Housing Services
SUMMER 2015
CONTENTS PAGE
1 TENANT SURVEY 2015
3 MERCIAN FLAG
2 ASB ZONE
4 MEARS CUSTOMER FORUM
3 COMMUNITY TRIGGER
4 MOBILE APP
TENANT SURVEY 2015 Within the next few weeks, some tenants will receive a copy of the STAR survey - the national Survey of Tenants and Residents which aims to measure tenants' satisfaction with housing services. As part of our regulatory requirements, Tamworth Borough Council Housing previously issued a survey for tenants, the STATUS Survey. This survey asked a wide range of questions and enabled us to hear firsthand what tenants thought about the services they received and where improvements could be made. Although it is no longer a regulatory requirement that housing providers like us issue this type of survey, we remain committed to listening to the views of our tenants so that we can continue to provide the services you want and ensure that they are of the highest quality. Demonstrating our dedication to ensuring our tenants’ voice is always heard and that the Local Offers we made are kept up to date and reflect tenants’ current priorities, we will continue to undertake a whole tenant survey. The previous STATUS survey will now be replaced with a voluntary STAR survey - Survey of Tenants and Residents. If you are one of those tenants who receives a STAR survey, we would ask you to spare a little time to complete the survey so that Tamworth Borough Council Housing can continue to meet the needs of its customers and communities by providing continually improving high-quality homes and services.
Your participation is voluntary, but all tenants who take part in the survey will be entered into a prize draw and three names will be drawn at random to win prizes of £100, £50 and £25 high street vouchers
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MEDIATION Landlord Services has signed a Service Level Agreement for the second year with Right Mediation for our mediation service. About 90% of cases received in Tamworth are actually low level disputes that can be resolved by residents sorting their differences amicably. Examples of this include disagreements over loud music, banging doors, noisy children, boundaries, parking, pets, rubbish, shared areas and clashes in lifestyle. In addition to neighbour disputes, we can now offer the following services: l l l l
Community mediation for blocks of flats or streets Intergenerational/family mediation Court mediation Family/community conferencing
We provide this service free of charge to our customers. An independent mediator will work with you to find a long-term solution without judgement or blame. The service is both confidential and voluntary. However, it does require the agreement of all parties to enter into it. You will get the chance to express your feelings without being interrupted or challenged and work towards reaching an agreement. If you have a dispute with your neighbour, it is best to contact us early before it escalates or causes bad feelings.
CONTACT US For further information on Mediation, ASB or the Community Trigger, please contact the Tenancy Sustainment Team on 01827 709491 email estatemanagementteam@tamworth.gov.uk or write to Tamworth Borough Council, Marmion House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth, Staffs. B79 7BZ
ASB ZONE Please take a look at the ASB Zone, which can be viewed at: www.tamworth.gov.uk/anti-social-behaviour There is a wealth of information about what to do if you are suffering from anti-social behaviour, what you can complain about, who to complain to and much more. The ASB News page is updated monthly and the Performance page shows how we are performing. The Factsheet Library is growing. To save you the time of contacting your landlord, you can get advice online. If you need advice and can’t find a Factsheet on your subject, let us know and we will produce one. Our latest Factsheet is about the Community Trigger.
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OPEN HOUSE – SUMMER 2015
COMMUNITY TRIGGER What is the Community Trigger? The Community Trigger is a process, introduced as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which allows tenants to ask their local Community Safety Partnership to review responses to incidents of anti-social behaviour. It gives victims the right to request a review of their case, where they believe their complaint has not been properly addressed. The new process will ensure that agencies work together to resolve incidents of anti-social behaviour that are affecting residents’ quality of life. The trigger cannot be used to report new complaints and does not replace the existing complaints procedures or your opportunity to complain.
Who can use the Community Trigger? A victim or anybody acting on their behalf (for example a family member, councillor or support agency) can activate a Community Trigger.
When can I use the Community Trigger? The trigger can be used if you have reported at least three incidents of anti-social behaviour to us within the previous six months. These are incidents where the same behaviour, nuisance or problem has reoccurred and was reported within one month of it happening.
How to activate a Community Trigger The Community Trigger can be activated by calling Staffordshire Police on 101, giving details of the complaints made and the agency the complaints were made to.
What can I expect? The Community Safety Partnership will meet to confirm the details of the reported incidents and verify the threshold has been met. Partner agencies will then provide complete details of the case and any actions that have been taken to resolve the issues reported to them. A case review will be carried out and the partnership will discuss the anti-social behaviour and the actions taken. You will be notified of the findings and recommendations which should be completed within 25 working days. Should the review take longer than this we will contact you to explain the delay.
What if I am unhappy with the way the review was handled? If you are unhappy with the way your application has been handled or the response received from the review panel, then you can request that a secondary review be carried out by an independent panel.
MERCIAN FLAG For the last couple of months, people across Tamworth have been knitting blue or yellow squares which have been joined together to make a huge Mercian flag. The eye-catching yellow cross on a blue background was unrolled over Tamworth Castle motte during a breathtaking display of dance, music and drama earlier this month. The Seniors United group of tenants took up the challenge with Tamworth Borough Council’s housing staff and knitted more than 200 squares. This has been an excellent community project which has seen so many people helping on this special project, including knit and natter groups at Tamworth Library and Tolsons Mill in Fazeley. The dramatic unfurling of the knitted flag was the key to the performance of Tigress – a production by the award-winning Motionhouse dance company for the I Am Dance element of the ambitious 12-month I Am Tamworth project. I Am Dance brought together hundreds of local dancers, singers, drummers and designers for a modern retelling of the story of Saxon Queen Aethelfleda. Thank you to everyone who committed their time and skills to making this project a success.
Edna Worrall and Tracey Marshall
A few of the sheltered housing tenants receiving a thankyou certificate from Elanor Hazlehurst (Arts and Events Manager at Tamworth Assembly Rooms) and Diane Hughes (Tenant Regulation and Involvement Assistant).
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CUSTOMER FORUM At Mears, our vision is to make a positive difference to the communities we serve. Our approach is based on the developments of partnerships with clients, tenants and customers. We are setting up a Mears Customer Forum and would like to invite Tamworth Borough Council tenants to be part of it. By joining the Forum, you will be invited along to our Tamworth branch on a quarterly basis to hear up-to-date news on Mears in your area and nationwide, as well as asking you to contribute to help improve the Mears customer experience and service delivery. You will have the opportunity to discuss your experience face-to-face with our team, sit with and shadow our dedicated call centre operators and talk to our operatives and branch staff involved in our repair service on a daily basis. We are looking to start the forum in June 2015. If you would like to be involved, please contact Stacey Doyle before Friday 29th May on 0800 1830044 to express interest or email on stacey.doyle@mearsgroup.co.uk with your name and number and we will contact you.
MOBILE APP Tamworth Council has successfully launched the authority’s first corporate mobile app. The app is called myStaffs, and is a joint initiative between Staffordshire County Council and Tamworth, Lichfield and South Staffs Councils. The information available to our citizens is a result of the partnership working of three councils (us, Lichfield DC and Staffordshire CC) seeking to provide the best information to our customers.
If isyou require this document in and an the alternative The app available via the usual channels, including Play App Store. If you are a Tamworth resident, you will be able to receive reminders about bin format or language, please contact us onyour 01827 collections, order additional bins, receive notifications about school closures, register for Council Tax if you move within or to Tamworth, find out about the Castle and events, make payments and lots more.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET INVOLVED… Getting involved is a great way to know that you are contributing to improving the services you receive and your voice can empower you and other tenants to improve the council’s performance and development in areas that matter to you. Everybody has busy lives these days but selecting the way you get involved from a wide range of options could fit into your lifestyle and put you at the heart of decision making. It doesn’t have to be all about attending meetings, it can be as active as completing a survey once a year or popping along to one of our consultation events. We believe in working together with tenants in a real partnership to improve the service we offer. If you are interested please contact the tenant participation team on 01827 709260 or email tenantparticipation@tamworth.gov.uk Tamworth Borough Council Marmion House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire B79 7BZ. Enquiries: (01827) 709709 Main Fax: (01827) 709271
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OPEN HOUSE – SUMMER 2015
Designed and Produced by Tamworth Borough Council (2/15) 1777