Research from Communities Scotland ( Report) 98. 

 

Evaluating Scottish social landlords` progress on                       tenant participation.                      

 

4. Conclusions and recommendations

 

4.1 Impact of the Act

 

4.1.1 Progress and achievements

 

The Housing ( Scotland ) Act 2001 placed significant emphasis on ensuring that landlords had formal procedures in place for tenant participation. Our evaluation shows that most landlords have responded well to this. Landlords and RTOs agree that the Act has resulted in progress being made with tenant participation and has led to a more focused and formalised approach – with a written strategy, dedicated resources and formal stuctures for participation.

 

Our case studies found that most landlords are working to involve tenants in decisions. But, the way in which landlords are encouraging participation is very varied. And, landlords are still at very different stages of development five years on from the commencement of the Act.

 

4.1.2 Barriers and areas for future development

 

Although landlords have generally accepted the spirit of the Act, there are a number of areas where formal commitment to tenant participation activity could be improved.

 

·        A minority of landlords still do not have a written tenant participation strategy. This is a requirement of the Act.

·        Some written strategies do not provide information on resources, which is also a requirement of the Act.

·        Some smaller landlords with a more informal approach to tenant participation are struggling to to set out their approach in writing.

·        Tenants are not always involved in developing, updating and monitoring tenant participation strategies and effectiveness. Again, this is also a requirement of the Act.

·        There appear to be differences in practice in registering and maintaining RTO registers, and some landlords are not passing on information to keep the central database up to date.

·        The national Tenant Participation development team established by Communities Scotland has played a significant role in promoting the requirements of the Act and supporting organisations to improve their tenant participation activity. But its focus has shifted to supporting a framework for national engagement. A number of landlords, RTOs and external organisations believe there is a need for the tenant participation team to `return to its roots`, and focus on providing support to landlords and tenants at a local level.

 

 4.1.3 Lessons learned

 

·        Tenant participation must be backed up by support and resources- The presence of a written strategy does not in itself demonstrate that landlords are committed to tenant participation. The extent to which strategies are followed through with adequate resources and support for tenant participation does vary considerably.

·        National support is important to tenants and landlords- The national support team plays an important role in providing advice and guidance for landlords, RTOs and tenants-and this has been missed and diluted over the past two years as the focus of their team has shifted towards national engagement.

 

4.1.4 Recommendations for the future

 

 Communities Scotland`s Tenant Participation development team

  should have an ongoing role in promoting the law and best                                     

  practice, through;    

·        Supporting landlords to meet the law and best practice in their tenant particapation activity;

·        Supporting tenants to make the most of their right to participation in their landlord`s decisions; and

·        Reviewing with landlords the basis on which RTOs are registered and supported, and any changes are regularly updated.

 

 

Research conducted by ODS Consulting  March 2008.

National Engagement Battle ( March 08 )

 

Tenants groups across South Lanarkshire have reacted with anger to letters from Communities Scotland informing them that `agreements` had been made to organise a regional tenants network entitled, “ Region 8” to represent all the registered tenant organisations there.

 

Tenants have been asked to put their names forward as representatives on a committee conjoined with North Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire with four places available per area. If more than four reply then elections will be held.

 

One group has written to James Hynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland asking him to produce copies of these supposed agreements. Another group has said that no such agreements exist or have been made by some other organisation without the involvement or permission of groups in South Lanarkshire.

 

Tenants are upset that  Communities Scotland are claiming that research and consultations commissioned by them have given Communities Scotland a mandate to develop regional tenants networks which will represent tenants in talks with the Scottish Government on national housing policy.

 

One South Lanarkshire tenant representative told S.T.O. that at first they thought it was a joke, especially when they saw the constitution that had been produced. Apparently the document bore no resemblence to traditional tenants group constitutions and tied groups to simply responding to government initiatives and consultations. As well as these paragraphs there was a space to invite outside bodies to regional meetings which tenants speculated could only mean that civil servants wanted to guarantee their attendance. Added to this were strange parts which emphasised the ejection or barring of troublesome tenants. Presumably this would mean those who asked awkward questions?

 

Local MSPs have been asked to take up these issues and apparently

The Minister for Communities & Sport has asked Chief Executive  James Hynd to produce a report on what is happening in South Lanarkshire.

 

The tenants protesting over this say that Communities Scotland have got it all wrong and that the way things are being done is not the way it should be.  Tenants say that the so-called research is not valid within the tenants movement and that civil servants can not award themselves a mandate for anything based on their methods. Tenants say that the authority does not exist for some tenants to enter into agreements with the government on behalf of others.

The process has been compared by tenants to the way things are done in totalitarian states. Tenants complain that they have been informed that elections will take place and that even if they opt out, the process will go ahead and others who do take part will be their representatives whether they like it or not.

It has not been explained to tenants who don`t get involved, what voice  they will have at national level. This is a serious question that needs an answer. Will the Scottish Government insist that those who take part in the structures they have built, speak for all tenants or just those who have signed up to the process?

This seems like a recipe for disaster and will have serious consequences for the integrity and independence of the Scottish tenants movement.

 

April 08-update

 

 The complaints from South Lanarkshire seem to show that matters are descending further into farce. Communities Scotland`s Acting Chief Executive has admitted that “ those RTOs currently involved do not purport to represent all RTOs in the Region, only those groups who suport the networks”. 

What does this mean for the claims in Communities Scotland`s  

glossy productions which blatantly announce “ National Voice for RTOs”?

Does this mean that there will be one voice for those on the Governments networks and another for those not on the networks?

 

Communities Scotland staff stated on June 2007 in Edinburgh that,     “the extensive research carried out with RTOs had highlighted and confirmed general agreement to develop regional networks at this time. Throughout this process there had been no wish from RTOs, at this stage, to form a national body, with a clear preference for regional

structures that are managable, democratic, representative and are RTO led”.  It seems crazy in the light of this statement that  Scottish Government glossy magazines can proclaim a  “National Voice for RTOs”.

 

How do tenants who wish only to work at a regional level become a national voice for tenants?  Maybe the Scottish Government could enlighten everyone as to how they plan to achieve this in this so-called  “tenant led” environment?  Will civil servants simply will this into existence as they have the rest of the structures?  There are just too many questions about the behaviour of civil servants here and their involvement in tenants affairs.

 

The latest to emerge from the `region 8` fiasco is that the `steering group` were helped by civil servants to hold their “ inaugural AGM”.  Poorly attended, it has emerged that the exercise failed to achieve the required number of delegates and the civil servants will now be writing again to tenants groups to ask them to propose themselves for membership.  So it would seem once more that instead of making themselves accountable to the tenants in their area tenants can simply  propose themselves and presumably  be recognised by the Scottish Government as the voice of tenants in that region.

 The question being asked by tenants in South Lanarkshire is, how can this hugely questionable structure for tenant organisation, which is being supported by the Government, develop national housing policy when there has been no contact between the tenants on these structures and the rest. Tenants ask when they will present their national housing policies for perusal by others? Will it be after they have consulted their Government helpers or will they freely discuss these issues with other tenants outwith the presence of civil servants?

 

Incidently, throughout the march towards Government management of the Scottish tenants movement, they keep referring to the “RTO movement”.  Can anyone provide an answer to what that is?

 

John Carracher

 

 

 

 

Research from Communities Scotland ( Report) 98. esearch

Research from Communities Scotland ( Report) 98. 

 

Evaluating Scottish social landlords` progress on                       tenant participation.                      

 

4. Conclusions and recommendations

 

4.1 Impact of the Act

 

4.1.1 Progress and achievements

 

The Housing ( Scotland ) Act 2001 placed significant emphasis on ensuring that landlords had formal procedures in place for tenant participation. Our evaluation shows that most landlords have responded well to this. Landlords and RTOs agree that the Act has resulted in progress being made with tenant participation and has led to a more focused and formalised approach – with a written strategy, dedicated resources and formal stuctures for participation.

 

Our case studies found that most landlords are working to involve tenants in decisions. But, the way in which landlords are encouraging participation is very varied. And, landlords are still at very different stages of development five years on from the commencement of the Act.

 

4.1.2 Barriers and areas for future development

 

Although landlords have generally accepted the spirit of the Act, there are a number of areas where formal commitment to tenant participation activity could be improved.

 

·        A minority of landlords still do not have a written tenant participation strategy. This is a requirement of the Act.

·        Some written strategies do not provide information on resources, which is also a requirement of the Act.

·        Some smaller landlords with a more informal approach to tenant participation are struggling to to set out their approach in writing.

·        Tenants are not always involved in developing, updating and monitoring tenant participation strategies and effectiveness. Again, this is also a requirement of the Act.

·        There appear to be differences in practice in registering and maintaining RTO registers, and some landlords are not passing on information to keep the central database up to date.

·        The national Tenant Participation development team established by Communities Scotland has played a significant role in promoting the requirements of the Act and supporting organisations to improve their tenant participation activity. But its focus has shifted to supporting a framework for national engagement. A number of landlords, RTOs and external organisations believe there is a need for the tenant participation team to `return to its roots`, and focus on providing support to landlords and tenants at a local level.

 

 4.1.3 Lessons learned

 

·        Tenant participation must be backed up by support and resources- The presence of a written strategy does not in itself demonstrate that landlords are committed to tenant participation. The extent to which strategies are followed through with adequate resources and support for tenant participation does vary considerably.

·        National support is important to tenants and landlords- The national support team plays an important role in providing advice and guidance for landlords, RTOs and tenants-and this has been missed and diluted over the past two years as the focus of their team has shifted towards national engagement.

 

4.1.4 Recommendations for the future

 

 Communities Scotland`s Tenant Participation development team

  should have an ongoing role in promoting the law and best                                     

  practice, through;    

·        Supporting landlords to meet the law and best practice in their tenant particapation activity;

·        Supporting tenants to make the most of their right to participation in their landlord`s decisions; and

·        Reviewing with landlords the basis on which RTOs are registered and supported, and any changes are regularly updated.

 

 

Research conducted by ODS Consulting  March 2008.

Letter To Stewart Maxwell

 

 

 

 

Mr. Stewart Maxwell                                                      

Minister for Communities & Sport                                  

Scottish Government                                                        

Edinburgh                                                                         

 

EH1 3DG                                                                        

                                                                                           

15/01/08

 

Dear Mr. Maxwell

 

Effective tenant participation both at a local and national level is a cornerstone policy for the Scottish Tenants Organisation (STO). We welcome this opportunity today to enter into dialogue with the Minister with a view to taking tenant participation at a national level forward.  We would like to see this dialogue develop further in the future.  We consider that as a national constituted tenants’ organisation that we must be involved, with others, in discussions about national housing policy.

 

We consider “Partners in Participation - A National Strategy for Tenant Participation” as a working document which contains the essential elements for effective tenant participation.  We believe that the Tenant Participation Working Group should be reconvened to look in depth at a number of issues including, the “Code of Practice on Tenant Participation at a National Level” and a full review of the tenant participation sections of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.  Investigate setting up an independent Tenant tribunal to arbitrate in cases of dispute between tenant and landlord in relation to tenant Participation activities.

 

Further, we believe that the Tenant Participation Working Group should carry out a review of tenant participation practice across Scotland identifying good practice and underdeveloped practice.  The reasons for this under developed practice should be noted and recommendations for improvements made.

 

The STO recognises that there are a number of policy issues in which it would like to engage in discussion with the Scottish Government and would hope to do so in the future for example the “Local Housing Needs and Affordability Model for Scotland”. 

 

However as one of our key issues is “Housing Debt Write Off” the STO would welcome the opportunity to co-operate with the Scottish Government in its approaches to the UK Treasury   requesting debt write off in other circumstances other than housing stock transfer.  

 

 

 

 

The STO has welcomed the very useful and positive dialogue that has already been started with the Scottish Government from the TIS/TPAS and TIGHRA conferences on Firm Foundations – The Future of Housing in Scotland.  In our opinion this is something that we would like to build on in the future.

 

Thank you for your consideration on the above and we look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Secretary

Scottish Tenants Organisation

S.T.O. National Housing Debate

Notes on meeting with Stewart Maxwell, Minster for Communities,

Ann Cook, Communities Scotland Tenant Participation and Clare Morley, Social Housing Division

held at the Scottish Parliament, 16  January  2008  and attended by John Carracher and John Foster for the STO

 

Mr Maxwell began the meeting by apologising for any confusion in the past which had prevented meetings with the STO taking place and welcoming the opportunity for an exchange of opinions.  The Scottish government was seeking to move housing up the agenda and increase the rate of house building from 24,000 to 35,000 over the next few years.  The consultation document Firm Foundations set out these objectives and he looked forward to responses.

For the STO John Carracher welcomed the government’s steps to open up debate on housing.  The main purpose of the meeting was to request a continuing dialogue between the STO and the government.

Mr Maxwell responded that the 25 January deadline for responses to Firm Foundations was only the start of the process.  Dialogue would continue.  The government was happy to continue to talk to the STO.

John Carracher outlined the direct involvement of the STO in the construction of the National Strategy for Tenant Participation ( Partners in Participation ) upon which is based the tenant participation parts of the Housing ( Scotland ) Act 2001and stressed that the full implementation of the Code and legislation regarding tenant participation had still to be carried through and that the involvement by tenants associations in landlord decision-making remained underdeveloped in some parts of Scotland.

Ann Cook responded that Communities Scotland had recently commissioned research from a consultant which examined levels of local tenant involvement.  All RTOs will receive copies once it had been seen by the Minister.  This research did indicate  some unevenness in levels of participation.

John Carracher stressed the role of an independent tenants movement in Scotland and queried how far the design of the research had been agreed with the tenants movement.  He also stressed the need for the reconvening of the Tenant Participation Working Group to address real issues of contention.  One of these was the need for some independent route of appeal for tenants apart from their landlords and their regulator Communities Scotland.

Ann Cook responded by saying that Firm Foundations had sought to develop a new power of regulation over RSLs and that the STO should make representations on these powers.

 

 

John Foster, for the STO, noted the official membership of the STO on the Communities Scotland, Tenant Participation Advisory Group and expressed the importance of this continuing when Communities Scotland is dissolved. 

Clare Morley responded that the staff of Communities Scotland would come within the civil service and that Ann Cook and her team would be regrouped within the Social Housing Division.  Existing functions would continue including the TP Advisory Group.   Ann Cook stated that its membership would be reviewed.

John Carracher questioned whether these groups were at a stage when this was possible.  Ann Cook indicated that elections were due in March and April for office bearers and that the Regional Networks should be in a position to participate from October 2008.

John Carracher asked whether it was appropriate that the activities of Networks representing tenants should be administered and organised by civil servants and how far this would affect its independent standing.  He instanced the campaigning role of the STO and its current demands for the Treasury to permit debt write off for councils that had not transferred their housing stock.  He hoped that the Scottish government could join in this demand. 

Stewart Maxwell said the Scottish government had indeed made similar representations and saw this issue as a central one for housing finance.   The government would be open to proposals for alternative models for housing finance that could exclude housing debt from public sector borrowing.

John Foster raised the issue of the registering and monitoring of tenants associations being in the hands of the landlords with whom tenants had to negotiate and on occasion take legal action against.   He said this was equivalent to giving employers powers to monitor the internal democracy of trade unions. 

Stewart Maxwell said as far as he knew the system worked well and only involved the supply of minutes of the AGM, officers and the constitution.  John  Foster instanced cases where there were inappropriate interventions and said he could provide some further detail.  Ann Cook indicated that some instances of inappropriate action might be found in the recent research.  John Foster said that, if any form of registration was required, it should be in the hands of an independent arms length body that would include representation of bodies such as the STO.

John Carracher instanced a number of issues on which the STO would like continuing dialogue – specifying the Local Housing Need and Affordability Model which he said tended to underestimate need by excluding those over a certain income. John said that the S.T.O. in addition to its Firm Foundations response would also be making further detailed submissions on each issue. This was welcomed.

A letter with the points raised at the meeting was left with the Minister.  The Minister thanked the delegation for attending and again stressed his openness to continuing dialogue.   John Carracher thanked the minister on behalf of the STO.

 

 

 

 

 

Chair’s comments - March 08

Chair’s comments

As part of its ongoing campaign on housing issues the Scottish Tenants Organisation has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling asking him to write off all of Scotland`s council housing debt ( £2.2Billion ).
The S.T.O. believes that historic housing debt is an unjust imposition on remaining council tenants and must be removed. Removing this burden would solve virtually all our investment problems in one act as it would release huge amounts of money to allow councils to invest in their stock.
Government insistance on housing stock transfer to achieve debt write off amounts to coercion and this coercion is being applied for purely ideological reasons. There are no good financial reasons for it. 

We have pointed out to the Treasury that according to Audit Scotland, writing off this debt would not cost the country one penny more than at present, because as they say, it would be a transfer within government and have no cost or benefit to the Exchequer or the taxpayer ( “This form of debt repayment is not in itself a cost to government in cash terms. The original borrowing and the investment it funded-was a cost to government. But subsequent debt interest and repayments are transactions entirely within the public sector, so there is no net effect ( cost or benefit ) for the Exchequer or the taxpayer when the Treasury provides grant aid to allow repayment of a council`s PWLB loan debt. These are transfers within government”). ( Source: Audit Scotland= Council House Transfers Report, March 2006 ).

The response from the Treasury was that “ Debt write off is all very well, however if council debt was absorbed by the Treasury, councils would be encouraged to begin borrowing again thus upsetting Treasury fiscal rules on government borrowing limits”.

We have since written back asking for a meeting to discuss this issue as
we believe that this is only an excuse and that there are ways to get round the problems raised by the Treasury. An update will be provided when we get a reply.

The new Scottish Government supports the idea of housing debt write off and have also raised the matter with the UK Treasury. The issue was raised with Stewart Maxwell at our meeting with him on 16th January 08 where we suggested the possibility of joining forces and of applying joint pressure on Alistair Darling. Unfortunately Mr Maxwell was non committal at the time. However as we continue this campaign we hope, in the interests of tenants, they will reconsider.

Also following on from the 16th January meeting at the Scottish Parliament we have written to Stewart Maxwell asking for a meeting to discuss one of the issues raised with him on the day, namely The Local Housing Need and Affordability Model for Scotland which is the method used by authorities to calculate housing need in their respective areas. A number of major problems arise from this Model. Firstly, it proposes that public housing and Housing Association properties should only be made available as a last resort, with everyone else forced to rely on the market even if it leaves them just above benefit levels. Secondly, using the Model, councils only have to meet 1/10 of the backlog of housing need each year and can claim they have surplus housing despite large waiting lists.
If the Scottish Government is serious about tackling housing need, this Model needs to be dumped.
More Later.

‘Drastic action needed’ over housing crisis [Dundee]

[From the Evening Telegraph] Dundee’s housing crisis is real and will only get worse unless drastic action is taken now to halt further demolition of council houses and increase the supply of affordable homes (writes Bruce Robbins).

That was the consensus that emerged from a public meeting on the subject in a Ward Road church.

Academics, housing professionals, tenants and two of the city’s SNP councillors made it clear that, from their point of view, housing difficulties are greater now than at any time for decades.

And, they said, ongoing demolition of council stock and the global credit crunch, which is making it harder for first time house buyers to secure a property, will only increase the pressures already apparent in the rented sector.

The meeting was called in response to concern raised in the Evening Telegraph that the city is facing a housing crisis following the publication of figures by the SNP group which showed there are almost 10,000 people on the waiting list.

Dundee’s housing convener, Councillor George Regan, hit back by saying only 2000 people on that list were currently without adequate housing and this did not constitute a crisis.

Dozens of angry Tele readers responded to the convener’s comments with their own accounts of the poor conditions they say they are forced to live in because of a shortage of suitable houses.

Last night’s meeting was hosted by the Dundee Social Forum and attracted an audience of around 40, including many tenants, some eager to recount their housing problems.

Criticism of the city council’s housing policy has been led by the SNP groups, and two of their number, Councillors Willie Sawers and Jimmy Black, attended the meeting.

The failure of any members of the council’s Labour/Liberal Democrat administration or the Tory group to attend was highlighted by some of the organisers. A decision by the Dundee Tenants Federation not to attend on the grounds it was a non-political organisation and did not get involve in political debate was also criticised.

Dr Sarah Glynn, an Edinburgh University lecturer who lives in Dundee and has studied the city’s housing set-up for three years, and John Carracher, chairman of the Scottish Tenants’ Organisation, addressed the meeting.

Dr Glynn said, increasingly, housing decisions were made for financial reasons and not social ones. It was necessary to bring a social dimension back.

She said, “It’s great that the Tele has opened up this debate, but it must not become last week’s story. If anyone was in any doubt about the importance of independent housing associations, they shouldn’t be now.”

Mr Carracher called into question Mr Regan’s assertion there is no crisis. He said both the UK and Scottish Governments had acknowledged there was.

He told the audience, “If you want something done about it, you will have to do it yourselves.

“People should be getting together, deciding for themselves what the agenda is, deciding what information they want and pursuing it.”

Bruce Forbes of Angus Housing Association said, “Every housing association in Dundee would fundamentally disagree that there’s no housing crisis.

“We are only building 200 houses for rent in a year. The (council) administration seems to think this is some sort of achievement, but I think it’s a great under-achievement.”

There was also criticism of comments made by administration leader Kevin Keenan concerning a cross-party working group he wanted to set up. Councillor Keenan said it now appeared unlikely the group would go ahead because of “outlandish requests” in terms of membership made by SNP councillors.

However, Tony Cox, of the Dundee Social Forum, said it was more likely Cllr Keenan did not want to face the likes of Dr Glynn, who had the “facts and figures at her fingertips”.

“We should be under no illusions that this is going to be an easy fight, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. There are nearly 2000 houses sitting empty with a demolition order on them. We have to put pressure on the council to lift that order.”

Councillor Sawers said some council stock was rightly demolished. The people of Whitfield, for example, would not shed a tear over the loss of the Skarne blocks. But he urged people to put pressure on their councillors by reminding them there was a crisis.

Councillor Black said the SNP group had placed no conditions on its participation in Councillor Keenan’s cross-party working group and denied they refused to take part.

At the end of the meeting, around 20 tenants put their names forward for a working group that will put pressure on Dundee City Council to rethink its housing policies and, in particular, to abandon plans to demolish more council homes.

Anyone wishing to support the group can call Dr Glynn on 07803052239.

Dundee City Council was asked to say whether or not it would be prepared to meet the working group formed at the meeting, but no answer was forthcoming by press time.

Scottish tenants want Chancellor to write off debt

[Herald Article] The Scottish Tenants’ Organisation is demanding a meeting with the Chancellor, Alistair Darling to discuss writing-off local authorities’ £2.2bn historic housing debt.

The organisation cites a report from Audit Scotland which showed that this would be neutral in terms of the public purse. Debt write-off was previously dependent on council tenants agreeing to vote for transfer to new landlords.

But one of the cities to suffer most from not going down the stock transfer route is Edinburgh and with Mr Darling an MP for the city the STO hopes to impress on him their case.

John Carracher, convener of the organisation said: “Writing off this debt would release huge amounts of money to allow councils to invest in stock thereby solving virtually all our council housing investment problems in one act.”

He said “stock transfers amount to coercion which is being pursued for purely ideological reasons and that a change of direction needs to take place.

“We believe there are no good financial reasons for denying debt write-off and a change of direction could take place now with no need for legislation, so what are we waiting for?”

The STO cites the report by Audit Scotland which said: “This form of debt repayment is not in itself a cost to government in cash terms. The original borrowing - and the investment it funded - was a cost to government. But subsequent debt interest and repayments are transactions entirely within the public sector, so there is no net effect.”

Mr Carracher said: “Improvements to people’s homes and a change of landlord are two quite separate issues and should be treated as such. Housing stock transfers are an illogical approach to public housing provision and the approach must change.”

He said that at a recent meeting with the Scottish housing minister the STO argument had been accepted and he hoped Holyrood would back them in their fight with the Treasury.

Answer Time

A programme looking at some of the answers behind housing questions.

Firm Foundations? A response to the Scottish Government’s Housing Green Paper

An Academic response to ‘Firm Foundations’  Government consultation paper on housing.

We want to begin by welcoming some bold and positive changes – most notably the recognition of the important role played by social housing 1 , and the ending of the right to buy for new social rented homes. We also acknowledge the difficulties of making radical change in the current political climate – as exemplified by the negative grilling that characterised the Newsnight Scotland interview following the announcement of the end of the right-to-buy, and the scramble by Labour and the Conservatives to claim credit for promoting regressive inheritance taxes. Perhaps partly as a result of this, the Green Paper seems overwhelmingly anxious not to alienate existing property interests and thus often to be trying to reconcile the irreconcilable.