The Highland Council is committed to tenant participation. This is because we believe that you can help us to improve our services to you, and help to make sure that we are delivering the right services. Because the Highland area is so big it is especially important for us to know what our tenants think in all of our areas. In addition to the work we have been doing in past years to encourage tenant participation there is now a new legal requirement to consult tenants on certain issues, such as major changes to policies.
What is Tenant Participation?
Tenant participation can be a number of different things. It can mean getting involved in a tenants or residents associations in your area, attending a one off public meeting. Or it can just mean letting us know what you think on a particular topic by returning a questionnaire or survey.
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Why should I get involved?
If you have a view about the housing service we provide or you want to improve the environment then getting involved can help you to achieve what you want for your community
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Tenant Participation Strategy
The Council has developed a Tenant Participation Strategy. To do this, we worked with tenants by consulting through tenant group meetings, focus groups and by newsletter. The Tenant Participation Advisory Service helped us to do this. By using them we made sure that we got an independent view of the way we work with tenants at the moment, what tenants wanted in the future and how we can meet these needs in an independent report which we used to help us develop the strategy.
Out of this consultation we agreed a strategy for tenant participation. The overall aim of the strategy is to make sure that "tenants have the capacity to influence and that the Council is open to influence". To do this we agreed 5 main objectives. They are to:
- Provide tenants with good quality, accurate and easily understood information.
- Promote tenant participation and increase opportunities to participate.
- Empower tenants to be involved.
- ensure tenant participation is a part of our culture.
- Promote awareness of and ensure a commitment to equal opportunities in tenant participation.
To make these things really happen in practice we then set out a detailed Action Plan to say what we need to do and when we will do it. For example, we have said that we will agree a clear framework for the funding of tenant groups. We will also carry out an audit of the training needs of tenant groups and of staff in relation to tenant participation, identify the graining gaps there are and set out a list of potential trainers. We have also agreed to review our newsletters to try and make them as helpful as possible.
We already have a group called the Highland Tenant Consultative Group and we have asked for volunteers from this group to work with us to implement the Action Plan. The Tenant Consultative Group involves representatives from Highland Council tenant groups as well as some individual tenants who are interested in participating.
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Tenants and Residents Groups
If you would like to become involved in tenant participation, there may be an existing group in your community which you can join. To find out if there is a group in your community you can ask your housing tenant participation contact - see "In this Section"
If there is no tenant group in your community you may want to get together with others to start one. You can get support to do this from your local tenant participation contact. We may also be able to help with the costs involved. Remember if you are not sure how to go about this just ask – we can provide a lot of help and advice.
We have an agreed framework which sets out how we will fund tenants groups. You can get further information about this from the Current Documents section - or you can apply for funding by printing off and completing the application form.
If no one else in your community wants to start a group you can still register with us to get information.
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Other ways to participate
We consult with tenants in different ways on different issues. For example, if we are making big changes to a policy like the repairs policy it is important that you tell us what you think. We also try to get feedback on our day to day service, for example, by one-off surveys which we have done in the past on rent arrears or by sending out short questionnaires after repairs have been done. It is helpful if you send these sorts of questionnaire back so that we can take account of your views and improve our services. We will also be using a simple electronic questionnaire in Service Points from time to time – if you see a notice about this do use it and let us know what you think.
We also send out regular newsletters – in these we try to tell you about major issues coming up. Sometimes this will include a sheet to return to give your views.
If you think that we should consult you in different ways or if there are other reasons why you can’t participate, please let us know.
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Other Sources of Help and Information
There are also other organisations that can help you to find out more about tenant participation or how to start a group. These include:
Tenant Information Service (TIS)
Suite 225
Baltic Chambers
50 Wellington Street
GLASGOW G2 6HJ
Telephone: 0141 248 1242
Fax 0141 221 1911
e-mail: jmiller@tis.org.uk
Tenant Involvement in Grampian, Highlands and Islands Rural Areas Ltd (TIGHRA)
Fairfax House
64 Market Place
INVERURIE AB51 3XN
Telephone 01463 672233
Fax 01667 672270
e-mail: judith@tighra.freeserve.co.uk
Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS Scotland)
74 – 78 Saltmarket
GLASGOW G1 5LD
Tel: 0141 552 3633
Fax: 0141 552 0073
e-mail: enquiries@tpasscotland.org.uk
For more information, please e-mail: housingandproperty@highland.gov.uk
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