FAMILY HOUSING ASSOCIATION (WALES) LTD MINUTES OF THE TENANT PANEL MEETING Friday, 12 TH December 2013, Hazel Court, Swansea PRESENT: Mike Wiseman Chair Swansea Jennifer Howells Vice Chair Swansea Paul Wiemers Tenant Panel Secretary Swansea Avril Manser Tenant Panel Treasurer Swansea Mel Rayner Tenant Panel Member Swansea Clare Jones Tenant Panel Member Swansea Roy Raven Tenant Panel Member Swansea Doug Illing Tenant Panel Member Swansea Richard Cullen Tenant Panel Member Swansea Jean Owen Tenant Panel Member Swansea John Owen Tenant Panel Member Llanelli Layton Fowler Tenant Observer Swansea Anne Evans Tenant Observer Swansea Darrin Davies Richard Batt Sarah Jones Carol Johns Mike Bourke Beth Lewis Rebecca Murphy Maria Round Andrew Hearne Ann Robinson Head of Property Services Head of Housing Services Hazel Court Project Manager Tenant Participation Officer Board Member NVQ Assessor Housing Officer - Rents WAG South West Wales Fire Service South West Wales Fire Service APOLOGIES: Dave Thomas Tenant Panel Member Swansea Norma Case Tenant Panel Member Swansea Carol Kay WAG Hugh Butler Tenant Panel Observer Swansea Don Hastings Tenant Panel Member Swansea Barry Miles Older Person s Services Manager TPM0332 Minutes of previous meeting ACTION The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed to be a true and accurate record. Proposed: Doug Illing Seconded : Jean Owen 1 P a g e
TPM0333 Matters arising Page 1 Paul Wiemers is stated as a panel member this to be changed to Tenants Panel Secretary. Page 2 No issues raised Page 3 Digital Inclusion TPO circulated a copy of the list of digital inclusion champions. Page 4 No issues raised. Page 5 Pet policy has now been approved by the Board. TPM0334 Fire Brigade Presentation Prior to the official start of the meeting two members of the Fire brigade gave a talk to promote home fire safety checks. TPM0335 Conference Feedback CJ gave an update on the recent TPAS conference. Members that attended found this very useful and informative. TPM0336 Performance Report Card The report card was circulated prior to the meeting. This will also be sent to all tenants. A few discrepancies were noted with the figures. The Head of Housing Services to look into this. H of HS TPM0337 Complaints Policy The draft policy was circulated for consideration. Two copies of the leaflet were also circulated - version 1 with a combined complaint form and version 2 with a separate complaints form. Comments to be passed to the Head of Housing Services by 10 th January. MW expressed the importance of panel members providing feedback when asked. ALL 2 P a g e
TPM0338 Tenant Participation Officer feedback A de-brief was held with the Partnership Officer, TPO of City and County of Swansea and the FHA TPO to discuss the recent open day held in Morriston. Positive feedback from those who attended but disappointment that attendance was low. Tenant handbook this is in the process of being put onto a DVD. We are looking for staff and tenants to appear. An appeal will go into the newsletter. A recent meeting was held to discuss the LTPS action plan. An evaluation of year 2 actions was completed and those actions not complete were carried forward to year 3. TPM0339 Board Feedback and RAG Update Notes from the recently held board meeting were circulated to all present. The panel are happy with the content of feedback received from the board. MW gave an update on the recent away day that was held at the Liberty stadium with board members and tenant panel members. Positive feedback received. TPM0340 Reports from sub committees/tenants Group Princess of Wales Court Plans are under way for more events in the coming months. The tenants association have purchased a video projector and pull down screen for the hall to be able to show films and live events such as the Six Nations. A carol concert was held in the hall by the pupils of Trallwyn Primary School and a Christmas party was held on Dec. the 21 st for both residents and guests. Two new members of the committee have now joined and more are looking to be recruited for specific tasks. 2014 we hope will see more use of the hall for talks, classes and functions. PSTG & HMTG The PSTG meeting was held on the 22 nd Nov. the issue around ID badges worn by contractors was discussed again Mike Brooks from Amico Electrical Services was welcomed to the meeting and he subsequently gave a presentation to the group of the services Amico supply. After being thanked for his presentation and answering a few questions Mike was asked to stay for the rest of the meeting to further understand 3 P a g e
the groups role. A presentation was then given by Gareth Jones and Mark Lewis from the property services dept. explaining their roles in the running of our property services. Also an explanation of the success of the DEMS and the apprentiships offered to our new younger recruits CJ gave an update on the work of the environmental improvement group which informed us of the good work carried out by the group and staff to incorporate more involvement in certain sites. There had been an excellent report from Exchange Court on the fitting of the new kitchens. Matters concerning CO poisoning were discussed and info would be included on the tenants web site. The HMTG meeting was held on the 25 th of Nov. Updates were presented on HARA, ASB, Welfare reform and Water collection Data. Lisa Rees (Senior Housing Officer Rents Team) gave a comprehensive report on her meeting with Carol Kaye (Regulations Officer) and the overall feedback was, her satisfaction with our progress was good. LR then also gave an update on the data as at 10/11/13 on the effects of welfare reform on our tenants as well as this discussion the progress of Digital Inclusion was discussed and is on track to roll out at the beginning of the new year. All efforts are focussed on helping our tenants to manage the new legislation. Water monies collection is a success and will be more so in the future. ASB work with staff is proving as success and we are extremely close to achieving full compliance of the standard. The target for this is March 2014. Full minutes are available for any tenant panel members on request to CJ TPM0341 Secretary s Report A letter has been sent to the Star Struck Stage school thanking them for performing at the social evening. TPM0342 Treasurer s Report AM confirmed the funds have run low due to visiting different venues for panel meetings. Panel Members need to car share where possible to try and reduce the costs of travel expenses. AM made a request for additional funding for the Panel. AM to send a letter to the Director of Finance. A discussion was held around the use of the Panel headed paper. This to be looked at. TPM0343 Tenant Reward Scheme Draws Reactive repairs winner Mr Thomas, Morriston, Swansea. 4 P a g e
TPM0344 Any other business MW discussed the possibility of all panel members undertaking a selfappraisal system. TPM0345 Date, time and location of next meeting Wednesday 29 th January 2014 at 10.30a.m. in Hazel Court 5 P a g e