|
By
law Southwark Council is obliged to consult secure
tenants on matters affecting all or a group of tenants.
It is also their policy to consult as widely as possible
with tenants and to work in partnership with them and
their representatives. Issues
that the Council consults on include:
 | Major
repairs and improvement projects
|
| Changes
in rent and other charges
|
| Changes
to the tenancy agreement |
Consultation
methods used include:
| Public
meetings and ‘roadshows’
|
| Letters
and leaflets to tenants and residents
|
| Questionnaires
and satisfaction surveys
|
| Ongoing
residents involvements structure |
Southwark
Tenants
Residents
Involvement Structure
As
you can see from the diagram below, the residents
involvement structure is tiered.
At the local level there are local housing
area forums.
Local
housing area forums
There are 12 local housing area forums with at
least one and up to 3 in each of the 8 housing areas
|
Housing
Area
|
Name
of Forum(s)
|
|
Bermondsey
|
Bermondsey
East, Bermondsey West |
|
Borough
and Bankside
|
Borough and
Bankside
|
|
Camberwell
|
Camberwell
East, Camberwell West |
|
Dulwich
|
Dulwich
|
|
Nunhead
and Peckham
Rye
|
Nunhead
and Peckham
Rye
|
|
Peckham
|
Peckham
|
|
Rotherhithe
|
Rotherhithe
|
|
Walworth
|
Walworth
East, Walworth Central, WalworthWest |
Local housing area forums allow direct contact between
tenants representatives and the local housing
management. The views of the local area housing
forums can also be fed through to the Tenant Council.
Local
housing area forums consist of:
| Representatives
elected by tenants and residents
associations |
| Other local groups
that speak for sections of the community who are
often under-represented. For example disabled
people, carers, lesbians, gay, bisexuals, transgender
people, Black and Asian and minorities ethnics. |
The
Tenant Council
The
Tenant Council acts as a link between the local area
housing forums and the Council Executive and advises
both on borough-wide matters that affect tenants. It was
established to ensure that all sections of the community
have the chance to contribute on services provided by
the Council and to raise concerns.
The tenant council consists of:
| Two representatives
from each local area housing forum |
| One representative
from the Southwark Group of Tenants Organisations |
| One representative of
each under-represented section of the community |
| Any
councillor with an interest in housing
(councillors can
speak and give their views but cannot vote). |
The
tenant council normally meets every six to eight weeks. The
Tenant Council membership is elected or appointed
annually.
The Tenant Fund
(TFMC)
The
Tenant fund is an account managed by a sub committee of
the Tenant Council, to help finance tenants and
residents involvement.
Grants include:
| Core funding of
Southwark Group Tenants Organisation |
| Start grants for new
tenants and residents association |
| Annual grants to
tenants and residents associations |
| Special projects e.g.
the BME Inclusion Project |
Leaseholder
Council
The
Leaseholder Council has a similar structure to that of the
Tenant Council, and like the Tenant Council act as a link between the local area housing forums and the Council
executive, and gives advice on borough-wide matters that
affect people who lease their homes from the Council.
Representatives on Leaseholder Council are elected by
their local area housing forums annually.
|
Aims
& Objectives
