Angus Tenant and Community Engagement Strategy

Contents


Welcome

Tenants' Steering Group

Welcome to our fifth Tenant Participation Strategy.

Most of us on the Tenant Participation Strategy Group have been working with Angus Council since 2002, influencing the housing service that the council delivers to all tenants.

Our group is made up of Angus Council tenants from all over Angus. Most of us originally got involved in our local neighbourhoods as part of a Registered Tenant Organisation (RTO) or residents group, and, from there, became involved in working on tenant participation at an Angus wide level.

Here are a few examples of decisions that we have been part of:

  • rent setting
  • re-let standards
  • kitchen replacements
  • anti-social Behaviour Policy
  • repainting contracts.

Recently we have helped develop the Scottish Social Housing Charter report card and published our first Tenant Led Service Review.

In addition, we have been involved in the future repairs contracts options, the new bathroom contracts, the Scottish Government Housing Beyond 2021 consultation paper and a number of tenants are currently taking part in the E-Panel development and the Tenant Participation Forum.

You can become involved in tenant participation at a level that suits you – you don’t have to come to meetings - it can be as simple as returning a survey.

Getting involved gives you the opportunity to have your voice heard and to shape services to work for you, as well as learning new things and meeting new people.

John Morrow, Service Manager (Housing)

Since our last strategy, we have seen many changes across Angus Council. We are becoming a smaller organisation, but one that is better, leaner and more sustainable. What hasn’t changed, is that we still have the same strong commitment to our tradition of involving tenants in our decision-making.

At a time when there are so many ways of communicating, it’s more important than ever that we find ways for people to get involved that suits them. So they can shape our services, challenge our performance and help us achieve our vision of ‘places people are proud to call home’.

We are committed to providing the best customer experience that we can for our tenants. If we are to continue to improve our services, we need customer feedback so we know what’s working well and what needs to be improved. We really do need to encourage more people to become involved. We know that expecting people to set time aside from their busy lives is a big ask.

But it really will make a difference to the way our service is delivered, if we can find a way that gives more tenants a voice. We hope that this strategy provides the framework to make this happen.

Tenants are at the heart of everything we do and we will continue to build on the good partnership working we have already established, by working together to make Angus a great place to live, work and visit and by creating places that people are proud to call home.

Next: Introduction