Almost 100 delegates attended the 12th ARCH Tenant Group
Conference organised by ARCH Tenants' Group members for tenants and
residents of ARCH member councils.
Discussions were dominated by the Social Housing Green Paper and
what this might mean for tenants and residents and the future of
council housing.
This year's conference took place at Kettering Conference Centre
on 18 September and was generously supported by Kettering District
Council.
The conference was opened by the Mayor of the Borough of
Kettering, Councillor James Burton and was chaired by Jenny Hill,
Chair of the ARCH Tenants' Group. Members of the ARCH Tenants'
Group chaired the conference workshops, registered & greeted
delegates as they arrived and helped with other event management
tasks on the day.
Tenants and residents heard from Jane Everton, Deputy Director
at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on
the government's Social Housing Green Paper and Brian Reilly, ARCH
Board Member and Director of Housing & Regeneration at
Wandsworth Council gave an initial reaction to what the Green Paper
might mean for council landlords followed by a lively question and
answer session from tenants.
Other highlights included presentations from Emma Foxhall,
Deputy Ombudsman on the role of the Housing Ombudsman Service and
Leslie Channon, Non-Executive Director of TPAS on the Benefit to
Society Campaign and what it is doing to help tackle some of the
stigma and stereotyping attached to social housing.
Greater scrutiny of council's landlord services
and publication of performance indicators in the form of
"league tables" can be expected if proposals in the Green Paper
come to fruition and delegates heard from Martyn Lund, ARCH Tenant
Group member and Leona Mantle Tenancy Services Manager at Kettering
Borough Council on what tenants should expect from their council by
drawing on the experiences at Kettering District Council.
ARCH Chair Jenny Hill also announced the winners of this year's Community Champion Award.
Click here for a full conference report
and copies of speakers presentations.
All the images can be downloaded
via this link.
The event proved popular with good feedback from delegates. Of
the 60 delegates who completed the formal feedback questionnaire,
54 (90%) ranked the overall programme as excellent or good.
Delegates comments about the potential content of future
conferences and the overall arrangements for the event (format,
catering, booking arrangements etc) will be considered by the
Tenants Group when organising future events.