South Derbyshire District Council - The new regulatory framework

From April this year, all social housing providers, including South Derbyshire District Council, now have to fulfil a set of standards aimed at continuously improving services for tenants.

A Revised Regulatory Framework

This year there will be some changes to the way all social housing providers in England, including South Derbyshire District Council, are regulated.

We are currently regulated by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), a government organisation which sets a framework of service standards aimed at continuously improving services for tenants.

From April 2012, the TSA will be abolished and its functions transferred to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). This is due to the Localism Act 2011– a document that creates a new landscape for the way tenants’ issues with housing services are addressed.

Formally granted Royal Assent in November 2011, this Act shifts power from central government back into the hands of individuals, communities and councils. The HCA will have a ‘backstop’ role in consumer matters limited to setting the service delivery standards and acting only when it considers there is a risk of serious detriment or harm to tenants. The principal role in scrutinising landlord services and intervening where standards are not met will fall to tenants’ panels, MPs and elected Councillors.

While the TSA will no longer exist, the original regulatory framework will remain in place – with some minor amendments proposed.

Four of the original 7 standards will apply to South Derbyshire District Council from April 2012:

o Tenant involvement and empowerment
o Home
o Tenancy
o Neighbourhood and community

While there are specific expectations for the Council, the overall thrust of the amended standards and the expected outcomes are detailed in the table below.

Tenant involvement and empowerment	We have to offer all tenants a wide range of opportunities to be involved in the management of our housing, including formulating our housing policies and strategic priorities, making service delivery decisions, managing repair and maintenance services, agreeing Local Offers for service delivery and scrutinising our performance. We also need to provide clear information to tenants, have a clear complaints procedure and understand and respond to tenants’ diverse needs.
Home	We have to maintain all our properties to the Decent Homes standard. We must provide a cost-effective repairs and maintenance service, offering choices to our tenants.
Tenancy	We have to allocate our homes in a fair and efficient way and offer the most secure form of tenure.
Neighbourhood and community	We have to effectively manage our neighbourhoods by keeping them clean and safe, help promote social, environmental and economic well being in the areas where we own housing, and work with other public agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Still central to all the standards is tenant involvement and empowerment, with you, our tenants, leading the way on what services we deliver to you, how we deliver them and when – and what you can do if we don’t deliver.

We will be updating you on how we are meeting the standards in both the Housing News and the Annual Report.

Full details of all the proposed standards are available in the TSA’s document, A Revised Regulatory Framework for Social Housing in England from April 2012, at www.tenantservicesauthority.org/server/show/conWebDoc.21636 .

More information about the Localism Act is available at www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/decentralisation/localismbill .

For more information about how to get involved in shaping the services we provide to you, contact our Tenant Participation Officers, Laurie Devitt and Sharon Cole, on 01283 595788 or email tp@south-derbys.gov.uk .

How we are currently meeting the TSA standards

We know we are a good landlord because you have told us. Results of a recent survey showed our tenants are the fourth highest in the country and first in the Midlands for satisfaction – a fantastic result that we are extremely proud of. Yet we also recognise that continuous improvement of our services is a must – with tenants at the heart of decision-making.

Tenant Panels and Groups

Publications panel

To boost tenant involvement and empowerment – one of our top priorities – we have, with tenants’ help, set up eight panels and groups, which commenced working from September 2010. They are:

Performance and Scrutiny Panel – scrutinises and discusses our performance and priorities for improvement.
Business Planning Working Group – contributes to how we plan our services and spending over the current and future years along with staff and councillors.
Publications Panel – contributes to our tenants’ magazine Housing News, the Tenant Handbook, our suite of leaflets and other publications. Most recently, the Panel has worked alongside our Performance and Business Manager, Tenant Participation Officer and Graphic Designer to produce our second Annual Report, published in September 2011.
Home Standard (Repairs) Working Group – scrutinises our repairs and maintenance service, including our contractors, to ensure we meet the Decent Homes standard.
Supported Housing Working Group – looks at the management of our supported housing schemes across the district with staff.
Youth Involvement – the group helps to identify youth engagement projects and will become involved in delivering Dreamscheme events. We have now successfully carried out two Dreamschemes in 2011, with plans to deliver another two in 2012.
South Derbyshire Tenants’ Forum – members can meet with other independent tenant groups and have their say on issues that matter to them and their communities.
Challenge Days – these are workshops designed to challenge specific areas of the service. Staff and councillors join both tenants and residents who may have experience of a particular service area and assess how effectively that service is run and if any improvements can be made. Most recently, we held an Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Challenge Day at Bretby Conference Centre on October 4, 2010, and an Allocations Challenge Day is being held at the venue on November 4, 2010. We aim to hold several Challenge Days in 2012.

We will update you on the progress and activities of these groups in the Housing News, on our website, on our new Face Book page and in the next Annual Report, which will be published in September 2012.

You can find more information about how we are currently meeting the TSA standards and our plans for the future by referring to our Annual Report .

Local Offers

Local Offers set out the way we will deliver our services to you on a local level. These are similar to our current service standards and will replace them.

To find out what is important to you, we consulted with you to agree Local Offers by April 1, 2011. As part of this consultation we provided you with opportunities for you to tell us what is important to you, performance information and analysis on satisfaction and complaints data, and what you can do if we don’t deliver our promises.

If you would like to get involved in any areas of our service, please contact the Tenant Participation Officer on 01283 595788.

SDDC 559

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