The Local Government Association (LGA) has commissioned the
Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) to investigate,
capture and report on good practice in tenant engagement delivered
by councils across the country.
The report "Engaging and empowering tenants in council owned
housing" was published on 1 February and sets out the
findings from 35 councils and 20 ALMOs.
The report highlights good practice by a number of ARCH member
councils and ARCH Policy Adviser Matthew Warburton has produced an
ARCH Briefing summarising the main
points in the report.
Commenting on the report ARCH Chief Executive John Bibby
said:
"The importance of tenant engagement and empowerment has been
highlighted in both the Social Housing Green Paper and in Dame
Judith Hackitt's report into fire safety in high risk residential
buildings.
This report by the LGA/TPAS will help local authorities and
ALMOs to learn from others and work with their tenants to review
and refine their own arrangements for tenant engagement, ensuring
tenants are at the heart of decisions about their homes and their
neighbourhoods.
To ensure that councils have the necessary resources to fund
effective tenant engagement ARCH is urging the Government to
support the recommendation made by Dame Judith Hackitt in her
report thatthe Government should provide funding for organisations
working at both local and national level to provide advice,
guidance and support to residents, landlords and building owners on
effective resident involvement to develop a national culture of
engagement for residents of all tenures. (Hackitt Report recommendation 4.4)."