The Waltham Forest Council is committed to ensuring that tenants and leaseholders are at the heart of the option appraisal process. As key stakeholders it is essential that tenants and leaseholders make a genuine contribution to the option appraisal process and as a result that they have full ownership of its conclusions.

This strategy is intended to set out how tenants and leaseholders will be central to the decision making process and also how they will influence subsequent decisions that follow on from the option appraisal.

Introduction

The Communities Plan requires all local authorities to set out, through an Options' Appraisal (OA) process, how they will achieve and maintain the Decent Homes standard for their own housing stock. The OA will need to be signed-off by the Government Office for London no later than January 2005

The process must be undertaken with the full involvement of tenants and leaseholders (in this document, "tenants" is used to mean tenants and leaseholders); however it may be perceived by some as a period of change, and as such be viewed with fear and concern. It is therefore vital to have a rigorous Tenant Empowerment Strategy to ensure tenants have a clear understanding of the facts to allay any fears they may have, and enable them to take an informed view.

The Council’s Strategic Plan clearly sets out the importance of involving our customers. Our key priorities are: “Building Sustainable Communities”, “ Extending Quality and Choice in the Housing Market” and to “Delivering a Quality Housing Service”.

The Council’s vision is to “build sustainable communities now and for future generations”. This vision is supported by a number of ambitions and priorities for the next five years.

These ambitions are reflected in the aims and objectives of the Council's Housing Services, in partnership with Ascham Homes. There is a deep commitment to tenant participation and we aim to work in partnership with tenants to provide a housing service that is constantly improving. The Tenant Participation Compact (in draft form) sets out how the Council involves tenants and the Option Appraisal process is seen as a great opportunity to widen this involvement further. This Tenant Empowerment Strategy is based on the principles contained within the Tenant Participation Compact.

Tenants, staff, members, the Tenant Investment Working Party (TIWP) Ascham Homes and other key stakeholders have been consulted on and involved in developing this strategy. The Ascham Homes Community Development Unit (CDU) will work with tenants and staff to help develop and implement the Tenant Empowerment Strategy.

Aims and objectives of the Strategy

This Tenant Empowerment Strategy sets out how tenants will be involved in making decisions over the stock options appraisal and how we will make sure that they receive the support they need so that they are at the centre of the decision-making process about their future.

This strategy also makes provision for tenants to indicate whether their aspirations will be met simply through achieving the basic Decent Homes Standard If this is not the case, then tenants will be given sufficient information to conclude how best their aspirations can realistically be met.

This strategy shows how we will:

  • Raise awareness of the OA process and the meaning of each option for Waltham Forest tenants
  • Maximise the number of tenants involved
  • Empower and inform all tenants
  • Link in with existing Tenant Participation structures
  • Work with the CDU so that resources are maximised, any gaps are "plugged" and the Council and the CDU's approach complement each other
  • Make appraising the options for the Council's housing stock a positive exercise for tenants
  • Maximise publicity for this important process
  • Ensure that tenant representatives, who will play a role in disseminating information, are given a full understanding of the issues
  • Ensure the OA process is used to encapsulate the broader concerns of stakeholders about the quality and delivery of the housing service for example regeneration and community safety
  • Foster a sense of co-operation and understanding amongst all involved parties

The Council and Ascham Homes will work with CDU to enable tenants to understand fully and contribute to the information provided about option appraisal. Key objectives are to ensure that tenants:

Understand the implications of each of the options, including the investment priorities (this may involve additional training for tenants)

  • Are confident to express their views and feel sure that their views feedback in to the process
  • Are provided with updates and new information on an ongoing basis throughout the process
  • Take a key role in the decision-making process

It is important to ensure that all tenants have an equal opportunity to be involved in the OA. Traditionally groups such as young people, black minority and ethnic (BME) groups, people with disabilities and the elderly have been "hard to reach" so it is vital to make every effort to engage with these groups. Different methods of involvement are appropriate to encourage residents from these groups to participate and utilising existing networks, and forums rather than expecting all tenants to attend meetings will assist in this aim.

The four main issues relating to the BME strategy in this regard are as follows:

  1. Increase the representations of BME members in the Tenant Council to 27%
  2. Increase the BME satisfaction level to 65% (BVPI 74)
  3. Empower BME community groups through training to be an advocacy role and representations in tenancy issues and decision making process
  4. Wider training and encouragement activities for hard to reach groups such as youngsters

These ambitions will empower the BME Communities and will be achieved in partnership with Ascham Homes and BME Community Groups through the Community Services Housing BME Strategy .

It is important to identify the relevant message for each group in the community and to deliver that message in the most appropriate way. It is understandable that every audience will be almost solely interested in how this will affect them.

Officers and Members will play a key role in encouraging the empowerment of tenants throughout the OA process. It is essential relevant training and/or updates will be provided for these stakeholders and to ensure that they appreciate the importance of the tenant’s role. In turn officers will be able to assist with any queries on a day-to-day basis at the frontline of the housing service. Training for frontline staff will be carried out and information will be available at local offices. Staff and Members will be briefed on the tenant empowerment and communication strategies so they understand fully the role they play in their implementation. To enable them to fulfil this role, training and/or information sessions will be provided throughout the OA.

Getting copies of the plan