richmond council’s tenants’ champion annual report

Tenants’ Champion Annual Report April 2020 - March 2021

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Councillor Jim MillardI am delighted to present the Richmond Council Tenants’ Champion report, following my third and final year in the role. I am handing on the role of Tenants’ Champion to my colleague Councillor Alan Juriansz as I move on to become the Housing Lead for Richmond Council in the role of Vice-Chair of the Adult Social Services, Health and Housing Committee (Spokesperson for Housing). My role as Tenants’ Champion has helped me to learn a significant amount about the housing issues within the Richmond Borough, which I will bring to my new role, and I would like to thank all those residents who have come to me over the last three years for all they have taught me about what the priorities are for us to achieve with our housing provider partners.

This year the Tenants’ Champion service has been working hard to help more residents than ever, supporting tenants and leaseholders living in housing association homes in the borough who have had unresolved problems with their landlords.

Covid-19 restrictions have meant we’ve needed to adapt how we work. Despite not being able to meet people face to face, we still recognise how very important it is to make personal contact with people needing support, so I’ve spent significant time having personal telephone conversations and TEAMS meetings this year. This is a report to tell you more about this, give you an overview of cases and the themes arising from them, and update you on our important work on giving tenants and leaseholders more of a voice, working with housing partners to share good practice and improve the way both the Council and partner housing associations listen to and engage with their residents.

Richmond Council’s Tenants’ Champion

Annual Report April 2020 - March 2021

HOUSING AND REGENERATION DEPARTMENT

The Community Ambassador Project - have your say!

See page 3

‘I would like to thank you for the huge investment of your time and energy in supporting our residents and making a positive contribution to their homes and lives.’

Ian Watts, Executive Director of Customer Services, PA Housing

This year marks 10 years of the Tenants’ Champion service and I would like to thank all the previous Tenants’ Champions and Penny Dimond, the Tenants’ Champion support officer, who has worked tirelessly through that time to develop this service and help so many people.


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35%54 Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

19%29 Transfers

2%3 Other (major works, service charges, parking)

44%68 Repairs

Households HelpedResidents can access the Tenants’ Champion service by filling out a short on-line form found on the Richmond Council website: Tenants’ Champion - London Borough of Richmond upon Thames or they can ring the Council’s contact centre on 020 8891 1411 where trained staff will log the enquiry.

This year the Tenants’ Champion service assisted over 164 households (compared with 159 the previous year). Of these, 131 were new cases (compared with 119 last year). The balance consisted of cases from previous years that continue to require ongoing support. 34 of the new cases were forwarded to the relevant ward councillor to help in the first instance.

Of the new cases there were: 68 Repairs 44% 54 Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) 35% 29 Transfers 19% 3 Other (major works, service charges, parking) 2%

Total 154 (NB some cases have more than one issue)

Working with Housing Associations and other partners Residents from nine different housing associations approached the Service for help this year. These included: Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP), Paragon Asra (PA) Housing, London and Quadrant (L&Q), Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH), Network Homes, Notting Hill Genesis, Inquilab, Guinness Partnership, Anchor Hanover

Twice yearly meetings have taken place with senior staff from the four main housing associations with the most homes in the Richmond borough – RHP, PA Housing, MTV and L&Q - to enable staff and service updates to take place, review specific cases and to pick up on more general issues of concern.

‘I would like to thank Cllr. Millard as it has been a pleasure working with you over the years. We are truly going to miss you as I feel that collaboratively we worked so well to resolve the issues for the residents on the Queens Road estate’

Sharon Prospere, Regional Manager West Region, L&Q

‘The Tenants’ Champion service has proven, yet again, the importance of collaborative working, cross agency, to help our customers when they need it most, and RHP have enjoyed another successful year working closely with Cllr Millard. Cllr Millard has supported many customers during his time as the Tenants’ Champion, and RHP are very grateful for his work with us over the last 3 years. Like us, Cllr Millard has the customer at the heart of everything he does, to drive appropriate resolutions, and we are very thankful for the additional support shown to our customers during this time. We also recognise the valuable feedback that Cllr Millard has shared with us on numerous occasions, in the spirit of openness and transparency, which have prompted RHP to review their service offering.‘

We now very much look forward in continuing to strengthen our working relationship with the service going forward, with the new Tenants’ Champion, Cllr Juriansz.’

Peter Cogan, Executive Director of Customer Services, RHP

https://www.richmond.gov.uk/tenants_champion




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Join up today - 3-monthly Community Ambassador Forum hosted by the council (currently via Zoom)

Estate Inspections - report anything you spot in communal areas and grounds that needs repairing or attention, we’ll work to ensure listening leads to action

Improvements - get information, training and support with applying for funds for improvements your area needs, events and more - with opportunities for match-funding from the Council

Peer support network - share ideas, support and advice with other Community Ambassadors

Signposting - how to access help and support from Richmond’s many excellent voluntary sector organisations

The Community Ambassador Project

We’re working together to give housing association residents in Richmond borough more of a voice.

This project is co-designed with residents to support tenants and leaseholders to have a say, get improvements their communities need, and to make a difference.

For more details please visit the webpage: www.richmond.gov.uk/community_ambassadors,

email [email protected] or call 020 8891 1411

https://www.richmond.gov.uk/community_ambassadors

mailto:community.engagement%40richmond.gov.uk?subject=


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Councillor Millard on the Queens Road estate with Estate Champion Annick Robson and Charles Austin from the Council’s Community Engagement Team

Report on Casework Repairs IssuesA large proportion of casework this year has been in relation to repairs. This has been particularly challenging for both landlords and residents because for a large part of the year our housing association partners have needed to restrict their repairs services to essential works only to meet Government rules and ensure the safety of staff and customers. This has inevitably led to delays in getting some things done and we have intervened where necessary to help provide clarity on what can be done and improve communication.

A theme we’ve raised on previous occasions has been a sense of frustration for residents dealing with long-running cases at dealing with a different person every time they make contact and often having to re-explain the finer details of a case. In addition to software improvements that better provide details of cases, I’ve been pleased to see a new initiative from one housing association, who have employed an officer to be a single point of contact for residents where there had been a breakdown in communication with the landlord or ongoing difficulties in getting things fixed. This has been beneficial for the housing association, who have used some of the learning to identify pinch points in the system, and for the customer who has been able to get the progress they wanted in fixing things with a familiar point of contact they are able to build trust with.

ASBThrough my casework and in my discussions with housing associations, I am aware that reporting of ASB, noise nuisance and neighbour disputes has increased during the lockdown period. As more people have been working and schooling from home, differences in lifestyles have been amplified. At the same time the restriction on evictions has curtailed the ability of the courts to act on the most serious cases. Housing associations have been resourceful in applying for injunctions in the most serious cases but, in general, the picture is that this combination of factors has meant that there has been more pressure all round. Part of my role as Tenants’ Champion in these situations is to listen and understand each situation and check that all the right measures are being taken. This could include checking that the noise app is working and being used correctly in gathering evidence. It could mean encouraging professional mediation. It could mean making sure that all the professional agencies such as the police, mental health teams and housing association are linked up in their responses. It always means communicating with the person who contacts me to make sure they are being supported in the best possible way. I always try and be empathetic to a person’s lived experience, clear in what needs to be done and balanced in my approach.

For some of the ASB cases I have been involved with, they have been referred to the Community Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (CMARAC). This forum is facilitated by the Council’s community safety team and deals with complex, often high-risk cases where information is shared between agencies (such as housing associations, police, NHS mental health, adult social care etc) to safeguard victims and witnesses and prevent further victimisation. I attend this forum and can listen to the discussion and represent issues of concern. Often in complex cases, because the discussions are confidential, residents that might have been affected by the ASB but are not party to this information worry that nothing is being done. Whilst I cannot repeat confidential information, being part of this process often enables me to reassure residents or local ward councillors that I am scrutinising the process as a relatively impartial third party and can confirm that action is being taken behind the scenes to help resolve issues.


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TransfersA number of residents have contacted me this year, wanting a transfer. This is most frequently due to overcrowding, where larger accommodation is needed but can sometimes include other reasons such as repairs issues (especially condensation and damp, which can sometimes be exacerbated by overcrowding) and not getting on with neighbours.

Unfortunately demand greatly exceeds supply for social housing in Richmond borough and strict policies for allocation must be followed by both the Council and our housing association partners.

I am always very clear with those who contact me, that I cannot bypass the systems in place that are designed to be fair to everyone. However, what I am able to do is to often check that peoples’ applications have been successfully received, that they have supplied any up to date medical information and this has been correctly assessed, and that they have the correct advice and are aware of their options. This can include joining a national ‘Homeswapper scheme’*. Recently I was also able to suggest to a resident that because he was past the age of 55, he could extend his options to look at a retirement housing category, where the wait was not as long as the general needs queue. I was delighted to hear from him that this had worked out and he was much happier in his new home.

I have heard from a number of families this year who wish to move, many of whom have children with additional needs, such as autism or mental health or physical disabilities where the pressures of living in a confined space with less opportunity to access support outside of the home due to Covid 19 restrictions, and less tolerance from neighbours has made life very difficult. I have great sympathy for the problems being faced in these situations and I always do my best to listen and where possible clarify any information needed or signpost to agencies who may be able to assist.

*(HomeSwapper is described as the UK’s leading mutual exchange service with over 500,000 tenants, looking to swap Council and Housing Association homes).

‘For the last 3 years, Councillor Millard has been a part of the Community Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (CMARAC) through his Tenants’ Champion role and over that time has become a key asset to the partnership meeting. Councillor Millard has remained a consistent part of the process and evidently understands the importance of partnership and understanding which partners are in the room to be able to contribute to discussion about certain issues. As part of Councillor Millard’s work as Tenant’s Champion, he attends these meetings within an independent role and therefore always ensures that he is representing the voice of all individuals under his service whether they are the alleged perpetrators or victims. Councillor Millard has often helped agencies understand the full picture on the extent an individual or location is impacting the lives of residents and how we can assist the victims in the most timely and appropriate way. Outside of the CMARAC meeting, Councillor Millard speaks regularly to residents and reassures them of the work that agencies are doing behind the scenes, whilst remaining aware and respectful of the confidentiality agreement. Councillor Millard’s passion and professionalism for his work will be missed at these meetings but we wish him all the best in his new endeavour as he moves forward into his new role.’

Zoe Connolly, Community Safety Team Manager, Serving Richmond and Wandsworth Councils

I agree with everything that Zoe has said and will miss the input of Cllr Millard at CMARAC and in general. We have enjoyed some frank discussions over very complex risk cases and I am sure this experience will always be part of Cllr Millard’s future. Thank you.

Daryl Edmunds, Neighbourhoods and Criminal Justice (Strategic) Manager, Serving Richmond and Wandsworth Councils


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Last year I reported on ‘Leading the Way in Resident Engagement’ - a review of resident participation arrangements across social housing landlords in Richmond. The purpose of this review was to identify and champion best practice in engaging with tenants, leaseholders and communities. It sets out expectations for our housing association partners and makes commitments on things the council will do to support this work. The report can be viewed here:

Resident Engagement report (richmond.gov.uk)

Keeping the report updated

The review includes tables so residents can see at-a-glance how their landlord is doing in providing good engagement in all the important ways covered. These tables will be updated every year as an appendix to this Tenants’ Champion Annual Report. I’m pleased to see this year that our local providers have added a number of improvements (please see pages 10 and 11 for this year’s updated tables).

Resident Engagement Working GroupFollowing on from the Council’s review, we set up a working group, chaired and facilitated by Louise Thompson from TPAS, the Tenant Engagement Experts, with RHP, PA Housing, L&Q and MTVH, together with officers from the Council’s Community Engagement and Housing Policy teams and Richmond Council for Voluntary Services. Over the last year, in a course of 5 meetings, we covered the following points:

Meeting 1 (October 2020): Agreeing the aims of the work

Agreed: All participants support the aims, including -

• To identify and implement best practice

• To work together with residents to create innovative engagement methods

• To define and agree a social housing Resident Engagement Charter for Richmond

Meeting 2 (November 2020): The Community Ambassador Project

Agreed: to co-design the Community Ambassador Project with residents

Listening to residents - leading the way in resident involvement

Developing the scheme: The Community Ambassador Project has been worked up outside of the main meetings and has been co-created with interested residents. Two Community Conversations have already taken place to discuss the role on January 27th and May 13th 2021. The Council will continue to host these in the form of the ‘Community Ambassador Forum’ every three months - the next one is on July 28th at 6pm. The role design has now been agreed with residents and the next step is to develop and provide induction training for the first Community Ambassadors.

https://www.richmond.gov.uk/media/18679/resident_engagement_report.pdf


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Meeting 3 (January 2021): Co-Funding Opportunities

Agreed:

• Housing association landlords will make funds available for resident-led improvements

• The council will provide opportunities for match-funding

• We will work together to provide support for residents in accessing funding

Meeting 4 (March 2021): Supporting Residents’ Associations

Agreed:

• Housing association landlords will support residents’ associations

• To work with RCVS to provide support setting up residents’ associations

• To hold a co-creation session with residents’ associations to further develop a framework of support

Meeting 5 (May 2021): Satisfaction Surveys, Strategic-Level Involvement and the Charter

Agreed:

• To explore Council and housing association landlords undertaking a borough-wide satisfaction survey of all social housing residents

• Sharing best practice for resident participation at board and/or committee level

• A set of standards: The Resident Engagement Charter for Richmond Borough

TPAS are fortunate to be involved in many interesting engagement projects across the country, but when we were asked to facilitate the LBRUT Resident Engagement Working Group we were particularly pleased, as this project is a real trail blazer! For a non-stock holding Council to bring Registered Housing providers together in this way, is both unique and highly innovative, and then to see this partnership deliver some fantastic outcomes was even more impressive. The success of the group clearly shows the huge commitment to resident engagement that exists across the Borough, and I’m sure they will continue to lead the way!’

Louise Thompson, Head of Business Services, TPAS – Tenant Engagement Experts

I am delighted by the commitment of our partners to this work which aims to increase the extent to which residents feel listened to and involved in decisions affecting them, and supports them to engage more with their housing association landlords, helping to improve services and build better communities.

I look forward to announcing the new Resident Engagement Charter for Richmond Borough in the next few weeks.


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The Tenants’ Champion Interagency ForumThe Tenants’ Champion service works to encourage good joint-working practices with partners by hosting the twice-yearly Tenants’ Champion Interagency Forum.

These meetings give an opportunity for agencies including the Council’s community safety team, adult social services, housing associations, police, fire brigade, NHS mental health services and voluntary sector organisations to share learning from the cases the Tenants’ Champion Service has dealt with through the year and to discuss issues and themes that have emerged, where a joint approach can make a big difference.

This year some issues discussed have included:

• Ongoing discussions about the Hospital Discharge and Mental Health Joint Working Protocols. These protocols are there to improve joint working and are vital in planning service delivery and response that prevent tenancy breakdown and provide reassurance to local communities. This year real progress has been made in updating these and getting the necessary buy in from each of the partners to make things work.

• Regular service updates from each of the participants so partners understand each other’s referral systems, ways of working and pressures – essential for joint working. An especially useful

discussion took place on the different organisation’s responses to the Covid-19 pandemic which included adapting working arrangements for staff and making sure arrangements for delivering services to residents were safe. There seemed to be a consensus that for multi-agency discussions, online meetings had assisted these to be timelier and more efficient.

• The mental health social care team usefully clarified routes and assessment criteria for accessing floating support and supported housing.

• Briefings on the role of the Council’s community safety team, how the CMARAC’s organisation has been altered and its role in sharing information and creative working to find solutions in complex ASB cases. Anonymised examples were used to show the benefit of agencies coming together to help find solutions.

• Discussions led by Cllr Millard on the Council’s report about ‘Leading the Way in Resident Engagement’. This included useful presentations from the following on various elements of good practice including:

• The Council’s approach to resident engagement

• RHP’s Leading Lights programme

• MTVH Resident Voice Coordinator role

• PA Housing’s ‘Team Purple’ approach

Tenants’ Champion Interagency Forum Teams meeting, September 2020


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Aims for the year ahead:1 Continue to offer a Tenants’ Champion service for Richmond Borough’s housing

association tenants and leaseholders.

2 To host the twice yearly ‘Tenants’ Champion Interagency Forum’. This will include making sure the multi-agency Mental Health and Housing Joint Working and Hospital Discharge Protocols are working and kept up to date and facilitating any necessary training.

3 To continue to analyse themes, trends and volume in casework to see how housing associations’ management practices are affecting residents and to promote good practice in key areas.

4 Maintain a focus on seeking effective joint working to ensure that services are working well together, particularly with unresolved cases involving anti-social behaviour.

5 Progress work to champion best practice in how housing associations engage with residents and work with them to ensure standards in the Richmond Borough lead the way.

6 Continue to report back with a yearly update on changes and improvements made by housing associations in tenant and leaseholder engagement as an appendix to this annual report.

‘MTVH are proud to have worked with Cllr Millard as part of this innovative and effective initiative, as a large provider of housing in the borough it has provided a great opportunity to work alongside Richmond Council to help us to serve people better every day. Our Head of Housing, Angelique Banton and her team have appreciated Cllr Millard’s support for MTVH residents in Richmond and for facilitating really great conversations between the two organisations to find solutions to sometimes quite complex and challenging issues impacting residents’ lives.’

Julie Shuter, Customer Services Director, South and South London, MTVH

Councillor Millard at Moore Close with resident Margaret Dane and Maya Uzunow from the Council’s Community Engagement team.

Cllr Alan Juriansz


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Appendix 1Housing associations and tenant and leaseholder engagement – update to the tables included in the Leading the Way in Resident Engagement report first published in 2020.

Housing Association

Residents were consulted on participation arrangements

Residents were actively involved in reviewing participation arrangements

Residents sit on the Board

Residents sit on other Committees which feed directly into the Board

Scrutiny groups for Residents

Publish annual report

Publish regular performance data

Publish Service standards

Mystery shopping scheme

Estate Inspector scheme

A2 Dominion

Anchor Hanover

Guinness Trust

L&Q

Metropolitan Thames Valley

(complaint

data is published)

Notting Hill Genesis

PA Housing

Under review

Places for People

Information not supplied


Richmond Housing Partnership

Under Review Pending

Shepherds Bush Housing Group

Under review

Currently being

recruited


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Housing association

Complaints panel with residents

Feedback from resident involvement provided

Newsletter for residents

Formal support for Residents’ Associations

Recognition schemes

Funding streams for residents to access

Periodic surveys Transactional surveys

A2 Dominion

Anchor Hanover Some

Guinness Trust

L&Q

Metropolitan Thames Valley

Notting Hill Genesis

PA Housing

Places for People





Richmond Housing Partnership

Shepherds Bush Housing Group

Appendix 2: Richmond upon Thames Private Registered Provider Stock 2019/20.

Housing Associations General Needs - self contained units Housing for older people units Total:

A2 Dominion 99 0 99

Anchor Hanover 0 39 39

Guinness Trust 146 28 174

L&Q 493 84 577

Metropolitan Thames Valley 348 0 348

Notting Hill Genesis 79 0 79

PA Housing 1422 192 1614

Places for People 145 0 145

Richmond Housing Partnership 5845 391 623

Shepherds Bush Housing group 5 0 5

Total 8582 734 3703


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Thanks from Residents:“I’d like to emphasise how crucial Cllr Jim Millard has been in his capacity as the Council’s Tenants’ Champion to move the dialogue between Housing Associations and their tenants by his complete understanding of the issues on both sides. He opened the dialogue and

encouraged the Housing Associations to think outside the box and join the dots to try and resolve ongoing issues affecting their tenants. His own personal experiences have been put to genuine use to open the debate and encourage progress. He has worked closely with L&Q’s Head of Engagement and Accountability, Sophie Leedham, to progress his

Community Ambassador’s scheme for tenants of housing associations of which I am so glad that he is going to keep going and be involved with this project. We on the Queens Road Estate are very appreciative of his past help and now look forward to contributing with him to improve the quality of life of residents in social housing for a more respectful deal. I wish

Cllr Millard all the very best with his new responsibilities.” Annick Robson, L&Q’s Estate Champion for the Queens Road Estate

“My most grateful thanks for the invaluable help, consideration and understanding you have given to Mrs ….. in her case with …., and giving her in

the end such a good resolution.” (AR)

“Thank you for your email and thank you for all your help and support during past few months.” (FK)

“I don’t have any other questions for you but just wanted to thank you so very much for everything you have done, I’m quite sure this would not have

happened without your help.” (EE)

“Thank you for everything you tried to do for me, your continued support this past year has meant alot. You always responded even when I was being so difficult to deal with.” (SS)

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much Jim for all you have tried to achieve and the time and understanding you have given.” (JR)

“Feels like you have gone above and beyond and have been so helpful. No-one else has made it so clear” (AC)

“I would like to wish you all the best in your new post. Thank you for all the support you have provided.” (A L-T)

“I’d like to thank you for your support and persistence over this matter.” (MK)

“Thanks very much for your all help and support, I wish you the best in your new job.” (PM)

“Thank for all your help and support over these last few months, it’s been so lovely not to feel totally alone” (JB)

richmond council’s tenants’ champion annual report

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