Southwark Council says make sure your voice is heard
Published 26 February 2010
What tenants want is simple – their voices listened to about the service they receive; and Southwark Council is making changes to make this easier.
From April this year, plans will come to fruition to step up the way residents can take an active role in local decision making. Currently, there are almost 49,000 tenancies and up to 150 tenant and resident associations, but the council wants residents to have more choice about how to get involved, and greater control over decisions made about their homes and lives.
What's new?
- Service improvement focus groups for people to highlight issues unique to their estate or area
- More face-to-face meetings and open forums
- Greater use of technology to make getting in touch easier, such as SMS and the website
- More focus on customer service and satisfaction
- A drive to get more people involved who do not normally do so
- Review of the way tenant and resident halls are used so that they provide the best use for the local community
- Three new teams have been brought in with a fresh new feel to how resident involvement will be structured and coordinated
- More consultation to ask residents how they feel about staff and services
- A resident performance and scrutiny panel set up to look at how well we are working in greater detail
Barry Duckett, Chair of Rotherhithe Area Housing Forum and member of Canada Estate Tenants and Residents Association, knows the difference that getting involved can make. He successfully rallied residents together and pushed the council for funding to create Rotherhithe Angling Club, a Joint Security Initiative (JSI) scheme. During the six week scheme, in its second year last summer, over 400 children turned up to take part in the event. Children were mentored by coaches and everyone joined in.
Barry said, "During the summer, children have nothing to do. The JSI angling scheme gave the kids something to do and the impact on reducing antisocial behaviour was very good - local police commented that it was a quiet year!"
Councillor Kim Humphreys, executive member for housing says, "What Barry did demonstrates the difference that getting involved can make and we want to make it as easy as possible for people to have their say about all issues - good and bad. It is your service and if you want things to change then make sure your voice is heard."
