Open House June 2011

The 40 residents from Cheatle Court andGlenfield, along with family members whocame along to help, planted 60 pots and 10 hangingbaskets. The idea was for residents to get together andenjoy a social event, while taking pride in where theylive. They all wore red, white and blue to get into the spirit ofthe Royal Wedding, and put up bunting.

Feedback shows that all residents enjoyed the day. The ‘Plant a Pot’ day wassuggested by ‘Seniors United’, a group of sheltered scheme tenants who cometogether to share ideas and exchange views.

Mayor of Tamworth, Cllr Lee Bates, came along and helped with the planting.

Carol Dolan, a relative of a tenant at Cheatle Court, said: “My mother reallyenjoyed it and I thought it was a very kind gesture that allthe family were invited to join in”.

Tenant Dawn Belcher commented: “I was very happy with the event and Igot involved and enjoyed myself. Thank you”.

Summer 2011

www.tamworth.gov.uk

Housing Services

In this issue:-

Plant a PotGreen fingered residents livingat Tamworth’s sheltered schemesplanted hundreds of colourfulplants at a community day tocelebrate the Royal Wedding.

Anniversary fun atAnkermoor Court

Page 2

Residents of Glenfield

Includes

our

Perform

ance

supplement.

Centre p

age

pull out

It was absolutelybrilliant and encouraged

everyone to get involved,even the less mobile.

Ron Harrison

Residents of Cheatle Court

Customer DashboardVisit online for the latest performance indicators in housing: www.tamworth.gov.uk/housing

New CouncilChief Executive

Page 2

Health advice

Page 4

Incentive tomove scheme

Page 6

Open House_Summer_11 with pullout_Layout 1 09/06/2011 11:21 Page 1

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A new chief executive has beenappointed at TamworthBorough Council.

Tony Goodwin has taken over the reinsfollowing the retirement of DavidWeatherly in March. Tony has been withthe authority for 14 years and waspreviously the authority’s deputy chiefexecutive.

Tony said: “One aspect of the role whichis very important to me is promoting‘Tamworth the place’. It is a wonderfultown with lots to offer, and is perfectlyplaced for people who live, work andvisit the area. I want to make sure wecontinue to improve Tamworth and makeit a place to be proud of.”

Corporate director John Wheatley hasaccepted a secondment into the role ofdeputy chief executive.

A fun time was had by allas residents and staff atAnkermoor Court shelteredhousing in Bolehall held acelebration to mark thescheme’s 20th anniversary.

The scheme held an open housewhere visitors got the chance tosample cream teas made by theresidents, as well as having a goon the tombola and raffle

Independent Living Manager atAnkermoor Court, JeanetteLambert, said: “It was a reallygood day and all the residentshad a lot of fun. I’d like to thankall the residents who helped toorganise the event, as without allof their help, it wouldn’t havehappened.”

Ankermoor Court residents Christine Stevenson and Betty Parker serveup cream teas with Cllr Lee Bates at the 20th anniversary celebrations

New chief executive forTamworth Borough Council

Anniversary fun at Ankermoor Court

Review of theLandlord ServicesTenancy Agreement

Thank you to everyone whoresponded to the ‘review of thelandlord services tenancyagreement’. The consultationperiod ended on 6 June 2011.Once the feedback has beencollated it will go to the ‘TenantConsultative Group’ to discuss thefindings before it goes to Cabinetin early July.

If your feedback was received by 6June you will get a writtenresponse to any queries you havesubmitted.

Over 400 feedback sheets werereturned and almost 200 telephoneenquiries have been answered.The consultation period has provedvery successful and again we wouldlike to say a thank you to everyonewho took the time to complete thefeedback sheets.


Est

ate

Man

agem

ent T

eam

ESTATE WALKABOUTS Dates for your Diary

3

Visit the new Tamworth Tourist Information Centre!

Why hasOpen Housechangedformat? The TenantParticipationTeam consultedwith tenantsabout their‘Open House’newsletterthat isproducedquarterly. 66% ofpeople who completed asurvey stated that theywould prefer to read it inthe A4 size used thismonth.

Several comments made saidthat it would be moremanageable to read.

87% of respondentsstated that the OpenHouse tenant’snewsletter providesthem with relevantand interestinginformation abouthousing services.

83% of respondentsstated that they hadread the last editionof Open House.

If you are interested in joiningthe ‘Tenants Voice’ group toassist in the editing andproduction of Open Houseplease contact the TenantParticipation Team in thefollowing ways:

Telephone 01827 709374 orfreephone 0800 183 0454

Email: [email protected]

For forthcoming events:www.tamworth.gov.uk/housing/tenant_participation.aspx

87%

83%

The Tamworth TouristInformation Centre (TIC) isnow located at the Philip DixCentre, Corporation Street,Tamworth.

It is open from 9 – 7 Monday toFriday and 9 – 5 on Saturday.

For more information, visitwww.visittamworth.co.uk, orphone 01827 709581 or 709618.

If you want tickets for theAssembly Rooms, Tamworth Castle,The Staffordshire Hoard, ordiscounted tickets for DraytonManor, Snowdome and TwycrossZoo, come and visit us. We alsostock unusual gifts, toys and food.

Stonydelph

Belgrave

Amington

Gillway/Leyfields

Stonydelph Arch, Craven Thursday 23 June 2pmCovering Crowden Road Estate

and Ealingham - Eringden.

Belgrave Arch, Exley Centre Thursday 21 July 2pmField Farm Rd Estate

Amington Arch, Kerria CentreThursday 18 August 2pm

St Andrew’s Methodist Church

Wednesday 14 September 2pm


South Staffordshire PrimaryCare Trust’s (PCT) 33-strongLifestyle Team offers healthand well-being advice toindividuals who are lookingfor the opportunity to kick-start a new healthy lifestyle.

The team will take referrals directlyfrom individuals, as well as referralsfrom their GP or other health careprofessional.

The Lifestyle Service is alreadyoffering individuals information andencouragement on a one-to-one andgroup basis to help people look attheir lifestyle, working on a step-by-step basis to make changes that fitthe individual, their lifestyle andkeep them motivated.

Tim Cullinan, Lifestyle Service Co-ordinator, South Staffordshire PCTsaid: “Living a hectic life in a modernworld often means you are snackingor eating fast food, struggling tofind time to be more active, smokingand regularly drinking more alcoholthan you know is good for you.

“This can cause life threateningdiseases like cancer, type 2 diabetesand heart disease.

“Eating healthily, drinking lessalcohol, quitting smoking and doingjust a small amount of activity, thatfits your busy life, will help you tolook and feel better, give you moreenergy, reduce your stress levels andput you in control of your life – aswell as help you to live alonger and healthier life.

The Lifestyle Team works closely witha wide range of service providerssuch as local authorities, andvoluntary organisations to providesupport that best suits your personalneeds and tackle a number of healthissues.

To find out more about the LifestyleService call 01827 306190 and takethe first step towards a healthier lifeand living longer.

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Lifestyle service experts offering free advice

Thanks to the amazing efforts of all our residents, since theintroduction of the new waste and recycling collection servicejust over nine months ago, we have recycled nearly 49% ofeverything we throw away as waste.

This is an astonishing increase of more than 5% from this time last year andis a tribute to the commitment of Tamworth residents to reducing waste.

Collectively we have also reduced the amount of un-recyclable waste thatcurrently ends up in landfill by nearly 59 kilograms per household – that’smore than the weight of a large sack of spuds!

Andrew Barratt, Deputy Director for Assets and Environment.

Recycling Success!


Extra Care Housing at Thomas HardyCourt Celebrates its First AnniversaryMay 2011 celebrates the first anniversary of extra care housing at Thomas Hardy Court,developed in partnership with Tamworth Borough Council and Staffordshire CountyCouncil.

£260,000 was invested in the Extra Care Housing Scheme which provides homes tovulnerable elderly people with the aim of helping and supporting independence throughthe security and privacy of your own home together with access to 24 hour care andtailored support.

The scheme offers a range of facilities including special bathrooms for assisted bathing,luncheon club, hairdressers, guest room for visitors, laundry rooms, 24 hour entrancedoor phone system, lifts and car parking.

Support Housing Homelessness ServicesDuring the past year the Supported Housing team have successfully supported 23 new

tenants by;

l Letting 100% of supported housing properties within 10 working days. l Completing a risk and needs assessment with 100% of new applicants.l Completing a support plan with 100% of all new tenants within 4 weeks of their

tenancy start date.

Sheltered HousingDuring the past year, Independent Living Managers have continued to help and support75 new tenants;

l 100% of all new applicants took part in a needs and risk assessment as part of theirhousing application process to ensure the service can meet with individual needs.

l 100% of all new sheltered housing tenants where visited by the Manager within 24hours.

l 100% of all new sheltered housing tenants received an agreed support plan within 4weeks of their tenancy start date.

Community Alarm ServiceSince January 2011 Well Being has been providing the Tamworth Borough Council’s

housings community alarm service, ensuring the high quality alarm service is provided to all

its customers.

Performance

Supplement


Tenant Involvement

During 2010/2011, our customers have done their bit to helpchange and improve Tamworth Borough Council’s housingservice. We welcome and value your involvement.

Some key successes over the last 12months include:

Tenant InvolvementDatabase102 new tenants were added to the tenantinvolvement database during 2010/2011.

72 of these came from the young tenants’survey 'Your Views Matter' carried out duringJune. The remaining 30 volunteers have beenrecruited through the Local Offer and OpenHouse consultation events, annual recruitmentdrive and Housing Services open morning

Tenant InvolvementImpact AssessmentThe Tenant Involvement Group was heavily

involved in the production of Tamworth’s

first and second Tenant Involvement Impact

Assessment.

Estate Based EventsGlascote Heath’s community litter pick was organised

by the Tenant Participation and Caretaking Teams as

part of Britain’s 'Big Tidy Up' Campaign and saw the

community come together to make a real difference to

their area.


Annual ReportTenant groups gave up their free time and

worked tirelessly in the production of last

year’s Annual Report which set out what we

had achieved to address the priorities

highlighted by our tenants

Customer SatisfactionCalendarA customer satisfaction calendar was developed

during 2010 to help us to carry out more regular

and consistent customer satisfaction monitoring.

This helps us determine satisfaction levels with

Landlord Services and improves services

accordingly

New regulatory frameworkand 'Local Offer' consultationMore than 800 tenants took the opportunity to talk to the

Tenant Participation Team and suggest what they thought

should be in Tamworth’s Local Offers.


Void and allocations The Void and Allocation team has continued to meet the challenge of reducing the overallempty property turnaround time (for standard voids repairs) from 28 days to 21 during thepast year.

Looking to the year ahead, the team has set a new target of 25 days for the averageturnaround time. This means less time for people waiting to be rehoused and rent loss forthe time the property is empty is kept to a minimum, delivering our customers a value formoney service.

The Void and Allocation team is looking forward to achieving the service promises for thecoming year including;

l Making improvements to our customers’ experience of the service by working withtenants to assess the quality standard of empty homes

l Providing new tenants with welfare checks to ensure tenancies are off to the best startand are affordable

l Meeting the target of 25 days

Income management performanceThe rent arrears at the end of the financial year were £239, 481.08. In the current economicclimate and with the challenges of financial hardship, this is a real achievement.

Our overall arrears now represents 1.5% (percentage of arrears as a percentage of gross rentdebit) and is a reduction on last year’s figure.

The number of evictions due to rent arrears was down from 19 in the previous year to 15 atthe end of March 2011.

Garage rent arrears were successfully reduced by 5% during April 2010 to March 31 2011 andtotalled £1,679.

Former tenant payments received were increased by 5% and £33,832 was collected.

During April 2010 until March 31 2011, a total amount of extra benefit awarded to customerswas £130,808.90

Cleaning and caretakingAccording to the latest survey on the estate cleaning service, 85% of our customers aresatisfied with the cleaning service. Work is ongoing for tenant auditors to carry out their ownindependent quality checks of this service for 2011/12.

Targets for the removal of fly tipping have continued to be met for 2010/11. The caretakingteam plays an important role in fire safety and by working together with housing officersand Streetscene, they keep communal areas clear and free from abandoned rubbish.

In February this year, an intense deep clean was carried out at the Tinkers Green flats. Sincethen, reports of fly tipping have reduced. An ongoing programme of further deep cleans forflats with communal walkways is planned for this year.

The graffiti removal targets continue to be met – particularly now the council has a graffitiremoval machine which speeds up the process. Graffiti removal improves the environmentalquality and appearance of our estates, helping them to be places where people want to live.


Finding a Home scheme hasbeen running for 12 monthsnow. In that time we havelet 203 properties up untilthe end of March 2011.

Under the choice-based lettingsscheme, people looking for acouncil home are able to bid forproperties they are interested in,rather than having a homeallocated by the authority. Existingand potential tenants can expressan interest in – or ‘bid’ for - up tothree properties a week.

In December 2010 the Finding aHome choice-based allocationservice opened itself up to anindependent impact assessment.

That assessment told us that;

l The policy is excellent

l It supports the Council’sobjectives

l It provides an equitable andfair approach to allocatingproperties that ensures peoplewith similar levels of housingneed have equal access tohomes

l It complies with relevantlegislation and codes ofguidance

l It follows best practise

Applications by existing tenantsfor new homes have fallen to 40%of previous levels. This helps tocreate more stable communitiesand because tenants are choosingtheir new home, they are morelikely to be committed to theircommunity and tenancy.

Customer satisfaction levels havebeen captured throughindependent mystery shoppingand in-house surveys.

The move to a choice-based lettingsystem was a fundamental changein the way we allocatedproperties. As with any change onthis scale, we are learning aboutways we can do things better andwe are working to put thoseimprovements in place.

In the news over the last fewmonths, you may have heardabout the proposals emergingfrom government in a vision for‘Fairer Future Housing ‘at the sametime as changes to the housingbenefit system.

We will keep all our customers upto date on what we are doing tomeet these challenges.

Tenant Cheryl Perry chose herhome in Glascote Heath throughthe Finding a Home scheme. Seeher talk about her experience atwww.youtube.com/watch?v=UHl4--rg7Lw

Finding a HomeHousing updateSpring 2011

5

Last year wehad 360 Councilpropertiesavailable forreletting

www.findingahometamworth.co.uk


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Incentive to move scheme

DIY demonstration

Free Date: Thursday 30

June 2011

Time: 9:30am –

12:30pm

Venue: Tamworth

Assembly Rooms

Corporation Street,

Tamworth, Staffs B79 7DN

Working in partnership with Tamworth Borough Council, Morrison will be running FREE DIY demonstrationswhich will help you to carry out a wide range of repairs in your home.

At the demonstration we will be covering the following items:

Come along and speak to Morrison, tenant participation and caretaking teams to discuss any concerns you have insideor outside of your property.

If you require any further information please contact the tenant participation team onIf you require any further information please contact the tenant participation team on 0800 183 04540800 183 0454

• Blocked wastes• How to unblock gulley’s• Renewing and refixing toilet seats• Resetting trip switches

• Replacing plugs and chains tobaths and basins

• Replacing light bulbs andfluorescent tubes and starters

• Setting heating time clocks• Identifying your stopcock /gate

valve• Adding sealant to baths/sinks

l Have all your children moved outand is your home too big tomaintain?

l Is your home too expensive toheat?

l Would you like to reduce yourweekly rent?

l Do you live in a wheelchairadapted property that you nolonger require?

l Do you wish you had morefriends near to where you live?

l Are you aged over 60, feelingalone and wish you had thecomfort and support thatsheltered housing could offer?

If you have answered yes to any ofthese questions then our incentive tomove scheme could help you.

We will support you in moving to asmaller property by;

l ”Band 1 high priority ward” toenable you to move to aproperty of your choice

l Support you in bidding for emptyproperties

l Pay a cash incentive of £1000 orarrange removals for you

Please note you can move to otherlandlords through the incentive tomove scheme but the cash incentivepayment is only available to thosetransferring to another TamworthBorough Council property.

Sheltered housing. If you are aged60 or over you may choose to moveto one of our sheltered housingschemes. Sheltered housing offersyou your own independent

accommodation together with thesupport service available from anIndependent Living Manager

To find out more information aboutthe Incentive to Move Scheme pleasecontact the Voids and Allocationteam. The team is available Mondayto Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Telephone: 01827 709520Email:[email protected]


Congratulations to Mrs Miller ofKettlebrook who was the luckywinner of the Spot the Differencecompetition in the Spring 2011 issueof Open House. Enjoy your prize!

Thanks to everybody who sent incompetition entries!

Spot the differencewinner!

Spot the difference to win!Tamworth Borough Council is offering you the chance to win £20 if yourspot the difference competition entry is selected from our prize draw. There are just two competition rules:

l You have to be a tenant of Tamworth Borough Council.l You have to circle 3 differences between these two photographs.

Once you think you’ve found all 3 differences, circle them clearly, fill in andcut out the entry form and then return it by Friday 29th July 2011 to thefollowing address:

Diane Hughes, Tamworth Borough Council, Marmion House, LichfieldStreet, Tamworth Staffordshire B79 7BZ.

All correct entries will be entered into a prize draw and the winner notifiedsoon after the deadline. The competition is open to Tamworth BoroughCouncil tenants only. Good luck!

Name: ________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Telephone No:__________________________________________________________

Battle of the BandsSemi Final One - Friday 22 JulySemi Final Two - Friday 29 JulyGRAND FINAL - Friday 5 AugustStart 7.30pm, Tickets £5.00,Grand Final £7.50

Roy Chubby BrownThursday 11 AugustStart 7.30pm, Tickets £21.00

What’s On

July

Ghost Search – Friday 22

August

Join our Summer Living History ProgrammeMeet Characters from the Past:

Tuesdays: 2, 9, 16Wednesdays: 3, 10, 17Thursdays: 4, 11, 18

Guided Tours:Sundays: 7, 14, 21Saxon Re-enactmentSunday 28 & Monday 29

Launch of Staffordshire Hoard Touring ExhibitionCastle Great Hall: Saturday 27 to Wednesday 31

See website for more events and details:www.tamworthassemblyrooms.co.uk

www.tamworthcastle.co.uk

FREE EVENT IN THEFREE EVENT IN THECASTLE GROUNDSCASTLE GROUNDS

Anglo-Saxon FestivalAnglo-Saxon Festival

Saturday 27 - Monday 29 AugustSaturday 27 - Monday 29 August

7


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Alternative Formats

If you would like this document in a different form, forexample audio CD, large print or Braille, please contact theTenant Participation team on 0800 1830454.

Designed and Produced by Tamworth Borough Council

Tamworth Borough CouncilMarmion House, Lichfield Street, Tamworth, Staffordshire B79 7BZ.

Enquiries: (01827) 709709 . Main Fax: (01827) 709271

If you would find it easier to talk to us in your own languageplease ask an english-speaking friend or relative to contact0800 183 0454. We can arrange for an interpreter to contactyou to discuss any translation you need.

If you would like to getinvolved then contactTamworth Borough

Council’s TenantParticipation team:

Leanne AllwoodTenant Participation Manager

01827 709448

Diane HughesTenant Participation Assistant

01827 709374

Helen RichCustomer Service Assistant

01827 709260

email us:tenantparticipation@tamworth.

gov.uk

Other useful numbers:

Tamworth Borough CouncilCustomer Services(01827) 709709

Benefits(01827) 709540

Council Tax(01827) 709530

Housing Advice01827) 709459

Housing Office Enquiries (01827) 709491

Tenant Participation(01827 709374)

Rent Enquiries (Income team) (01827) 709514

Estate Management Team(01827) 709491

Allocations and Voids(01827) 709520


Documents

Open House June 2011