in 2017. The significance of UC to your finances is that it will all be managed by logging in online. Many people in social housing do not currently have access to the internet at home, this will have to change.

Get onlineGo ON UK go-on.co.uk is a charity that aims to make the UK the mostdigitally skilled nation in the world. By combining a great array of downloadable tools and their LearnmyWay.com website they offer a range of ways to learn for free. If you dont have a computer, phone 03719 100 100, a website company that can provide desktop and laptop computers from as little as £99!

manage your FinancesThe Money Advice Service moneyadviceservice.org.uk isan independent government servicefunded by a levy imposed on thefinancial services industry. The website gives free, unbiased money advice toanyone across the UK either over thephone, face-to-face or online. There are some great resources including budget calculators, a health check and even an entire section on Universal Credit.

Martin Lewis’ moneysavingexpert .comis also a great website with budgeting advice and tools including a financial analyser and budget planner.

“The significance of UC to your finances is that it will all be managed by logging in online”

TPAS MEMBERSHIP5

I hope you are still enjoying being a member of TPAS and keeping at the forefront of tenant involvement.

I want to make sure you, as members, are making the most of your membership and so over the comingeditions of Round Up I will be focusingon some of the membership benefits we offer.

You should have now seen our firsttwo editions of our new look RoundUp magazine – doesn’t it look fab! And we want to feature your stories in the magazine so you can tell all the TPAS membership family about the great projects and initiatives you have been involved in.

And if you have an email address make sure you are receiving our weekly Ezine. It comes out every Thursday and is jam packed with news, viewsand stories about tenant involvementand housing. Let us round up theweek for you and point you in thedirection of the stories and comments you need to be reading.

not receiving the Ezine?......Just send a message to:info@tpas.org.uk and ask to be puton the list. It’s a really easy way to ensure you don’t miss out on TPAS and housing news.information sheets -new and updatedInformation Sheets are FREE tomembers. We have recently updatedtwo of our Information Sheets namely Terms of Reference and Codes of Conduct.

You can find them to download at TPAS website www.tpas.org.uk(on the Tenants page) or email or ring us to request them to be sent to you.

Watch out over the coming weeksas we update more of our information sheets every month.

For more information on anything connected to membership, please contact Jenny topham - head of Corporate services, on any of the details below left.

“...we want to feature YOUR stories in RoundUp.”

TPAS Membership

Making TPAS membership work for you

Call 0161 868 3500 or email: info@tpas.org.uk Follow us on @tpasenglandLike us on /tpasengland

Digital DealRegistered Social Landlords can bid for a share of £400,000 of government funding for innovative programmes to provide low cost internet access and improve tenants’ motivation to go online.

mobile money savingIf you have a smartphone then watch out for money saving and budgeting apps like Spendometer or mySupermarket.

other Linksukonlinecentres.comDigitalUnite.comdigitalhousinghub.ning.com

“Welfare reforms bring a greater risk of rent arrears and homelessness so landlords need to provide advice and support to tenants as early as possible. Debt and financial inclusion services are clearly important but so too is support to move towards and into work including, as employers themselves, considering what training or job opportunities they can offer tenants directly.”

Some well known online and national organisations gave us their tips on Welfare Reform affecting theSocial Housing sector.

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Welfare Reform - Advice from market leaders

Top Tips from the Experts!

tips for tenants

“Don’t panic. Speak to your housing

officer as soon as possible to discuss

how you are going to be affected by

the Welfare Reform. Discuss your

options. Listen to and act according

to your housing officer’s advice.

Read and act upon any letters you

receive from the Benefits Office.”

tips for Landlords

“There’s no time for complacency.

Speak to every single tenant who

are on low income and on benefits.

Discuss their options. Help them to

maximise their income and minimise

debt. Discuss rent payment options

and importance of keeping a clear

rent account.”

bashir uddin - CEO

Bangla Housing Association

bmE national member

“It is important for tenants to be

encouraged to realise that their rent

is ultimately their responsibility.

Maintaining contact with their

Landlord, ensuring that their current

circumstances or any difficulties

are communicated quickly and

accurately will be key across

these times and will enable you as

Landlords to provide the required

information, support and any

options that may be available.

If they don’t ask you can’t help.”

matthew morrison -

Income Management Officer

Trident Social Investment Group

bmE national member

Wendy alcock from moneysavingExpert.com says:“Tenants need to check NOW if they’re going to be affected by changes to their benefits. Then, if their income’s going to drop there’s time to check for ways to bring in extra cash or find money saving tips to cut spending without cutting back, helping to make the changes more affordable.”

Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of shelter, said: “Anyone who can’t meet thepayments on their home shouldseek advice as a matter of urgency.Shelter can help advise anyone who is struggling to help preventmore people going through thedevastation of losing their home.”Visit: www.shelter.org.uk/advice

Our tips and advice on welfare reform, the benefit cap and housing benefit can allbe found at the following online address:www.adviceguide.org.uk/benefits

helen milner, Chief Executive of

online Centres Foundation says:

“Don’t panic but start today. There are

lots of great tools out there available

now that can help you to support your

tenants - including www.learnmyway.

com which has lots of free courses, or

take a look at www.ukonlinecentres.

com as there may be a local UK online

centre who can help you.”

“Know your facts! Given the sheer breadth of changes due to the Welfare Reform Act 2012, it is vitallyimportant that both young peopleand youth organisations understandthe actual scope of the Act. To help, NCVYS has released a briefing that summarises benefit changes.”:http://www.ncvys.org.uk/userFiles/Welfare_Reform.pdf

Helen Williams, assistant director, National Housing Federation says:

“Your landlord is there to help. If you’re worried about being able to

afford to pay your rent, ask about different ways to pay, whether you

could move to a smaller home or if you can take in a lodger.

They can also give advice on ways to cut bills.”

“As well as offering an easy way

to save and an affordable way

to borrow, many credit unions

offer simple and affordable tools

to help people budget and

manage their bills. You can find

a credit union you can join and

find out what services they

offer by visiting:

www.findyourcreditunion.co.uk

or calling ABCUL on

0161 832 3694”

Jane alltimes, senior Policy and Campaigns officer at mencap says: “Find out what your rights are. That way, tenants will be able tochallenge decisions and demandwhat they are entitled to. For example, tenants may be entitled to extra help from local councils through a Discretionary Housing Payment. You can call Mencap Direct free on 0808 808 1111 with questions”

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Once upon a time, not so long ago the world of resident involvement was a simple one. Landlords were told what was expected of them andknew that sooner or later they would be inspected to make sure they were doing it.How things have changed! We do of course still have standards but they are cursory and open to a huge amount of interpretation. We still have a regulator but it won’t intervene without serious detriment.

Instead it’s up to tenants to holdtheir landlord to account if it doesn’tdeliver effective resident involvementbut this in itself relies on the landlord having adopted effective processes for accountability and challenge. Is it only me or is this a classic Catch 22 situation? Whatever it is, it is the reality of consumer regulation.

Establishing the business CaseSo what is it in this time of austerity, scarce resources and the drive for value for money that compels so many landlords to continue to embrace resident involvement? One thing’s for certain…they’ll have established a business case for it. In other words working out how expanding resources on resident involvement supports the delivery of key business needs.

Customer insightThe best landlords will know that their business needs to provide quality services, delivered efficiency and cost effectively and they will realise that this can only be supported if they know who their customers are and what they want.

They understand that customer insight is the currency of good decision making and must be collected and applied at every opportunity. They understand that complaints and feedback should be viewed as a positive improvement if lessons are learnt. They understand that working collaboratively with residents at a strategic level to interpret intelligence, design services and make decisions, results in better more sustainable outcomes. They understand that giving residents real opportunities to hold them to account makes them stronger,

fitter and more responsive organisations. They understand that all this results in improvements in performance and in higher levels of tenant satisfaction. They also know that if their staff feel that they are delivering a good quality service that meets the needs and aspirations of residents then they themselves will be more satisfied and motivated. All this adds up to a compelling business case for resident involvement.

simple really...There is one phrase that for me sums up why resident involvement is so integral to being a successful landlord. I didn’t get it from a text book or hear it on a training course… I saw it pinned up on the wall of a tenant managed community room and it read;

Enough said.

“...it’s up to tenants to hold their landlord to account if it doesn’t deliver effective resident involvement...”

Jon Warnock, TPAS Head of Consultancy

The Business Case for Resident Involvement

The ‘key role’ is of the Resident

If you want toknow if the shoef ts, ask the person whos wearing it, not the person who made it.

i ,

View more atTPAS Consultancy

At South Northants Homes (SNH) we are always trying to foster youngtalent. We are proud that apprentices make up 10% of our workforce.

Maxine Willshire is not only one of our apprentices, but also an SNH tenant. She has found out first handhow at SNH we go above and beyondwhat is expected, by providing hernot only with a family home, but alsowith her dream job. She is on a formaltwo year training Alongside other apprentices in trades, grounds maintenance and customer services.

When details of the new Quality Assured Scrutiny accreditation wereannounced, GreenSquare’s ResidentScrutiny Panel members were enthusiastic – but we also wondered what we’d be letting ourselves in for!

Although our panel had been up andrunning for four years – and had received a lot of training and the benefit of much experience – werewe confident enough to put the workof the panel under a professional microscope? Were we really prepared for such a rigorous examination of our credibility?

When Maxine was 19, she fell pregnantwhile living with her partner at her parent’s house.

Maxine said: “SNH have been fantastic to us right from the start. They put us up in a hostel when we needed space and then found us a home.”

After her son was born, it became apparent to Maxine that she wanted a new challenge in her life, and one that could help her provide for her family.

“I saw the apprenticeship advertised

Fortunately, our confidence returned and we resolutely decided that if we scrutinise the work and decisions made by others, then how could we fear or object to being scrutinised ourselves?

As you would expect, the assessors’ criteria for measuring successful scrutiny is thorough and goes much deeper than asking questions and requesting interviews, although much information is gathered that way. Devised by TPAS, Housemark and the CIH, the QAS assessment framework describes thirty critical success factors, states what the expectations are in order for those

on the SNH website and applied straight away. I was given an opportunity to have an interview andwas then selected for a week’s trial at SNH. I absolutely loved it. The trial showed me that this is what I want to do. This is my dream job.

“Not only is this a fantastic job, but it’s also much better for my family. I am bringing more money in which means my son can have a better life.If it wasn’t for the apprentice scheme,I wouldn’t be heading on the career path I am today.”

factors to be satisfied, then requires a variety of evidence to substantiate the claims. And not only was our workbeing looked at, but also the supportand co-operation given to the panel by GreenSquare, as one cannot be effective without the other.

So is the whole experience worthwhile?Undoubtedly yes. The panel membersagreed that most of all, accreditationprovides encouragement for the panel to maintain a high standard of scrutiny and offers undisputed assurance to everyone that the job is being done well.

How SNH fosters young talent with apprenticeships

When our scrutiny panelwas scrutinised!

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Find out more at:www.southnorthantshomes.co.uk

Find out more at:www.greensquaregroup.com

Member story: Member story: Keith Fellows Chair, GreenSquare GroupResident Scrutiny Panel with award.

Keith with fellow members of the Scrutiny panel

Professional Images photographed for GreenSquare.

“The trial showed me that this is what I want to do. This is my dream job.”

“...accreditation provides encouragement for the panel to maintain a high standard of scrutiny.”

TPAS TRAINING

For more information about e-learning, visit: www.tpas.org.uk/training or call: 0161 868 3520 or send us an email to: training@tpas.org.uk

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TPAS Conference #TPWorks13

The TPAS WorkersConference 2013

The third annual TPAS TP Workers Conference in Nottingham, March 18-19 drew over 100 tenant involvement professionals from across the country.

This year’s conference aimed to put the spring in the step of Tenant Involvement workers as they preparefor a year of new challenges.

This year we were joined by Inside Housing who hosted a ‘breakfast inquiry’ to dig deeper into what challenges staff face to keep the standards of tenant involvement high.

You can catch up with some of the debate and photos with our TP Workers storyboard by visiting www.storify.com/tpasengland

Coming soon, the TPAS North and TPAS South conferences. See the back cover advert to find out more.

We’ve brought together the challenges delegates shared:

I found it all to be useful

and relevant because even sitting

at meetings for years there were

still some things i didnt know.

Chairing skills

I found the whole course to be useful and relevant for what I would like to achieve with our Tenants’ Association.being a Community Representative

I loved every momentof the course, as it made mestretch myself somewhat. understanding housing management Performance information

In these times of co-regulation, tenant led scrutiny and an emphasis on value for money, its more important than ever to involve tenants; tenants who are empowered, skilled and resourced to play a meaningful role.

The business case for involving tenants has never been so evident showing how good involvement saves money, improves servicesand builds successful communities.

To make tenant involvement meaningful, organisations really

do need to invest in their tenants; by offering accessible training and development opportunities. The knock on effect is that besides improving the quality ofthe involvement, individuals develop personally, gain confidence, acquirenew skills, can achieve qualificationsand may find employment.

TPAS Training

The Benefits of Training

I can honestly state here with

hand on heart that I found all the topics very useful.

All the information and topics have given me a new ‘Awareness’

and I feel more empowered to make a positive difference

with my Scrutiny venture.

understanding scrutiny

To book or for more information, contact Penni on: 0161 776 7192

For a comprehensive list of workshops and speakers as they are announced visit:www.tpasconference.org.uk or follow: @tpasconference or join the debate: #tpasconf13

24 & 25 September, 2013 Mercure Hotel Piccadilly, Manchester

11 & 12 September, 2013Radisson Blu Hotel, London Stansted Airport

From

£349

This year we’re taking a new direction.